Amarillo Slim

I had reason recently to revisit a book I've read a number of times over the years, Make-Believe Town, by David Mamet. It contains several essays previously published elsewhere, then gathered together in 1996. 

Earlier in the day, I'd been discussing the place of funding bodies in Australian filmmaking with some friends, which naturally led to thoughts of poker, a card game to which Mamet (like David O. Selznick and Chico Marx and others before him) had been addicted for many years.

He describes his voyage through the game, makes a series of points, then says this:

Businesspersons got all giddy in the decade now past (1980s) over Musashi, Tesso, Sun Tzu, and other Oriental strategists and warrior-sages. But I cleave to the books above. To which I add that of Thomas Preston ("Amarillo Slim"), who wrote of a game in Arabia. He was asked, and he came. But before the game, he writes, the Big Boys came to his hotel and asked for 25% of his take in exchange for protection, and insurance that his winnings would be collected and paid to him. I remember reading this bit as a child, and I expected the next paragraph to reveal his rage and indignation. But Slim tells us he thought not at all, and accepted their terms. His lesson is that one hand full of quietness will beat two hands full of vexation of spirit, which lesson has served me well every time I remembered to remember it.

The Godfather Part II expressed the idea in entirely other terms:

                      FANUCCI

              (Sicilian)

          This is my neighborhood.   You and 
          your friends have to show me a 
          little respect, ah?  This truck  
          you hijacked was in my neighborhood.    
          You should let me wet my beak a 
          little. 

Three thousand years ago, it was written that, "One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 4:6, NASB)

And so it it is, and so it goes.

Disguising the exposition

I've been looking at confrontational dialogue scenes in movies lately, the ones where he and she face off, and maybe get a few home truths off their chest. I expected to find lots of them in romantic comedies, but was surprised to discover how few rom/coms have such a scene. 

You don't believe me? It's true. Think of the (financially) most successful rom/com of all time, My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). Lots of conflict, but it's with the family, not the boyfriend. In What Women Want (2000), the second most successful, the conflict is with himself, his daughter, his boss and most of all, the weird ability he suddenly develops. Or think of movies like Sleepless in Seattle (1993), or Serendipity (2001), where the happy couple barely get to exchange opening pleasantries, forget about having time to work up to a righteous indignation. 

There's a great confrontation scene in Jerry Maguire (1996), where she slugs Tom Cruise, but that's the old girlfriend, not Renée Zellweger. There is a face-slap scene in When Harry Met Sally... (1989), something I've discovered even aficionados of the movie don't remember (but that's a subject for another time). In Only You (1994), Marisa Tomei gets to beat up Robert Downey, Jr., and in You've Got Mail (1998), Meg Ryan confronts Tom Hanks; but I had to go to an action movie like Die Hard (1988) for a great spousal confrontation scene, or Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), where the Best Punch Award goes to Karen Allen, not Harrison Ford.

When exes meet, there's liable to be some friction.

Some of the finest confrontation dialogue scenes take place between married couples. Check out the first meeting between the exes in That Old Feeling (1987) for a great example of two people building up a full head of steam.  

Another is The Out-Of-Towners (1999), a remake of an old Jack Lemmon movie. It was while watching it again that I came to appreciate just how far you can go in disguising an exposition scene. 

Steve Martin tells the group, "I got fired!"

Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn play a married couple who are in New York so he can attend a job interview. He needs the job because he just got fired for being too old, but he hasn't told his wife yet. Now comes the moment when she has to be informed. It could have been the dullest piece of exposition imaginable; instead, it's the funniest scene in the movie. They seek refuge in an old church to escape the close attention of a large and aggressive dog, only to find themselves being welcomed into an AA-style meeting for people with sex problems. Check out the movie to see just how well a simple piece of exposition can be turned into a classic encounter.

Meeting with other Writers

Writing can be a lonely business at times. We all need support groups if we're going to stay sane over the long haul. And it's nice that your mum encourages you, but there's nothing like meeting with other writers for a chat and the occasional whinge.

Lots of places around Adelaide have hosted writers' conferences unawares over the years. I've met with writers at the State Library (upstairs at the back, they have tables with power points for your laptops), the King's Head Hotel, the Cibo in Gouger Street, Un Caffè in King William Street, Phat Kitchen, and The Elephant British pub, to name a few.

Stuart Sturgess and Michael Zeitz

Yesterday it was the turn of the Belgian Beer Café to provide hospitality to myself and a couple of local filmmakers, Stuart Sturgess (Maxcat Productions) and Michael Zeitz (John Dory Media). It's a great place to meet in the morning, plenty of room, good coffee (chips for lunch!) and people don't bother you.

Scouting Locations

For years I've written Adelaide locations into screenplays I've worked on. You know the ones: a favourite perspective on the city, maybe a sweeping panorama or an Art Deco facade somewhere or a gritty Chandleresque alley shot. 

I spent much of yesterday wandering around town with my trusty digital camera, snapping stills of locations I'd held in my imagination for years as great places from which to capture an atmospheric glimpse of cosmopolitan Adelaide.  And, guess what.   I failed to make it home with a single shot that did justice to my imagination. (Maybe I should stick to novels. It always looks the way you say it is in novels.)

On the bright side, I did capture that shot of Miriam's new home (below).

Nonetheless, it was a great exercise. My writing will be far less detailed in terms of locations in future.  And my respect for Location Scouts just went up a big notch. How come those guys don't qualify for an A.F.I. Award?  (They're now called the AACTA Awards. Sorry.)

A Place to Start

If you're new to the world of screenwriting and want to meet some people in Adelaide, a good place to start is by joining the Australian Writers' Guild. The Branch Manager for SA is Miriam Katsambis, a lovely warm, helpful and caring lady with a ton of experience in the industry. 

Miriam used to be tucked away in a dark corner of the Writers' Centre, but now she has a bright new home at Juxtapose Studios, 6 Cinema Place, Adelaide.

Miriam was away when I went to take her photo,
so I had to settle for an exterior shot of Juxtapose Studios.

Send her an e-mail at sant@awg.com.au, and tell her I sent you.

The "New Writers Enter Here" Button

G'day and welcome. This is the tentative beginning of a small service for screenwriters and wannabes living in or around Adelaide, South Australia. 

• You've written a screenplay, but don't know what to do next?
  
• You're still working on the first one, but are feeling blocked, lonely or unloved?
• You've had a success and want to boast?

Here's a place to start.