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Part 4/8 - In the fourth video of our exclusive series with horror filmmaker Ti West (V/H/S, In a Valley of Violence, The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers, The Sacrament, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, The Roost) we talk screenwriting and how Ti gets from idea all the way through to The End when writing his horror movies.
Not conventional in the least, Ti West has never read a book on screenwriting. His scriptwriting education consists of one class in film school and being a film buff who, like Quentin Tarantino, has watched thousands of films of every genre.
What has made Ti a successful filmmaker who delivers compelling films on the market is his ability to get from an inkling of an idea through to the last act and closing lines of his movies. So what drives him forward? Answer: momentum.
Ti says he starts with an idea and a point A and point B which amounts to a very vague screenplay outline: “They [the characters] start here, and know I need to get them to there.” With just an idea and those two points, Ti delves right into writing the script. Getting his characters into that complication, then spring boarding them into the next development has a momentum to it. Ti makes it a point to stay with it, “stay in the zone,” and keep the spark alive while writing.
First time and beginning screenwriters often get to page 30 feeling great and feeling like they’ve got the next blockbuster or indie darling on their hands, only to lose interest or motivation right when things start to get difficult i.e. the 30-page mark. The writer of that very same screenplay will often stop and switch course to write a different script right around page 30. Why? They’re convinced they’ve got a better idea. Ti says that happens to everyone. “The idea that got it to page 30 was probably just as good as the newer idea” but the newer idea is just more interesting to the writer because it’s new.
“The Roost” was the first feature length film Ti committed to writing and seeing it to its end. He’s done the same on every screenplay he’s written since, cranking out the first draft of his screenplays in roughly one week. Rather than expect unbridled genius from himself, he expects that first draft to be bad. Sixty pages into his screenplay, Ti looks at what he has and works to fix what’s bad to being merely passable by his standards. He does the same thing when he gets to page 90. Then once he’s reached the end, he’s got a not-so-bad first draft which he’s ready to pitch. So what’s Ti’s motivation for getting from idea all the way to the final scene of that script? Just having someone to pitch to who’s mildly interested in the film is all the motivation he needs.
If you like Ti’s loose yet disciplined approach to screenplay writing be sure to check out part 3 of Film Connection’s conversations with Ti West which delves into story structure and the all too human and relatable impetus behind his wickedly scary movie “The House of the Devil.”
The House of the Devil, Ti's third feature length film served the filmmaker with a stage in which he could play out his fears of the unknown. Fresh out of college the young filmmaker was trying to find he way and found himself experiencing fear and making the kinds of poor decisions which are born our of fear. It's not by chance then that the protagonist's experience is set off by her taking a job she knows she shouldn't' have taken and... chaos ensues.
When it comes to asking the question as to whether film is art, entertainment, or instrument, the filmmaker seems uninterested in such distinctions but cautions us against "making a movie you think is likeable" and says when it comes to writing and directing films, you have "got to make the movie you want to make."
