Writer's Strike

[Captain59]

Supposedly, the new proposal will be voted "yes" tomorrow by the writers. Will J.J. be able to start rewriting part of the script the moment that becomes official tomorrow?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

In theory, perhaps. There's no real reason to think that any "rewriting" is to be done, other than an improvised line here or there.

Much as people like and can recite their favorite lines from movies, a film doesn't succeed or fail on a snappy quip here or there.

 

[Dr. Chandra]

He may be referring to the statement made by Abrams here that it was causing the film to miss out on some great lines.

I doubt that a few so-so lines here or there would "break" a movie, but a few good ones couldn't hurt.

 

[Warp Coil]

I imagine that JJ will start improvising with the dialogue a bit more, but don't expect them to go back and start re-shooting everything just to make a word change here and a re-phrase there.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Dr. Chandra said:
He may be referring to the statement made by Abrams that it was causing the film to miss out on some great lines.

Line, singular.

What was actually attributed to Abrams was that "J.J. was describing a scene he was shooting the day before. Midway through it, he got a great idea for a new line. Which he couldn't write. Couldn't shoot. Couldn't be in his movie."

A ridiculous amount of Internet verbiage has been devoted to that single moment of commiseration on the picket line.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Starship Polaris said:
In theory, perhaps. There's no real reason to think that any "rewriting" is to be done, other than an improvised line here or there.

Much as people like and can recite their favorite lines from movies, a film doesn't succeed or fail on a snappy quip here or there.

Actually, I'm a sucker for great dialogue (or in the case of a book, snappy dialogue AND/OR narrative). One of my favorite TV shows of all time was The West Wing (at least the first 4 1/2 seasons), but not because of the stories -- if fact I sometimes found the stories a bit lacking and contrived -- but because of the interplay between the characters which was revealed through the dialogue. A well-placed line can reveal more about character relationships than the plot or story action ever can -- and for me it is those character relationships that keep me coming back to Star Trek.

I'm more likely to have liked a scene in a particular film due to it's dialogue, e.g. in TWOK: the Kobayashi Maru scene/explantion of how kirk beat it, the eyeglass/birthday scene, the "I don't like to lose" scene under the Genesis planet and the "I exaggerated" scene immediately after that...The point is, I remember these scenes fondly BECAUSE of the great dialogue, not the plot action. When enough "fond scene memories" are strung together, the result is a wholly satisfying film. The progression of the plot may have told the story in TWOK, but it was the dialogue that made that story entertaining and enjoyable.

For me at least, the difference between a mediocre forgettable film and a terrific and unforgettable film is usually not the plot, but the dialogue. Most plots in-and-of-themselves are quite unremarkable.

 

[Captain59]

Jackson_Roykirk said:
The point is, I remember these scenes fondly BECAUSE of the great dialogue, not the plot action.

I'm right there with you. A great example is "Midnight Run." That movie is full of awesome dialogue, although the plot action was great as well.

Another good example on TV is...don't laugh...The Big Bang Theory. The lines in that show are so funny I am constantly rewinding. It takes me an hour sometimes to get through the 20 minutes of filmed footage.

 

[Sito_Jaxa]

Starship Polaris said:
Much as people like and can recite their favorite lines from movies, a film doesn't succeed or fail on a snappy quip here or there.

But they don't hurt either!

 

[Kira's Mom]

There's already a thread about the writer's strike and the movie, so I'm closing this one.