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- Thread starter AntonioHR
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Jack and Jill, seeing each other for three years, treat themselves to a post-Covid romantic weekend in Amsterdam. Jack has decided to propose to Jill while there, has the ring and is nervous as hell. Arriving at Schipol airport, the two are separated when Jill - travelling on her Irish passport - is directed to the fast track EU-blue lane and Jack is sent off to join the "rest of the world" queue. Not thinking, Jack opts for the Green "nothing to declare" lane, where his nervous behaviour (now worse, because of being separated from Jill) attracts the attention of a customs officer. A search reveals the presence of the ring, for which he has no receipt, no documentation and no import permit. The more he's questioned, the more agitated he gets, giving stupid answers to the customs officials, who decide to deport him back to the UK, leaving Jill alone on the other side ...
You’re right but there are just other ideas that interest me more than bloody Brexit. There’s other sources of drama in the UK haha. I can’t imagine myself ever watching a film about Brexit. Would you? I’m not gaslighting the issue but it just doesn’t interest me as an idea for a film at all. Maybe I’m just not skilled enough to create drama out of it.You might want to change where you get your information from!
Salmon exports down 98% (ninety-eight, that's not a typo); all types of food and drink combined, down 70-ish percent; corrupt government breaking the treaty it just signed, and not enforcing customs controls on imports; prohibition of freedom of movement for Europeans means UK immigration has suddenly shifted to a primarily non-white, non-Christian demographic; Spanish police in training to launch sting-attacks on the now-illegal aliens of British origin living under the radar in Spain, coordinating with the British police to have them arrested as soon as they're deported to Britain, because many of them have outstanding arrest warrants ...
Brexit is a wonderful source of drama, on the personal as well as political level.
Every good film needs a context. Brexit is a very rich context right now (most of which the Brits-in-Britain are shielded from, due to Covid, but that doesn't make it any less real) so the interest would be in the characters and what they do - or can't do - because of this sudden stripping of their rights and freedoms. Think of the Tom Hanks character in Terminal.
Will your kidnap-drug smuggling story include references to Peru's elections this year, or the excessively high rates of Covid there? Because these are factors that should feed into the narrative - otherwise you'll have people pointing out that the drug lord couldn't possibly have carried out the kidnap/extortion/movement of his merchandise because of lockdown restrictions, and why would he bother when the price of the drug has plummeted?
Sure, you can skip over reality and invent any fictional world you want (even one where Peru borders the US
) - but then, as others have pointed out, you get a generic episode of CSI or the like. In the real world, because flights are grounded, the Peruvian drug traffickers have to try moving their product over land, through Mexico, which raises all kinds of other, much more interesting storylines. And it's the same with Brexit.(you said on the other thread that you're still in school, so I'd understand that you don't realise just how much of an outcast you are now ; you will, though, soon enough ...
)
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You should have a passion for what you are writing. You don't have to but you should. Was Tarantino passionate about Pulp Fiction? So are you passionate about these stories? The war stories, and cocaine, and lawyers? If not, they may still end up being "okay" movies, but perhaps, not one of the greats! Try writing with passion, see what you can come up with.
Do you know I live in the UK? I thought there was a border between Peru and the US. Wdym outcast lmao?Every good film needs a context. Brexit is a very rich context right now (most of which the Brits-in-Britain are shielded from, due to Covid, but that doesn't make it any less real) so the interest would be in the characters and what they do - or can't do - because of this sudden stripping of their rights and freedoms. Think of the Tom Hanks character in Terminal.
Will your kidnap-drug smuggling story include references to Peru's elections this year, or the excessively high rates of Covid there? Because these are factors that should feed into the narrative - otherwise you'll have people pointing out that the drug lord couldn't possibly have carried out the kidnap/extortion/movement of his merchandise because of lockdown restrictions, and why would he bother when the price of the drug has plummeted?
Sure, you can skip over reality and invent any fictional world you want (even one where Peru borders the US
(you said on the other thread that you're still in school, so I'd understand that you don't realise just how much of an outcast you are now ; you will, though, soon enough ...
Ever hear of maps.google.com ?
There is a saying "write about what you know" - this is one of the examples of what can go wrong when you don't! If you're going to write about places or situations with which you have no connection, you need to do a lot - a lot - of basic research, or you will be called out on it (or more likely just not get a call back).
As a UK citizen, since Jan 1st, you have lost the right to spend more than 90 days per year in the EU (except Ireland); you cannot work in the EU without a visa; you cannot live in the EU without significant funds; you cannot study in the EU without paying a foreigner surcharge; you cannot bring musical instruments into the EU without declaring them, line by line (and "undeclare" them on the way back to Britain); you cannot bring your laptop, camera and sound gear into the EU without declaring it all, line by line (and back again); you cannot bring food or drink into the EU without a veterinary or phyto-sanitary certificate; you cannot bring your cat or dog into the EU without additional paperwork; you cannot bring plants to you friends in the EU; you cannot bring antiques or other objects of value into the EU; you cannot drive a car on a British licence in the EU; your British educational qualifications are no longer recognised in the EU; your British professional qualifications are no longer recognised in the EU; you cannot offer any service in exchange for money in the EU ... ... ... the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on.
It'll only be when you're standing next to someone of the same age and background, who has an EU passport, that you'll really notice the difference - and that's not a million miles away from your Vietnam Vet vs. White lawyer concept. And remember, the EU is 13 miles from Britain in one direction, 22 miles in the other - we're between you and just about everywhere else on the planet.
(unless you go via Shetland and Iceland
)
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Yeah, the idiots voted for Brexit and they pretty much make up most of the UK and everyone has to deal with it. Not me just me personally. Those outside the EU have the same regulations and they’re definitely not considered outcasts. Again, I am not interested in writing about Brexit. Full stop. You can if you want. I certainly will not.
Ever hear of maps.google.com ?
There is a saying "write about what you know" - this is one of the examples of what can go wrong when you don't! If you're going to write about places or situations with which you have no connection, you need to do a lot - a lot - of basic research, or you will be called out on it (or more likely just not get a call back).
As a UK citizen, since Jan 1st, you have lost the right to spend more than 90 days per year in the EU (except Ireland); you cannot work in the EU without a visa; you cannot live in the EU without significant funds; you cannot study in the EU without paying a foreigner surcharge; you cannot bring musical instruments into the EU without declaring them, line by line (and "undeclare" them on the way back to Britain); you cannot bring your laptop, camera and sound gear into the EU without declaring it all, line by line (and back again); you cannot bring food or drink into the EU without a veterinary or phyto-sanitary certificate; you cannot bring your cat or dog into the EU without additional paperwork; you cannot bring plants to you friends in the EU; you cannot bring antiques or other objects of value into the EU; you cannot drive a car on a British licence in the EU; your British educational qualifications are no longer recognised in the EU; your British professional qualifications are no longer recognised in the EU; you cannot offer any service in exchange for money in the EU ... ... ... the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on.
It'll only be when you're standing next to someone of the same age and background, who has an EU passport, that you'll really notice the difference - and that's not a million miles away from your Vietnam Vet vs. White lawyer concept. And remember, the EU is 13 miles from Britain in one direction, 22 miles in the other - we're between you and just about everywhere else on the planet.
(unless you go via Shetland and Iceland
Many of those things were literally the same before in all honesty. I’ve never had a Vietnam vet vs white lawyer concept...
Also, the saying ‘write what you know’ kills me. If writers went by that then the world of cinema would be incredibly boring. I don’t think the saying means it literally anyway.
Correct! This is a really good read:
Should You Write What You Know? 31 Authors Weigh In
Write what you know. Everyone who has ever taken a writing class or read a craft book has heard this piece of writing advice—even if only to have it instantly denounced. But which is it? Should you…
Fair enough - don't write about it. But do be aware of the fact that, working in the creative arts sector - most of the rest of the world does not have the same restrictions, and (like all of the points above) this will affect you, personally, in the years ahead.
Musicians, cinematographers, actors, dancers, sound-and-light technicians, anyone on the team coming from Canada, the US, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Morocco, Israel, Argentina, ... has greater freedom than someone from Britain. You are, literally, in the same group as North Korea in this respect. Your government, unfortunately, decided to treat all members of all categories of the visual and performing arts as undesirable aliens - same as the lads who arrive in Kent in rubber dinghies - and refused the EU's offer of a 90-day mutual recognition exemption (as offered to about 100 other countries).
But getting back to your ideas: what is it about equatorial countries that interests you? Why the jungles of Vietnam, why the Peruvian drug trade? When you think of these storylines, are you seeing a jungle background and trying to fit a story into it; or are you imagining gritty action sequences and trying to find somewhere to place them?
Most of the time I think of a fully formed idea. Sometimes the setting may dominate my mind, or the characters. Never the action sequences lol. Equatorial countries are stunning that's why! But I'm not only attracted to them , it's only that those stories happened to be set in them.
It was! Zoe Heller speaking the TRUTH!Correct! This is a really good read:
Should You Write What You Know? 31 Authors Weigh In
Write what you know. Everyone who has ever taken a writing class or read a craft book has heard this piece of writing advice—even if only to have it instantly denounced. But which is it? Should you…lithub.com
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