Aspiring screenwriter and filmmaker D.J. Haza discusses 'Original Voice'... The lights go down. The curtain opens. Cue orchestral music score. The screen shines with glowing stars of a galaxy similar to our own. Then a deep, male voice reads the bold yellow words that scroll up the screen - ‘In a galaxy not too far away… in a time not too different from our own… there lives a young man, fuelled with ambition and determination… who’s one and only aim is to… make it in the film industry! His name… Daniel Harris. No, not the writer of
Superman Returns. Nor the other 11 Daniel Harris’s on IMDB Pro. Okay, let’s call him D.J. Haza. Why? Long story. But, that’s his nickname.’
I think that would indeed be the opening scene to the film of my life so far –hopefully there are many more chapters full of success, sex and controversy still to come, but at present it’s waiting for greatness! Although it does seem a little uninspiring at present. I was born Daniel James Harris, but my friends have called me Haza since my infamous stint as a club DJ began at age sixteen. The majority of friends call me Haza still and it’s not very often I hear it called in a bar and turn around to find that someone else was being called. In my opinion it definitely stands out more than the birth name that I share with thousands of people worldwide and therefore gives me a slight edge in standing out from the masses.
Originality is very important in the film industry, and also very rare. Identifying yourself from the crowd seems vital and everyone bangs on about your own original voice and being different. The film industry is full of hundreds and thousands of people all writing the same scripts, making the same films and possessing the same qualities and skills. Every man and their dog went to film school - I graduated from the International Film School, Wales with about 100 others in my year. Everyone has made a few shorts -
Behind Lock and Key,
A Change of Tune and various others that will never see the light of day. Many have now set up their own production company - mine is Scratched Print Productions. However, when questioned most have never won any prizes at even the remotest film festivals, have not had any paid work, some have never even seen a film set since university and a lot quote their website as their Facebook page. To make a name for yourself you need to stand out, and a stand out name seems a good place to start. Okay, it’s not quite Seymour Butts or The Rock, but it’s better than what I started with. Daniel Harris’ are ten a penny. D.J. Haza is original.
However, a name that differs from any other doesn’t guarantee you success. So how do you get ahead? I must state at this point that I am not ahead at present, but I am doing everything within my powers to try and get ahead. These thoughts are my logical conclusions on what I can do to get ahead without having to lower myself to wearing nothing except a gimp mask, mankini and clown shoes in order at any networking event or screening. You wouldn’t forget that guy, especially if you sat next to him for lunch and he produced a wallet from somewhere!
So, what am I doing to stand out? First and foremost my ambition is to be a screenwriter. Every single writing seminar, class, lecture or How To book always bangs on about the writer’s original voice. I used to think yeah whatever, there is no original voice, film is just everyone ripping everybody else off and whoever rips the best gets the credit. Nothing seemed new. It was all “borrowed” from French New Wave or Russian Montage, and those were the films that bored the pants off me. Tarantino was a filmmaker who appeared to have his own style so I thought, but as soon as I dared voice that opinion in the halls of IFSW I was swiftly corrected by those anally retentive about their cinema that he is in no way original. They would then reel off what shots he stole from what Kung Fu B movies and smugly chuckle that he is not innovative. Those people made me want to poke them in the eye with a DVD or a sharp piece of 8mm film just for ironic cinematic effect.
Then I watched
In Bruges by Martin McDonagh and something rung home. The story was so simple, yet so brilliantly done. The characters had a quirk to them and the way they interacted seemed to be uncinematic, yet brilliantly authentic. No big prophetic speeches. No flicks of their hair as they stand on the edge of the world’s tallest building or the greatest ship to ever sink. No masterminds or geniuses. No pretentious nonsense. Nothing too special. These characters were just so authentic and real, the walked as people walk, looked as people look and spoke the same as everybody else. A rarity in cinema I feel. Then I wondered why the name, McDonagh, rang a bell. I IMDB’d the film immediately and realised mastermind behind the film was indeed the writer/director of the Oscar winning short,
Six Shooter. A film I had caught the final moments of one time, was totally intrigued by, but had never watched in its entirety. So I bought it, and again it was simple yet so very effective. My brain started to think. Martin McDonagh has his own original voice!
No matter how many people agree with that statement someone will always disagree. Cinema is a medium that relies heavily on the audiences’ experiences and interpretations resulting in everyone having their own individual opinions. And some people are just arses. However, I was thinking about my original voice. Not the horrific Newport twang that spills out of my mouth every time my lips separate, but the voice that results from my fingers bashing the keys of my Mac book. Am I actively trying to make my writing original? Am I writing in a style that I have picked from reading other people’s scripts, newspapers or any number of How To books on screenwriting? Can I add little changes to my writing in order to create my original voice? Am I rehashing old stories or do I have something truly original to say?
On reflection I concluded that I was not writing in the same manner as I spoke. No, not my twang! But, freely. Confidently. Me! If I were sat in my local pub festering away on a Saturday night I would not hold back on what I say or how I said it. So, why don’t I write like that? I now make a conscious effort to try and write like I talk. To use my original voice. Say exactly what I want without fear of judgement or repercussions. And, I hope my writing benefits as a result. Holding back from what I really want to say is only short changing my audiences and myself. You do not get many chances in this industry, so when you get them it better be your finest selection of words that spring from the page rather than something you were only half-heartedly pushing.
So why don’t I write like I talk? Perhaps my lack of cinematic knowledge in university and my early opinions being frowned upon had conditioned me to hold back slightly through fear of ridicule. After all, I did think Nick Love and Guy Ritchie were cinematic geniuses. A statement I have since retracted and refrain from repeating. We all live, learn, grow and then cringe whilst reminiscing I suppose.
So, what does a once chavy Newport boy like myself have to say that is original? And will people want to hear it? Hopefully. I’ve acquired a wealth of world experience for my 26 and a half years on this planet and I’ve always been good for a story. However, the ability to make your mates’ chuckle after ten pints in your local establishment is not the same as international acclaim in the film industry. So, what do I have to offer the world that no one else does? If I can’t offer something different then I’m not going to get my chance to shine! I’ve been trying to add my own humour, my own slant, my own words and way of structuring a sentence to create my own voice and I think it’s bringing my writing to life. But………. What if no one likes it? What if people think your original voice makes you sound like a tw*t? What if every film critic on the planet slates every line of dialogue that spring from the lips of your beloved and long suffering characters? They sounded great in your head though! Didn’t they?
They did, yes. I’m sure they did. No, they definitely did. If people don’t like them then it’s their problem. I’m a proud, confident screenwriter with an original voice and no one is going to tell me any different. If people are bad mouthing you at least they are talking about you. You are gaining column inches. People are hearing your name mentioned. Free advertising! I convince myself.
No matter what role within the film industry you aspire to make your career your best chance of doing so is by doing things differently to others. It may not necessarily be better, but different. Different stands out. Different gets recognised. If you talk to a producer in the same dull tone that the last ten screenwriters have as they too have approached him whilst he tries to eat his dinner in some fancy Cannes restaurant you will be dismissed. You will then join the other rejects standing open mouthed at the window berating yourself and wondering why he didn’t want to talk to you. If you are telling the same story as hundreds of other screenwriters your script is unidentifiable from the hundred others sitting on the floor of some producer’s office in Soho or LA. Be different! Not just in your writing but your methods and your personality. Don’t be shy, speak up and get involved with people, events and productions. Always remember that obnoxious isn’t different in this industry, but make yourself heard somehow. If you don’t talk to any other filmmakers how do you expect to get ahead? If you don’t talk to these people how can they hear your original voice? One saying of mine is that a writer who sits in a dark room all day staring at his laptop will soon have nothing to write about other than writer’s block.
I do my best to meet as any filmmakers as I can; admittedly I don’t attend absolutely everything as work commitments hinder my appearances, and try and make as many contacts as possible. I try to engage people into an intellectual conversation on film, but always add my own humour to the discussion and hope to make them laugh. My sense of humour tends to be memorable and I use it as often as I can. A joke can stick with people for years. And if you supplied the joke, you go with it. It doesn’t have to be a joke you created yourself, but you could have a unique way of delivering it. If you have any unique skill, trait or prop of any sort - use it! It could be the difference between falling into the endless abyss of faceless names that producers brush aside every day and that call of a job offer that begins your journey. And when they call and ask you what you have to offer…. You know to use your own original voice.
Follow my new blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/D.J. Haza – Scratched Print Productions
We all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to film and television. That one film or television show that you know deep down is absolute tripe and you shouldn’t be watching it. But you do. It may be something that makes you laugh, but your friends don’t see the humor. It could even be a cheesy drama that strikes a chord with you and pulls at your heart-strings. Maybe even a certain film that reminds you of a certain time, person or place in your past and brings back happy memories. For me one of those guilty pleasures is Charles Shyer’s 2004 remake of 
