HOW TO USE A FORK: PROLOGUE

The three tined implement is set beside you and then it is taken in hand. The device is then, in an inept, recently developed manner, maneuvered towards ones plate to either impale or place food on the utensil. The device, accompanied by the sustenance, is then journeyed towards the lowest hole in ones head to nourish the wielder. 

Now it dawned on me that I can’t recall the day I was taught to use a fork. I guess it’s a technique that we learn by mimicking, much like the way we tell stories. We imitate, then innovate. In some cultures the etiquette for grasping a fork is to have the tines pointed down and in others, up. Some writers use a deus ex machina, some use a red herring to help develop a story. It’s all about the methodology of the author. Style if you will. Also, while the use of forks goes back to the 7th Century, the three act structure of a story goes as far back as neanderthal paintings. Simply put, storytelling is as old as man, as is the technique that we see in novels, films and television today. Yep, the same basic principles that decorated cave walls are used in episodes of The Office. 

Now the meaning of all this balderdash is to document what it’s like to go from script to screen as an independent. And not so much for others to grab hold of, but for myself. Something to look back on when I complete the process of creating a film, or telling a story if you will, by learning from my failures and my successes. It will be a personal insight viewed through the rose colored spectacles of my imagination. That being the said, conveying narratives is as easy to do as using forks and as intrinsic as it may be to all of us, it’s laughable how many of us can fuck it up. Or as David Mamet eloquently put it, “Story telling is like sex. We all do it naturally. Some of us are just better at it than others.” 

So here’s my story…

COMING SOON

HOW TO USE A FORK: THE SCRIPT