From Cameron Cleary

One Thing that I notice that is quite consistant in the Chronicles trilogy(or almost any DL book for that matter) is the fact that as a book, we, the reader, get an insight as to what each character is thinking, and thus it adds more to the story because we know what is going on in the head of each character(as much as the author tells us anyway).
In a movie, however, this may present a bit of a problem as, the movie would certainly not be done Shakespearean where the characters have "asides" to display their thoughts to the audience to advance certain gripping information that draws the crowd into a characters Inner conflicts.
Much of this is done by Tanis and I'm just pointing this out so that something could be worked out so that the audience would still get an idea, or would know the inner conflicts and thoughts of the characters as they are described by Wies And Hickman.
Or to not do this and still have the audience very involved with the characters. Either way, this issue would have to be resolved at some point before continuing on.

Cameron Cleary

DLMP's Comment!

Characters thoughts are one of the biggest differences between books and movies. Quite simply you have to rely on good acting and direction to get accross as much as possible what they are thinking. In the end though, nothing compares to a book for giving a character depth in his thoughts. Books and Movies are different just far too different as forms of media.

 

From Lucy Pray

Um...just to tell you, In the screenplay, the fight with the goblins does not happen in the Inn...It happens on the road toward Solace after Tas has come out of the bushes and Flint is trying to get his money pouch back. If
you would be so kind enough to tell him that...you don't have to but it would be nice to, Then tat would fix the screenplay a little...and...what about Goldmoon's song? Thats sort of important. I know we don't want this movie to be three hours long but the song comes up later in the book and people would not understand when it does come up later, same with the battle with the goblins...they are the ones that asked Tanis, Tas and Flint about the blue crystal staff. When I read theat I got confused...he put the fight in the wrong place, unless he meant to do that...that sort of scrambles it up, you don't know how long ago the goblins asked them about it.Just telling you so the movie doesn't end up like Tracy Carrithers said.

DLMP's Comment!

The Screenplay is only a work in progress. The movie will in no way encompass every detail from the book and as we've seen with LOTR, some things will need to change to make an enjoyable movie. Rino has already said to me that if at the end of writing, we feel something needs to be put back in, then it will be done. This is far easier than writing the whole thing and then removing 30%!!

 

From Nicholas Hendricks

I had a couple of thoughts as I saw some of the comments and read through the script. First off, the comment about making this a horror/fantasy movie. I can't see Dragon Lance working as a horror movie. You can make the Dragons and Draconians scary, even horrific, without this becoming an Alien type movie. In that genre, it's based on a character barely surviving against an invinsible foe after all their friends are dead. And that
describes the Dragons, but not the movie. The companions don't do a wholelot of Dragon fighting. Plus, this movie should not be rated R. That is crucial. I can almost guarantee that you will not have the backing of Tracy Hickman if it is. They are not adult books. Putting in extra violence, sex, and language cheapens the movie and the message. They are purposely left out of the book and to put them in would destroy it.I was a little upset that Goldmoon's song was taken out of the script. I know that it seems to be an easy cut and would be hard to do in an interesting manner, but I think it's necessary. It would be better to cut things like the boat ride across the lake, or the scene at the cave, even the forestmaster. Music and poetry is as much a part of the Dragon Lance world as Dragons themselves. And this is one of the most important songs, next to maybe only the Canticle of the Dragon. This is Goldmoon and Riverwind's story. What I said about Tanis needing to be the main character should not draw away from the other characters being developed. Without this chance to be touched by Goldmoon's sacrifice, we might as well leave
them as minor characters, give the staff and the role they play in Xax Tsaroth to someone else; Tika and Caramon maybe. It's that theme of sacrifice for love that carries throughout the books. Both Riverwind and Goldmoon sacrifice their lives and social status for each other over and over again. This song sets up the trip to the Que-Shu camp, the great loss when Riverwind dies at the well, Goldmoon's ultimate sacrifice to Khisanth.
And the theme continues with Laurana running away after Tanis, both Sturm and Alhana's sacrifices in Tarsis and Silvanesti and then Sturm's sacrifice for the knighthood, Caramon for Raistlin and in turn, Tika for Caramon,

Gilthanis and Silvara's sacrifice for each other. Raistlin for his magic. And Laurana and Tanis throughout the entire third book. Flint, Tas, Gunther, Crysania, Dalamar, even Matafluer. Maybe the song is unnecessary
and the same thing can be acheived with dialogue, but I would like to see the song kept in.

Someone said that Star Wars is a terrible movie, and in some ways, it is. The script is a little cheesy and it's a little overacted. The two things that make it a great movie however is the ensemble and the special effects. No one had done effects like that up to that point. They used new techniques to make the battles more real. That's the Dragons. That's why the Dragons are so important. If people are awed by the Dragons, people will come to
see the movie. Luke is the star; the main character of Star Wars. It's his story that is the common thread throughout the movies. But it's the other characters that are our favorites. Han Solo, Princess Leia, Boba Fett, Wickett. It's the same with Tanis. He is the thread. Our favorites are Raistlin, Sturm, Laurana, Tas, but it's Tanis that is the main. This is not Raistlin and Caramon's trilogy. There story is tiny, their role is tiny.
The nightmare in Silvanesti, the vanishing on the boat, the end in Neraka, and the foreshadowing throughout, but it's really rather small. The group, the companions, is the thing and each character's story should be told. Maybe the way to do this would be to have a team of people, each with their favorite character, figure out the person that their character is, make them not just a character. Each person would decide the moments in the books
where their character really grows. They could fill in gaps in their past, help to make the script a little more smooth. In essence, each person would do enough research and development to write a college thesis on their character. You could even do things like video clips for character's facial expressions, costuming, pressence, etc. These people would have to be extremely committed and dedicated to the project, willing to spend time and
energy, and probably some money.For example, my favorite character is Sturm. I would start off by finding out the crucial parts of his story in the chronicles (I can think of about six right off). Get out one of my beat up old books and [gasp] mark it up. Then I would find other stories that are about Sturm, and then continue on to stories about the knighthood. After that, I would study the knighthood
in England; the weaponry, the armor, family crests, rules of engagement, etc. I'd need to find a kind of plate mail that still allows a lot of mobility, including on a horse. I'd have to figure out what he wore outside his armor,

and what he wore when he's not wearing his armor. The list could go on and on, always something more to learn. Throughout, the group shouldmeet together and discuss various findings. Each person should be open to
ideas, changes, and critiques from the other people, but they are the final word when it comes to their character. It could be a very dangerous thing if pride takes over and people aren't willing to take criticism. The most

dangerous, as always, would be Raistlin. Everyone has their own interpretation of Raistlin; everyone sees something else. Maybe Raistlin should be developed by the group rather than one person. we have to
sacrifice our pride to make a good movie.

Other than that, I have a few notes on the script, but I think it's getting there.

DLMP's Comment!

Thanks Nick. When I said that the the it should be scary like Aliens, I was only talking about the beasts themselves (i.e. realistic) and not the storyline. If you have seen LOTR you will see that we can get away with quite a lot of horror with a PG rating!! (except maybe for the scene where Riverwind gets acid on him! As I have said previously, the screenplay is a work in progress and all comments are noted. What I would say is that my gut feeling tells me to leave most of the poetry out. Fans of poetry are far outweighed by people who can take or leave it. The other problem is that poetry can not be shortened or run through quickly. It needs pace and timing. This can slow a movie down dramatically...but we'll see. I do agree that you will need people to research each character and is actually done in a lot of movies already to some extent.