As a writer, I see my stories as movies that play out in my head as I am writing them. And probably like many writers I can be more of a dreamer than a writer. I find myself imagining which Hollywood actors will play the parts. When I’m deep into my contemplation I can even see the closing credits of the movie, the whole audience on their feet applauding, whilst I stand there with tears flooding down my cheeks, and those same actors patting me on the back. That’s usually when I wake up to a blank page staring at me, and the ever-present realization that it’s easier to dream it than to make it a reality.
But for me, it goes even further. My dream is always of a famous director calling me up and asking to turn my book into a movie. In my jumbled head of dreams there was only ever one director making that call. It was always Tony Scott.
So like many others in August of last year, I got up early, switched on my computer and was met with a shock that shook me so emotionally it stayed with me for days and days after. How desperate must someone feel to make that ultimate step? Tony Scott, larger than life Tony Scott, rumoured to have got a speeding ticket for travelling the fastest ever, on Ocean Boulevard on a motor bike. Tony Scott, dream maker, and from everything I have ever read about him, one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.
But I’m not sitting here to discuss what drove this man to end his fantastically fulfilled life, even though I have pondered it for hours. No, whenever someone I’m close to, or someone who is special in my life, dies, I try to spend a little time celebrating their life and thinking about how they brought a little sunshine into my life.
I have spent a lot of time thinking about why Tony Scott could make the thriller genre work on film, when so many failed. I have spent hours watching rubbish renditions of a genre that I love, especially when taking a novel that I have liked and seen it moved to the screen with disastrous consequences. But Tony Scott had that something special.
He made many great movies but my favourites, which are close to the genre I love, are ‘Enemy of the State’ and ‘Spy Game’.
‘Enemy of the State’, is just one of those great movies. I have lost count how many times I have seen it, but every time I watch it, it grabs me, even though I know what is going to happen next, I am still riveted to the story. It’s a great story, but essentially it is about how a man has everything taken from him by the ‘State’, his family, even his identity, and how he fights back.
‘Spy Game’, I don’t think ever made it on the box office stakes but I loved it. I have watched it many times and I still love it every time I see it. It’s a story about the old-fashioned spy game, but it’s about the people, it’s about love, it’s about loyalty, and more important it’s about sacrifice.
But why do they work so well. As a writer I have a number of touch points I try to use when I am writing, to make my stories be what I want them to be. On the top of my list is ‘emotion, emotion, emotion’. If you don’t have emotion in your story, if your readers don’t care about your characters, you have nothing.
Tony Scott had emotion in spades, it came out in his characters, it hit you on the screen, and you cared. That’s why you connected. I have read many tributes to Tony Scott, and the common theme I read from all the actors who worked for him was simple. He cared about them and they cared about him. You saw it on the screen, you felt it on the screen, and that’s what made the difference. That’s why you felt you knew Tony Scott, because he connected with you.
So life moves on. Who will make my movie now? Thankfully Tony Scott influenced many movies makers, whether directly or just by them coming up in a world where he was such a major force. Interestingly I like what Ben Affleck is doing as a director at the moment. So who knows?
God bless you Tony, sleep tight. It was nice knowing you..
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