Kirsten Smith (writer)

Transcription

McCullah: WE DO NOT LIKE TO WEAR PANTS AT ALL. Smith: NOT EVER. YEAH, MOSTLY JUST WITHOUT PANTS. McCullah: WHEN YOU WORK FROM HOME, YOU CAN JUST WORK IN A T-SHIRT AND UNDERWEAR OR A BATHING SUIT. Smith: THAT'S WHY I THINK YOU CHOSE TO SHOOT US FROM THE WAIST UP, RIGHT? 'CAUSE WE'RE NOT WEARING PANTS RIGHT NOW. CREATIVITY IS FUN. McCullah: CREATIVITY IS A GIFT, 'CAUSE ON DAYS WHEN YOU'RE NOT FEELING IT, YOU REALIZE HOW WONDERFUL IT IS ON THE DAYS YOU ARE. WE WRITE IN THE SAME PLAY. WE'RE NOT LIKE TEAMS WHERE, "YOU TAKE 20 PAGES, I'LL TAKE 20 PAGES." WE DID THAT IN THE BEGINNING, BUT THEN WE FOUND WE WERE ARGUING TOO MUCH, 'CAUSE WE HAD TO REWRITE EACH OTHER. Smith: IT FELT LIKE WE WERE ON OPPOSITE SIDES AS OPPOSED TO THE SAME TEAM. McCullah: WE DIDN'T LIKE THAT. SO WE DECIDED TO JUST WRITE THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER, BECAUSE THEN YOU BOTH FEEL OWNERSHIP OVER IT AND YOU'RE NOT TAKING AWAY SOMEONE ELSE'S FAVORITE JOKE. LIKE, HALF THE LINES IN OUR MOVIES THAT PEOPLE ARE LIKE, "OH, THAT'S THE BEST LINE! DID YOU WRITE THAT OR KIRSTEN?" I'M LIKE, "I DON'T REALLY REMEMBER. I THINK WE CAME UP WITH IT RIGHT AT THE SAME MOMENT." Smith: HELLO. McCullah: THIS IS WHERE WE WORK MOST OF THE TIME. -OUT AT MY POOL. -Smith: THE CASA DE KAREN. WRITING HERE. OFTENTIMES, WE'RE OVER HERE IN THIS SUNNY AREA. WE TRY TO MAKE WRITING AS VACATION-LIKE AS POSSIBLE. McCullah: WE HAVE MARGARITA FRIDAYS. [ CHUCKLES ] NOT WHEN WE'RE PLOTTING, THOUGH. WE HAVE TO HAVE OUR OUTLINE VERY WELL DONE BEFORE WE CAN HAVE MARGARITA FRIDAYS. Smith: ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES MARGARITA FRIDAYS HELP WITH BRAINSTORMING. LIKE, YOU HAVE A BREAKTHROUGH. AND THEN ON SOBER SATURDAYS, IT MIGHT NOT LOOK AS GOOD. McCullah: YEAH, WE JUST SIT AND MAKE EACH OTHER CRACK UP AND WRITE IT DOWN. Smith: I GUESS IT'S LIKE US SUCKING IN. YOU CAN'T WRITE A MOVIE WITHOUT WATCHING TONS OF MOVIES AND DECONSTRUCT THEM AND FIGURE OUT WHAT MAKES THEM TICK. I FIND IT HELPFUL BECAUSE WHEN I WATCH A MOVIE THAT'S A GOOD ARCHETYPAL MOVIE FOR A PROJECT WE'RE WORKING ON, I'LL WATCH IT, AND I'LL MAKE NOTES OF EACH SINGLE SCENE AND PAUSE THE MOVIE AND WRITE DOWN EACH BEAT AND USUALLY HAVE, LIKE, A 10-PAGE DOCUMENT THAT'S, LIKE, THE BEAT BY BEAT OF THE MOVIE, AND I FEEL LIKE THAT'S JUST A REALLY GOOD WAY TO LEARN THE STRUCTURE, BECAUSE THESE FILMS HAVE A PRETTY SYSTEMATIC THREE-ACT STRUCTURE. SO SOMETIMES YOU'LL BE STUCK TRYING TO COME UP WITH A MIDPOINT, AND SO WATCHING A FILM MAKES YOU GO, "OH, I SEE! "THEY HAD THIS HAPPEN IN THIS PARTICULAR SITUATION. I THINK WE CAN APPLY THAT TO OURS." SO I FIND THAT IT'S INSPIRATIONAL. McCullah: SO, WHEN WE'RE IN THE PLANNING STAGES OF THE PLOT, WE CARD IT OUT ON INDEX CARDS AND PUT THEM ON MY FLOOR AND LOOK AT THEM AND MOVE THEM AROUND. SO IT JUST HELPS YOU SEE THE WHOLE THING ALL AT ONCE. Smith: SO, IT'LL BE, LIKE, THE CHARACTER'S NAME, THE ACTION, MAYBE EVEN SOME SAMPLE LINES OF DIALOGUE. SOMETIMES IT'S JUST A BEAT, AND THEN WE SORT OF KNOW, "OKAY, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS SAID IN THAT." THIS IS ACTUALLY ONLY ACT 2. I THINK ACT 3 IS IN SOMEONE'S PURSE OR SOMETHING. HERE'S WHERE WE MEET OUR ANTAGONIST RIGHT AT THE TOP OF ACT 2. OH, HERE'S WHERE ONE OF THEM MEETS MY FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER -- A NERDY GIRL. McCullah: KIRSTEN ALWAYS WANTS THE NERDY GIRLS TO END UP WITH, LIKE, A SUPER-HOT GUY AT THE END. AND SOMETIMES I HAVE TO TALK HER OUT OF THAT AND JUST BE LIKE, "HEY, IT'S JUST A 'C' PLOT." NOT ALL OF OUR CHARACTERS HAVE TO END UP WITH SOMEONE AT THE END. THE COLORS MEAN NOTHING. HORIZONTAL MEANS WE'RE BOTH IN AGREEMENT THAT THE SCENE NEEDS TO BE THERE. VERTICAL MEANS EITHER WE'RE BOTH UNSURE OR ONE OF US IS UNSURE. LIKE, I REALLY LIKE THE MENTOR CHARACTER, AND THEN KIRSTEN DID THIS WITH THE CARD, MEANING SHE DIDN'T THINK THE SCENE NEEDED TO BE IN THE MOVIE AND THAT WE DIDN'T NEED THE MENTOR CHARACTER. AND I KEPT INSISTING, "NO, NO, NO. IT GOES THIS WAY." BUT, UH, I FINALLY SOLD HER ON THE FACT THAT WE NEEDED THE MENTOR CHARACTER IN THE MOVIE. AND HERE HE IS. Smith: THIS IS THE GREAT THING ABOUT CARDING, THOUGH, IS YOU CAN JUST THROW DOWN -- IF WE HAVE AN IDEA BUT WE'RE NOT TOTALLY SURE, WE'LL JUST WRITE IT ON A CARD, AND AT LEAST IT LIVES SOMEWHERE IN THE PROCESS, AND WE CAN GRAB IT IF WE NEED IT. SOMETIMES, WE'LL GET COMPLETELY FRIED ON THE PROCESS OF CARDING, AND WE'RE LIKE, "OKAY, WELL, WE KNOW THAT THIS SECTION WORKS, "SO WE'RE JUST GONNA PAUSE AND WRITE LIKE FIVE SCENES IN A ROW, AND THEN WE'LL PICK BACK UP ON OUR CARDING TOMORROW." McCullah: 'CAUSE THE WRITING PART IS THE FUN PART. THE PLOTTING PART IS THE HEAVY LIFTING. Smith: THAT'S WHERE IT'S GREAT TO HAVE A PARTNER, 'CAUSE IT'S A LOT MORE FUN TO PLOT WITH A PERSON THAN ON YOUR OWN. McCullah: IF YOU'RE STARING AT ALL THESE CARDS BY YOURSELF... Smith: YOU CAN GO CRAZY. -McCullah: CRAZY. YEAH. -Smith: TOTALLY CRAZY. AND OUR WRITING PROCESS IS VERY OLD-SCHOOL. LIKE, WE WRITE ON YELLOW PADS. ONE OF US IS WRITING BY HAND. IT'S USUALLY LIKE FOUR HOURS PER DAY. McCullah: YEAH, WE FIND WE KIND OF BURN OUT AFTER FOUR HOURS. Smith: AND THEN WE GO THROUGH AT NIGHT AND TYPE IN EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE WRITTEN THAT DAY. AND THEN, DEPENDING ON THE DAY... McCullah: WE SWITCH OFF WITH THE WRITING. Smith: BUT ONE OF OUR UNSPOKEN RULES IS THAT WHATEVER IS WRITTEN ON THE YELLOW PAD IS TRANSCRIBED VERBATIM. McCullah: SO, AFTER WE GET THE FIRST DRAFT DOWN AND ALL TYPED AND AT THE COMPUTER... Smith: WE PRINT OUT THE SCRIPT, AND THEN WE GO AWAY SEPARATELY. WE READ -- WE SPEND LIKE EIGHT HOURS READING THE SCRIPT AND GOING THROUGH AND MAKING NOTES. AND THEN WE RECONVENE, AND THEN BEGINS THE DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE FROM BIG PICTURE TO LITTLE PICTURE. -WE CUT IT. IT'S GOOD. -McCullah: THERE'S ONLY SO MANY GUYS WHO CAN SING IN A MOVIE AND MAKE IT SEXY. Smith: AND THEN ONE OF US HAS THE DRAFT THAT'S KIND OF LIKE THE "MASTER" DRAFT AND WRITES THOSE DECISIONS THAT WE'VE MADE TOGETHER INTO THE MARGINS OF THE SCRIPT. THEN WE GO AND TYPE THOSE CHANGES BACK IN THAT NIGHT. I FIND, LIKE, WHEN PEOPLE ARE JUST READING A SCRIPT ON THE COMPUTER THAT THERE'S JUST AN INSTINCT TO JUST START CHANGING EVERY LITTLE THING, AND THEN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER WHICH DRAFT YOU WERE ON, WHAT THINGS WERE BEING CHANGED, SO IT'S JUST A CLEAR WAY TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE WHOLE SCRIPT. McCullah: ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE WRITING A JOKE, YOU'LL WRITE A JOKE, AND THEN YOU'RE LIKE, "NO, THAT'S NOT GOOD." AND THEN YOU'LL, LIKE, WRITE FIVE MORE, AND THEN YOU'RE LIKE, "WELL, ACTUALLY I LIKED THE FIRST ONE BETTER." Smith: "OH, NO. NOW I CAN'T FIND IT." McCullah: YEAH, IF YOU'RE WRITING ON A COMPUTER, YOU'VE DELETED IT. WHERE WE HAVE IT ON OUR YELLOW PAPER. WE JUST CROSSED IT OUT. -Smith: CHEERS, BY THE WAY. -McCullah: CHEERS. Smith: WE KNOW A LOT OF WRITING PARTNERS WHO HAVE BROKEN UP. McCullah: LIKE, AFTER THEIR FIRST MOVIE. Smith: YEAH, 'CAUSE I THINK THERE'S, LIKE, A LOT OF PRESSURE TO THEN BE DEFINED BY THIS OTHER PERSON WHO YOU'VE COLLABORATED WITH. AND SO WE'VE -- WE HAVE DIFFERENT INTERESTS. AND SO WHEN WE COME TOGETHER ON A PROJECT, WE KNOW THAT IT'S, LIKE, A THING THAT WE BOTH LOVE AND WANT TO DO TOGETHER. AND THEN WHEN WE WRITE SEPARATELY, I THINK WE REALLY APPRECIATE EACH OTHER, 'CAUSE IT'S SO NICE TO COME BACK TO MARGARITA FRIDAYS TOGETHER. McCullah: AND IT'S NICE TO HAVE SOMEONE ELSE TO BOUNCE SOMETHING OFF OF. 'CAUSE SOMETIMES I CAN SIT AND STARE AT A SCRIPT PROBLEM FOR LIKE TWO HOURS, BUT THEN AS SOON AS SHE'S IN THE ROOM, ALL OF A SUDDEN, WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE, AND I'M LIKE, "WAIT! WHAT IF WE DO THIS?" AND SHE'LL SAY, "WELL, WHAT IF WE DO THAT?" AND THEN WE JUST FEED OFF OF EACH OTHER. Smith: WE'RE GONNA HAVE OUR 20th ANNIVERSARY COMING UP. -WE SHOULD HAVE A PARTY. -McCullah: OKAY. Both: UM... [ BOTH LAUGH ]