SCRIPT WRITING JOURNEY: YEAR 1191. VALVOLINO TRAVELS TO THE REALM OF THE UNIVERSAL RELIGION

Baudolino adaptation  expectedly starts with re-reading the book twice, the first time to validate the trilogy assumption, the second to color mark the pages for action, dialogue and whatever I anticipate to show as dreams and flash-backs. The dreams are necessary to highlight motivation, the flash-backs to avoid interrupting scenes that have to be in tight sequence; I will use them at lame periods of time (e.g. ten years of travel to the Realm of the Universal Religion). Also, by leaving some “explanations” for later, the viewer stays engaged by trying to piece the story together (there are caveats galore here, but let’s not get there now).

Script structure and time line
The real “sweat” starts with fitting the book’s action into the treatment’s foundational “The Five Key Turning Points Of All Successful Movie Scripts”. I am better at using the spreadsheet (see also the previous Treatment-and-Script-Structure-IDB-6-1-2015) and started using OneNote; very helpful in grabbing web screen shots and keeping track of the research sources. However, they do not compensate for the adaptation challenges. There are so many interesting passages in the book that I’d like to use but there is no (movie) time. The book author knows that we will read the book at leisure in weeks or month, but a producer would give us maximum two hours. So, I have to change the order of some book’s passages to line-up those “opportunity”, “new situation”, “point of no return” key elements of the script. Being hard to manage them all in my head I had drawn an “interaction map” where each character comes in at a certain time to carry the action from one turning point to the next. In the process, I have to give up some passages, sadly. I also need a time line of the historical (real) events vs. those described in the book. The first attempt results in an anomaly: Frederick and Beatrice got married in 1156 when Baudolino is supposed to be 23 years old and falling in love with her. But the math shows that he was not yet born in 1156: Duhh! The second time around, the lineup shows Frederick at 34, marrying Beatrice when she is 13 and Baudolino being 15 years old. That’s better. However, through a series of historical facts that I want to remain faithful to, and pay my respects to Umberto Eco, Baudolino gets to be 62 years old when he falls in love with the 15 year old (or 18, it’s up to me) Hypatia, at the border with the Realm. Oh well, Umberto Eco writes him up at being 45. So be it then, Baudolino will be 62 and my mind goes to how the actor impersonating him will look like, white, long hair to the shoulders or bold like me? Hypatia does not seem to care since the only males she knows the looks of are the bad boy satyrs.

Research on history

The search for information on Mother Internet (Father? OK, no problem) is extensive but rewarding; first, I get impressed by the lessons of history and the dynamics of its events and places, and collect maps, paintings and drawings along the way; second, I get important material for dialogues that may not be in the book but are needed in the adaptation. Most gratifying though is the fact that I get a glimpse into Umberto Eco’s historical sources. The book keeps the history intact and brings in some characters noted in primary or secondary sources, real or not. Maybe I should also claim “based on historical facts”, except for Baudolino’s fantasies and his lies-in-good-faith.
Through the above hoops and loops, I have completed now the first pass at the treatment’s key points and movie structure in three month. I’ll post it in about one week as is, have an editor review it, possibly adding some of the collected visuals to it. The next step is to get all the details of the treatment, corrections to the first pass, etc., anywhere from another three to six month. The script could take more than a year, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed before that, for publishing the trilogy.

Concerns about copyrights

The copy rights issue is still hanging above my head like Damocles’ sword. But let’s see if we can rally the owners of Umberto Eco books’ copyrights to our cause by citing him: “…the past, …must be revisited: but with irony, not innocently.” What I do, inspired by him, I revisit and adapt his stories to make them accessible to a larger audience with  contemporary irony, fun or serious. Ultimately, either as movies or graphic books my adaptations stir curiosity thus foster learning. And as I start using illustrations and photos from the Internet, I express my gratitude to all those who may not worry about their fair use.

Challenges and iterations

Correcting again and again what I wrote and adding the media took four, not one week. The decision to tie-up Baudolino’s time line with that of the historical events came at a price: I had to rewrite some sequences (lack of discipline punishes) and resolve new challenges. Finding the right passages in the book, for the rewrite, even with color coded tabs, was painful. But book tab pain made me think Kindle, and buying the media version of Baudolino helped a lot.

Rhythm in books and movies

The present time in the book is 1205, in Constantinople, when Baudolino tells his story to Niketas. Large periods of time are brushed-off in the written language with “ten years later”. But how do I do “ten years later” in film language, to maintain cinematographic continuity. There are two such periods between 1166 – 1177 and 1177-1189. In the first period, Baudolino comes back from Paris, with the fake letter of Prester Johannes addressed to Frederick, ready to start the pilgrim towards the realm of the Universal Religion. Except that Frederick is busy with the wars against the Italians. Only in 1977, Frederick loses the battle of Legnano and, probably because Baudolino saved his life, pays attention to Baudolino’s trick. So, how do I maintain the feel of the movie’s continuity within these 11 years? The answer is by doing extensive searches on history, selecting, then putting them in sequence with the appropriate cinematographic language. Thus, there are short sequences of wars against the Italians followed by similarly short counsel debates. The first are black and white, with the appearance of a documentary about fighting armies, while the second ones are real with Frederick debating what had happened and what’s next. As soon as I figured this out I remembered that the earlier 1159 sequence of the Crema battle does not have this cinematographic “language”. Thus, I went back and changed it. But by doing this I remembered a movie critic saying that a script should leave the cinematographic language for the director to figure out. Oh, well, iterations and aberrations, all mine of course.

And I certainly don’t want too many, long discussions to the detriment of the action sequences.  One may ask why worry about the movie; well, the graphic book will be a reduction of the treatment, but the script will be an extension of it. Thus, I have to “see” everything that I write and “show” not “tell” (Check Writing Creative Non-Fiction).

I had decided to post a work in progress treatment, to honor the interest shown by my followers. Also, I am posting it before its review by the editor; she said that I have a (second) language usage problem and I agree. So, since we are doing this together 🙂 let’s see how is it going to look after the necessary corrections.

The editor got busy with personal matters, but I did not wait and forged ahead with my “second language” treatments. In the meanwhile I started posting on Facebook, even boosting to increase the treatments’ exposure. It actually did  not help much thus I am starting to post here everything related to the challenges and fun of writing.

The Pilgrim: an opportunity for philosophy

The first part is loaded with the historical realities of the European wars; something worth learning about.  I’ll keep that in the movie. The second one, the pilgrim to the Universal Religion realm is mostly a fantasy loaded with fantastic creatures and the dangers. But aren’t there too many movies with such stories already? Thus, I need to change this part in the movie to avoid a striking difference between the first and the second. I will smooth that difference by giving to the second part a philosophical meaning. Instead of fantastic creatures, the pilgrims will meet with people in communities with different sets of beliefs: Physical-sensorial (naturists?), Spiritual-Emotional (Mysticism?) and Cerebral-Rational (need to research the Greeks and Bertrand Russell’s stance on appearance and reality). True to their character, each member of the pilgrim’s group is attracted by one or the another of these beliefs and wishes to stay rather than continue the pilgrim. Each time though, their motivation to reach the realm of the Universal Religion wins over, albeit after funny situations, arguments and delayed departures. Boring? Maybe, it all depends on how much fun there is in those sequences and how do they relate to the contemporary times.

Introducing the Gog and Magog

In the book, the invaders of Pndapetzim are the Huns. I decide to replace them with the apocalyptic Gog and Magog. However, while searching the internet I find a kinder depiction of them working hard in a Muslim land. Were they punished or just making a living? I choose to introduce them as hard workers making a living within the communities that the pilgrims encounter. Meaning that maybe not all the Gog and Magog are bad, some are good seeking for integration wherever there is work to be had. See my drift? Am I drifting too much? I just want to strengthen the relationship between the symbols in the movie, history and the realities of the present time.

But Where Is The Palace of Prester Johannes?

Rabbi Solomon wants it built with nails and glue, as the Temple of Ezekiel. The Poet disagrees, it must be beyond the richness of any palaces in Europe and Byzantium. Kyot agrees, must be at least as imposing as the Temple of the Templars. Under the influence of the green honey, Abdul sees it built on foundations of jasper and gold plated walls encrusted with precious stones from a Garden of Eden spring. But in what land is the palace? Beyond Tigris in India or farther away, beyond the Ganges? East of the Garden of Eden? East of Sambatyon as Rabbi Solomon would have it?

The problem of Sambatyon, the River of Stones

That’s the last hurdle the pilgrims must overcome before reaching the realm. The terrifying flow of the dry boulders stops only on Saturdays and on those days Rabi Solomon would not cross it. But how is that river going to look in the movie? What could be “real” about a river of dry stones? There are aplenty of flash floods, mounts side crashing, volcanoes’ lava flowing photos and clips on Mother Internet. Which one makes sense in the context of the movie? Could I have the “dry boulders” dismissed in the pilgrims’ arguments prior to reaching it? Thus, shown as running high waters together with boulders, suggesting a flash flood (some HX effects) that happens to stop on Saturday. Ahh, and how does Rabbi Solomon knows, after six years of walking that it is Saturday? And that’s the next thing that I have to figure out in the script.

The Pilgrims get weekdays nicknames

Etc.

Action or character driven movie

Completion of Baudolino’s adaptation outline, mostly action and some film language, gets me to the stage of defining the characters. The theory says that I have to have it from the very beginning. In my case I believe that their definition works better as a second “pass” in strengthening the story. So, going through the book again, I select the dialogue that the best reveals the characters and decide where it belongs. The action is strongly affected by the wars in Europe, at least in the first part. The characters’ motivations carry the action in spite of them, particularly in the second one, the pilgrim to the Realm of the Universal Religion. The dialogue has both drama and humor, adds “color” to the character’s portrait, and blends in with the situation. I got this all on a lame spreadsheet but it works, at least in my mind for now. And thus, I realize that my adaptation must be driven by both action and character. More work on the details!

108 thoughts on “SCRIPT WRITING JOURNEY: YEAR 1191. VALVOLINO TRAVELS TO THE REALM OF THE UNIVERSAL RELIGION”

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    1. I am very happy to hear that you like the site and moreover that a young lady, your sister, is analyzing such writings; it is my turn to say that I am impressed. I have now the draft of the second treatment ready to post. The summary of the journey through Baudolino’s adaptation, actually the first in the trilogy, will follow shortly. Best regards in the meanwhile, Vlad.

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    1. Thank you for your appreciation. The second treatment, adaptation after Baudolino will be posted shortly together with the preliminary challenges of the “journey”. I will let you when, best regards in the meanwhile.

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    1. Hi,
      I am really flattered by your “well-established” qualifier. Actually I am a rookie on publishing in the “open space”, but it’s actually part of my “life style” now, so I have to carry on. If you are hooked into writing about yourself, soon you’ll feel to go beyond it and turn the common realities into a work of literary worth. I would also recommend finding a subject that you like the best. You may need to decide if you want to write a bit about everything or a lot about a special interest. Don’t rush, read what others write, especially those who make a (good) living from it and, last but not least, dream. All the best, V.

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    1. I had never thought that my little interest could earn such appreciation, thank you. The treatment of the second book adaptation is about to be posted, together with the preliminary journey of writing it.
      I’ll let you know when, V.

    1. Famous blogger, wow, thank you, I am actually a rookie on publishing in the “open space”. I hope that you will enjoy the treatment of the second adaptation to be posted soon.
      I’ll let you know when, cheers to you too.

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    1. I am a DIY guy and learned how to build the blog site about six month ago. It was not a breeze but there is no gain without pain. I used Blue Host for the domain registration and WordPress for the blog site format(and using a free template), both inexpensive. There are many YouTube tutorials on line to learn. Start, take your time, don’t give up, you’ll get there. Have a nice journey 🙂

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    1. Hi,
      This level of appreciation is really unexpected, thank you. The second draft adaptation (treatment) is coming up shortly, I will let you know when. Regards V.

    1. Hi Dean,
      I am delighted by your appreciation, thank you. I have to make sure now that my next posts are not disappointing, the second one coming up soon, let’s see how that pans out 🙂

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    1. Hi Hildegarde, thank you for your appreciation, the next post on the journey adaptation is coming up, the treatment in about two weeks.

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Comments are closed.