From page to screen: an interview with Glasgow screenwriter Stuart Curran

This week at Circalit, we’ve been getting excited about the release of the short film “Smoke” which was the winner of Circalit’s ‘Get Your Film Made’ screenwriting competition in July 2011, produced and directed by a rising star of the UK film scene, Gabriel Bissett-Smith. We sat down with Glasgow screenwriter, Stuart Curran, who won the competition, to ask how it feels to see his first short film on screen and to discuss what the process of going from the first draft to the finished product is like for screenwriters. If you haven’t yet seen the film check it out below. You can also read the original draft of the script here.

Circalit: So Stuart, how does it feel to have your first ever script produced by such a big director and now up on the Vimeo homepage?

It feels great. A year ago I never would have guessed that my short film would be all over the internet.

Circalit: What’s your day job? Do you ever feel like you’re living a double life?

Stuart: I’m a police officer. It does feel a bit like I’m leading a double life. I don’t think many police officers moonlight as script writers.

Circalit: How did you come up with the idea for Smoke ? What was your inspiration? Was it based on personal experiences?

Stuart: The idea behind the original script wasn’t so much based on personal experience, rather it was an observation on break ups in general. Very often when two people are “in love” they buy into the idea completely, and become cocooned in this very safe little bubble. When one of those people decides they don’t want to be there anymore, they very suddenly and unexpectedly burst that bubble. For the one that is left they are completely shattered by it, and this is the voice of the person I wanted to hear from. 

Circalit: The central conceit of the script is the way the visuals tell the story of the couple breaking up in reverse, starting with the break up and then going back in time to them getting together. How did you come up with that idea?

Stuart: Really it was just a eureka moment. I just thought how fresh a concept it would be to come at the break up from a different angle and show it in reverse. The scariest thing about writing the visuals in this way was that I thought no one would get what I was trying to do from reading the script. It was even harder to imagine in my head a scene in reverse so that I could put it in the script. Sometimes I had to draw a diagram to be sure everyone was standing where they should be standing.

Circalit: I have to admit when we first found out which script Gabriel had chosen and passed it round the office I don’t think any of us really understood it - I suppose it takes a professional like Gabriel to see the potential in a script. What was working with Gabriel like?

Stuart: Working with Gabriel was fantastic. He’s incredibly patient and professional and it was an easy process to develop the script. We initially chatted about our own vision for the script and worked on merging these so that we could move forward. His first big note on the script was about trimming the visual scenes down to just the argument and the aftermath. I think this prompted us to take out the voiceover and replace it with dialogue. The effect of this is that you get the dialogue of them first meeting together with the visuals of them breaking up.

Circalit: How long did it take to get the script in shape?

Stuart: About 4 months. I’d work on it for a while then send him an updated version, we’d talk on the phone, pass notes back and forth. We did that quite a number of times before we got it ready for filming. Gabriel was a big help, not just with this script but with my writing in general. I can’t thank him enough.

Circalit: Did putting the script into production teach you anything you didn’t realize about screenwriting beforehand?

Stuart: The whole experience was a learning curve because I’ve never done anything like this before. For a start, getting something into production is very collaborative. It might be naive but I thought it was a case of “there’s the script and I look forward to watching the finished article in a few months time”. Now I know it’s more a constant evolution of your ideas prompted by the fresh perspectives of other people.

Circalit: Was it Gabriel’s suggestion to change the script so that it was about two women? What do you think of that? Did it have any effect on the script, or maybe change the feel of it in some way?

Stuart: It was his idea, and it came pretty late on in the process. I thought it was a great idea, and was sort of annoyed at myself for not even having considered it beforehand. If it did anything to the script is just made it more bold and interesting. It really gives it some impact.

Fortunately I don’t think there was too much in the script that had to be changed as a result, so even at that late stage it didn’t mean a massive rewrite.

Circalit: Probably the biggest change to the script was changing the voiceover to the dialogue of them first meeting. Same question - what effect did that have on the script? And in general do you have any thoughts on voiceover vs. dialogue?

Stuart: I’ve come to realise that I prefer to use dialogue. Sometimes the use of voiceover is too easy. Rather than have a character tell me they’re happy or sad or whatever, I think I’d prefer to try and convey that through their actions which are more engaging anyway.

Changing the voice over to dialogue was a massive change, almost as big as halving the visuals and it did take some time. I found it really challenging to try and convey a first time chance meeting and mutual attraction from just the dialogue alone but I was happy to do it for that reason. What we ended up with I think is a very believable, meeting between two people who are feeling each other out, and it really works nicely with the visuals.

Circalit: The smoking theme is really great - is there a metaphor there of some kind?

Stuart: I suppose that try as you might you can’t hold on to some things in life, in this case love. This is a more important lesson for Stephanie who is the unwilling participant in the break up. We really worked to pepper the script with references to smoke, as it is what initially brings both Jane and Stephanie together, it is the trigger behind the break up, it is the romantic gesture made by Stephanie at the end, and I’m delighted with the result.

Circalit: How many scripts had you written before Smoke? Had you ever had anything produced before?

Stuart: I’d written two short scripts for other competitions and one thirty minute sitcom. Before that I’d written another sitcom which I threw away. I haven’t even come close to having anything produced as yet, but with each script I feel like I’m taking a step in the right direction.

Circalit: Had you tried to get an agent - what would you advise other writers to do?

Stuart: I decided fairly early on that I would need to enter competitions to gain some sort of recognition before I would try and find an agent. If I were to make it that far and find myself some representation, then I’d look into sending out my other lengthier scripts out. I don’t know if this is the smart way to go about it but it’s the way I plumped for.

Circalit: Have you thought about doing it yourself and having a go at filming?

Stuart: Definitely, in fact I’m due to attend a course about shooting short films in March, and I’ve written a script that I want to film some time after that. It’ll be for the experience more than anything else. It’s a sort of mockumentary that should be fairly easy to make but should be challenging enough for me.

Circalit: So what comes next? What are you working on?

Stuart: I’m currently tweaking a teleplay at the moment. If I had to pigeon hole it I’d say it was a dramedy about a lonely female embalmer who is working at a failing funeral directors. There is comedy there, believe me. I have another sitcom which I have put on the back burner for a while, at least until I become excited enough by it again.

Circalit: What is your ultimate dream?

Stuart: Ultimately I would like to write and direct a feature length film, like Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself, that’s only a very distant possibility. Maybe when I get a mention on IMDB I’ll start to consider it more of a possibility.