New Script

[MphsBlues]

Based on your description, I would recommend you check out "The Mummy" and it's structure.  This movie did a great job of mixing a story from the past with the present as well as a protagonist from the past who is the antagonist in the present.

Thanks, Chris!  I will check it out.  I'm sure I can get some great ideas from it.  Honestly, I didn't care for that movie, but I'm sure the writer has a heck of a lot more knowledge about meshing past and future than I do so I will indeed check it out.

Cheers!

[MphsBlues]

Don, I guess you would call it a historical thriller.  Since half the story takes place in the past and half in present day I'm not really sure what category it falls into.  I suppose that, in itself, is a mistake.  What can I say, i'm new at this..  The story has been floating around my head for years and I just decided to start getting it on paper (actually, I'm using Scrippped Writer).  I can tell you my editor (who edits my blogs) loves it and wants to know more, more, more.  I believe the script is good so far, but I suppose it should fit the mold of a particular genre before I continue. 

[ScriptNurse]

What is the genre for this movie?

The logline would be something like:  Join Frank Weston as he searches for a cargo containing thousands of the rarest coin on Earth and the guy who minted the coins 350 years ago who now wants them back.

The logline needs work. What you have described is not what you've written in the logline. Is the story about the search or what happens when Frank finds the coins and is confronted by the man who minted them? If it's the latter, then your opening scene is about finding the coins and not unlike the opening to Stargate.

[Chris Messineo]

Based on your description, I would recommend you check out "The Mummy" and it's structure.  This movie did a great job of mixing a story from the past with the present as well as a protagonist from the past who is the antagonist in the present.

[MphsBlues]

Hi.  I'm working on a script that takes place today in Florida and 350 years ago in Peru.  The logline would be something like 'Join Frank Weston as he searches for a cargo containing thousands of the rarest coin on Earth and the guy who minted the coins 350 years ago who now wants them back'  I'm finished with the first 30 pages of first draft.  It now dissolves to Peru, 1658, where approximately half the movie will take place, then back to present to join Frank as he searches for the treasure, which now lies beneath 20 ft of sand in the ocean.  I have already worked out how to make the one who minted the coin live for so long, but how to mesh with present day seems impossible. It seems like too tall of a task for me as a complete newbie.  It also seems daunting writing so far in the past.  I've researched and researched and know my material pretty well, but dialog and action seem difficult for me in the historical parts.
Question:  Is it a bad idea to spend equal time in present and past?  Does losing the protagonist, Frank, for 30 minutes doom the project?  Or can the protagonist be the guy who minted the coins for half the movie, and then becomes antagonist?  I don't really want anyone to be the antagonist except for the banks that threaten to repossess the salvage vessel that Frank runs.  I prefer to wait until the end and have the one who minted the coins appear in the final beat looking over his shoulder at the coin.  It will be a revelation to the viewer to close out the movie.