Any other Aussies?

[uncle_al]

So you can, Tracey, so you can...

I've got more claim to being "American" than most, though...  My wife's people landed on the Mayflower; my people met the boat.

ROTFLOL - I guess so.

Cheers!
Al B.

[tracey]

Al,
I can claim to speak "english" more than you! My father's side is Scottish and my mother's Irish. I'm third generation Australian.
One of my favourite shows is "Top Gear". Three British men talk and drive different cars and I just LOVE their accents!!

I'd say "they speak the real thing"
YOU'D say " they speak the real deal"
LOL

Tracey:))

[uncle_al]

Tracey, if you want to get technical about it (and I know people who would, and have, and do), the only ones who speak "English" are those who live on the southern half of the island of Britain.  Scots speak an occasionally unintelligible mixture of "English" and Gaelic, more related to the Irish Gaelic than to the syncretic hodgepodge of bastardized Anglo-Saxon with overlays of Norman French that developed into "the Queen's English".

My step-father-in-law was a first generation American of Polish/German/Russian extraction (his parents came from Lodz, which is in Poland, but was under the Czar of All The Russias when his father emigrated, and under German control when his mother did), who spoke German exclusively at home until he went to school on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana.  His father had homesteaded Federal land in Montana in the early 1920's.  He still speaks with Germanic word emphasis and some idiomatic placement of word order.

I find it fascinating as a linguistic case study...

As to differentiating the differences between OZ speech and Kiwis, I'm sure those close to the action can tune their "ear" to it much more readily. 

How much "American Idiom" should you use?  If it's vital to the storyline, incorporate it; if it's merely peripheral, don't bother overly much... it'll probably be ironed out in development notes, or even by an actor on-set being uncomfortable saying it.

"My character wouldn't say/do/think that...

Cheers!
Al B.

[tracey]

Al,
I love discussing the variant accents and the fact that we all claim it English!!
So...my question is: How much Americanism should I be aiming for in my scripts?

I met a great chiro from Michigan and he had a lovely accent.
My BIL is Canadian born but sounds American to me.
New Zealanders and Australians are told we sound the same but my husband can pick out the Kiwi accent up better than me. 

[uncle_al]

Tracey, "half a dozen" is not necessarily limited to Australia.  I've said it most of my life, and I live here in the Good Ol' You Ess of Aaay!  (Although my grandmere and grandpere were "freshwater immigrants" from Canada around the 1920's.)
I've also said "a half dozen", too.

Don't be too hard on yourself because of that... there are at least as many variants of American (as my friends from across the Big Pond say, we here do not now speak "English", and haven't for a long, long time) as there are states in the Union.  Texans do not speak like Floridians, who do not speak like New Englanders, who do not speak like people from Baltimore.  (A dying dialect, called 'Bawlmorese'.  Remind me to expound on it at length some other time.)
We Michiganders speak a hybrid of standard Midwestern with overlays of Canadian and Yooper (derived from the Finnish and Swedish immigrants to the Upper Peninsula mines and forests).
Examples:  "I go store" as opposed to "I go to the store".  Beauty, eh?

Cheers!
Al B.

[tracey]

Okay. I do admit that my country can get som  good movies made here.
But with American scripts
Don checked out my first 13 pages and found a mistake in the first paragragh. Something I wouldn't have picked up... ever!
English and Australians say " half a dozen"
Americans say "a half dozen"
Now, I don't have a clue how many other mistakes I'll have like that in the 100 plus pages I'm writing!
I just hope that some American producers are going to be a little soft and not chuck my script because of those mistakes...lol
 

[uncle_al]

That's true, Tracey... Look at Baz Luhrman.  If he can get movies made in Australia, so could you.

Cheers!
Al B.

[rnbrewer]

Actually, Tracey, I think you'd be quite surprised at where movies are made. Lot's of great American movies have been filmed right in your back yard. The Matrix trilogy for instance was filmed mostly in Australia. A lot of times, producers will be push for movies to be filmed outside the U.S. because it sometimes can cut costs. So write a movie about Australia if you want to. I would be glad to make a movie there, that's for sure.

[tracey]

Thanks Al,
The main problem with not being American is knowing the local lingo
My dialogue is probably too wordsy and un-american...

I figured that as movies are more than likely going to be made in your country, the rest of us will have to write screenplays that are set in the USA?!
I've sent Don my 10 pages. Its very kind of him to offer to read it.
But I'm looking forward to giving this new contest a go!
 See ya
Tracey 

[uncle_al]

Tracey, if anyone can help you, Don's the man.

Believe it.

Cheers!
Al B.

[ScriptNurse]

Oh yes ... shoot for 100 pages. If you'd like to send me 10 pages, I'll offer any suggestions that I think will help.

[tracey]

Thank you Don! The main challenge was to take my 239 page novel and cut it down. I have a 162 page script from it but I guess that's far too long?

[ScriptNurse]

My hat's off to you ... I could never write a novel ... and welcome to our little corner of the web. If you have any questions, please ask ... it seems as though there's plenty of free advice around here.

[tracey]

Hi from downunder! I'm so pleased to have found this website. My genre is suspense/drama. I took 4 yrs to write a novel then thought, "there has to be some better way to do it faster!" My friend suggested turning the novel into a screenplay and BINGO! I've found my creativity!   See ya, Tracey.