About the screenplay

[johnajvide]

Hi again. John Ajvide Lindqvist here.
Yes, I know what I said about not posting anymore, but I can´t help myself. I suppose that this username (That Wolf corroborated with my publisher) is enough to prove that I am me, yes?
OK, here we go.
I read the discussion about the screenplay - how could I not, with such an intriguing title for the thread – and I just wanted to shed some light on the process.
Our initial ambition was to make tvo movies, a part one and a part two, part one ending after the scene with not mixing blood in the cellar, part two starting with Oskar going to his father. This never happened, due to different reasons, but the first draft of the screenplay was about 240 pages long!
Quite early in the process it was decided that this was only going to be one movie after all, so I cut down the screenplay to half its length. Not as difficult as it may sound, actually.
Very early on we hade decided to focus on the relation between Oskar and Eli and everything that didn´t add to that story had to go. The storyline with Tommy was for example never included at all.
So, now we have a 120-page script and this is where Tomas really gets into the picture. Him and me sat down for three or four days and read through the entire script. Tomas reading out loud and me listening to my own words through someone else´s mouth (Before that I had already read the script through aloud to my wife and changed things because of her viewpoints)
Naturally it didn´t take all that time just to read, but after each scene we discussed its content, Tomas telling me what he had problems with, coming with suggestions on how to change it and so on, me making notes. I remember that we had a lot of trouble and different suggestions on how to make it clear that the acid in the jar actually was acid, until someone came up with the solution of letting some of it spill on Håkans jacket, for example.
Small things like that we discussed, and bigger issues about emotional content of scenes, flow of dialogue and so on. When those sessions were over, I rewrote and also shortened the script. Then we had further meetings where the producers John Nordling and Carl Molinder also participated, and towards the end of the writing process we also brought in an excellent guy, Dennis Magnusson, who made some further suggestions on how to make the script more tightly structured.
That´s it. In the end I did write the script, but with a lot of input from Tomas about how to change things, make them more filmable. And then some further things from Dennis. And my wife. But it was always me going back to my writing desk to try to make those changes work.
There is also the fact that the film you see on screen is only perhaps 80% of the 90-page script, since Tomas cut some things out (Including myself!), added his own touches and did quite a few scenes in a way I never envisioned. If you count pages, the original 240-page script is down to maybe 75 pages seen on the screen. And in all important aspects it´s still the same story!
The thing I´m most proud of is the bedscene, which is played out exactly as written, as well as all dialogue between Oskar and Eli (only with a few lines cut out.) I´m grateful to Tomas for insisting on the candy-eating scene, which turned out so lovely in the movie. The poolscene is written as seen from under water, but Tomas added that we se Oskar in the frame, which is of course much better. (Also, you can never give enough kudos the photographer, Hoyte van Hoytema, probably the best man with a camera in Sweden right now.)
And so on, and so on …
That´s all for today. I might pop in some day in the future if there is something that I feel should be elaborated. But please don´t ask me any questions, I will just feel bad when I don´t have time to answer them.
Congrats to Wolf for all the new puppies in the den. Keep up the god work.

John

[pristidae]

Always exciting to see a message by "johnajvide" at the top of the New Posts list . . .

[covenant6452]

HA! Very cool!
I saw the other thread with the "conspiracy theory" idea of Mr Lindqvist not being the screenwriter and wanted to condemn the thread as silly.
Come on the X-files ended some time ago, do you really miss it that much?!
This is sooo much better than me making comments that might piss someone off!
Good to know we still have a guardian angel to keep some of us grounded!

[genie47]

Thank you John for the insight on the process of how your screenplay came to what it is.

[Microwave Jellyfish]

Thanks for the enlightenment, trivia-hunters have a good day.

Just to put here another congratulation: You all did a really good job on this film.

And don't worry about the dilemma of posting/not posting, John. You are always welcome here, of course (you're like a friggin' rockstar to many of us after all), but we don't want you to feel neither sad or bothered by us.

The only thing I "ask" you is to keep up the good work yourself.

[PeteMork]

Two movies!! What an intriguing idea! I doubt that you and TA would have any trouble getting financial backing for a second film, given the world-wide response to the first. Is there enough left untold that you might consider making another? I'm sure most of us here would be willing to sign a petition and, in as many ways that we can think of, annoy your backers to the point that they would give you the go ahead. Just say the word!

[Wolfchild]

Hi again. John Ajvide Lindqvist here.
Yes, I know what I said about not posting anymore, but I can´t help myself. I suppose that this username (That Wolf corroborated with my publisher) is enough to prove that I am me, yes?

Yes. Also, these posts do originate from an IP address allotted to an ISP in Sweden.

Besides - don't we all want to believe?

But please don´t ask me any questions, I will just feel bad when I don´t have time to answer them.

Of course you know this is futile. Too many people love this story too much to not want to ask questions. I can't tell you how hard it has been for me to keep myself from peppering you with questions.

Many thanks for chiming in.

[TΛPETRVE]

Thanks for your lending us some of your valuable time, John. Now if only Tomas would pay us a visit, too, one day ...

About making two films: I guess that would have rather meant a TV-two-parter than two consecutive theatre movies. At least that would make more sense in my eyes.

[DMt.]

Surely, now that Lina and Kare have grown up, it's impossible to do a second Eli/Oskar film?

S/he is 12 until, well...

[PeteMork]

Surely, now that Lina and Kare have grown up, it's impossible to do a second Eli/Oskar film?

S/he is 12 until, well...

Maybe with a little makup and CGI (see "AVATAR"), plus footage already shot, plus the Tommy story ... where there's a will there's a way.