Monday, February 8, 2016

Co-Authoring a Script

The Plum Jar, A True Story from WWII is a script by Grant Gomm and Camden Argyle.

Click here to view the script

Hollywood has attempted to tell the stories of World War II nearly since the end of the
war.  Movies like Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day, and Series like Band of Brothers
all tell the stories from the perspective of the soldiers who fought in the war.  Audie
Murphy was the most decorated U.S. soldier during the war, and even starred in the
movie To Hell and Back where he played the role of himself, telling his story while
fighting in the U.S. 3rd Infantry division.  In 1945, in what is known as the Colmar Pocket
in Eastern France, Murphy held off an entire company of German soldiers by himself for
over an hour.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor for this achievement.  But what
about the average citizen that was liberated by the allied armies portrayed in these
films?  What is their story?  What was their experience like having to endure German
occupation for nearly six years?  One moment they are under the control of the Nazi
German government, then the bombs fall and bullets fly.  Sometimes the fighting lasted
for many days as was the case during the battle of Jebsheim, which was a part of the
Colmar Pocket fought in by Audie Murphy. 

Today, the French Foreign Legion tells the story from their perspective on their official website: 

http://www.legionetrangere.fr/index.php/79-infos-fsale/389-histoire-janvier-fevrier-
1945-la-legion-dans-la-bataille-de-strasbourg-et-dans-la-bataille-de-colmar.

But again, what about the citizens?  Do they not have stories to tell?  Not far from
Jebsheim, and within a few short minutes from the German border is the village of
Durrenentzen.  Lucy Eischer, who had been a long time resident of the village, told a
story that she experienced shortly after the French and American forces pushed the
Germans out.  Lucy’s story is the framework for The Plum Jar.

I had thought that collaborating on the script for The Plum Jar would be counter-productive. It seemed to me that pausing intermittently to confer with a co-writer would slow down the entire process. However, I did not account for how much time I spend trying to overcome writer’s block when writing solo. So yes, while it is true that a co-authorship of a script adds extra communication time to the writing process. However, there was a time reduction factor that I did not account for. It seems to me that whenever one of us experienced writer’s block, or did not have time to continue working on the project, he could ship the project to the other.  The other collaborator would delve into the issue at hand with fresh eyes, often able to find a solution that the other had been too entrenched to see. This phenomenon occurred several times, but there is exchange in particular that I am most proud of. Grant wrote out a wonderful story arch wherein the POV character finds a jar of pickles; which is set aside for a special occasion. This jar of pickles is later given to starving soldiers. When I read that passage, from my own perspective, I saw the jar of pickles as a symbol to represent the offer of goodwill that is extended to the german soldiers. To flesh out this symbol, I suggested that, when the german soldiers are killed, we show the jar of pickles being shattered, to represent the loss of the opportunity for peace. I was caught up in the whirlwind of establishing the gift as a symbol, and didn’t see how the symbol could be improved. However, viewing the suggested symbol from a different perspective, Grant was able to see an opportunity for improvement. Grant suggested, in order to optimize the symbol’s effectiveness, that we change the pickles into plums. Plums would be a local treat, relevant to the setting. Also, plums would be sweeter and therefore more representative of the goodwill for which they are intended to  be a placeholder.This rapid fire exchange of good ideas, each building off of the next, is the reason why I am now infinitely more accepting of collaborative authorship. Take that, Auteur theory!


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