Screenwriter of the Month: I. A. L. Diamond

I. A. L. Diamond.
Picture found here.

A Short Biography:

"[On June 27th, 1920) Diamond was born Iţec (Itzek) Domnici in Ungheni, Iaşi County, Bessarabia, Romania, present day Moldova, was referred to as "Iz" in Hollywood, and was known to quip that his initials stood for "Interscholastic Algebra League".

"Diamond emigrated with his family to the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn in the United States at the age of 9. There he studied at the Boy's High School, showing ability in mathematics, competing in the state Mathematics Olympiads in 1936-37, winning several gold medals.

"Diamond completed his undergraduate studies at Columbia in 1941. There he studied journalism, publishing in the Columbia Daily Spectator under the pseudonym "I.A.L. Diamond". He was editor of the humor magazine Jester of Columbia, a member of the Philolexian Society, and became the only person to single-handedly write four consecutive productions of the annual revue, the Varsity Show. As a result, upon graduation he abandoned his plans to pursue his master's at Columbia and accepted a short-term contract in Hollywood.

"A succession of limited-term contracts ensued, notably at Paramount Pictures where he worked on projects without ultimately receiving a writing credit. He then moved to Universal, where in 1944 he worked on his first credited feature script, Murder in the Blue Room. It was a year later, at Warner Brothers, that he achieved his first real success and consequent recognition with Never Say Goodbye in 1946. He worked at 20th Century Fox from 1951–55, eventually deciding to become independent.

Billy Wilder (L) and I. A. L. Diamond.
Picture found here.

"In 1957 he began a collaborative relationship with Billy Wilder on the movie Love in the Afternoon. From there, the pair had a string of hits with Some Like It Hot; The Apartment (which won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay); One, Two, Three; Irma la Douce; the Oscar-nominated The Fortune Cookie; the sex comedy Kiss Me, Stupid; and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Diamond also had a hit with his 1969 solo adaptation of the play Cactus Flower into the movie of the same name.

"In total, Diamond and Wilder wrote twelve movies together over 25 years. Some of these films feature characters engaged in never-ending but friendly squabbling, such as Joe and Jerry in Some Like it Hot and Holmes and Watson in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Diamond's widow claims that these characters were based on her husband's relationship with Wilder.

"In 1980, Diamond and Wilder were given the Writers Guild of America's Laurel Award for career achievement in screenwriting. Wilder had previously received the Laurel Award in 1957 for his screenwriting partnership with Charles Brackett.

"Diamond died in Beverly Hills, California [on April 21st] in 1988." (Source #1)

His Best Known and Awarded Movies:

"Love in the Afternoon"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

 - "Love in the Afternoon" (1957) - "Director Billy Wilder salutes his idol, Ernst Lubitsch, with this comedy about a middle-aged playboy (Gary Cooper) fascinated by the daughter (Audrey Hepburn) of a private detective (Maurice Chevalier) who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client." Written by Ray Hamel (Source here.) 

- Won the 1958 Writer's Guild of America for "Best
Written American Comedy" with Billy Wilder.

- Nominated for a Golden Globe in 1958 

for "Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy".

"Some Like It Hot"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "Some Like It Hot" (1959) - "When two Chicago musicians, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), witness the the St. Valentine's Day massacre, they want to get out of town and get away from the gangster responsible, Spats Colombo (George Raft). They're desperate to get a gig out of town but the only job they know of is in an all-girl band heading to Florida. They show up at the train station as Josephine and Daphne, the replacement saxophone and bass players. They certainly enjoy being around the girls, especially Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Monroe) who sings and plays the ukulele. Joe in particular sets out to woo her while Jerry/Daphne is wooed by a millionaire, Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown). Mayhem ensues as the two men try to keep their true identities hidden and Spats Colombo and his crew show up for a meeting with several other crime lords." Written by garykmcd (Source here.) 

- Nominated with Billy Wilder for an Oscar for "Best Writing, 

Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium" in 1960. 

- Awarded one of the Top Ten Films of 1959 

by the National Board of Review.

"The Apartment"
German movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "The Apartment" (1960) - "Insurance statistician C.C. "Bud" Baxter (Jack Lemmon) advances his career by making his Manhattan apartment available to executives in his company for their extramarital affairs. His boss, Jeff D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), finds out and promotes Bud in return for the exclusive use of the apartment for his own affair. When Sheldrake's girlfriend turns out to be Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), a pretty elevator operator Bud likes, he is heartbroken, but accepts the arrangement." Written by filmfactsman (Source here.)

- Won the 1961 Oscar for "Best Writing, Story and
Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen"
with Billy Wilder.

- Won the 1961 Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture - Comedy".

"The Fortune Cookie"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "The Fortune Cookie" (1966) - "A cameraman (Jack Lemmon) is knocked over during a football game. His brother-in-law (Walter Matthau) as the king of the ambulance chasing lawyers starts a suit while he's still knocked out. The cameraman is against it until he hears that his ex-wife (Judi West) will be coming to see him. He pretends to be injured to get her back, but also sees what the strain is doing to the football player (Ron Rich) who injured him." Written by John Vogel (Source here.)

- Nominated for an Oscar for the 1967 "Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - 

Written Directly for the Screen" with Billy Wilder.

- Nominated for the 1967 Writer's Guild of
America for "Best Written American Comedy"
with Billy Wilder.

"Cactus Flower"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "Cactus Flower" (1967) - "Toni Simmons (Goldie Hawn) believes that the only reason her married lover won't leave his wife is because of the children. In truth, her lover, dentist Julian Winston (Walter Matthau), doesn't have any children. In fact, Julian doesn't even have a wife - he just tells women he does to avoid getting involved. When Julian does decide to take the plunge with Toni she insists on meeting the first wife and Julian enlists the aid of his long-time nurse/receptionist Stephanie Dickinson (Ingrid Bergman) to play the part." Written by A.L.Beneteau (Source here.)

- Nominated in 1970 by the Writer's Guild of America
for "Best Comedy Adapted From Another Medium". 

"The Private Life of
Sherlock Holmes"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (1970) - "Director Billy Wilder adds a new and intriguing twist to the personality of intrepid detective Sherlock Holmes. One thing hasn't changed however: Holmes' crime-solving talents. Holmes (Robert Stevens) and Dr. Watson (Colin Blakely) take on the case of a beautiful woman (Genevieve Page) whose husband has vanished. The investigation proves strange indeed, involving six missing midgets, villainous monks, a Scottish castle, the Loch Ness monster, and covert naval experiments. Can the sleuths make sense of all this and solve the mystery?" Written by Joel Preuninger (Source here.) Also stars Christopher Lee as Mycroft Holmes.

- Nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe Award 

for "Best Motion Picture" in 1971.

- Nominated with Billy Wilder for "Best Comedy Written Directly for 

the Screen" in 1971 by the Writer's Guild of America.

(Source #2)

His Tips on Screenwriting:

Actually, I can't find any quotes from him at all. But, I did find an interesting article via the Black List's blog. In the article, Diamond and Billy Wilder discuss how they write and make a movie. It is thought-provoking to say the least. To read 'part 1', go here.

Sources:
- #1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._A._L._Diamond
- #2 - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0224634/

Also, as a treat, Billy Wilder on writing:

Essay of the Month: The Elements of a Story

This is something that I decided to do for the blog; that on the first day of every month I will post a little something I like to call "Essay of the Month". "Essay of the Month" is a detailed and researched blog entry describing character development, narrative, and the elements of storytelling.

There is a lot to go over, but for right now, I'm going to keep it pure and simple: The Elements of a Story.

I'm starting off with the most basic of story writing lessons: how to go from the innocent beginning, to a conflicted middle, and thought-provoking and (hopefully) satisfying ending.

Picture taken from here.

Plot: What Happens in the Beginning, Middle and End?

Plot noun "Also called storyline. the plan, scheme, or main story 

of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story."(Source #2)

Plot involves every other element, or the story cannot be told. Without "conflict", you just have a bunch of characters doing nothing. Without "character", you just have an issue that cannot be resolved.

"The plot is the action, the series of events in the story that help move the characters forward to resolve their conflict(s). When conflict enters a character's world, the plot is catapulted." (Source #3)

Picture taken from here.

Also called 'exposition', the 'beginning' is where everything is set up: you have a place, a time or time period, characters that will meet and conflict ensues. The characters are usually the source of the conflict. Maybe they don't like each other for whatever reason - it has to be a pretty strong reason or the story will fall flat. Although other characters don't have to be the conflict in the story. Maybe the main character decides to embark on a journey of self-discovery and there is no one to blame but themselves.

The 'middle' is the basis of the story and it will take up most of the action. This part is called 'rising action'. At this point in the story the action should be getting more exciting: maybe the character moves to another place or finds another character that is on his side. It is where characters face more problems, may defeat some problems that create other more difficult problems, and develop in some way. 

In the middle of the 'middle', there is a 'climax'. But if you are smart, you won't place that in the exact middle of the story. But don't mistake it as the conclusion. It is the part where the main character is forced into making a 'crucial decision' that will decide the outcome for that character. It should be the impetus that pulls the story forward into the 'resolution'.

The 'resolution' is where everything is, literally, resolved. Maybe the main character realizes he's in love and finds the girl of his dreams and they decide to make it work. Or maybe the main character has just defeated the evil overlord of the story. Most parts of the story are answered here, but not all of them.

After the 'resolution' comes the 'ending'. This is the part where everything is decided or finalized. Not everything has to be finalized. You can leave some very select pieces of the storyline unfinished if that is best for the story. But for the most part, everything has a conclusion: the bad guy is dead or at least defeated, the main character falls in love or achieves some aim he had in the 'beginning'.

Depending on how well written the 'denouement' is, people who are watching the story may think that the movie or story could've ended before this part, right at the end of the 'resolution' period. Which is fine. A lot of stories work this way and most movies do as well.

Picture taken from here.

A lot of people feel as though this diagram of the plot is a more correct visual representation of the story. It is because the 'conclusion' is not on the same space occupied by the 'exposition' or the 'beginning' of the story. And it shouldn't be, because even though things have seemingly gone back to the way things were before the story was told, i. e. back to normal, it is not the same as it was before. Changes have happened to the main character and to those closest to him. 

Setting: Where is this Happening?

Setting noun "the locale or period in which the action 

of a novel, play, film, etc., takes place." (Source #2)

You can place the characters and their problems anywhere, but they have to be somewhere. Also, it helps if the setting influences the character. Like if they're originally from the country and they move to the big city, or vice-versa.

Character: Who is this Happening To?

Character noun 

1. the aggregate of features and traits 

that form the individual nature of some person or thing.

2. one such feature or trait; characteristic.

3. moral or ethical quality.

4. qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity.

5. reputation. (Source #2)

6. a person or persons who populate a story 

(and should have a few, if not all, of the above).

I like the definition provided by Theatre: Its Art and Craft: "the representation of the personalities in action." (Source #4)

These people make up your story. Make them interesting.

Conflict: What are the Problems Faced in the Story?

Conflict verb (used without object)

1. to come into collision or disagreement; 

be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash. 

2. to fight or contend; do battle. (Source #2)

Conflict noun

3. a fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife.

4. controversy; quarrel: conflicts between parties.

5. discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, 

as of interests or principles: a conflict of ideas.

6. a striking together; collision.

7. incompatibility or interference, as of one idea, desire, event, or activity 

with another: a conflict in the schedule. (Source #2)

It goes without saying that without conflict you don't have a story. There is nothing to tell. There may be characters, but they don't do anything: they don't grow, learn what strengths they have, find a lover, or change in any way. So they won't be affecting the audience. 

The conflict should be able to motivate someone, like the main protagonist to get off his keister and do something that challenges himself in some way.

Theme: What is the Underlying Message of the Story?

Theme noun 

1. a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; 

topic: The need for world peace was the theme of the meeting.

2. a unifying or dominant idea, motif, etc., as in a work of art.

You can develop a theme based around the conflict. It can be morally or politically charged. It could be simple, like don't be a bad guy and try to take over the world while Superman is around.

Everything is up to you. Be creative and have fun. Many projects are made based around its ability to make money, but you only show your best stuff if you do it for you.

Also, for your enjoyment, this video about the elements of a story courtesy of Flocabulary's Youtube channel:

Tell me what you think in the comments below: did you like what you read? What would you like to read about later?

Sources:
- #1- http://teachers.saschina.org/dcole/2008/04/08/story-elements/
- #2 - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plot?s=t
- #3 - http://christiewrightwild.blogspot.com/2012/05/story-element-3-plot.html
- #4 - Archer, Steven, Cynthia Gendrich and Woodrow Hood. Theatre: Its Art and Craft. 5th Ed. San Diego, CA. Collegiate Press. 2003. Pg. 60.