It Tastes Like Old Fish

Progress

Progress is good. It feels good to make progress. Even a little bit of progress. I will now attempt to fit progress into every sentence in this post. I have progressed with the note cards up to the mid point of Act 2. I can’t figure out how to fit progress into anything else. That didn’t last long. Here are the notable changes and additions to the story as the note cards have come together.

Spies like us

Harlan gets a job interview. He gets the job and is taken to a spy control center to start work to save the world. In reality he bombs the interview and gets fired when he gets to work. In order to make sure Harlan is an active part of the story these scenes will have to contain obvious turning points where he could change the outcome. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the script.

80’s movie fun

Harlan has to find a job and it’s a depressing, mind numbing experience. I added a sequence where he helps a random person who then offers him his dream job because he’s such a good guy. This is a major movie trope and I think it’s something everyone has dreamed of. This will be a nice way to remind the audience that this movie isn’t supposed to have the “movie” outcomes to everything.

You can put your weed in there

Early in their journey to Nerdtacular Nathan’s car breaks down on the side of the road in the middle of the night. They have to set out on foot to find help. Rather than just have them head off into the forest randomly I thought it would be good to give them clear motivation for leaving the main road. To do that they’ll see a light through the trees and decide that’s their best bet for help. They’ll find themselves in the middle of a big pot growing farm. Nathan points out that Hippies are cool and the worst they’ll do is offer him some weed. Instead they get shot at and chased through the forest.

The song remains the same

The rest of the story progresses essentially the same as in the beats with a few minor tweaks not really worth getting into detail about.

Your thoughts

If I’m able to carve out a few extra hours over the next 48 hours I will probably be able to get through to the end of the note card process so we can start writing the script proper for next week. That would be nice. In the mean time let’s hear your thoughts about the story as you see it so far. Does it feel obvious? Are you interested in what’s happening? Does the pot farm seem too contrived or obvious?