This week we’re chatting with A.D Calvo, Scream Writer and director of Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl (2016), quite possibly my favorite film of 2016 (and it was a year with some damned fine contenders!). In this fascinating interview, Calvo explores how Scream Writing compares to programming code and provides some great food for thought!
What first got you interested in screenwriting?
In 2004, shortly after I began making shorts, I wanted to try my hand at a feature. I read the screenplay for American Beauty (1999) and was struck by the language and how efficiently (and effectively) it conveyed what I had seen in the film.
Prior to filmmaking, I was a software designer. As a coder, the programming language is a means to an end. With a screenplay, it’s kind of the same thing, but you’re coding using natural language. Not to get overly technical, but you can even go so far as to say that a screenplay is compiled in the mind’s eye. If written well, the brain imagines the movie.
Do you have an example of a lesson you learned from reading a script (rather than watching the movie made from it)?
I was fascinated by the format and how it can be used to succinctly communicate moving pictures. I learned it could be done poorly or well. If I can just go back to software for a second, there’s an old saying, “garbage in, garbage out.” The same holds true of screenwriting. If you try to write a novel using this format, you end up with a bad blueprint for a film. If you embellish the text with words that don’t need to be there, or descriptions that are impossible to capture on film, it just doesn’t work.
What’s the strongest piece of advice you have for aspiring screenwriters?
Something you’ve probably already heard: “Show it, don’t say it.” That really needs to sink in.
As for writing dialogue, I find it helpful to transcribe real conversations. You’ll find the words are rather messy, with everyone having an organic voice of their own. There’s an art to knowing how much of that messiness should end up on the page.
What is your relationship with genre film (love, hate, indifference)? What led to that?
Shortly after my father died, when I was young, we moved into an old house with a historic cemetery in the backyard. On a moonlit night, you could see the crooked tombstones from my bedroom window. Around that same time, I was captivated by late night TV, in particular horror movies and old Twilight Zone episodes. Death and the macabre became strangely alluring to a boy coping with the death of his father.
What was something that surprised you in the process of writing your own screenplay?
I’ve written many—not all good. I know there are better writers than me. I’ve come to a place where I’m no longer trying to prove to myself that I can write. So now it’s more about enjoying the craft and finding the best way to say something, something that will effectively translate to screen.
That said, it’s important to remember it’s more about the idea, not the syntax and format. The screenplay is a means to an end, a blueprint for something greater.
What’s your favorite thing about screenwriting that doesn’t apply to other kinds of writing?
It’s all about the visual, what you see is what you get. Of course there’s sound and score and all, but barring the use of voice-overs, you’re not really privy to a character’s inner mind. It’s all about the image and avoiding any exposition that could seep in through dialogue.
It’s like I’m still coding, but this is a far richer experience for me.
What are some of the films and stories that inspired you?
Ah, there’s so many! Someone recently tagged me in a post asking for four films that inspired me the most. The ones I chose were: Phantasm, The Shining, The Last Temptation of Christ, and more recently, Ida. But on any given day, those could easily change.
If you could adapt any story in any medium into a screenplay, what is your dream project?
I pitched a remake for Marcin Wrona’s Demon. I felt a connection with that. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. So, hmmm, now, let me think… Maybe the remake to a classic ghost story from the ‘70s, something like: Let’s Scare Jessica to Death or The Changeling.
Where can people find you online and support your work (present or upcoming)?
Via links on my website: http://goodnightfilm.com
Thank you!
