Summer Movies

Today is—officially—the first day of summer. And as it’s a Sunday, it also might be a day for tens of thousands of people to head out to their local multiplex and catch a summer film.

But it’s not a normal first day of summer, is it? Because this is June of 2020 and we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Most of us are staying home and living with films from our streaming services. Safer, right?

So if you can’t get out to see a fun summer film, why not write one? Why not channel your summer wishes and dreams into a script of your own?

What makes a ‘summer film’ a summer film in the first place? I think part of it is that summer means freedom, in some way. Summer’s the time where you might go to a place you’ve never been before, for example. It’s also the time when, even if you’re stuck at home, your routine changes—there’s more downtime, you’re not trapped in the house by bad weather, so you go out more. It’s also a time when that freedom you feel can translate into sketchy behavior, when you might go out and do something a little risky. I don’t know why, but in summer it seems like all bets are off and you can go a little wild…

But, again, this summer you can’t safely do that, can you? So, basically, it’s fantasy time—and for a writer, that means to let your imagination take you outside, let your imagination conjure up what could happen out there. And guess what? You can go quite beyond the limitations of yourself. I mean, if we’re imagining a summer, why not imagine someone else out there in that summer, perhaps in a different location than the one you live in--doing things you can only dream of.

OK, to kick-start your imagining, we’re going to take a look at some summer films over the next few weeks that might inspire you. As with any kind of writing, you want to know your genre—being cognizant of what came before can make sure you don’t spend time trying to do stories that have already been done and can also give you directions you might want to go in when you write your summer film!

Can’t spend the summer doing what you wanted to do because of the pandemic? Let’s look at a few summer films that will hopefully inspire you to write your summer film.

See you next week with a classic from 1955.

Copyright © Diane Lake

21Jun20

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com