Is Brenda Chapman Working on Episode VII?
Lucasfilm employee and original Brave director Brenda Chapman posed the following question about Episode VII on Twitter:
I’m surprised more people haven’t taken the chance to weigh in. In particular, I share the sentiments of @tenancioushope’s answer.
So how does Brenda Chapman fit into the equation if Michael Arndt is writing the screenplay? Maybe we can take a clue from his thoughts about Toy Story 3, as related at Go Into the Story by Scott Myers (spotted via Lightsaber Rattling):
“People say that writing is re-writing,” he [Arndt] continues, “but that leaves out a crucial part of the equation: the feedback you get prior to your re-write. Pixar stories work because of the robustness of the story feedback system.” Arndt points to statements made by several key Pixar staffers who admit that, at some point in the process, every single film Pixar made was once the worst thing one might ever see. “It’s only by making the movie as a ‘reel’ seven or eight times, and failing repeatedly, and by applying the smartest and most ruthless criticism you can to the story over and over again, that the stories are able to take shape and come out feeling coherent and complete,” he says.
Arndt’s observations on his time at Pixar only confirm what many film pundits and fans have long suspected: Pixar’s films are such rousing successes because of the attention each individual at the studio dedicates to the screenplays. “Andrew Stanton’s rule of thumb is that it takes 10 man-years of labor to make a good screenplay,” Arndt explains. “Either two writers working five years or 10 guys working one year. For Toy Story 3, it was even more than that — probably the equivalent of 10 people working two or three years.”
“To me, this is what separates Pixar from almost everyone else,” Arndt concludes. “They realize how hard it is to come up with a great screenplay.”
With Episode VII presumably needing to shoot in 2013 to allow ILM most of 2014 for post-production prior to a 2015 release – a similar pattern to each of the Prequel Trilogy films – and Lucasfilm’s penchant for deep secrecy, it would make sense to gather together a strong in-house feedback team. And who better to participate in that process than another veteran of the Pixar method?
Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.
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