BvS It's always Darkest before The Dawn... Chris Terrio IS the Script Writer

[zryson]

Terrio is in charge.This isnt even debatable at this piont.Hes the writer.Hes the one thats being praised for the script,not Snyder,not Goyer,Terrio.

Sure Snyder has some input to the story but at the core its still Terrios Game. And if Terrio decided Its best to make Batman more awesome than Superman for the storysakes I doubt WB or Snyder would be very opposed to it-They are Batman fanboys.

When you are writing a story, its important to play to the strength of the characters, and in this case Batman would be a good choice. But then this is also a new Batman so its hard to say what the characterization/back story is going to be like, are there silly things in the script which will give the audience pause and could derail the story? Either way, I think its important that both Batman and Superman come out of this looking good.

 

[STARMAN]

If only one character comes off well than this film will not reach it's full potential. They'll make an effort for both characters to shine.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Terrio is in charge of the story.This isnt even debatable at this piont.Hes the writer.Hes the one thats being praised for the script,not Snyder,not Goyer,Terrio.

Sure Snyder has some input to the story but at the core its still Terrios Game.
And if Terrio decided Its best to make Batman more awesome than Superman for the storysakes I doubt WB or Snyder would be very opposed to it-They are Batman fanboys.

He's in charge of writing the screenplay don't mean he get's free reign to over rule people. Especially when Goyer is Exec Producer and Snyder being the director.

 

[roach]

He's in charge of writing the screenplay don't mean he get's free reign to over rule people. Especially when Goyer is Exec Producer and Snyder being the director.

In fact as a writer he's in charge of nothing...he's told what to write.

 

[Fallen Angel]

In fact as a writer he's in charge of nothing...he's told what to write.

To put it simply.

 

[Da-Scribe]

Terrio is in charge of the story.This isnt even debatable at this piont.Hes the writer.Hes the one thats being praised for the script,not Snyder,not Goyer,Terrio.

Sure Snyder has some input to the story but at the core its still Terrios Game.
And if Terrio decided Its best to make Batman more awesome than Superman for the storysakes I doubt WB or Snyder would be very opposed to it-They are Batman fanboys.

I don't think you totally understand the filmmaking hierarchy. Screenwriters, creatively speaking, are at the bottom. There's simply no way in hell that a guy who has written one major motion picture (Academy Award or not), would be given free reign over one of the biggest films to date by one of the top film studios in the world. Screenwriters just don't have that pull. Some aren't even allowed on set during filming.

Snyder doesn't just have some input in the story, it's his film. He's the director. He's the guy running the show. It's been apparent since before Terrio was ever on board that this film will feature Batman in a prominent way. Snyder has openly said that this was at his suggestion. In whatever way this story plays out, it will be because Snyder wanted it to go that way and the studio was on board with his vision. There's literally not a shred of evidence to suggest the studio is controlling the filmmaking process or that they've given Terrio creative control, so we should all really stop making such wild assumptions.

 

[roach]

I don't think you totally understand the filmmaking hierarchy. Screenwriters, creatively speaking, are at the bottom. There's simply no way in hell that a guy who has written one major motion picture (Academy Award or not), would be given free reign over one of the biggest films to date by one of the top film studios in the world. Screenwriters just don't have that pull. Some aren't even allowed on set during filming.

Snyder doesn't just have some input in the story, it's his film. He's the director. He's the guy running the show. It's been apparent since before Terrio was ever on board that this film will feature Batman in a prominent way. Snyder has openly said that this was at his suggestion. In whatever way this story plays out, it will be because Snyder wanted it to go that way and the studio was on board with his vision. There's literally not a shred of evidence to suggest the studio is controlling the filmmaking process or that they've given Terrio creative control, so we should all really stop making such wild assumptions.

The only writers with power are writer-directors and that's because they are directing what they write.
Tarantino pretty much writes whatever he wants and Weinstein writes a check to him.
Whedon has some control but not as much as people think he does. He is still working within Marvel studios and works within their policies and what is profitable for the characters.

 

[fake]

Been reading and watching more interviews by Terrio over the past week since I stumbled on to the DP/30. This is another really well detailed peek into his process, Vulture's "Toughest scene I wrote"

http://www.vulture.com/2012/12/toughest-scene-i-wrote-chris-terrio-on-argo.html

One of the more common critiques of a screenplay one is likely to hear in Hollywood is that a script has "too many men in rooms talking" (which always strikes me as bizarre, since roughly two thirds of The Godfather consists of men in rooms talking. Taken to heart, this note would have given us the tarantella and not "I believe in America" as the opening of the greatest Hollywood film ever made). I knew before I even attempted to write what became Scene 58 of Argo — a scene of nine men sitting in a conference room talking through various scenarios for a cover story to get Americans out of Iran — that the scene would be more difficult to pull off than any of the more (ostensibly) complicated set pieces in the film.

A scene at Mehrabad Airport in 1979 is, by comparison, easy to write, because the story can be told through images: a portrait of the Ayatollah glowering over a crowd; the glimpsed tragedy of a refugee woman being yanked away from her husband. It's the juxtaposition of image against image, as any good Bolshevik filmmaker knows, that tells the story; yet in a conference room, there's nothing to cut to except the actors' faces. The writing in a scene like this is, in effect, naked. The tension has to come from the audience's awareness of subtle shifts of power in the room.

As Scene 58 proceeds, top-floor officials from the CIA and State Department debate ideas for cover stories, each idea worse than the last, though no one in the room dares to point out that these Important Men thinking Important Thoughts are, in fact, delusional — no one except our hero, Tony Mendez. I knew that the crucial beat in the scene (and a major turning point in the film, both for its story and in its tone) would come when Mendez finally decided to speak up to his superiors, exposing the absurdity of their plans and, in effect, volunteering to take over the Tehran operation. I also knew that the moment was fraught: Mendez is a jaded CIA veteran, not an innocent pointing out that the bureaucratic emperors are naked. He couldn't seem smug, or overtly disrespectful to his superiors, and he needed to speak in the jargon of intelligence professionals. Yet he had to make his case and lay bare the absurdity of the State Department's plans (which, incredibly, were real: Officials at Foggy Bottom wanted to put the six escaped Americans on bicycles and tell them, in effect, "Pedal north until you smell Turkish food").

As I wrote and rewrote the scene, trying to get the tone right, I found myself returning to screenplays by writers like Chayefsky and Goldman, two masters who were writing at the time that Argo takes place (Goldman is, of course, still writing and still a master). In their films of the period, one line spoken by a man (or a woman) in a room could change the tone not only of a scene, but of an entire film. And these writers could do it without grandiloquence, but with precision, and often with spitballs — shifting a conversation with an ironic barb that could render the boardroom of a television network or an editorial meeting at the Washington Post speechless. How would these guys write the scene?

I settled on the idea that Mendez would throw a spitball into the self-serious conversation by making a joke about giving the bicycle escapees Gatorade. (Which meant I had to determine whether Gatorade was on the market and a commonly recognized brand in December of 1979. I celebrated when I found a Time Magazine from the year before featuring a dehydrated athlete with a Village People–style mustache: "Gatorade: When You're Thirsty to Win." So the Gatorade could stay.) Mendez would make his off-hand joke. The table would go silent. The attention of the room would shift to the court jester speaking truth to power.

 

[mclay18]

Now that Justice League is confirmed as a 2-parter, will Terrio write both? The press release in THR mentions only one film.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

I'm willing to believe he will write both.

 

[roach]

Now that Justice League is confirmed as a 2-parter, will Terrio write both? The press release in THR mentions only one film.

He'll write both

 

[John-An]

Now that Justice League is confirmed as a 2-parter, will Terrio write both? The press release in THR mentions only one film.

I think he will write both... because the slate mentioned Justice League as a 2 part film not 2 movies. we'll see I suppose.

 

[Zionite1]

Been reading and watching more interviews by Terrio over the past week since I stumbled on to the DP/30. This is another really well detailed peek into his process, Vulture's "Toughest scene I wrote"

http://www.vulture.com/2012/12/toughest-scene-i-wrote-chris-terrio-on-argo.html

Very interesting.He shows an eye for storytelling that Goyer clearly lacked

 

[DA_Champion]

Yeah I have a hard time imagining such a sophisticated article from Goyer.

 

[WingedAvenger89]

As proven by the Nolan trilogy, he can write some awesome stories, just needs help turning them into good words, Terrio to BvS is like Jonathan Nolan to TDKT.

Agree. Goyer's ideas, and comic book sensibility ... combined with a more sophisticated refinement from non-fanboys helps turn these films into superior products.

Goyer's story in BEGINS was refined screen play wise by Nolan, and in the sequels by Jonah Nolan.

Although I don't think MOS was bad, or even average, on his own Goyer has some issues. Though I loved his scripts for Blade, and Blade 2. Even if that character comes off as black Batman-lite.

 

[John-An]

Agree. Goyer's ideas, and comic book sensibility ... combined with a more sophisticated refinement from non-fanboys helps turn these films into superior products.

Goyer's story in BEGINS was refined screen play wise by Nolan, and in the sequels by Jonah Nolan.

That's actually one of Goyer's strenghts that apparently some just don't notice or accept.

 

[WingedAvenger89]

That's actually one of Goyer's strenghts that apparently some just don't notice or accept.

Seriously ... he also balances out the contempt some superior directors or screen writers might have for such "childish" material. If it wasn't for Goyer, Nolan might've removed the cape in TDK. Without Goyer, he never would've sold Nolan on Bane's thematic potential. Hell, even with out Jonah's love for certain characters his brother would've never let Selina Kyle into the story, or adapted a plausible / non corny version of Robin either.

Goyer and Nolan / Terrio will balance each other out. It's a perfect one-two punch. Either sides by themselves and there isn't enough balance.

I even believe this to be true for Marvel's side of the equation. Whedon is the lighter, more whimsical version of Goyer. With his own set of cheesiness, and self referential dork humor. David is obsessed with gritty stuff. Joss is obsessed with light, fluffy and whimsical stuff.

Goyer needs his Nolans / Terrio. IMO Whedon needs his Russo brothers to balance his stuff out. Jordan needs his Pippen. Good cop, bad cop.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

That's actually one of Goyer's strenghts that apparently some just don't notice or accept.

Yeah, A lot of people don't give credit where it's due with Goyer, he's far from a perfect writer, but without him Begins and TDK would've been very weak as Batman films.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Seriously ... he also balances out the contempt some superior directors or screen writers might have for such "childish" material. If it wasn't for Goyer, Nolan might've removed the cape in TDK. Without Goyer, he never would've sold Nolan on Bane's thematic potential. Hell, even with out Jonah's love for certain characters his brother would've never let Selina Kyle into the story, or adapted a plausible / non corny version of Robin either.

Goyer and Nolan / Terrio will balance each other out. It's a perfect one-two punch. Either sides by themselves and there isn't enough balance.

I even believe this to be true for Marvel's side of the equation. Whedon is the lighter, more whimsical version of Goyer. With his own set of cheesiness, and self referential dork humor.

David is obsessed with gritty stuff. Joss is obsessed with light, fluffy and whimsical stuff.

Goyer needs his Nolans / Terrio. IMO Whedon needs his Russo brothers to balance his stuff out. Jordan needs his Pippen. Good cop, bad cop.

I wouldn't exactly call Blake an adaptation of Robin in any capacity, as much as I'd simply call it a wink at the fans at the end of the film.

 

[WingedAvenger89]

I wouldn't exactly call Blake an adaptation of Robin in any capacity, as much as I'd simply call it a wink at the fans at the end of the film.

It's an adaptation of Robin. Thematically what does Robin or all the heirs or sidekicks to the Batman throne in the source material represent?

Legacy.

Just because he isn't 12 years old and doesn't wear a stupid red, and green costume with elf boots doesn't mean that isn't an adaptation. The name was the wink. Blake's story purpose was a combination of Grayson, Drake, Damien, etc.

Just because the comics always reset to status quo, and never advance the story definitely doesn't mean the purpose of these drafted, groomed, and adopoted sidekicks don't have a true purpose.

Goyer, and Nolan brothers removed all the cheese to boil down those characters to their refined essence. Kind of genius really. No one would've thought we would've saw that character in Nolan's heightened reality Batman mythos. And it worked. I hate Robin in the comics, but the Blake character made me a believer. All he needed to do was ditch that stupid costume.

 

[craigdbfan]

Well said. I don't agree with you on Robin as I really like the character (Grayson, Drake, Todd, and Damien) but you're dead on that Blake was very much an amalgamation of the character. No doubt about it.

 

[John-An]

Yeah, A lot of people don't give credit where it's due with Goyer, he's far from a perfect writer, but without him Begins and TDK would've been very weak as Batman films.

It's funny cause if for the good things on TDKT they put Nolan and the bad things they put Goyer... How can they can be so sure? were they when they made the movie?

Sorry but I'm one of those guys that really appreciated what Goyer did algong with Nolan and Snyder with Batman and Superman.

Goyer IMO is great crafting stories he's a good ideas man and with a complement like with Nolan (TDKT, MOS) to make a good job, and with Terrio I hope the can make something good for us fans.

 

[StraightSix]

It's funny cause if for the good things on TDKT they put Nolan and the bad things they put Goyer... How can they can be so sure? were they when they made the movie?

Sorry but I'm one of those guys that really appreciated what Goyer did algong with Nolan and Snyder with Batman and Superman.

Goyer IMO is great crafting stories he's a good ideas man and with a complement like with Nolan (TDKT, MOS) to make a good job, and with Terrio I hope the can make something good for us fans.

So many lines in Man of Steel were terrible. I'm glad that Goyer is no longer writing the screenplay.

 

[Lorus]

Seriously ... he also balances out the contempt some superior directors or screen writers might have for such "childish" material. If it wasn't for Goyer, Nolan might've removed the cape in TDK. Without Goyer, he never would've sold Nolan on Bane's thematic potential. Hell, even with out Jonah's love for certain characters his brother would've never let Selina Kyle into the story, or adapted a plausible / non corny version of Robin either.

Goyer and Nolan / Terrio will balance each other out. It's a perfect one-two punch. Either sides by themselves and there isn't enough balance.

I even believe this to be true for Marvel's side of the equation. Whedon is the lighter, more whimsical version of Goyer. With his own set of cheesiness, and self referential dork humor. David is obsessed with gritty stuff. Joss is obsessed with light, fluffy and whimsical stuff.

Goyer needs his Nolans / Terrio. IMO Whedon needs his Russo brothers to balance his stuff out. Jordan needs his Pippen. Good cop, bad cop.

I can only assume that you've seen The Avengers and very little else in Whedon's oeuvre because this is ridiculously off base.

 

[WingedAvenger89]

I can only assume that you've seen The Avengers and very little else in Whedon's oeuvre because this is ridiculously off base.

I'm basing it more on his empty headed, whimsical Avengers fluff.