Comments on: Wannabe - a BIID screenplay by Gordo

By: L

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:35:25 +0000

Oh, just ask Sean what the email from my very angry mom said (or, imagine, and you’ll probably be right). Of course, there is no way for you to really be affected, so I don’t know why I said it, actually…

I finally got my friend’s email (I took one look at it and said, wow…), so I’ll see what I can do.

By: Gordo

Gordo — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:26:13 +0000

Well, I’m on the West Coast (same time zone as Los Angeles), so no waiting around this time. :)

By intermediary, what do you mean?

By: L

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:54:22 +0000

That was fast, I’m used to waiting for the time zone change from USA -> Europe, etc and back…

So, I’ll see what I can do, unfortunately, phone contact (hard to achieve at best) is necessary because when my email went away, so did my address book (which means IM is impossible, mailer daemon sends it back), so I’ll let ya know when I actually contact the guy.

More importantly, there is a very small probability that, if the strange movie made in film class is related to me, the wrath of the gods might shine down upon you as an intermediary between me and my “stage” (as my parents have deemed it over). Is that still okay?

By: Gordo

Gordo — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:46:26 +0000

Randy A. Gordon is the name on the script, and is actually an alias in itself. So that would be appropriate.

And I understand the constraints in high school productions. It wasn’t too long ago that I was a high schooler myself, so I remember the constraints quite well.

By: L

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:44:01 +0000

Hmm, double-sided, a trick I have somehow mastered despite always forgetting to until the second page… :)

If I can actually contact the person I had in mind, I will see what they think before printing it (hopefully dad isn’t keeping track of how much printer paper we have… never print anything these days, its all electronic).

Now, you do understand that when I say high school, that does also pose some restrictions on prop stuffs, not just keeping the rating appropriate. If I did decide to do it, to a semi open-minded community that has never heard of BIID and might think this is the worst idea in the history of Colorado, how would you like to be known? Just Gordo? or the whole thing at the top of the script?

By: Gordo

Gordo — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:14:08 +0000

Yep, still around. Just a bit busy — I’m preparing for a year-long job overseas, which is why I’ve been kind of invisible lately.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:57:05 +0000

@Gordo, I’m glad to see you’re still around. I hope things have not been too bad for you. Drop me a note to let me know, eh?

By: Gordo

Gordo — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:19:41 +0000

I actually did print out a hard copy for myself (yep, all 103 pages of it), so it’s do-able as long as you print on both sides of the paper and use paper fasteners instead of staples. It’s sitting quite discreetly on my bookshelf between the Buffy script book and the NHL Official Guide & Record Book. :)

I really hope this gets made, whether it be professionally or on the amateur scale. (For the printable .pdf version, you can always contact me through Sean, and I’d be happy to provide it.)

By: L

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:54:47 +0000

Well, let’s just say that this would be a minor thing compared to what our Student Worker Club is capable of (we got in the news twice last year because of them…). I’m not quite sure how much controversy it would cause, certainly enough to get people to wake up (but definitely too much for PTV to air it on Wednesday announcements…). I think I know someone who is taking film production, so I’ll bug them (they may be reluctant, of course, but at least they know where I’m coming from).

I can’t print it out (where do you hide a 103 page script?), but I did manage to save it and encrypt it, so that I can read it again without anyone else being privy to it (aka:: dad & sister).

And, completely off topic, I just got the same robot-protection question for the 5th time in a row…

By: Gordo

Gordo — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:22:21 +0000

Well, after watching Hamlet 2 yesterday, I actually wonder how much controversy this would cause in high school.

But if a school wants to make it into a movie, then by all means, go for it. I’d be thrilled and want to see the final product.

By: L

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:47:06 +0000

I know its a bit late, but it was very nice! I read the whole thing through (and now its lunch time), and, even though I really try to keep tons of emotion out of stuff (a technique I used early on to avoid awkward moments around disability that seems to have carried over), I still felt that occasional moment. Very nice.

Also, how would one go about convincing one of the film teachers that this _is_ an acceptable thing to do a movie on? Think high school… Less regulations, but still not college (where I have the impression you can make a movie about anything…).

By: Gordo

Gordo — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:07:46 +0000

As well-received this screenplay may be, I may re-write this if I have time, either as a screenplay again or as a novel. Looking at it, I think there are some structural and developmental elements I can add to it. :)

By: Bobby Laurel

Bobby Laurel — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:38:55 +0000

I have written it in my e-mail to you, Gordo, but still I will repeat what I have written, so that the other knew:
I have just read your text “Wannabe Script”. So, first and foremost, I have to say: Thank you very much for the very strong story. I enjoyed reading it and I was touched by the story. Although I am not a fan of the american happy-ends with marriage or emotional scenes with a large audience - oh yes I am Europen - I liked it from the beginning to the end.

I think it is one of the best piece of literature about the wannabe phenomenon, maybe the best ever written. … I liked Quid Pro Quo, but Wannabe is thousand times better. (shortened)

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:37:19 +0000

Now some time went by and I am still really moved. Talking about the emotions this play of yours bring up, Gordo, you just hit home!
Usually I am the kind of person who can read the same Agatha Christie mystery again and again because I always forget who the murder was and why he did it. And ask me about a film I’ve seen only once and I won’t be able to tell you much about it (ask Sean, he just asked me about my opinion on Quid pro Quo which I watched last week *grins*). But with your work it’s different; I remember parts of it all the time during the day and think about it and am moved, I am really not used to that. As I said, you really hit home. I wish my “active” English vocab was better so I could really express how grateful I am and how I feel about it.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:19:50 +0000

Hey Jay! Welcome out of the lurking closet :) Stick around, willya? :)

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:36:25 +0000

This is my first time for a reaction online. I wrote to Sean, one time he asked about the ‘lurking’ part, half a year ago. I told him that this site is helping me a lot!!! But now I could not resist a reaction anymore. I just HAD to write. It took me 90 mins. to read, and I also could not stop… The script is very good. Showing the mixed emotions stuff, the problems and the break of relationships, the moment you come out or ppl find out. (I know/can relate to this because of my wife broke up with me because of it, and a lot of my so called friends chose her side.) The marriage part at the end gave me a bit the feeling of a fairy tale. That includes all the reunions and fixed relationships in the story. It’s nice for the tearpulling atmosphere. And it’s like how the ideal world should be. I’ll wish everybody would react so understanding and forgiving (for whatever reason necessary). I believe that in reality it often is more complicated. Ppl are not so tolerant. Never the less it is a very good script. My compliments!!! I could not have done it.

By: Gordo

Gordo — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:45:27 +0000

You know, the ending was the hardest part to write. It was always my intention for Tracy and Carl to reunite; the wedding scene was tacked on afterwards because the poetry festival ending seemed a bit abrupt. I wanted to show that nothing is perfect, but this how what things CAN turn out in an ideal world. (This is partly a comedy anyhow.)

But then again, it’s not really possible to come up with a “solution” ending for BIID at the moment.

By: Sophie

Sophie — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:35:18 +0000

Yea you know I loved it Gordo and I already commented on the ending but the conclusion to the biid crisis seemed lacking after her parents asked her to come back.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:18:43 +0000

There are several scenes that I thought were particularly good and strong. I had one “get out of my head” moment too :) I didn’t cry, but that’s probably just because I haven’t been crying in A Very Long Time.

If I might have one criticism it would be about the ending. It almost feels like getting married was the answer to happiness for Tracy. Dunno, I might have read it wrong.

By: Gordo

Gordo — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:08:59 +0000

You printed out all of that? Amazing. I’m planning to print it out when all possible changes have been implemented.

I’m very surprised at some of the emotional responses I’ve received (more than my surprise that people actually FINISHED reading this long script!). I got emotional while writing certain scenes, but that’s normally not a guarantee that the reader/viewer will do the same. So I guess hearing that people have gotten emotionally attached to the screenplay somewhat (in both emotions and the “can’t stop reading” effect) is a good thing; it accomplished what I tried to do.

Maybe I should think about pitching this screenplay to studios. Haha. :)

By: Chloe

Chloe — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:31:28 +0000

Wow! Gordo… I just finished this. I’m still crying. I printed it out at work and brought it home so that I could read it in my wheelchair this evening. This is SO intense. I lost count of the number of times I started crying. My partner asked me what it is that I am so engrossed in. I told her it’s a screenplay. We looked at each other and didn’t need to say anything else. She knew why I was crying.

Thank you, Gordo.

By: Dante

Dante — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:24:26 +0000

I also read the screenplay; pretty solid work. Amazing job and effort! I’d love to get something like that directed/produced on film; alas, only if I had the money!

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:38:10 +0000

You bet I did :)
Didn’t even realise it was that long… I just couldn’t stop! ;)

By: Gordo

Gordo — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:32:47 +0000

Wow, someone took the time to read it. LOL. This thing is 103 pages long, with standard screenplay formatting.

I’m glad you like it. I always find it amazing how some of us share common childhood memories about this kind of stuff.

By: Julia

Julia — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:12:35 +0000

Hey Gordo,
I am really touched and at a loss of words. You did really great. And I want to thank you for bringing back some very, very, very well repressed childhood memories to me.
Maybe I will write more later.
Bless you.
Jule