If when writing a screenplay, you use a quote from a live person that you saw in a magazine article, do you need to get the rights from either the person or magazine?

--Russell

I should always preface these answers with: "I'm not a lawyer, so I could be wrong..." But I don't.

I can imagine two different instances where this might come up. The first is when you're using the quoted material in reference to the speaker himself. So if your scene has dialogue like:

TOM

Why sell yourself short? As Donald Trump says, "As long as you're going to think anyway, think big."

In this case, you're attributing the quote to its creator. In my personal, non-lawyer opinion, you're pretty well protected without getting any additional permissions from anyone. The only thing to watch out for is that the comment couldn't be seen as defamatory in the context you're using it. For instance, an otherwise innocuous quote used as a racist insult should set off red flags.

Another scenario might be using a quote without attributing its source. Here it gets a little stickier. For instance:

UNCLE PHIL

You can put wings on a pig, but you don't make it an eagle.

It's a somewhat funny line. It's also a direct quote from former president Bill Clinton. While someone of his stature probably wouldn't have the inclination to hunt down a screenwriter who stole his line, another man with more time on his hands just might. The question of fair use certainly has some merit here, though it's hard to say exactly how you'd go about documenting your legitimate usage. An on-screen footnote? A bibliography printed on the back of the ticket?

Honestly, it doesn't come up that much. While we're all familiar with ugly cases of plagiarism in which book authors have lost a lot of esteem, that's just not the movie business. My advice — which tends to be my advice for most of the rights-oriented questions I get — is to do whatever you need for your script. At the time anyone expresses interest in making a real movie out of it, bring up these concerns with whomever is handling the legal affairs on the film. Let lawyers handle the law. You have plenty to worry about as a mere screenwriter.

I've got a pre-production sort of question (possibly within the realm of the director?):

I'm a recent graduate in Linguistics, and I'm looking into a career as a dialect coach. How on earth do I even begin? Do I need to apprentice myself to a voice/dialect coach, or is there a better way to achieve my goals?

--Gillian

Apprenticing yourself to a dialect coach would certainly be of great advantage. I would also recommend putting up ads at drama and film schools to offer your services to up-and-coming directors and/or actors.

It might also be a good idea to take some acting classes yourself so that you can meet some actors and get to work with them first hand that way. I’m always glad to know of young people who want to become involved in filmmaking in a specific area. Too often aspiring filmmakers are not tapped into their own specific talents.

It’s a fascinating arena, and I wish you the best with it.

I love Citizen Kane, especially because of the great cinematography. I think the use of “universal perspective” was wonderfully used throughout the movie. However, I have never seen any other movies that have used this technique. Why aren’t movies made with this technique? And are there any other movies that employ it?

--Nate

I haven’t come across the term “universal perspective” but I guess it must be in some book describing the movie. The more general term for the technique used in this movie is “deep focus”. This means the use of large amounts of light to get focus in both the background and the foreground by using a small T-stop. In this particular film, the striking images were a result of the use of careful design in both the photography and the sets. Many other movies have used similar techniques, though never, perhaps, to such great effect. The B/W also contributes to the graphic nature of the images. There is also a device called a “split focus dioptre” which goes in front of the lens to render very close focus on both foreground and background. It needs some sort of “line” like a bedpost to loose the transition on, as essentially it gets the lens to focus close where the filter is, and then at it’s scale distance where the filter isn’t. A modern technique seen in many pop videos and commercials is the use of “tilt and shift” lenses which alter the plane of focus. In a sense this is the opposite effect, giving very shallow selective focus. “Deep focus” became very fashionable for a while after the release of Citizen Kane and many other directors/cameramen tried it in their B/W films: Citizen Kane still remains the supreme example.

John August wrote and co-produced Go (1999) for Columbia Pictures, and co-wrote the features Charlie's Angels (2000) and Titan A.E. (2000). His current projects include the fable drama Big Fish and the sequel to Charlie's Angels.

Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, John earned a degree in journalism from Drake University in Iowa, and an MFA in film production from the Peter Stark program at the University of Southern California. He lives in Los Angeles.

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