The Western Screenwriter in Japan: Screenwriting Considerations in Transnational Cinema
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The Western Screenwriter in Japan: Screenwriting Considerations in Transnational Cinema by Alexander McAulay Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Media and Communication Bournemouth University May 2017 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this thesis. 2 Alexander McAulay The Western Screenwriter in Japan: Screenwriting Considerations in Transnational Cinema Abstract This PhD investigates the writing of a feature film screenplay for mainstream Japanese-language cinema by a British screenwriter. As a long-term resident of Japan with production credits in Japanese cinema, I have for many years been interested in how to write stories set in Japan that will appeal to domestic and international audiences. The study examines the challenges I face as a Western screenwriter writing a screenplay for Japanese cinema, and how those challenges inform my creative practice, bringing into being a screenplay that is intended to enhance screenwriting craft in mainstream Japanese cinema and provide new knowledge to transnational cinema and screenwriting research. The critical commentary that accompanies the screenplay takes a dialogic approach in practice-led research to explore how various issues emerge for the Western screenwriter in Japanese cinema. These problems are examined with regard to relevant theory, and contextualised in considerations of various films in Japanese-language cinema written by non-Japanese screenwriters. One salient issue is the application of the Hollywood ‘universal’ model of screenwriting to stories about Japan. I also explore the role of agency in screenplay authorship, in particular with regard to notions of ‘Japaneseness.’ I suggest notions of ‘Japaneseness’ are a particular challenge for my creative practice, and examine them in the context of national-transnational tensions in cinema. I draw on 3 theories of transnational cinema to argue that the screenplay written for this PhD, Welcome to Prime-time, is an ‘accented Japanese screenplay.’ I go on to outline how accented Japanese screenplays might be positioned in relation to Japanese national cinema and transnational cinema discourses. I then discuss ‘Japaneseness’ in terms of a related issue: Orientalism. I show how Orientalism remains a trenchant concern for non-Japanese screenwriters representing Japan. This leads to a discussion of how a process of reflective authenticity might equip such screenwriters to depict ‘the Other’ in ways that circumvent Orientalist tropes in order to synthesise both local and global concerns. The process of critical reflection is threaded throughout the PhD, and concludes with a consideration of the notion of ‘becoming Japanese’ as it is depicted in my screenplay, and in my own journey within practice-led research. I posit that this PhD adds to our understanding of transnational screenplays and the contexts transnational screenwriters work within. Furthermore, I suggest the screenplay exhibits a new approach to achieving an ‘authentic’ representation of Japan and the Japanese by Western screenwriters. Note: It is recommended that the reader start with Chapters 1-4 of the critical exegesis. Ideally, the screenplay should be read after Chapter 4 and before Chapter 5. This is indicated in the text. 4 Accompanying Documents: Welcome to Prime-time a screenplay by Alexander McAulay 5 Acknowledgements: I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Craig Batty, Dr. Chris Pullen and Dr. Bronwen Thomas. Their knowledge, patience and insight have been invaluable. Dr. Craig Batty was instrumental in encouraging me to take on this project when I completed the MA Screenwriting course, and he has been a constant source of wisdom and encouragement throughout. I would also like to thank Dr. Shaun Kimber for support in the early stages of the project. I am also immensely grateful to Jan Lewis for her kindness and support on various aspects of the whole PhD undertaking. My family have been incredibly understanding over the years it has taken to complete this PhD journey. I am sincerely grateful for all their support and patience. Thanks also to Brian Dollery, Tsuyoshi Toyama, Yorimitsu Hashimoto, Tomomi Kitamura, Nerida Rand, Roger Pulvers, Barry O’Sullivan, Maura O’Regan, Neil Conway, and Mark Schilling. Formative work for this PhD includes: McAulay, A., 2014. ‘Based on a True Story: Negotiating Collaboration, Compromise and Authorship in the Script Development Process’ in Screenwriters and Screenwriting: Putting Practice into Context. Batty, C (ed). London: Palgrave. McAulay, A., Batty, C., 2016. ‘The Academic Screenplay: Approaching Screenwriting as a Research Practice’ in Writing in Practice: The Journal of Creative Writing Research, 2, NAWE. 1-13. Three Days in Kamakura: Academic Filmmaking in Japan. A paper presented at The 1st Sightlines Conference, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, 2014. Negotiating Representations of ‘the Other’: Writing for Japanese Cinema. A paper presented at Screenwriting Research Network, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 2012. 6 Author’s Declaration: I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 12 The Research Questions 17 The Screenplay Welcome to Prime-time: Origins 19 The Screenplay Welcome to Prime-time: Research Focus 22 CHAPTER ONE: Approach and Methodology 30 Introduction: Contextualising My Creative Practice 30 Orientalism in Cinema 32 Babel (2006): Problematising ‘Universalism’ in Screenwriting 36 Methodological Considerations: A Dialogic Approach 42 Methodological Considerations: Practice-led Research 44 Welcome to Prime-time: Approaches to Discourse and Literature 48 CHAPTER TWO: Authorship and Agency in Screenwriting 53 Introduction 53 Why We Write 54 Creativity in Context 56 The Unstable Author 57 8 Screenplay Ontology 58 Intentionality 63 Authorship Contribution 65 Screenwriting in the Creative/Industrial Nexus 67 Tokyo Sonata (2008): Authorship and Collaboration in Japanese Screenwriting 70 CHAPTER THREE: National and Transnational Cinema in Japan 77 Introduction 77 Writing ‘Japan’ 78 Japanese National Cinema 78 National Cinema 85 Transnational Cinema 88 The Accented Japanese Screenplay 96 National Cinema: Further Considerations 97 The ‘Other’ in Japanese Cinema 100 Welcome to Prime-time as a National and Transnational Text 102 Firefly Dreams (2001) and Merde (2008) 105 Implications for My Creative Practice 111 9 CHAPTER FOUR: Authenticity and Orientalism 118 Introduction 118 Authenticity 120 Orientalism Re-considered 127 Japanese Orientalism 131 Japanese Orientalism in Domestic Cinema 131 Orientalism and the Accented Japanese Screenplay: Like Someone in Love (2012) and Map of the Sounds of Tokyo (2009) 136 Conclusion: Authenticity, Orientalism and Welcome to Prime-time 145 (It is proposed that the screenplay, Welcome to Prime-time, be read here) CHAPTER FIVE: Critical Reflection on the Writing of Welcome to Prime-time 149 Writing a Japanese Screenplay in English 151 Mimesis and Provocation 152 Universalism and Authenticity 163 Negotiating Orientalism 178 Further Screenwriting Craft Considerations 182 CONCLUSION 188 10 REFERENCES 193 FILMOGRAPHY 221 APPENDIX I: Welcome to Prime-time Treatment, Draft 3, May 9, 2011 229 APPENDIX II: Welcome to Prime-time: Character Outlines 246 11 INTRODUCTION I am a British writer resident in Japan. My screenplay, Welcome to Prime-time, is a feature romantic comedy intended to be a Japanese-language film. As such, it will appeal primarily to domestic audiences in Japan, but I also intend that it should appeal to overseas audiences. My context and intentions, thus stated, invite various considerations in practice-led research. Terms such as ‘British,’ ‘intend’ and ‘Japan’ point to critical theories I will invoke to interrogate and enhance my creative practice. Writing this screenplay reveals tensions that emerge in screenwriting craft when trying to synthesise the global and the particular; in trying to tell a story with a setting that is distant and unfamiliar for international audiences. This provides a research context for critical reflection on my own negotiation of the creative and theoretical considerations that are brought into play. One key feature that frames my practice is that of the Western screenwriter living in Japan and writing for Japanese cinema. In labelling myself a ‘Western’ screenwriter, I am utilising the term as shorthand for certain (but not all) European nations and the USA, a custom often found in commentary on film in transcultural comparison, including much of the literature referred to in this PhD. For example, when Donald Richie talks of “a theater showing Western films” (2005, p. 134), we cannot be certain if he means all non-Japanese films, or all non-Asian films, or movies from a bounded set of countries. When Dudley Andrew talks of the “brief Western engagement” (2010, p. 67) of a Japanese film in 1928, we can confidently sense an overlap with Richie’s ‘West,’ but hesitate to say they are identical.