Writing for Visual Media, 4e

Chapter 15: You Can Get Paid to Do This

Wuthering Heights

The author wrote a screen adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights for American International Pictures, which was a sequel to their remake of the old black and white film starring Laurence Olivier. The problem was that American International Pictures had killed off Heathcliff in their remake. Since it was successful, they wanted to cash in on that success by filming the rest of the book. Anyone who has read the novel will know that the next generation replays the social drama of the first part and redeems their parent's generation from its hatred and folly. The complete book is a narrative of healing of dark and destructive passions.

We present a Treatment for the film which was never made but which the producers wanted to call Return to Wuthering Heights. There is also an exchange of letters with the Producers giving a flavor of writer/producer relationships.

Click on the links below to see these documents.

Correspondence 1

Correspondence 2

Correspondence 3

Treatment

Pretty Woman

Movie

Trailer

Interviews

AN INTERVIEW WITH PETER CUTLER [Writer, Producer, Director]

Question #1
What is the role of the scriptwriter in corporate video?
    Question #2
    If you separate out the writing role from writer/director/producer combinations, can you differentiate how the writing role works by itself?
      Question #3
      Do you agree with me that a writer is paid to think as much as to write?
        Question #4
        What kind of background to do you think makes a foundation for success writing for corporate media?
          Question #5
          What would you advise a student, or anyone contemplating a career in this field, to do to acquire this foundation for corporate writing?
            Question #6
            We've talked about the relationship of the writer to the producer and director. Which of these is the most difficult?
              Question #7
              Writers understand the difficulty of writing. Do you think producers and directors understand the writer's role?
                Question #8
                When you're a writer who is also directing and/or producing your own work, do you think you become self-indulgent and not sufficiently self-critical? The ancillary to that is that when you write something and hand it over to other creative people, do you think they can add to it and sometimes lift it to some extent?
                  Question #9
                  When you write or develop a script, do you go through the classic stages of concept, treatment, script?
                    Question #10
                    A lot of people considering writing think of entertainment writing—movies and television. They don't see the potential and creative challenge of corporate writing. Although the message and the subject matter are often determined by your client, don't you find that you, as writer, are totally free to invent how to communicate their message and that the creative challenge is exciting and satisfying in a way that entertainment media are often tied to conventions?
                      Question #11
                      How much do you revise and how important do you consider the revision process to be in getting to the final draft?
                        Question #12
                        Do you think the novice writer is too enamored of early drafts? Do you think the writer has to learn to revise in spite of the tendency to fall in love with your own work?
                          Question #13
                          We are dealing with a medium whose power is visual not verbal. How do you write visually when the words you write are merely prescriptions for images?