Long story short, I'm stuck.

But I should probably elaborate.

I'm working on (read "planning") a new screenplay that I'm hoping to direct myself. It's a comic drama about a young man trying to change his messed up life so that he fits into the 'normal' world, and of course he meets a girl who helps him do this. I've plotted out the entire story, bar one critical scene. I know how the scene's going to end and what it will lead to, but I don't know what's going to actually *happen* in the scene.

So I ask for help from ye other creative types :)

The idea is that the two characters are on a second date of sorts, and they do something that's exciting but still 'normal'. For anyone who's seen "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", I imagine it as similar to the "jumping off the rocks" scene, but obviously I don't want a complete rip-off of that. Basically, I'm looking for some suggestions - what could they do (realistically and shoe-string budgetwise) on this second date that is both exciting and normal?

I only ask because for once in my life I seem to be completely bereft of ideas.

Something that one of them knows about and finds interesting while the other has never done before. It's usually the male side of the relationship here that comes up with this normal place, but since she has never been there or done that before, she finds the excitement in it. So it comes down to a juxtaposition of his normal and her interest that creates some excitement.

Can I tell you what that is? No. I don't know what you have available to you. However, the best suggestion I have is to think of something YOU would do. Where would YOU go on that second date to intrigue that date? Where have you gone on a date to intrigue that new person in your life? That's your answer.

It could be something that has some special meaning for one of your characters, or it could be related to the physical location of where your story takes place. Or it could be something symbolic of character development. You could argue that the cliff jumping scene in Forgetting Sarah Marshall was symbolic of him taking a leap of faith, of letting go of his attachment to Sarah and moving forward.

But I don't know that it's necessary to have every detail planned out in advance. I'd imagine that once you start writing the screenplay you'll get new ideas come to you and the scenes you have will inevitably change somewhat. There are plenty of options available to you, just trust your instincts and I'm sure you'll settle on something that feels right.

Cheers,
Tim.

Paintball.

Three words, Civil War Reenactment. Nothing gets a girl hot with lust like listening to some guy dressed up as Abraham Lincoln giving the Gettysburg Address  ;)

If you don't want to rip off a current movie, why not an older one then?

I'm thinking the airplane graveyard from "Can't Buy Me Love." In other words, a local attraction that somehow escapes the everyday notice of the residents.

Quoted from George Willson Something that one of them knows about and finds interesting while the other has never done before. It's usually the male side of the relationship here that comes up with this normal place, but since she has never been there or done that before, she finds the excitement in it. So it comes down to a juxtaposition of his normal and her interest that creates some excitement. Can I tell you what that is? No. I don't know what you have available to you. However, the best suggestion I have is to think of something YOU would do. Where would YOU go on that second date to intrigue that date? Where have you gone on a date to intrigue that new person in your life? That's your answer.

This was the best advice I could've been given, thanks George. It forced me to really think about the characters and what would work for them. The male character is based on myself, the female a few girls I've known in the past, so what I really had to think about was what would I do myself in this situation?

Turns out the answer was pretty easy. What do I enjoy doing and find normal? All of the girls the love interest's based on, what did they all have in common? None of them had ever done this thing.



Oh yes.

A whole date based on one machine.  Nice call.