  in all the fuss over the new job, i'd almost completely forgotten that i signed up to take an introductory screenwriting class. it started last night. as far as screenwriting goes, i have zero experience and some interest. i'm mainly just curious, and it seems like the class will be pretty interesting. at least, the instructor seems interesting and knowledgeable (though i completely disagree with some of the things she said, most notably that "people never change"; i think i may have sniggered when she said that)--though several of my fellow students seem a bit too talkative, including one who rambled on and on about how her kids make fun of her for writing. if i could have put a voiceover on that scene, i would have quipped, "lady, this isn't therapy. shut up . " the class is going to be a decent amount of work, writing a scene every week (that should be the easy part) and seeing a number of movies every week, at least one rental and one in theatres. this would be fine if the instructor just encouraged us to see any movie at all, just so we were watching, but she wants us to see very specific things: urlLink the secret lives of dentists , urlLink tape , urlLink catch me if you can , and urlLink in praise of love .
that is just a wee bit much; luckily i've seen two of those movies already, but i doubt i'll be so fortunate in the future--the odds of my slacking off are very, very good. also, at the end of class each week, the instructor will hand out scene guides and select two people from the class who then have five minutes to block the scene and create some dialogue, in order to convey some "mission" to the class.
and oh, i knew immediately, from the gleam in her eye, that she was going to pick me. and she did, along with a swedish boy named tobias. it was...interesting, and the worst part is that participating in it once doesn't exempt you from doing it again--plus, each week people can cast class members to act out scenes that they've written, though that might be a little easier, having the dialogue to work with already.
anyway, it went sort of like this (keep in mind that we had five minutes, so the bulk of dialogue was ad-libbed and what's below isn't an exact replica by any means): INT.OFFICE.DAY. MR. ANDERSON and ALICE, his secretary, arrive at their office doorway simultaneously. ALICE good morning, mr. anderson. MR. ANDERSON good morning. did you enjoy the rest of your weekend? ALICE (settling in at her desk) well...yes, yes i did. sir, i - MR. ANDERSON could you get me some coffee, please, alice? ALICE yes, sir, of course. alice crosses the office to prepare a cup of coffee, glancing back nervously over her shoulder as she stirs. she hands him the coffee, fidgeting nervously beside his desk. ALICE look, mr. anderson, about saturday night, i, um, i, i-- MR. ANDERSON alice, please, it's completely forgotten.
we all have our momentary lapses of judgment. mr. anderson watches as alice nods, still embarrassed. MR. ANDERSON (continuing) besides, my wife didn't suspect a thing. FADE OUT: THE END yeah, pretty silly, right? that's what i thought. at least i was able to easily translate my natural nervousness (acting is yucky! ) to the nervousness of my character. and the class seemed to get our "mission"...did you? 
