research

[The Baines Hunt Rebel]

i wrote a script for a film about a washed up wrestler called "the pineapple kid" which i finished a little while ago and i wanted it to centre around the demise of british wrestling and how i felt about it then and now from a nostalga childhood memory sort of thing. looking at it again though i wrote it with no kind of basis in truth. i don't want to make a documentary, the characters and the story are fictional but based on a real event, feelings, and i want it to be anchored in reality somehow. i found a great book about exactly this subject and i've written to a few of the people involved but i haven't got too far yet. having said that what i have found out has given me so many new ideas it's untrue. i was wondering what anyone else does in the way of research for their films or if you prefer to wing it.

[no_one119]

To be fair most of mine tend to be based on circumstances that either happened to me or I heard in the news so research isn't something I do too much of. To answer the question: research does not play a big part in my writing. I adhere to the old adage: "Write what you know." At least I will to start with and when (note positive attitude) I get taken seriously (or rather paid) as a filmmaker then I will approach people for advice on the topics I don't fully understand.

The net and magazines as well as the library are good research places.

[Curtin-Parloe]

Write what you know - What about zombie films?
(Please don't reply to this silly joke)

You must be able to write from your experiences where this pertains to relationships between people, but for anything else, it's just an added bonus. Take a tense submarine/spacestation/prison/siege/etc thriller. the locations are just window dressing - the important stuff is about how the different characters react in a confined space.
Research-wise, it's the little things that add colour to your backdrop. Would a prison warder say "Good morning, chaps. Breakfast's ready!" Who knows? You'd have to ask every prison warder in the world to get an accurate answer. You have to wing some of it, but the more you can find out the better. The internet is a great place to find stuff out, but libraries are better.

cheers

paul

PS Is this film a kind of "The Full Nelson"?

PPS get a mac - my PC keeps crashing writing this post

[Generic Skinhead]

I needed some info on "real vampires" i.e. not blade/buffy etc. I went to a website and found a classified section. Now i'm e-mailing a helpful woman in the states who is providing answers to all my questions, which in turn helps my scriptwriting. She even wants to buy the finished film off me. Ace!

[The Baines Hunt Rebel]

the film is a black comedy, monologue by the wrestler about his life cut with him talking and the scenes he talks about played out. when i say research what i mean is that there are hundreds of stories like the one im telling and i want to know what people feel when they come through these situations. i know how i feel about it and how people might feel but it's mainly guess work. like i say it's fiction but it's based on a real event. i've found out loads about the promoters what they were like, exploitation of the wrestlers and stuff like that and the truth is much better than any of the stuff i've written. i'm not talking about getting anal about details im talking about getting an overal feel/ atmosphere which existed at the time of certain parts of the story. and zombie films do need research, most people don't know a radiation zombie from a voodoo zombie, wankers.