"Flyboys"
Loeffelholz
The United States, With LovePosts: 8,993Quartermasters
Ordinarily, I'd have just posted this in the "last film seen" thread...
But this movie was a special one for me---for more reasons than one, and watching it was a bittersweet mixture of fun, excitement...and a sense of loss.
Long story short (hopefully!
):
A handful of years ago I began work on a spec script about the Lafayette Escadrille, the squadron of American volunteers who flew for France against Germany in WWI. I completely immersed myself in the period---reading personal memoirs, doing exhaustive research on aircraft, weapons, geopolitics...and the amazing real-life American heroes who did incredible things in the skies over France from 1916-1918.
An earlier draft, which I entitled "The Bottle of Death," was nominated for Screenplay of the Month on http://www.triggerstreet.com , a filmmaker/screenwriter website co-founded by Kevin Spacey, and received many favourable notices for it there, though I didn't win the SOM competition.
I rewrote, polished, rewrote, polished (if you've ever worked on a script, you catch my drift!) ad nauseam, and was eventually nominated again---but had to be disqualified, because a previous version of the script had already been nominated. C'est la vie, as the saying goes.*
Still, I vigourously shopped my latest rewrite around---mass mailings, queries to agents, managers, prodcos...even the one which ended up making "Flyboys," but I'm getting ahead of myself. A year went by; I got a few nibbles, mailed out copies whenever someone expressed interest---and then, just as I was halfway through the umpteenth rewrite---punching up character motivation, etc---I got word that a film called "Flyboys" was in the early stages of production in France.
For those of you gentlemen unfortunate enough to have taken a serious blow to the testicles at some point in your lives, you might begin to approximate my reaction to the news---after I'd regained consciousness and remembered how to breathe:
X-( 
Now, don't get me wrong---I'm not alleging anything, as the timelines simply don't match up: Flyboys would have probably been in the early stages of pre-production as I was feverishly pounding out my first draft, clad only in my tightie-whiteys in the small hours of countless late nights and early mornings, so it's a simple case of bad luck, and even worse timing. A cautionary tale about beginning ambitious spec projects without representation...
Saw the film tonight, and it was visually spectacular, as I'd fully expected it to be, with James Franco ( one of a short list of actors I'd pictured!), and the excellent Jean Reno as Capt. Georges Thenault, the commander of L'Escadrille Americaine. It's not my story, but...there are just enough historical facts referenced to echo my piece: The titular "Bottle of Death" rates a scene in the film, and a couple of nice lines of dialogue! And there's a line here, a line there...and the finale of the picture, which I used as a plot point late in Act 2 of my piece.
This was a great story, and it needed to be told; I saw an hour-long show on the History Channel one morning, another lifetime ago, and within a week was at work on it. It's the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on, 
and I learned quite a lot from the process, so I can't have any regrets. You can't win if you don't play.
Still and all, though it was fun (and I like my script better ), going to see it was a lot like watching the coolest guy in school take your best girl to the prom. 
This thread is a cheap form of therapy. I'd be most interested in other viewers' opinions.
* For anyone interested, either draft of my script, "Bottle of Death" or "Lafayette Escadrille" are downloadable from triggerstreet. My username there is Loeffelholz (go figure! ), and naturally I'll just send out a PDF file to anyone who PMs me...this is as close to a broader audience as this work will likely ever see, but hopefully it will serve effectively as a writing sample.
Thanks for listening. I feel better already.
But this movie was a special one for me---for more reasons than one, and watching it was a bittersweet mixture of fun, excitement...and a sense of loss.
Long story short (hopefully!
):A handful of years ago I began work on a spec script about the Lafayette Escadrille, the squadron of American volunteers who flew for France against Germany in WWI. I completely immersed myself in the period---reading personal memoirs, doing exhaustive research on aircraft, weapons, geopolitics...and the amazing real-life American heroes who did incredible things in the skies over France from 1916-1918.
An earlier draft, which I entitled "The Bottle of Death," was nominated for Screenplay of the Month on http://www.triggerstreet.com , a filmmaker/screenwriter website co-founded by Kevin Spacey, and received many favourable notices for it there, though I didn't win the SOM competition.
I rewrote, polished, rewrote, polished (if you've ever worked on a script, you catch my drift!) ad nauseam, and was eventually nominated again---but had to be disqualified, because a previous version of the script had already been nominated. C'est la vie, as the saying goes.*
Still, I vigourously shopped my latest rewrite around---mass mailings, queries to agents, managers, prodcos...even the one which ended up making "Flyboys," but I'm getting ahead of myself. A year went by; I got a few nibbles, mailed out copies whenever someone expressed interest---and then, just as I was halfway through the umpteenth rewrite---punching up character motivation, etc---I got word that a film called "Flyboys" was in the early stages of production in France.
For those of you gentlemen unfortunate enough to have taken a serious blow to the testicles at some point in your lives, you might begin to approximate my reaction to the news---after I'd regained consciousness and remembered how to breathe:
X-( Now, don't get me wrong---I'm not alleging anything, as the timelines simply don't match up: Flyboys would have probably been in the early stages of pre-production as I was feverishly pounding out my first draft, clad only in my tightie-whiteys in the small hours of countless late nights and early mornings, so it's a simple case of bad luck, and even worse timing. A cautionary tale about beginning ambitious spec projects without representation...
Saw the film tonight, and it was visually spectacular, as I'd fully expected it to be, with James Franco ( one of a short list of actors I'd pictured!), and the excellent Jean Reno as Capt. Georges Thenault, the commander of L'Escadrille Americaine. It's not my story, but...there are just enough historical facts referenced to echo my piece: The titular "Bottle of Death" rates a scene in the film, and a couple of nice lines of dialogue! And there's a line here, a line there...and the finale of the picture, which I used as a plot point late in Act 2 of my piece.
This was a great story, and it needed to be told; I saw an hour-long show on the History Channel one morning, another lifetime ago, and within a week was at work on it. It's the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on,
and I learned quite a lot from the process, so I can't have any regrets. You can't win if you don't play.Still and all, though it was fun (and I like my script better
), going to see it was a lot like watching the coolest guy in school take your best girl to the prom. This thread is a cheap form of therapy. I'd be most interested in other viewers' opinions.
* For anyone interested, either draft of my script, "Bottle of Death" or "Lafayette Escadrille" are downloadable from triggerstreet. My username there is Loeffelholz (go figure!
), and naturally I'll just send out a PDF file to anyone who PMs me...this is as close to a broader audience as this work will likely ever see, but hopefully it will serve effectively as a writing sample.Thanks for listening. I feel better already.
Check out my Amazon author page! Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Comments
Nice of you to offer :v
And, I need Devlin to turn this into a trilogy, so I can pitch mine as a prequel B-)
Mine was intended as part one of a trilogy---"The Bottle of Death" was about 1916. Each of the next two would have dealt with 1917 and 1918 respectively.
My script, set from May to December 1916, has the fundamental frailty and unreliability of the equipment as a larger participant in the drama.
In mine, the Germans start out in basic Fokker Eindeckers (monoplanes), and eventually acquire the famous Albatros D.II. The Americans start out in the Nieuport 11s, and only later get the 17s, which they fly exclusively in FB...it really was a teeter-totter of evolving technology, with whomever had the best aircraft at the time generally being victorious...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
My villain was a fictionalized version of Oswald Boelcke, the pilot whose dictum is still studied in modern combat aviation training. Alas, his name was not so...personally relevant...as my own
I loved The Blue Max as well...it was one of those movies which altered the trajectory of my creative ambitions...
FB may not be quite that good---but if you have an appreciation for the genre, I'd be hard put to to recommend you spend 139 discretionary minutes elsewhere... B-)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
It would have been nice to get a bit more actual footage with the replica aircraft---fuselage-mounted cameras---with a more 'subjective' feel to the aircraft's movement relative to the earth...and as much pinwheeling horizon as I could manage...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Of course, with "The Blue Max," the flying sequences were real, rather than CGI, which I gather is the case with "Flyboys." There was also a decent story and characters. CGI hasn't yet managed to make up for any deficiencies in those areas, in my view.
They do have a fair amount of replica footage, particularly shots very near or on the ground---taxiing, takeoffs, near-ground chase sequence, etc.---but the vast majority of the dog-fight action is CGI...often spectacular, but not as tangibly real as I was hoping.
The characterization isn't bad, though one interesting diversion from fact is FB's inclusion of an African American in the Lafayette Escadrille---which never happened, to the best of my own personal research, but nevertheless is handled well. In fact, his character is a former boxer...like one of my characters...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Anywyas, sorry yours got copied...
If I were you, I'd still work on that screenplay and continue to shop it around; maybe the release of Flyboys might engender interest in that particular genre and period in history and lead to another opportunity somewhere else.
You can share this story with the entire world when you accept your first Oscar one day.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Thanks
Actually, I pretty much have moved on; just felt the need to vent when the movie came out last month. After my current project, I'll likely continue to tweak my #1 writing sample---after all, I have to convince Eon I can do action
Irrationally hopeful? Sure. I'm a Cardinal fan, looking at a game #7 against the Mets... {:)
P.S. Post 3,000!!!
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I gather that this film features largely CGI combat. The question I have is does it look real? I tend to be turned off when I hear of CGI combat scenes because they usually don't impress me very much. I am a big fan of the films which used real aircraft for their flying scenes. My all time favourites being films like 'Battle of Britain', 'Tora! Tora! Tora!', 'The Blue Max', 'Aces High' and Jan Sverak's 2001 film 'Dark Blue World' had some good 'real' flying sequences.
So - does they CGI stand up to scutiny. I have seen some stills, which look good, but then, CGI always look good in still. It is the motion that either makes it look great or makes it look fake.
I look forward to seeing this film, whether I get to see it in cinemas or have to wait for the DVD. BTW - does anyone know where one can see this film in the UK(I'm in Bedfordshire).
And well done Loeffelholz for seeing the potential in this subject. Im sure writing the screenplay was a rewarding and enjoyable process. Sadly you were unlucky on this occasion, but that's life!
Just out of interest, what WWI flying movies are available on DVD? I have 'The Blue Max' and 'Aces High'. Are there any others out there?
The CGI isn't seamless here, I'm afraid; the sequences are spectacular, but not quite as convincing as I'd been hoping. Nevertheless, I highly recommend it if you enjoy the genre.
As far as WWI pictures...no---other than "The Blue Max" (which is brilliant, and inspired me 30+ years ago!)...and I'm embarrassed to say I haven't seen 'Aces High'...that was why I was so excited when I began the project. It seemed such ripe material; figures somebody else thought so as well...
As a sideline, CGI sequences replicating Hell's Angels, in Scorsese's great "The Aviator" were very good---better, in fact, than "Flyboys," in my opinion...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Thanks for the info. I am surprised you haven't seen Aces High. It is easily available on Region 2 DVD, I'm not sure about Region 1 though (What Region are you in?). I actually prefer it to The Blue Max, although the aircraft used in the film are not as good as those in the Blue Max. The British Se-5s are converted Stampes, which look pretty good, except for their swept back wings and round wing tips. There is also a genuine Avro 504 which is used in ground scenes and is fairly seamlessly integrated with model shots for the flying scenes. Unfortunately the German aircraft are not so good here. Three aircraft are used to simulate the Germans here: A Viima, a Tiger Moth and a Bucker Jungmeister. Also, footage from The Blue Max, and I think Zeppelin as well are used. They don't intercut as well though.
It is the story and acting which I prefer in Aces High. Peter Firth is a young schoolboy with only 15 hours flying who is posted to the squadron led by his schoolboy hero, played by Malcolm MacDowell. The supporting cast of Simon Ward, Christopher Plummer, John Gielgud, Trever Howard etc. is very good as well. I reccomend you watch it!
Other WWI aviation films I know of are Von Richthofen and Brown; Zeppelin and Darling Lili. I don't think any of these are available on DVD, except for V. Richthofen and Brown is available on a Japanese DVD. And of course, there is 'The Red Baron' set to be released next year.
A man after my own heart. If you haven't already seen it, check out the 3-disc version of Pearl Harbour, which, amongst the extra disc options, includes some real seat-of-the-pants flying, before they put in the extra cgi aeroplanes. Fantastic.
It looks like my script, "Lafayette Escadrille," which was ostensibly killed in utero by the shooting and subsequent release of "Flyboys," is going to be optioned after all...
Granted, it's by a film student at USC, in the Peter Stark Producing Program, as part of his graduate thesis...but I'm in the process of doing development rewrites
Together, we're going to run a bit of lightning through this old corpse---and see if we can get its hand to twitch
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Thanks very much, Hardy...although there is a distinct possibility that the title won't survive development
Too bad "Flyboys" is already taken---it's a better title than it was a movie...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
But the script (and my other finished scripts) remain on Triggerstreet.com, where anyone can download them...an up-and-coming filmmaker saw it, and referred it to my new business partner, who asked me if he could option it for his graduate thesis...just goes to show, you never know when (and how) hard work will pay off.
Mind you, this is the first step in a long and exhaustive process, but I'm having fun revisiting the project, and writing new scenes
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM