Sunday, January 12, 2014

Confessions of an Awards Show Junkie


I am an awards show junkie.

Okay, there, I’ve said it. It is the first step toward recovery.

I love award shows, well, that’s not entirely true. I love certain award shows, namely those that honor motion pictures. That means that tonight I am watching the first show in the season, the Golden Globes (this show also honors television work, but that’s okay, it makes for an interesting audience). I will be watching the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards next weekend and will ultimately work my way to the crème a la crème, the Academy Awards most commonly known as the Oscars!

Is it the glitz and the glamour? Well, maybe, but I think mostly it is the honoring of the craft of creative arts. For those of you who read my blog in its previous life, you know that I have a semi-secret wish. I would love to be a screenwriter. As a writer, it would have been a dream come true. Let me explain. I see the scenes in my stories as you would see the scenes of a movie. They flash before my eyes like they are rolling across a big screen and then come out the tips of my fingers. It’s a delightful experience, except when it occurs in my dreams, over and over again.

If you have been reading my series, Legends of Graham Mansion, you know that in the second book, AMBITION, there is a scene in the book where David Graham is at a grave in the pouring rain. This scene came to me in a dream. I wasn’t quite that far in the writing of the story, but it kept visiting me each night until one night I just got up and wrote it and poof! I never had that dream again. In that book, word for word is a description of how that scene played out in my head. It is that simple.

So, I have been blessed to see these wonderful characters and stories that I have been writing like my own private movies. I guess that makes me feel a kinship to those creative people who take the words of talented writers and bring them to life on the screen, whether big or small. The actors and actresses, the directors and cinematographers, but, most of all, the screenwriters who create the stories that take you on a journey to another life.

I admit that the beautiful dresses and sleek tuxedos are dazzling as they pass down the long red carpet. Seeing the actors and actresses as closer to the real people they actually are and watching their faces as they wait for those life-changing words, “and the winner is,” is exciting. It’s all a grand illusion and over in a few short hours. But, it’s the stuff dreams are made of and maybe that’s what attracts me most of all. Dreams, we all have them, whether we are willing to admit it or not. They become are friends or enemies depending on how far we are willing to go to make them come true.

My dream screenplay for my blockbuster film would most likely be a heartwarming story with a dab of humor and at least one good cry. It would star Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks with a long list of supporting actors that you all know and love and a few new faces, just getting their start. It would be filmed in Virginia, of course, because it is for Film Lovers. It would be directed by a cutting edge director who could see the story as I dreamed it and make it even better than I imagined. And, the score of the film would have a delightful cornucopia of music including at least, you know what’s coming, one selection sung by Elvis Presley.

So, now that I have made my confession. I encourage all of you to watch those award shows in the next few weeks. Culminating with the Oscars on Sunday, March 2. Experience the glitz and glamour, the anticipation, learn about all of the movies that you missed when they graced the big screen, but will soon have the opportunity to watch via the wonders of DVD or video streaming.

 
And, mark your calendars for the 2044 awards season. Perhaps, in 30 years, at the young age of 78, I will finally have reached my goal and be able to grace that red carpet…and the Oscar goes to…

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