What if Rain Man made a movie? No, really, what if you took his fixation on banal minutiae ("Charlie Babbitt yelled at me on Tuesday, September 3rd, 1987, 3:14pm") and applied it to screenwriting? To a hard-hitting indictment of modern medicine and story of personal discovery through better relationships?
You'd get
Phosphorus Alights' The Empiricist.
Movie trailer (Quicktime, 3min):
High bandwidthLow bandwidthDialupThe Empiricist's auteur is
Warren Metzler, a doctor who ditched medicine for homeopathy and
lost his license, but not before he helped kill someone, natch. The final straw was when he gave an investigator complaining of rectal bleeding a packet of crushed oyster shells.
His weirdly disconnected list-as-narrative style is positively EPIC when he's not wearing his screenwriter's cap. Here's a bit from the HUGE "Phosphorus Alights' Model for Making Movies", which every sap on the crew must read and sign:
When Warren and Fred first entered the movie business back in 1996, they were already aware that they wanted to provide their customers with worthy movies (movies that add value to the lives of the people who watch those movies). And they had that awareness, because their work experiences, prior to entering the movie business, had taught them that all valid work produces worthy products. So, one of their first actions, back in 1996, was to search for the ingredients of a worthy movie. That pursuit took several years, but eventually was successful; and here is what they discovered: a movie is worthwhile if it tells a significant story in an entertaining manner. Okay, but what’s a story? It’s a description of a series of events that have a common theme (a common thread). All right, then what makes a story significant? It is significant when at least one of the main characters learns how to live some aspect of daily life in an optimal manner. I got that, but what makes a movie entertaining? It is entertaining when the viewers are drawn in from the very beginning, enjoy the movie throughout, and are refreshed at the end. At the time this document is being written, The Empiricist is almost finished; and Warren and Fred are convinced that its story is significant and told in an entertaining manner.
Let us explore stories a bit more, to further flesh out the ingredients that must be present for a movie to be entertaining. It was presented in the previous paragraph, that a story is a description of what happens to one or more characters, as a series of events unfold. In other words, an interesting phenomenon involving some people manifests (develops), and then unfolds over time, and is, eventually, brought to resolution. Now, all stories are told through the dialogue (told by what the various characters say). But, some aspects of a given story, especially in a movie, can be told through sounds that are not speech, and through visuals that don’t have any associated dialogue.
For decades, movie people have promoted a saying: "show and don’t tell". By which they mean, "if it is possible to communicate a story point with visuals alone, then don’t express that point with dialogue". However, when Warren and Fred first heard this concept they were confused. Obviously it isn’t valid to have a movie without any dialogue, or silent movies would still be made; and almost no one makes silent movies any more. And, therefore, some dialogue is required. But, what story points should be communicated with dialogue, and which with just sounds or visuals? Here is what Warren and Fred eventually concluded. When the story point is a common physical sensation (such as pain), or a strong emotion (such as anger or sadness), it can probably be fully understood by most viewers with just a gesture, or a facial expression, or a body posture, or some sound effect; and no dialogue. But, when the story point is a feeling (an experience of beauty and refinement), or a thought (a concept), or an attitude (a potential outcome for a given situation), that type of point must be communicated with dialogue, or the viewing audience will not grasp the communication. So, to sum up this paragraph, present the story points visually when you can, and with dialogue when verbal communication is necessary, but ensure that all the nuances of the story are clearly communicated...
http://www.phosphorusalights.com/PA%27s_Make_a_Movie_Model.pdf
Like that? There's more :)
The Empiricist
production notes.
The Empiricist
story synopsis.
Metzler's production partner:
Fred Riskin. Warren's the more grounded of the two.
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