I hate writers

I've been much busier than I intended to be this week. Among other things, I have gotten a new work computer sending me through several different hoops trying to recover all my passwords and bookmarks so for a while I couldn't even sign on to blogger. I'm also back to doing actual work at work. It's been a while but now I get to look at the same crappy movies in HD! Nearly twice the mediocrity!

So over here there is a discussion about something called the Dash Riff. If I am not mistaken, I am one of the aforementioned actors in City Mouses example - if not, I can defiantly say that I was on stage during the scene. Having read all the accompanying material, I can say that 1) In a commercial audition if there is another actor reading with you then you can pay around a bit, 2) the chick reading with that guy was a pain, 3) don't do that stuff when you get on set or in the recording booth unless they ask you to.

As a stage actor I know the value of improvisation, and it increases ten fold on film - but editors hate it. Unless it is a wide shot and is perfect. Then we love it, less editing - and more "real."

Now for City Mouse and friends, we've had these conversations personally, but I can not stress this enough: Not every writer who writes a play is a genius. Nor are they all talented, nor are they all competent. The vast majority of people writing plays today don't know how to use the punctuation, let alone all agreeing on what it means.

I believe that Shakespeare has the right idea, put those stops in the rhythm, the verse, and no one will question what it should be. Instead now a days we have one writer from the West Coast who uses the ellipses and another in the Midwest the dash - but they both mean the same thing. The next thing I will hear is that if the writer is from the East Coast, then there will be a special way to say "FUCK."

As someone who works with writers everyday (oh, God help me) I can tell you, they aren't as smart as you think, and they need someone to break there ideas apart. Sometimes they write that junk in because that is the way they hear it in their head - don't let them tell you that is the only way to hear the text. If they are right, fine, good for them, but if they are wrong and you do nothing about it...it becomes your problem.

This could all be coming out because the bad movie I am editing was directed by it's author - so writers arn't my favorite people right now.