Story H: On Creativity & Feelings

INT. GREECE – CHURCH – LITURGY – DAY

SCARLETT, 33, a computer analyst and a screenwriter and ANGELA, her best friend have come to the liturgy. Snapshots from the eagle-like statues, the mesmerizing atmosphere and the passion of the cantors performing Byzantine music. After a while, preaching begins. Moments of reading the gospel before the initiative of the PRIEST.

The priest paraphrases the parable of the transfiguration of Jesus that was supposed to have dinner with a woman, only to be kicked out three times.

PRIEST

Jesus was supposed to have dinner with a woman, at her house. She was expecting him. It was winter and it was cold. The following day, a poor and devastated woman of old age came knocking on her door, asking for a blanket. She threw her out, telling her she was expecting guests. After a while, another man came asking for food. ‘Go away, I have nothing to give you, I didn’t cook for you’, she said to him throwing him out of her house. After a few hours, a poor and fatigued man came knocking on her door asking for money. ‘This wealth is not yours’, she said and slammed the door in his face. Jesus had not come yet. The next morning, she met Jesus. ‘I’ve been waiting for you, where have you been?’ she asked him. ‘I came three times to you and you kicked me out’. ‘What do you mean?’ she continued surprised. ‘Three poor people, a woman and two men, came at your house asking you to give them warmth, food and money. It was me; I was transformed!’ The woman was shocked and asked for forgiveness…

As he explains the main message of the parable, there’s a glimpse of the Gothic art-like decoration of the Church and the full of passion audience that is being taught.

CUT.

LATER…

EXT. GREECE – CHURCH YARD – DAY

The liturgy is over and people have been given the holy bread to eat. The belfry is being heard as an act of triumph and people already chit-chat with one another.

SCARLETT
Transfigurations are all around us but we barely notice…

ANGELA
Not sure you completely mean what you say.

SCARLETT
I see what others cannot see…

ANGELA
You need an emphasis on your creative mediums.

SCARLETT
Are you referring to my work as a computer analyst and a screenwriter?

ANGELA
Art and Science. Period.

SCARLETT
Creativity originates from our subconscious…

ANGELA
You shall firstly bring it on the conscious level and only later shall you worry about subconscious motifs.

INT. GREECE – COMPUTER STUDIO – ESSAY WRITING – DAY

Scarlett has brought Angela to her computer studio. As the girls get excited with the multiple computers and the work that Scarlett is in the middle of, they start to discuss her recent piece of writing, in between the writing of it.

ANGELA
You’re so open to ideas and abstract logic, Scarlett. You can become a great writer, talking about unproven concepts and theories. You always see patterns and connections not obvious to others…

Scarlett feels excited writing while listening to her best friend. She now searches for quotable language in the internet.

SCARLETT
Are we still figuring out our limits? Some lines were never meant to be crossed however good your cause may seem.

ANGELA
I’m just suggesting to bring things forth.

Scarlett is ready to bounce over her chair with excitement when she discovers a fascinating quote.

SCARLETT
Hey, watch this how it goes, by Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

ANGELA
Meaning?

SCARLETT
That the less accessible paths may hide rough grounds known to very few of us.

Scarlett is in the middle of completing her piece of writing. Giggling with excitement, there are computer snapshots of her creativity at hand as a computer analyst and a writer.

INT. CALIFORNIA – THEATER PERFORMANCE – NIGHT

Scarlett and Angela have gone to the theater to see a remake of Finding Neverland. Several snapshots of the actor portraying J. Barrie, his platonic affair with Sylvia and the relation with her sons that inspired him of writing the story with Peter Pan. They feel moved and excited.

CUT.

LATER…

THEATER BREAK – OUTER SPACE – NIGHT

Angela and Scarlett are having a cigarette while eating pop-corn.

ANGELA
Did it ever cross your mind by now we should all feel responsible of acknowledging our own feelings?

SCARLETT
Emotion is, what tunes matter. The way I got it from J. Barrie.

ANGELA
Do you feel vindicated for the choices you made along your creative and personal life?

SCARLETT
I can only say vindicated for my knowledge and experience of learning to interpret the world… As well as providing myself with excellent opportunities to develop. But… you never know.

ANGELA
I believe, you have something of the sparkle of Christopher Nolan, who put epistemological foundations in writing.

The audience has started leaving the yard of the theater for the second part of Finding Neverland. As the story is highly exciting, there have been paparazzi coming from all over America to interview actors after the premiere. They push and bully each other to be the first.

SCARLET
You never know.

ANGELA
So, may I know what is the meaning of Neverland in your own life? What does it mean to find this elusive and far-reaching place of yours you call a dream?

SCARLET
I should remind you of the liturgy, that we never know or better say most of the times we don’t know the forms through which goodness or Jesus try to visit us…

ANGELA
We should only believe that everything happens for a purpose, right?

SCARLETT
There you go, girl!

Angela and Scarlett are getting prepared to go back to theater to watch the second part of the play.

Photo Credits: Menelaos Gkikas 

Story G: On Virtues & A Well Examined Life...

1.) INT. LONDON – BRENDA’S WRITING STUDIO – AFTERNOON

BRENDA, 21, an English literature student, is having discussions over the internet. The atmosphere is electrified. We watch her next to her elaborately decorated pinboards. A few snapshots on her lips casting her first words:

BRENDA
Me, myself and I…

In between her ambiguous look showing humor as well as sarcasm, she finishes publishing several of her stories in her website.

BRENDA
Let’s see now what kind of metal are you made of, kids…

After a few moments, JACK, 20, an actor, Brenda’s boyfriend, messages her on Viber. Brenda, taken away from her laptop for a few moments to have a break, barely manages to see his name on her iPhone.

BRENDA
Here comes trouble…!

Jack, partly jealous as a result of missing the train with their affair, provocatively stupid and pretentiously off topic, trolls her creative writing accomplishments. Meanwhile, he flushes from the other side of the phone. She glimpses his message.

JACK (written word)
Hello dolly! I’ve read several of your publications… How will all these be done?

Looking angry and ready to raise her decibels, she partly manages to show a neutral response over the phone.

BRENDA (typing)
What exactly do you mean, Jackie?

In between snapshots of their faces as well as their touchscreens, she aggressively continues the response.

BRENDA (typing)
Another delirium of yours?

JACK calls her directly over the Viber.

JACK
Who do you think you are?

BRENDA (furious)
You are not a delegate neither of my partners nor of my family.

Brenda angrily locks her iPhone completely and heads back over her laptop. The crazy little feast of the Facebookians has lit up…

Brenda is bombarded from all over the world in her Messenger, with questions about the booming success of her new books and their plots. Messages roll over the screen with speed.

LORNA
You rock girl! Show them your class!

NAUGHTY GIG has typed both sided emoticons together with a YouTube upload, “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”.

MEAN GIRLS
We’ve come to shake your hand!

TOBIAS (story-wise)
Are they dead?

THE INVISIBLE
You’re the chosen one! You’re great!

Brenda, moved and happy now that her work makes perfect sense of her past and future, shuts down her computer and heads over her bed with the iPhone at hand. As she lays over there to get some rest, she closes her eyes and immediately flashes back to her amateur years of being trained as a writer. The vision of one of her first professors appears.

THE VISION
Unless you show some self-reliance, you will be found fighting with many forces doing good but also doing evil…!

A teardrop rolls on her cheek out of exciting memories.

BRENDA
I guess we’ve learned that maneuver really well, professor, right?

2.) EXT. LONDON – HARD ROCK CAFE – DAY

Brenda and Jack are having a breakfast out in the yard of Hard Rock Café in London, being on the verge of breaking up. It’s summer and there’s an otherworldly charm applying a peculiar effect at their talkings. The outside world seems joyfully celebrating.

BRENDA
Where have your acting, or better say pretending abilities led you Jackie, so far?

JACK (almost collapsing)
Definitely not in choosing sides, like you do.

BRENDA
I didn’t choose a side but a sidekick. But you haven’t learned to love yet, right? You only cared about race horses that will continuously run for new accomplishments…

JACK (furious)
Accomplishments? You wanna know about accomplishments?

BRENDA
Jockeying for position…

As the music of Hard Rock Café is getting groovier and people pass by with excitement in the mood of summer festivities, their conversation reaches a climax.

JACK
I care about peace and well-being.

BRENDA (ironic, giggling)
Full of love…

JACK
Yes, love.

BRENDA
Well, let me state the case for you Jack. This is not an emotional issue. You do something right, you have a working plan and that’s great. Anything else is just misery.

JACK (feeling defeated)
So long, Brenda Wells. I could still see you again at some other universe.

3.) INT. LONDON - ENGLISH LITERATURE AMPHITHEATRE – DAY

Being after the end of summer vacations, Brenda is brought back to the everyday excitement of university life. Students’ long memory and deep hard drives are once again into the mood of writing hits. A few snapshots linking their brainstorming and storytelling inspiration, showing the perversion of the most geniuses in other words, with the eschatology of the 21st century. Students are in the midst of writing again.

A little while before the start of their university class, the atmosphere in the amphitheatre is electrified. DR. WHALES would be teaching the Romantics.

STUDENT A
Who is teaching the Romantics?

STUDENT B
His majesty of Dr. Whales!

STUDENT C
It gets me up!

BRENDA (partly confident)
Are you serious?

STUDENT D
Seriousness, accountability, it seems we’ll have to memorize the entire Lord Byron by heart…

The class begins as Dr. Whales enters the amphitheatre. Rumors in the class started naming him The Unorthodox professor.

STUDENT B (partly whispering)
Attack on the Titan!

BRENDA (mystified)
The Titan?

Student C, sitting next to Brenda, silently whispers to her with his hand over his mouth.

STUDENT C
Prometheus!

It was partly known due to his former classes Dr. Whales always used to start his classes with some anecdotes related to Prometheus.

DR. WHALES
Good morning class, we’ll be doing The Romantics this semester and you shall be quested to exceed all expectations. You’ll be doing research, comparative literature, prepare for the exams as well as writing your own pieces.

He stays silent for one moment.

DR. WHALES starts narrating the story of Prometheus, The Titan who is occupied with the Creation of Man by clay. He steals the creative fire from The Gods and attributes it to humans and as a result of that, he is being found onto a rock with eagles eating his livers every now and then…

DR. WHALES
And what is known as the moral lesson of this story, may I know?

BRENDA
Professor?

DR. WHALES
Yes, may I know your name?

BRENDA
I’m Brenda. How can someone from a champion of humanity be led to unpredicted outcomes…

DR. WHALES
Exactly! What dear Brenda here foreshadows is that with me, you will be battling Renaissance! The clash with the past so to surpass classical antiquity belongs to those who have closed the doors with it completely. As long as that’s true, we can’t be doing synthetic work which shall be the quest and the utmost ideal of yours. Am I understood?

Brenda flashes back to her break up at the Hard Rock Café only to bring back to memory a quote she had heard at cinema, somewhere in the internet land by great actors.

The laptop screen is brought onto her mind.

ACTOR
A well examined life is a life worth living…

Photo Credits: Menelaos Gkikas

Story F: Students-Instructors Teams Search Their True Calling!

1.) INT. NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOL – REHEARSAL STUDIOS – DAY

KEVIN, 26, daily inspires his students quoting the Dead Poets Society, “Seize the day” & “Words change lives” were his recent comments to them. They’re having a rehearsal for their dancing-theatrical performance near the end of their school year.

KEVIN

There’s only one thing I should remind you kids in the midst of acting classes. You should get trained in stop listening to other voices.

BRENDA, 16, an actor, looks awkward while playing, listening to his realizations. They’re playing next to a piano while having several moments for breaks and coaching. This time was one of them, at the moment of ending their scene.

BRENDA

Getting us disillusioned professor? Let’s see where this will lead us…

Kevin also plays the piano. He sits in front of it, and they prepare for their next scene.

KEVIN

Becoming spectators and hands clappers is a worse case than merely being disillusioned folks…

BRENDA

And you won’t stop until you save the world, right?

Students gossip silently and laugh while listening to acting advices. They look absorbed and over performing in their numbers while the atmosphere has something of the magic of early youth actors.

Kevin starts playing a piece of music and one by one his students listen and some of them start participating and following his rhythm.

CUT.

LATER…

STUDENTS, talk and gossip while at a break in the rehearsal studios.

BRENDA

Someone should get interested about his trajectory. I hate seeing him decay…

JASON, who has listened to his classmate’s comment approaches her sarcastically.

JASON

You are having a crush Brenda, right?

BRENDA

Worrying to match words with actions affects all of us Jason. I feel sorry for you as well…

JASON

The school diva… Who got As in his class and believes the world is at her feet!

BRENDA

I have found my voice, Jason. Pity for those like you, who still wear masks!

As Kevin re-enters their company, they’re getting prepared for the play.

2.) INT. NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOL – STUDENTS’ CLASSROOM – BREAK – DAY

Students nearly finish their math class. As their professor leaves their classroom, they take sometime to talk. Brenda sits next to JULIE and they start talking.

JULIE

Kevin worries about our voice and you, decided to weigh all of them Brenda, right?

BRENDA

Hey, lose the attitude Julie, OK?

JULIE

Kevin believes that if he becomes more professional and less an ecologist, he will lose something of his treasured creativity. I’m fed up! I might decide of letting go of my part. See ya…

Julie ends the discussion with a sarcastic smile, stands up and leaves the classroom…

As Brenda shakes her head buffled, she stands up as well and heads outside the classroom straight towards the lockers. The atmosphere inside school halls is cheerful and there’s music and talk doing coming from the megaphones of the school radio. Space and time during these moments get something from the sparkle of eternity.

As two girls, KELLY and MYRIAM from their class next to theirs gossip on Brenda, she reaches the lockers. Meanwhile they decide to approach her.

KELLY

The entire high is talking about your performance Brenda. Has the protagonist part been locked on you, by now?

As Brenda takes her books and locks her lockers, she shows she has nothing to say to her competitors and weaves goodbye with minimal words.

BRENDA

You bet so, little girls…

Near the exit of their school hall towards the campus, Kevin stares at Brenda from apart and decides to reach out to her. Brenda has a mixed outlook whenever she talks to him outside from some school performance. As she walks towards the exit, she weaves at him and walks a little bit faster to meet him. Kevin takes off his earphones listening to music and starts talking.

KEVIN (enthusiastically)

What’s up Brenda? Are you still passionate to act? The performance is in less than 3 weeks.

BRENDA (partly ironic, partly content)

Light my fire Mr. Robinson!

KEVIN

Take away the other world’s influence my dear… For no matter how hard you try, you still struggle to come to life…

BRENDA

So, I should make bigger mistakes of feeling complete with it?

KEVIN

The devil is in the details…

BRENDA

If only you could listen to your raw material and listen to the words you say…

They greet each other and leave.

3.) INT. NEW YORK – HIGH SCHOOL PARTY – BASKETBALL STADIUM – NIGHT

Students are having a party while the former cheerleaders of their previous events perform a dancing number. The school year has finished and there’s a sense of melancholy in their face. They look more mature than usual in the face of time.

As Brenda talks with some rest of her classmates, they’re holding a drink while feeling excited about the future. JACK, an antagonist of Brenda in the play takes the floor. He looks content with finishing the year but partly disappointed with Brenda.

JACK

I only have one complaint about you, Brenda…

BRENDA

I’m all ears!

JACK

From the very first day you started mingling with theater and other school projects, you seem to believe the rest of us exist outside of you…

BRENDA (partly hostile)

Failing to become a double personality like you?

JACK

There’s a timing you have to listen at, Brenda, make it count…

Brenda looking partly arrogant and moving her head towards the opposite direction, she pays attention to her best friend at the other side of the stadium and beckons him to come closer.

BRENDA (to JACK)

There’s always something you have to give and take Jack… Not very good with compromising…

JACK

Unless you’re forced to confess your true self…

BRENDA (turning the argument to the other side)

Willing to try Jack? You have a long road to walk.

Meanwhile, Brenda’s best friend ROBERT arrives and she makes a few steps outside of her previous company.

The party goes on.

Photo Credits: Menelaos Gkikas

Story E: The Unbearable Lightness Of Youth!

 

INT. HELSINKI – MUSICAL RESTAURANT – CHRISTMAS – NIGHT

 

JOHNNY and JULIE, his girlfriend, have gone on a Christmas excursion at the snowy and elaborately decorated Helsinki. They’re having dinner at a musical restaurant that plays ballads. During the beginning of their affair, they’re enjoying deeper conversations regarding Johnny’s character and memories.

 

JULIE

I’d be delighted if you would open up about your early youth, Johnny! You seem profound enough for me to know there’s mystery behind a beautiful man…

 

JOHNNY

The years defined by our previous childhood, my my! They were definitely unforgettable.

 

JULIE (wondering)

So?

 

JOHNNY (enthusiastic)

I was a hell of a great student in math and natural sciences. But I would not lose the chance to enjoy family life as well.

 

JULIE

What was the driving force behind such a performance? Can you identify your influences?

 

JOHNNY

Science was definitely not an end in itself! I used to find excitement in reading about hidden symmetries in cosmos, knowing the notion of expelling fear, seeking dreams and nightmares, seeking the truth, searching the real power of symbols, be a fan of ballads and music and last but not least my persistence in excelling at science.

 

While Julie drinks a sip of white wine, the soft music coming back from the piano intensifies. They’re having a mouthful of food so to continue their discussion.

 

JULIE

Only a few words for a lifetime of inquiries! I would be delightful to get to such discussions continuously…

 

JOHNNY

My honor, Julie.

 

JULIE

So, what was it exactly that you were searching at math being so young? A math wizard or an explorer of perfection?

 

JOHNNY

It was only in my later years that I read in a book about The Platonic dream stating our world is nothing else but the materialistic incarnation of a mathematical idea! Subconsciously back then, such equations had been my motivation…

 

JULIE

Meaning above the scope of mere science. Was it music as well, for you, a case of mathematical beauty? You mentioned ballads indeed.

 

JOHNNY

It’s definitely true and we all know it that music has a mathematical structure.

 

JULIE

We’re gonna have plenty of time Johnny here in Helsinki to talk about art and science. Right now, I’m just enjoying the piano over there.

 

While Johnny gets a mouthful of food, he wipes his mouth and takes the floor.

 

JOHNNY

He’s a wonderful player. He’s driving me back to the years of innocence!

 

The couple continues eating with the font of a Christmas decorated restaurant.

 

INT. HELSINKI – HOTEL LOUNGE – CHRISTMAS – NIGHT

 

The couple stares at the fireplace sitting next to it at the lounge of the hotel. There are two or three other couples and individuals present and passing by inside the hotel, including the hotelier who finds chances to talk with her clients.

 

JULIE

I suppose there were voices by movies Johnny that made you emerge these concepts we were discussing back at the restaurant. You remind me of Contact and Sliders.

 

JOHNNY

That’s the truth, Julie!

 

JULIE

Only the truth of emerging pictures or the one you’ve been seeking?

 

JOHNNY

Well, inspired by our Creator as well, in the beginning there is word… We, humans may miss the medium between how words can shape universal matter.

 

JULIE

To the point, Johnny, was it mere science that inspired you as a teenager?

 

JOHNNY

I guess all great students exhibit hidden parts of some form of epic fantasy…

 

While sparks fly out from the fireplace, Johnny manages to get out a sweet potato.

 

JOHNNY (CONT’D)

Hey, wanna taste some?

 

JULIE

Definitely yes!

 

As Johnny and Julie enjoy the food, Julie takes the chance later on to pinpoint her arguments.

 

JULIE (CONT’D)

Importance, progress, knowledge, power, recognition, are notions equally important that emerge out of the effective dealing with scientific problem solving.

 

JOHNNY

You mean that hermeneutics might be the counterpart of rational thinking and science, right?

 

Julie drinks a sip of coffee.

 

JULIE

It’s the journey that we make to get back to our country being our childhood years.

 

EXT. HELSINKI – SNOWY PUBLIC SQUARE CAFÉ – DAY

 

Johnny and Julie are drinking tea and having morning breakfast at a café in the snowy public square at a district of Helsinki. They’re wearing their coats and skull caps.

 

JOHNNY

Let us not try to rationalize our fears, Julie…

 

JULIE

I’m all ears to hear the analysis of it!

 

JOHNNY

When your instincts tell you something’s not good but you lack later evidence of proving that, don’t ignore them. They’re usually right!

 

As the couple enjoys having breakfast, there’s silence and a few moments afterwards Johnny continues.

 

JOHNNY (CONT’D)

The risk is real but fear is a choice.

 

Julie looks mystified by the fact that everything can be put under pen and paper.

 

JULIE

They all carry a story, right? So, Johnny, tell me, what did it take you to be able to explain all that so simply?

 

JOHNNY

Falling flat on my face and being inspired by a few good men who happened to come on my path…

 

JULIE (in awe)

It takes a lot more than just a good company, right?

 

JOHNNY

Remember, Julie, with fear and the power of symbols, like with the shot of Quinn’s counterpart in Sliders, if we only seek success but we fear the measurement of it including rejection, we’ll come up with inner conflict. It means we focus more on failure and that dominates us.

 

JULIE

Grown-ups love numbers, Johnny. It’s high time we embraced measure.

 

JOHNNY

Independent from the rules!

 

JULIE

Independent.

 

Julie kisses Johnny’s cheek as they continue with their day at the square.

Story D: "Not In This World, Sebastian...!"

INT. LA CALIFORNIA – WRITING ROOM – WINTER DAY

SEBASTIAN has a break in his writing office. He looks absorbed by the tools, whiteboards, pinboards, templates, verbal acknowledgement of structural components, his library, software, notes and printed screenplays around him, in terms of his recent screenwriting venture. MIA, who’s having a break drinking coffee next to Sebastian, accompanies him with her thoughts.

MIA
The great writer at work! How’s it going, my dear? A penny for your thoughts…

SEBASTIAN
Have you read this book Mia?

Sebastian grabs Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces and holds it next to his face to show it to Mia.

MIA
It’s definitely a great book, of course! It portrays the hero’s journey.

SEBASTIAN
That exists as an expression of the writer but not as a creation. That’s my greatest conflict right now in my mindset.

Sebastian, who is a Physicist and a Writer and Mia, who is a Musical Programmer take advantage of the environment to reach their arguments. Mia sits next to Sebastian’s piano pretending she is a singer – sings a little – and Sebastian mimes with his hands writing fastly on the keyboard.

MIA
I guess your Einstein studies didn’t quite predict such an evolution, right?

SEBASTIAN
This is a war and not a fairytale, Mia.

MIA
Go on then. Express yourself. What’s holding you back?

SEBASTIAN
Beyond the script assumptions of a narrative economy. It’s a match made in hell right now of how I will manage to reach the other side, complete the script and sell it…

MIA
We should all feel grateful of who we are including the respect of our ego.

As Mia keeps playing the piano and Sebastian gets up to play with his telescope based next to his window in this quite big and comfortable room, Mia draws back from her experiences in music. She looks at the piano with a joyful and enigmatic look.

SEBASTIAN
It looks you’re so confident and serious when it comes to creativity, right?

MIA
Not in this world, Sebastian…! At least not when it seems you bit the apple.

SEBASTIAN
Meaning?

MIA
Do you truly believe artists are the sole persons who can have the life they desire? You? An internationally renowned Physicist? Oh boy, it’s a multifaceted world!

As Sebastian stays silent and looking serious, he grabs a book and browses its first pages only to pronounce the quote he had written inside of it. He shows the quote to Mia with his one hand.

SEBASTIAN
“In the journey of discovering ourselves, the subject is more important than the label”.

INT. LA CALIFORNIA – WORKPLACE BREAK ROOM – LOUNGE – DAY

Sebastian also works as a data scientist in a multinational. They’re having a break from work and he has called Mia, his girlfriend, at the company to have a good time during their break. Whiteboards with equations also exist in the lounge.

MIA
You must be giving a tough battle right now, right?

SEBASTIAN
It’s just this whirlwind of attributes doesn’t always function…

MIA
Says who?

SEBASTIAN (ironic)
The data scientist!

MIA
Science is independent from the scope it’s being used for… Just remember how many physicists from your class became data scientists, how many of them became researchers at e.g. the LHC at CERN and how many of them ended up primary secondary education professors at public schools…

While Sebastian looks somewhat annoyed and serious, he gets up to approach the whiteboard next to him to play with a few equations…

MIA (angry, CONT’D)
Never ever confuse the science with the career Sebastian…

SEBASTIAN
I guess we may not all deserve a wonderful world…

MIA
Is this your conclusion from your writing hurdles?

SEBASTIAN
I guess so!

MIA
Well, it’s not true, not even for your future colleagues in the entertainment industry.

SEBASTIAN
Where are you heading at, Mia?

MIA
Even producers and directors nowadays are technology heavyweights from what you already know from their resumes and being a writer, a sci-fi writer concerning your script means that accuracy is not guaranteed. You have to find your inner voice…

SEBASTIAN
I guess I will have to invest more time, maturity and a decent amount of money…

Mia with a faint smile now that Sebastian tries to find an edge, get’s up from the table and hits him at the shoulder while he gets back from the whiteboard to sit.

MIA (enthusiastic)
That’s right!

INT. LA CALIFORNIA – COFFEEHOUSE – SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Mia and Sebastian are having a coffee while they discuss their experiences and Sebastian’s journey. They look partly happy and partly disappointed by their realizations.

MIA
You were always looking to find certain standards at people, Seb. Now it seems that affected you as well…!

SEBASTIAN
I’ve been at theater workshops, volunteerism, writing associations, book clubs, dance schools…

Sebastian looks disappointed that his past enquiries didn’t seem to work or be fruitful.

MIA
So?

SEBASTIAN
We can’t predict how others think. Plus, it was an alchemy in my mind to believe such institutions could possibly solve someone else’s problems.

MIA
They’re doing their work, Sebastian… What’s yours?

SEBASTIAN
Being affected I suppose… Political fanatism, underdeveloped individuals, left wing partly rebels, Facebook attacks and indifference is what I ended up mingling with.

MIA
Has that led you to illumination?

Sebastian looks Mia with wonder.

SEBASTIAN
That I should focus on serving myself and not serving the world I suppose…

While Mia and Sebastian are drinking a few sips of coffee, they’re preparing to pay the bill.

Story C: The Student Surpasses His Masters!

                                    

INT. LA SILICON VALLEY – UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM – DAY

AI graduate students have submitted their ideas at the entrepreneurial center of the university for consideration. There’s a pile of papers next to DR. RICHARD’S desk while he reviews the profile of his best student, JACK.

DR. RICHARD
(excited)
 

AI and math with honors, Google Academy, Johns Hopkins, Creative Writing, a thought leader with a record of repetitive innovations in the internet, screenwriter, developer, Jack… I’m impressed!

JACK
 

Thanks a lot professor, it’s an honor hearing you say it.
 

DR. RICHARD
 

So, Jack… what brings you by?
 

JACK
 

A chance to get recognized and ranked for my pioneering work!

Two other students, BRANDON and MARK gossip Jack close to one another.
 

BRANDON
(tilting his head towards Mark)
 

Moves with guts, pal…!
 

MARK
(whispering)
 

You bet they are!
 

DR. RICHARD
 

I believe you will have ample time and opportunities to prove that! That’s it, people, for today. Remember the final day for filing papers is one week from now. Mind the homework, the exams and get ready to write history. It’s your turn, now!
 

Dr. Richard stands up, packs his notes inside his suitcase and leaves the auditorium. It’s time for a break.
 

CUT.
 

INT. LA – UNIVERSITY HALLS – DAY – A FEW MOMENTS LATER
 

Students are having a break from class. The place is crowded, there’s noise, while Jack chit chats with his fellow classmate, GEORGE.

GEORGE
 

You have an extraordinary history of accomplishments Jack! Interested to explain your past and your pitfalls behind this experience?
 

JACK
 

Got fed up with going back and forth with high school math logic and reading poetry gobbledygook by inglorious professors. You know… the web!
 

GEORGE
(happily smiling)
 

Hey, hey, that’s competitive intelligence or better say… your own shadows?!
 

JACK
It’s the price of science into the applied world. There are ups and downs everywhere…
 

The two students head towards the coffee machine next to the canteen. As soon as Jack grabs a cup of coffee he replies back.
 

JACK (CONT’D)
 

You know, science and math are superficial while in high school. Being bombarded with dozens of equations, vague theories for years, bemusing your head vainly, without knowing how to use anything at all… Just for the showoff of saying I know…!
 

GEORGE
 

So, what’s the difference between good and bad science?
 

JACK
 

Time? It’s only a game of physicists, chemists and mathematicians that believe they will have to learn piles of complicated equations by-heart…
 

GEORGE
(enthusiasted)
 

So that weeee, can have a chance to change the world now, right?
 

JACK
(shaking his finger)
 

Not with your ego…! Also a contradiction to some university professors who believe the world, students, are their marionettes…

 

GEORGE

 

Marionettes of their own ideas.
 

CUT.

INT. LA – JACK’S FAMILY DETACHED HOUSE – AFTERNOON
 

Jack has called NICOLE & BRENDA - his classmmates – at his home to study together. They looked puzzled and absorbed over the table with open books and notes on entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. They have a discussion.
 

BRENDA
 

It’s big ideas and not big money that can make positive difference. Pure and simple!
 

JACK
 

Are you thinking the one without the other, Brenda?
 

BRENDA
 

No, just thinking of my sequence of steps.
 

NICOLE
 

Bigger than what you were used to in some initial schools, Jack.
 

BRENDA
 

You can’t have traction without money or money without traction, folks. Just like the chicken or the egg dilemma.
 

JACK
 

But we can focus for those, who seek to find a way to leave their world behind…! Do you remember this is a Jumanji quote?
 

NICOLE
 

You’re so Robin Williams as an artist, Jack, at many aspects of him!
 

Being baffled inside the books and the coursework, Brenda decides to throw the books on the table and take a break.
 

BRENDA
 

Anyone out in the garden for a cigarette?
 

JACK
After a few of our noble interests, but it’s actually words that change lives, right?
 

Nicole and Brenda cheerfully nibble Jack and they all go out together.
 

FADE OUT.

Story A: The Transfigurations Of A Poetically Inspired Scientist!

This is a story about the things that change, a story of transfigurations that depicts how from the old occur the new...! 

 

Biblically inspired, writer and physicist Noah discusses with his son Robert inside the abyss of his leather-bound books into the library of his study office.

 

Visions and rebirths take place and suddenly Noah and Robert are witnesses of the re-animation of Noah's past. The entire set of characters he once interacted with are there, into a unique space to interact with him and lead to enlightenment...

 

Will he manage to accept the power of his past and his ideas?

 

INT. NY – STUDY ROOM – DAY

NOAH sits on his leather chair at his study office in his apartment. As a background, including the two side walls, there is a library with leather-bound books on the shelves of which there are numerous wooden constructions and sentimental cultural items including scientific equipment.

VOICE OVER

This will be a story about the things that change, a story on transfigurations, to portray how from the old occur the new, a poetic testament of NOAH revealing how one man’s vision can be shifted into the universe of words and change lives! A physicist and a writer, that is Noah, is found at the in-between of his past life with the future exploiting the precious love of his family to change perceptions. Who is to say about destiny in front of God’s eyes?

NOAH is discussing with his son, ROBERT, at his office. They read John’s Revelation. ROBERT closes his eyes to start envisioning the city of God. There’s an otherworldly electricity in the atmosphere at the shades of dark brown and creamy light pink, equivalent with the interior decoration of the office.

ROBERT

And out of precious stones, gold and several other artifacts there will be created a Heaven in which there will be no anathema and people there will reign as kings forever!

Robert soliloquizes. Noah stares at his son with an approbative look. Immediately afterwards Robert slightly opens his eyes and uses his imagination to start transforming the environment around him.

ROBERT

At the beginning, there is only word. And word will become the poetic tool of God to create a universe that is not made up by atoms but by tiny stories…

NOAH (passionate and inspired with his son)

You know it, Robert! The power of God is inside of you! What is it that’s keeping you from accepting God into your deeds and actions and transform your life?

ROBERT

Our life, father, is a far cry from what once it could be. The question is, are we willing to fight and adapt and struggle to get back to our own Belle Epoque of creativity?

NOAH 

(disappointed)

Naaah… We got disappointed once but life is for those who keep trying!

VOICE-OVER

There was always a vision inside Noah’s head, the windswept sperms of which were being reflected into the environment and were being got back through the prism of words inside his online diary. As if this was a canon that perhaps, what he once thought it could be his own identity was not what it seemed and there were always paradigms and humans from the outside, with the same common basic needs with him that were guiding his thoughts and actions. Even though not the perfect decision maker, he was a great listener. But now, there was something in both of them and their thoughts that was being rebirthed around them, as an invisible miracle or an act of Renaissance.

INT. NY – LIVING ROOM - DAY

Paintings and figures were being reanimated, leather-bound books onto the tables were being opened to emit stardust, men from the past were being brought back in his memory and even this fatal period of being an entrepreneur would remind him the bittersweet days of his glory but also the other side of doom.

ROBERT

As a writer and a scientist haunted by the excitement but also the ghosts of the past, I believe dad you possess the perfect raw material to refine your future. The question that remains to be answered is…, are you willing to?

NOAH

It’s still… it, Robert! Notions and words and ideas isolated and personified can be the best argument when we read literature for example but I still can’t explain it in real life.

ROBERT

Then perhaps it’s the interpretation that you give. A selfish approach with which you complete the entire work as a team, on your own thoughts and then cancel the other side…

NOAH

A team… Or an imagined dream team… I guess it’s just a matter of time and mind…

A sudden shift into Noah’s and Robert’s study office and John’s Revelation that was being left onto the desk was being opened to create apparitions in the room. As if all the people that Noah interacted with at the past, were being brought back as avatars from parallel universes, his beloved ghosts, and they would interact with him, emerged from the spacetime of Revelation, only to lead to catharsis.

FIGURE 1

You’re being lost inside the flow Noah…! Management should be all about spirituality!

FIGURE 2

These should be moments of great decisions…!

FIGURE 3

Congratulations! I wish only distinctions for you Noah!

FIGURE 4

I can’t found a theory if I don’t accept a hypothesis externally defined! For Einstein, this was the speed of light…

As a stream of consciousness and memories, a light beam risen from the book and travelled up to the living room, these apparitions into the air had come back, so now Noah’s mind was being bombarded by a mixed reality of emotions and thoughts.

ROBERT

I believe mocking is a repetitive motif when it comes to your history dad… Dirtying the sacred maybe?

NOAH 

(shocked and reactive)

I don’t know! I just don’t know!

ROBERT

Any idea of how to honor your past and the memory of all those you left behind?

NOAH 

(shocked)

Words and patterns… Scientists are makers of patterns…

Noah immediately afterwards started to touch and play with the wooden constructions and the scientific equipment that was found in their living room. A wooden globe standing in the middle of it, a small telescope onto a shelf, a ship resembling the boat of Columbus, a kaleidoscope, Noah would turn around the medium size space and would fight with his ideas and emotions.

NOAH (CONT’D)

I guess we shouldn’t put the blame to men that did everything they could and they just had no more to give, right? Or it’s just that they couldn’t give…

ROBERT

The future holds secrets only the past can reveal… And in this journey, nothing is what it seems and nothing lasts forever!

VOICE-OVER

Noah has been a scientist and a writer who would lack the motivation to acknowledge the good that was being done to him and only accuse others based on their weaknesses and personal attacks! Not until the revelatory experience had he realized destiny was only known to God and unless he could find a way to reconcile with him and his own stories, he couldn’t be expecting of more to come… And even though perfection belongs to Him and only, force majeure is a reality of humans, right?

Multimedia Publishing OR Cinematic Storytelling

Dear friends I’ve been entangled to a dialogistic synergy with WeScreenplay, Hollywood’s #1 Script Coverage services and I can definitely say outputs and conclusions fascinate me. Before I delve deeply into it, I would like to explain the rationale of this dialogue influenced from other experience. We get notes. We get notes on concept, plot, characters, structure, dialogue, overall impression. So suddenly we realize interpretations are ambiguous, multifaceted and those of us who definitely like to express ourselves in many ways can definitely go wrong. But in order to flex your intellectual muscles it’s all about interaction. Sometimes this risks reliability. For example, a Greek journalist has invited an astrobiologist at his broadcast to talk about life in the universe and extra-terrestrials... No matter how much scientists we are, we or somebody else, can we correlate and identify? No. What on earth does “this” journalist know in terms of asking the right questions, in terms of asking the critical meanings and hidden wisdom so to produce an interesting scientific outcome on the discussion of whether we are alone or not in the universe? Nothing. To communicate and discuss on somebody’s expertise requires going deep as well as putting pressure on the right points. These were the comments of WeScreenplay as well. Being indicated that I ask outstanding questions, meaning questions that penetrate to the essence of writing and crisis recovery, I have also come up with conclusions of how to think of my self-publishing ventures. But let’s just view at the facts analytically. Many times, but not the case for the entire of scripts, literaturistic characters prove not more than 35% sufficiency than cinematic characters...! Many of us think as litterateurs, not entertainers or actors...

Literature is the arena of sophisticated descriptions and we have seen already that if canons of literature unify with the canons of screenwriting, then movie scripts can be considered audio-visual literature as well. Many times, mere literature but not cinematic storytelling, rotates around completely different natures of narrative elements and dimensions. There may be thought, fantasy travelling, narrator’s voice, etc. This means that what is left from the script to be devoted on how to super-develop a cast is not enough. Accurately, it is much less than enough. Screenplay characters, it’s theory for every script, have 5 prime emotional needs: love, comfort, validation, respect, justice. Love should not be confused with comfort nor validation with respect. Based on this as well as the fact that the popular structure of screenplays is The 3 Acts Structure, meaning to divide the script in 3 Acts, where every act is being developed appropriately, means that argumentation on literature is very different than argumentation on screenplays. Behind the reality of greenlights, movie theaters and a big audience hides a cultural gap that is based on favoring object-oriented writing if compared with intellectualism. So, these objectives focus entirely on character development that affect the entire architecture of the script. A lot of people who read books including us, the writers who write these books, can only think in terms of literature but not in terms of analyzing casting through the eyes of a Hollywood reader and later on, actors and directors. As it is not necessarily right to juggle between three different jobs of the entertainment industry, it’s only the writer’s mind that can do the job right...

This means “structured” argumentation and real-world experiences. Nevertheless, bridging gaps matters more than ever. In any case, multimedia publishing perspectives in terms of content guidelines from big data markets such as Amazon and Apple iTunes, Ingram, etc, is as perfect as our first thoughts towards it, as perfect as we initially dreamed of it all along! For it is true in the majority of the cases that cinematic storytelling has 70% more characters’ development sufficiency than literature! Have a great time folks!

The Unification Of Literature & Screenwriting!

Dear folks, including Jacob Krueger Studio alumni, there’s been a lot of discussion and comparatives related with literature vs cinema. Having understood essentials of more complex scenic action, today I would like to express my points and proposals of what I consider the unification of literature and screenwriting…! Many of us for example have used indirect speech in screenplays but I believe there is a thorough analysis and discussions behind the unification consideration.

We’ve been taught about the necessity or not of juggling information, explanation, description and action in our screenplays. We’ve been taught that too much behavior vs action may be considered passive, about sneaking details in on action and that in screenplays we write only what we hear or see.

But how can we transplant glory in screenwriting? How can we make screenplays be bathed with stardust?

I would like to point out a few key elements I’ve been taught as a litterateur student in Book Laboratory IANOS!

We know for example that narration is being distinguished on the aspects of time and order in terms of linear, circular and non-linear narration. Non-linear is especially true when parallel plots inside the initial one and diving into dreams take place, flashbacks, etc.

There’s the suggestion of applying these in properly formatted structure of screenplays, still audio-visual but more complex storytelling in movie scripts. Can it happen? It’s about craft!

We also know in literature that narration based on time is being distinctive in terms of whether we begin from start or the middle. The first case is being baptized with the name ab ovo narration, the second one with the name in medias res.

Can they happen in screenplays? Properly formatted structure and action, can make this dream come true as well. Again, it’s about craft!

Litterateurs use inclusion of stories in their stories, what we Greeks know as “εγκιβωτισμός ιστοριών”, meaning sub-stories inside the main one…

If there’s communication in action, a lot of things can happen in screenplays, meaning that we can apply this notion as well in the movie script as a result and a byproduct of creativity and craft!

Direct and Indirect Speech as well is being found in Google search and described as a visionary technique in movie writers as a study to be applied in scriptwriting. Again, craft has the upper hand in terms of not embedding unnecessary description in indirect speech.

We move on in literature with structure, meaning the architectural conception, what exists in the story and what not. Here there’s not the tiniest innuendo that this is not an element of screenplays as well. Moving beyond the previous status quo of scripts boosts fantasy!

In literature there are distinctions in terms of time and space. Different time frames and different spaces enrich storytelling. This is being shown in terms of how we set up scenes and how we do scenes in screenwriting. Again, the possible unification outcomes depend on craft!

To understand the big picture, Pen Densham in his book Riding the Alligator discusses through an interview of John Watson that every story in literature as well is being defined by a few critical events known as “Islands of Sanity”!

Here we care about a few bullets not in terms of being static, but that through the continuous shaping of the story inside and out of these key points, we understand their logic, their emotion or even better their rationale and level. Are they mesmerizing for an audience?

That’s the processing and the analyzing part of literature whereas the screenwriter has the option to use the “show don’t tell” technique and land himself as well on what is known in literature as islands of sanity. Again, that’s not mere craft but it’s art and craft simultaneously!

To say the truth, unification of literature and cinema matters for the complexity and dimensionality of the characters and the script. What the audience sees in movie theaters is still explicitly audio-visual but it’s the writer’s technique that makes the story compelling.

Conclusively, having talked about the intellectuality of screenwriting and the visualization of literature, we are now asked as writers to determine where we stand in the above framework and what’s our power with these concepts.

At the end of the day and as a result of an ongoing communication process, what’s the dynamic of a movie idea?

Writing "Art" Vs Writing "Craft"!

Now folks that we’ve had a few experiences of the rotten elements of the environments surrounding us including authority schemes, etc, lets focus on the more creative concerns of what it means to reach, to go beyond and to surpass limits… I’ve mentioned in my creative writing forum that when it comes to art concepts and mere art independent of the diligent processing of words and meanings, there, we could be intellectuals, we could be Gods, inventors, visionaries, etc. Our art can be 100 years old even though our craft may still be a little baby! Since literature is already more complex than screenwriting, lets focus on screenplays to understand that better.

Screenwriting is exclusively audio-visual, allowing us to write only about scenic directions and dialogue. I have realized though that plain projection and linear positioning of scenic directions and dialogue make the script empty. Coverage of the page is not the same as literature and if we add to this fact that dialogues leave a lot of blank space, you realize you lose content, extra dimensions of characters and descriptions and important artistic elements that if not figured out by you, your consultants will…! So, let’s get deep with indirect speech in cinema and more complex scenic action! In the majority of cases this is how you welcome your analyst to discuss what you and the script need and what not.

Indirect speech and complex scenic action constitute the parallel universe where we get away from a flat script and we get dimensions. On the contrary, what could 3 lines of scenic action do to the characters if nothing at all? When we know for example that we get independent advice for concept, plot, structure, characters, can the previous be completed on the mere dialogue level? So, this means that a discussion becomes the elixir of the 100% that happens to characters? Of course not! It is not dependent from a mere discussion to how far characters go including humans in real life. Some people believe they possess the best experience in terms of power and creative power… Stalkerazzi is one way to achieve that…

Creative realities show that ingenuity in flexible systems, resilience and analyzing various means of expressing ourselves make the machine work. It’s not what you say it’s how you say it. It’s also show don’t tell. Conclusively, craft in the first years of a writer’s life is dependent not only on the creative effort but advice and guidance as well. Have a great time folks!

Writers & The Importance Of Ecumenism!

 

Hio folks, in terms of catching up with some religious details for those of you wondering about the article’s term, ecumenism is the movement towards worldwide Christian unity and ‘what is viewed’ as the universality of the Christian faith. But dictionaries and bibliography enrich this definition with wider viewpoints. Talking about the meaning of global, universal, ecumenical problems, global, ecumenical values, there comes the book of Charles Nicholl, ‘Flights of the mind’ talking about the most mysterious figure of Renaissance, the story of the unceasingly studious person hiding behind The Legend of The Ecumenical Man that is Leonardo Da Vinci. It’s true that although Renaissance has been denoted for revolutionary breakthroughs and achievements in many areas, as well as social and political turmoil, it is better known for its art streams and the contribution of great artists and scientists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, that inspired the term Homo Universalis! As a matter of fact, the invention of the internet can also be considered global and worldwide and it’s also recognized, today, that some machine learning techniques have also global impact. But what do the above have to do with writers and creative writing? Let me tell you a story! 

 

It all starts by Man’s quest for singularity, this everything is one problem that makes writing effective and ineffective as well. As writers have many times proved we are children of the universe, characterization is a better term for this problem. Characterization has to do with the authenticity and the uniqueness of man and his voice. Just pay a little detail to what Aaron Sorkin in his masterclass had described as dialogue. You take what someone has told you and you punch it into somebody’s face! What it means, if an advice has been given to an actor, a real one and you still write a script about actors, it’s more probable the advice would be suitable although it has to fit. Nevertheless, the argument is not as ‘fluffy’ when it is directed to different personas. Or maybe it is? Characters and stars in writing have been our avatars in parallel universes, a little bit of chemistry between the writer and his characters is important. But this is not the end of it. How long does this effect last? Here comes my point of being not singular, often coming with no personal cost even though oftentimes struggling for being multidimensional. This is where more severe measures have to be applied. “Et tu, Brutus?” 

 

Recently after coming to super-power, Julius Caesar was assassinated as a Roman dictator. Although sources suggest that the historic Caesar adapted the words of a Greek sentence actually saying: "You too, my son, will have a taste of power", of which Caesar only needed to invoke the opening words to foreshadow Brutus’ own violent death, in response to his assassination. What could it mean? When it deals with characters, writing and screenplays, the art of learning to say no to our characters’ superfluous desires is a must. Even worse, reject them. By this and that you may have come to the conclusion that this unexpected betrayal thing of Brutus, makes the writer learn to say yes and no and sometimes shape the script before being shaped otherwise. Shaping and transforming for better or worse is a leadership attribute. So, here is where everything starts to be put into place! Leadership and ecumenism can work alongside one another and bringing back to memory the writer’s art, that can be 100 years old even though his craft might still be a little baby, fearing what to say directly is a bad counselor. Even more, when it blocks the writer by getting things done and getting wild success through his/her writing. For those of you that would like to get a taste of my work, visit IAN, The Independent Authors Network. It portrays the books already being attached in this article. Here is the link: bit.ly/39chSSQ Have a great time!