Monday, June 20, 2005
Ratboy Reports 3
Before reading this, if you have not done so please read the Ratboy Intro
by clicking the link below.
http://cisthebigdog.blogspot.com/2005/06/ratboy-reportsa-brief-intro.html
We were all sitting around the table in class, and Jack was reading us a memo from the English Department about a special MFA program reading at SUBO.
“Can playwrights go Jack?”
“Yes Mark. Anyway it will be in the Occidental Lounge—“
“Would we have to read ourselves or can we have others read it for us?”
“I don’t know Mark, it is a reading sponsored by the Fiction program.”
“Fiction, can playwrights go?”
And on and on,
That day we read Mark’s “Once Upon A Time On Mars.” Mark said it was done as an homage. He admitted that he popped the laser disc of “Once Upon a Time in The West” into to his player, sat on the bed with his laptop and wrote.
The criticisms, the barrage of the criticisms were harsh. They were really harsh, and the script was deserving of most of it. First of all it was a 90 page draft, and the general rule is one page equals one minute. Well the 90 page draft too one hour and fifty five minutes which is roughly 30 minutes longer than it should have.
Amidst all of the comments Mark kept talking about what the script was about, that it was an homage and he was trying to justify it.
“It is a rough draft, I am going to change a few things.”
“Mark, just listen to the comments first,” Jack said.
Mark interrupted him, “I’m not finished.”
Jack shot back, “yes you are.”
Sweaty boy, wiped his brow and said, “Mark some of the dialogue sounded really familiar.”
Mark beamed. “Yes, yes, some of the dialogue was so good I didn’t want to change it.”
Zev said, “Isn’t that stealing?”
“No its paying homage.”
Tunnel rat glared at him. “How about paying royalties.”
Mark said “Can I just say one thing? One thing Jack, please.”
Jack said no that he could not speak anymore and he had to take the criticism like a man. So he sat ther and took the rest of the criticism and he was not allowed to speak until everyone was done.
On the way home Mark starts to mull it all over in his head.
“I’m glad its over. I put my head on the chopping block. I can relax now. Do you think hell let me keep it as the thesis?”
“I don’t know Mark. He was pretty pissed when you kept interrupting everyone.”“I don’t care. I had to. They didn’t understand. It was an homage, I didn’t rip anything off.”
He started to get nervous. "Do you think he'll let me keep this as my thesis?"
and so it went until Bay Ridge Parkway.
by clicking the link below.
http://cisthebigdog.blogspot.com/2005/06/ratboy-reportsa-brief-intro.html
We were all sitting around the table in class, and Jack was reading us a memo from the English Department about a special MFA program reading at SUBO.
“Can playwrights go Jack?”
“Yes Mark. Anyway it will be in the Occidental Lounge—“
“Would we have to read ourselves or can we have others read it for us?”
“I don’t know Mark, it is a reading sponsored by the Fiction program.”
“Fiction, can playwrights go?”
And on and on,
That day we read Mark’s “Once Upon A Time On Mars.” Mark said it was done as an homage. He admitted that he popped the laser disc of “Once Upon a Time in The West” into to his player, sat on the bed with his laptop and wrote.
The criticisms, the barrage of the criticisms were harsh. They were really harsh, and the script was deserving of most of it. First of all it was a 90 page draft, and the general rule is one page equals one minute. Well the 90 page draft too one hour and fifty five minutes which is roughly 30 minutes longer than it should have.
Amidst all of the comments Mark kept talking about what the script was about, that it was an homage and he was trying to justify it.
“It is a rough draft, I am going to change a few things.”
“Mark, just listen to the comments first,” Jack said.
Mark interrupted him, “I’m not finished.”
Jack shot back, “yes you are.”
Sweaty boy, wiped his brow and said, “Mark some of the dialogue sounded really familiar.”
Mark beamed. “Yes, yes, some of the dialogue was so good I didn’t want to change it.”
Zev said, “Isn’t that stealing?”
“No its paying homage.”
Tunnel rat glared at him. “How about paying royalties.”
Mark said “Can I just say one thing? One thing Jack, please.”
Jack said no that he could not speak anymore and he had to take the criticism like a man. So he sat ther and took the rest of the criticism and he was not allowed to speak until everyone was done.
On the way home Mark starts to mull it all over in his head.
“I’m glad its over. I put my head on the chopping block. I can relax now. Do you think hell let me keep it as the thesis?”
“I don’t know Mark. He was pretty pissed when you kept interrupting everyone.”“I don’t care. I had to. They didn’t understand. It was an homage, I didn’t rip anything off.”
He started to get nervous. "Do you think he'll let me keep this as my thesis?"
and so it went until Bay Ridge Parkway.
