back in 2002, i pitched an idea to a number of producers for a thriller involving a cycle courier. the basic idea was that the best (and most arrogant) cycle courier in copenhagen was requested to deliver three packages around the city in a short period of time. after he is successful he finds millions have been deposited in his bank account, and the three prominent businessmen he delivered the packages to have all been assassinated. he has been framed and must clear his name. cue masses of tension and some breakneck cycle/car chases around copenhagen’s very photogenic city streets!
generic action film? sure! but i thought it would have at least been an interesting angle for an action film. i did some preliminary research and interviewed some cycle couriers to get an idea of their day to day routine and the aspects of the job so the script would at least have an element of reality.
i then started to work on a few other projects as a script consultant and came to realise that consulting was what i wanted to do and what i was best at. the courier film got filed away in my subconscious – although i do admit to playing out the action scenes in my head from time to time!
fast forward to 2012 and a new film by david koepp, premium rush will be coming out in august. here is the logline – “In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.”
generic action film? sure! but its an interesting angle for an action film!
before you start to worry, this is not going to be me griping about someone stealing my idea – they clearly didn’t – but it reinforces the theory that it isn’t originality that matters – it is execution.
the legend goes that the minute you have an idea for a new story, four other people around the world have had the same, or at least a very similar, idea. as ridiculous as that sounds, it makes sense sometimes when so many films being released today seem to be a re-hash or an amalgam of other films that have gone before.
i’ve also read different arguments suggesting that there are only 5, 7 or 13 ‘pure’ stories – take your pick – but it is how you apply elements of those stories to your writing.
however many ‘pure’ stories there are, and how many people around the world have the same idea as you, the execution of your idea is key. if you execute well enough there’s a chance you will rise to the top of the heap and get your script out there and onto the big screen.
i was one of, i’m sure, many people around the world who’s jaws dropped when they found out that david fincher was going to make a facebook movie. i really like fincher as a director, but he isn’t a director where i feel the need to be a completist. i suspected at that early stage that the social network would probably be a film i wouldn’t see, at least on the big screen. when details eventually emerged that it was about the personal conflicts surrounding the start up of facebook i became more interested and when i finally saw the film, i was riveted from start to finish – because it was executed so well.
this isn’t about being first to the post either. great execution of a story will also give a film the opportunity of becoming a classic later on down the line. for example, in 1990 three gangster movies were released in quick succession between september and december. goodfellas, miller’s crossing and the godfather part 3 came out in that order with varied success. they earned $47 million, $5 million and $67 million respectively (figures u.s. domestic box office – source box office mojo).
i love ‘goodfellas’, and although its not particularly good, i’ve never thought that ‘the godfather part 3’ is quite as bad as its reputation suggests, but of the three ‘miller’s crossing’ would be my favourite – and it made nothing on its original release. you could say that the coen brothers later success has helped keep the film in the public eye, but i say it is such a brilliantly executed film from the script on down that it stands the test of time better than the other two. ‘goodfellas’ may still be a more popular and lauded film, but for me, ‘miller’s crossing’ is more timeless.
so if you feel that the story you are really keen to write may not be the most original story ever, find the angle that hasn’t been done before and use your unique writer’s voice to execute the story in the best and most original way you can think of.
its hard to remember the last truly ‘original’ film that i saw, but i see well-executed ones all the time!
happy writing
phil
scriptguyphil 