Writing 29 pages of a screenplay per month #5: Big Screen Legends

The latest screenplay I’ve been writing is a 6 part light hearted series called Hea-Van which is about Platinum Heaven, the next step up from normal heaven.

The last time I did some writing on it I had written episode 1 and half of episode 2. Now I’ve completed all of episode 2 and episode 3. Each episode is 20 minutes in length and a minute on screen is one page. Episode 2 explores another area of Platinum Heaven called S.A.O. which is Signs and Opportunities. This is where people in the land can go in front of a panel to create a sign or an opportunity for a loved one back on earth to make their life. The panel I created for the episode consisted of John Lennon, Elizabeth Taylor and Amelia Earhart.

The problem I’ve started to have with some elements of the series is I have ideas for this new land, but once they are down on paper they don’t last as long as I think they should, so that’s proved a challenge.

Also sometimes when you write, even if you have everything planned out in your mind what you want to happen, it go in a different direction. Which is what happened in episode 2. I put Heath Ledger in the first half of the episode to play off one of the main characters, and I created a good rapport with him and the other character that I did a second longer scene later in that episode. I've already got ideas as to how Heath Ledger can feature in the series finale.

The third episode was all about reunions and big arrivals. For this episode I focused on the arrival of Robin Williams and how people would react. I focused on the friendships that would be reformed. John Belushi and Christopher Reeve were best friends of Robin Williams, and Belushi passed away in the 80’s and Reeve over ten years ago. So it was interesting to think about how it would be to have a reunion with someone I hadn’t seen in over 10 years or even longer.

For a couple of characters which I’ll discuss in further detail in another blog post I had to create a very emotional reunion, so out came the sad music and I found one song that got me in the right sad mood. So I had to play this one song which was the Glee version of Pure Imagination on a loop until the scene was written and yes you've guessed it, it was stuck in my head for the rest of the next day!