08-13-98Sorry so long since my last update. Health problems the past couple of weeks have kept me from doing much of anything.
Today was a windy, rainy day at the Jersey Shore so I dumped all my index cards out on the floor again and finally completed all the major scenes. I can now clearly picture the entire script from fade in to out and I like what I see so far. Granted, scenes today may be gone tomorrow but at least now I feel my head is above water.
By biggest problem (as mentioned last month in Journal #11) was the second act. The opening and closing acts flowed nicely but the second act dragged. I needed to obviously build tension, keep interest, but not divulge too much which would take away from the second plot point (around pp85-90), the climax, or the denouement. I've added a new series of scenes involving Ben (the reporter) and his investigation into a subway homicide, Kingpin has a few new twists up his sleeve (and a BIG sleeve he has), and Matt/Heather break up as Matt begins to slip from reality.
I watched "The Game" (Douglas/Penn) the other night and while many I've talked to didn't care for the ending or found it hard to believe, I enjoyed the way the script was presented in that it kept you guessing. Twist, twist, twist.
"Twist-twist-twist" is fairly hard with an adaptation. I could always end the script with something like "Elektra is actually Kingpin's daughter" or something silly but then the script would lose all credibility with the huge fan base Daredevil has created over the past 30 years (so I won't do it.) What I will do is attempt to keep everyone guessing and hopefully no one disappointed but "you can't appease everyone." Adaptation ain't easy.
Let's talk about a scene: I was playing with this idea regarding Bullseye. Remember now, Bulls isn't complete stable; lives in a world of his own making. This is pivotal to remember when reading scenes that involve him because if it's from his POV, you can't accurately say whether it's truth or fiction. Anyhow, my Bullseye character is to be this big cinema-freak. Quoting lines from various films, always thinking he's some character from some long gone classic. I was toying (since the setting is Christmas) that Bulls takes on the persona of "George Bailey" from It's A Wonderful Life. Elektra is "Mary," the Kingpin is "Mr. Potter," and Daredevil is the angel "Clarence." In the dream sequence in "IAWF," everything has gone bad for George and he wants to get back. My scene would be just opposite, whereas George...errr, Bullseye is actually the element gone bad and he thinks everyone else is evil.
Like I said, just something I'm toying with.
I'm still laboring over "Dante's Inferno." I also picked up a copy of the trade paperback, "Batman: The Dark Knight, " which (if you're not into comics) was written in 1986 by Frank Miller which started the Batman movie craze. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick up a morsel or two from there.
All right, let me get back to the cards. Got a lot of scenes to flesh out and see how they mix with the other sub-plots. Nice to feel those creative juices flowing again. Talk to you soon.