Friday, January 21, 2011

Jason Aaron posts about Darren Aronofsky's FOUNTAIN graphic novel and when you should and shouldn't take your unsold script to the land o' comix.

1. Does your screenplay contain anything, absolutely anything, that would be remotely interesting for someone to actually draw? If the answer is no, then just stop here and walk away.
Does it prominently feature a car chase or a meticulously choreographed John Woo-style shootout? Sorry, but we don’t do those very well. If you insist on proceeding, better first find yourself an amazing artist. But I’m afraid Steranko’s not returning your calls. Thanks but no thanks.

Worth a read.

(Via my buddy Kody Chamberlain, who also hath a blog.)

Labels: learnings

8:18 AM

2 Comments:

Jason's article comes across a little too much like whining, as if he's bitter about the place graphic novels have in society. Storytelling is storytelling and if it works it works. I don't hear authors complaining about movies being turned into books. Or rejected scripts. Like it or not, graphic novels and books are A LOT easier to get made than movies.

Obviously some stories work better in certain mediums, but if it's a good story, then getting it out anyway you can is important.

Personally, I don't understand why so many books are made into movies because they are such different mediums, but at the same time, some of my favourite films are adaptations.

By  Tim W., at 12:13 AM  

Tim, I don't think Jason is whining, I think he's right on almost every point made.

There are PLENTY of things that work VERY well in one medium but just doesn't hold up in the other. Screenwriters interested in doing comics should play to the strengths of the medium and be aware of the limitations. You can't just hand a screenplay to an artist and expect a good comic in return. Trust me, I've been in that position more than once, and much of it is a square peg / round hole situation.

The screenwriters, television writers, and novelists that crossover into comics and do well (like Straczynski, Whedon, Meltzer , Rucka, etc.) do so because they study and understand the comic book form rather than just pass off unsold scripts. I think that's what Jason is pointing out.

By  Kody Chamberlain, at 2:40 PM  

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