Writing a Gangster Film: Is the Genre Exhausted
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Writing a gangster film Written by Declan Mortimer Eipper Table of Contents Part I: Screenplay Part II: Dissertation Part I: Screenplay Part II: Dissertation It is essential that the screenplay be read first: (a) because the dissertation is written in a way that requires prior knowledge of the screenplay; and (b) because the dissertation reveals key plot points that depend upon suspense and surprise to achieve their full effect when the screenplay is read. Master of Film & Television (by Research) Screenplay: Sins of the Fathers Thesis: Writing a gangster film Written by Declan Mortimer Eipper Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Film & Television (by Research) (by creative work and dissertation). September 2010 The Victorian College of the Arts School of Film & Television The University of Melbourne This is to certify that the screenplay and thesis comprise only my original work towards the Masters. Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all sources used. The screenplay and thesis are less than 50,000 words in length. Declan Mortimer Eipper Abstract This dissertation discusses the formulation of my first feature film script, Sins of the Fathers. It deals with the genesis, motives, influences and methodology employed in writing my screenplay. It details how my research into Melbourne's underworld and my passion for gangster films informed what I considered might be done with the genre and what I aimed to do differently. I explore whether the gangster genre has been exhausted and discuss the limitations of the genre. I also investigate the importance in the gangster genre of empathising with a protagonist. i Acknowledgements My feature film script, Sins of the Fathers, has been a labour of love. The thesis has proved to be an invaluable reflection on the gangster genre, helping improve my screenplay. The script's story and the ideas discussed in this dissertation have been developing for many years. Since I was fifteen I have wanted to write a gangster film and have always loved the genre. Completing my Masters fulfilled that objective. I must thank my supervisors, Annabelle Murphy and Ray Mooney, for their supervision. They both read multiple drafts of my script and made valuable suggestions. I would particularly like to thank Ray for his focus on the screenplay's logical flaws. Thanks are also due to my friends, Tim Auld, John Connor and David Wolstencroft, for reading multiple drafts of my script and a draft of this thesis. Their feedback was invaluable and I am grateful to them. Thanks are also due to Adam May and James Auld for their thoughts and recommendations. I also wish to thank my mother, Lorraine Mortimer, for not only reading multiple drafts of my script and offering insightful feedback, but more importantly, for instilling in me a love of cinema from an early age. My mother exposed me to films from every genre, era and country. At the age of seven upon leaving a cinema, I turned to my mother and said, "No more Hungarian art films, Mum". Little did I know that the dozens of subtitled films that she was taking me to were not all Hungarian. To her credit, my mother respected my wish and I have not seen a Hungarian art film since. It is because of my mother's love and enthusiasm for cinema that I am so passionate about movies, and have aspired to write and direct them. Finally, I want to thank my father, Chris Eipper, as fulsomely as I can. My father read and edited every draft of my script and thesis, providing me with priceless feedback. I want to thank him for his endless enthusiasm and his plethora of ideas (even when only one in ten are of use, he is never deterred from trying to help). His insights and wise counsel proved invaluable time and again. His passion and propensity to engage in creative discussions were influential in solving many story ideas. Yet most important of all, I want to thank him for teaching me how to really write. In high school he taught me how to be conscious of and resist my tendency to write long, sprawling sentences. He taught me to write short, sharp sentences. This succinct style proved most helpful once I became passionate about screenwriting. And for all that I thank him. ii Table of Contents Introduction: The Challenges I Faced Writing My First Feature Film 1 Genesis: Hollywood Gangsters, Leadbelly and My Mother 4 Blessed are the Children for They Shall Inherit Their Father's Sins 10 Making a Gangster's Wife a Heroine 16 Is Empathy for a Protagonist really the Bedrock that some insist it is? 21 My Script in Light of the Limitations of the Gangster Genre 28 My Script in the context of Australian Crime Film to date 41 Approaching the Blank Page 46 Conclusion: What Movies Never Show Because They End a Minute Too Soon 54 Appendices 56 Bibliography 62 Podcasts 66 Filmography 67 Television Filmography 72 iii Introduction: The Challenges I Faced Writing My First Feature Film The practice-based nature of my Masters degree dictates that I examine the challenges I faced writing my first feature film, Sins of the Fathers. This thesis is therefore designed to illuminate the genesis, motives, influences and methodology employed in writing my script. My desire to write a modern Australian gangster film predated but was reinforced by reading Leadbelly: Inside Australia's underworld wars (Silvester & Rule, 2004). I here explore how my research into underworld figures in Melbourne and my passion for gangster films informed what I considered might be done with the genre at this time in this country. Sins of the Fathers is about a Melbourne crime family that triggers an underworld war to which it falls victim. I planned to write a somewhat traditional and conventional gangster film, but aimed to do so differently. I did not want to portray gangsters living glamorous lives; I wanted, rather, to convey the heartache of families who fall victim to underworld feuds. I also intended the protagonists' children to be well-rounded characters rather than featured extras. I discuss my knowledge of the gangster genre and how this led me to explore whether the genre was exhausted. I cannot, for reasons of length, provide a detailed discussion of the genre's history in relation to world cinema. I limit my focus to the films I grew up with and repeatedly watched, the films that penetrated my psyche. I discuss the limitations of the gangster genre and elaborate on how likely budgetary constraints impacted on my writing. My concern throughout has been on what I could still do with the genre that is original.1 I explore how crucial empathising with a protagonist in the gangster genre really is. I also consider how my ever-changing methods of researching and writing impacted on the script's development. Finally, I examine the history of my creative choices and how they have been influenced by the films I have seen and the investigative journalism I have read. The texts that most informed this project include Syd Field's The Screenwriter's Workbook (1984), Robert McKee's Story (1998), David Mamet's Mamet on Directing (1991), and John Silvester's and Andrew Rule's Leadbelly: Inside Australia's underworld wars. Field's book introduced me to feature film structure and form. I learnt that writing "a screenplay is an adventure, and you're never quite sure how it's going to turn out". Field goes on: 1 I do not deal with film noir, a genre in and of itself. 1 "You may get a flash of inspiration for a script, but executing it is quite another story" (1984: 26, 188). At film school I was introduced to Story. McKee emphasises the importance of story and that a "good story" is one that is "well told". His book left an immeasurable impression on me because of his ability to succinctly identify the principles of screenwriting through a seamless use of structure, setting, character, genre and ideas (McKee, 1998: 21, 29). Story made me aware of things I had already learnt, but after reading McKee I would never forget them. Mamet's tiny book was the text that informed the way I approach screenwriting. Mamet preaches economy; writing only what is necessary to convey what is needed; depicting only what is essential to tell the story; writing dialogue that furthers the narrative rather than develops character (cf Mamet, 1991: 9-55). I embraced these principles, and the more I studied, the more their importance was reinforced. Ironically, a friend who treats Mamet's book as his scriptwriting bible then read the third draft of my script and told me that I had taken the principles too far. The point was reinforced by a number of readers who felt that character development had been sacrificed to an intricately crafted plot. My concentration on furthering the narrative had become akin to someone who is told that apples are good for them and then proceeds to eradicate everything from their diet except apples. John Silvester's and Andrew Rule's Leadbelly: Inside Australia's underworld wars is a true crime book written by journalists. It is essentially a collection of the authors' previously published articles. The chapters are primarily a series of anecdotes about murder victims, the events that led up to each one's death, coupled with speculation as to why they were killed and who had the motive to do it. Discovering whether the gangster genre is exhausted entails exploring what has been done before, what can be done differently and what has not been done.