I’m wrapping up Day 5 of Nanowrimo 2018 feeling a little overwhelmed yet excited. I still feel like I’m at the base of this mountain that is this screenplay. My excitement comes from the fact that after all of these years of being in and out of this story my love for it has not diminished. Often times the romanticism of a new idea clouds my judgement and it is not until sometime later that I am able to determine the quality of the idea.

As I was writing a scene and developing the dialogue I was envisioning the characters, the settings and the vibe of the story as much as I ever have. Speaking the vibe of the film, another major influence on me and this film is David Fincher’s The Zodiac.

The Zodiac works on many levels. It is a great character piece, a mystery, a film about obsession and much more. In general it’s one of the best films of the past 20 years. It breaks a lot of the so called “rules” for a Hollywood film. It has multiple key characters and it runs really long yet Fincher makes it work, not by accident either. I have watched the Zodiac more than 20 times easily (that’s a modest estimate) and each time I notice something I didn’t notice before. Sometimes I notice the way Fincher sets up a scene. I notice subtext hidden in the way a line is delivered. Sometimes I notice something as simple as a cool choice in production design.

As I write this screenplay I keep films like The Zodiac on a mental vision board as the excellence I strive for.

Thanks for reading about Day 5 and one of my favorite films, The Zodiac!

I hope your writing is going well. Till next time!

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