Shot lists are so. So. Important.
If you're a writer who can think in pictures, I envy you. I can think in pictures, but it's akin to someone tossing all the photographs out of their family album and scattering them all over the floor. It's difficult to make sense of it.
I think the best two pieces of advice anyone could give to a writer who seriously plans to film something is: Show, Don't Tell and Think In Pictures. That's really what this film thing boils down to. That's the "vision" crap those odd film people talk about.
Showing posts with label filmmaking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label filmmaking. Show all posts
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
A tough girl, a weak girl, a bad girl, a good girl, a shy girl, a wry girl.
If you can find it within yourself to wade through the detritus of lame female caricatures cluttering up Hollywood's film scene, you will discover that Paris Hiltonites and chicks with brains like Farrah Fawcett's hair are not necessarily the norm. The dozens of ideas of what a powerful woman is and how she should be portrayed in film and television are enough for several thousand essays, but it's been done, and I'm not going to do it in this post.
What I will do is mention that Hollywood, being an institution governed primarily by men, could evolve simple strides from the point it's at right now, by doing just two things:
#1. Recognize the talent of writers who write things out of the small spectrum of what is "acceptable" to Hollywood. We need fewer stories about sex politics and high school experiences and instead find interesting spins on topics like war drama/docudrama, gender specific character studies, experimental or abstract films, science fiction. Science fiction in particular is, I believe, an especially lucrative genre in current times. It is a fantastic venue for allegory, which has become a popular tounge amoung young liberals and the politically savvy crowd.
#2. Encourage women to take roles that are empowering for both themselves and for younger girls who will be looking for role models. An empowered woman doesn't necessarily have to hold a gun, either. It is so important for the new generation of young girls and women to see their gender portrayed in visceral, psychological roles where the characters are emotional and feminine but still possess the capacity take charge when it comes down to it.
To be fair, the same can go for men. I remember reading about Nicholas Cage complaining that single men have a stigma of not wanting or not being able to be a successful single dad. It's true, the paternal instincts of men are not really highlighted in great detail in film or television. But here's what's interesting. Men have created that stigma around themselves by catering to it in the real world quite happily. In a similar fashion, the woman's predicament is a direct product of a culture that thinks respecting women means objectifying them. No way around this. It is in the hands of writers to be intelligent about what they write and established actors to actively break these stigmas and stereotypes.
As a writer, I hope to do my share and contribute to the "cause". I don't consider myself a feminist or anything like that...I'd just like to write something good and create a character I can be proud of and that others might also be proud of.
What I will do is mention that Hollywood, being an institution governed primarily by men, could evolve simple strides from the point it's at right now, by doing just two things:
#1. Recognize the talent of writers who write things out of the small spectrum of what is "acceptable" to Hollywood. We need fewer stories about sex politics and high school experiences and instead find interesting spins on topics like war drama/docudrama, gender specific character studies, experimental or abstract films, science fiction. Science fiction in particular is, I believe, an especially lucrative genre in current times. It is a fantastic venue for allegory, which has become a popular tounge amoung young liberals and the politically savvy crowd.
#2. Encourage women to take roles that are empowering for both themselves and for younger girls who will be looking for role models. An empowered woman doesn't necessarily have to hold a gun, either. It is so important for the new generation of young girls and women to see their gender portrayed in visceral, psychological roles where the characters are emotional and feminine but still possess the capacity take charge when it comes down to it.
To be fair, the same can go for men. I remember reading about Nicholas Cage complaining that single men have a stigma of not wanting or not being able to be a successful single dad. It's true, the paternal instincts of men are not really highlighted in great detail in film or television. But here's what's interesting. Men have created that stigma around themselves by catering to it in the real world quite happily. In a similar fashion, the woman's predicament is a direct product of a culture that thinks respecting women means objectifying them. No way around this. It is in the hands of writers to be intelligent about what they write and established actors to actively break these stigmas and stereotypes.
As a writer, I hope to do my share and contribute to the "cause". I don't consider myself a feminist or anything like that...I'd just like to write something good and create a character I can be proud of and that others might also be proud of.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Musings: Remakes and The Industry
Quantity vs Quality. I think we know where Hollywood stands on this. Tinsel Town: The land of the mass produced, excessively advertised, star riddled abominations to the creative arts.
I keep forgetting that this isn't the 50ies anymore, not that the 50ies in Hollywood were terribly different. Stars were just paid less and not nearly as hassled as our modern starlets are. And the movies were either bad, good or avant garde. I keep imagining if a moviegoer from the 20ies or 50ies were to step into a 21st Century theater, what would her impression be? Shock? Awe? Horror? If Saw or Gladiator were showing, she might swoon on the spot. But it's interesting to contrast between the grainy, concept obsessed ye olde days of cinema and the drive through, "how much will this make us?" attitude of modern filmmakers.
Not to say all filmmakers are so very inept. But what else could it be about besides money? With such a slew of remakes such as The Pink Panther, The Stepford Wives, Rear Window (aka Disturbia), Psycho and now The Women and The Day The Earth Stood Still looming upon us, what can be said about the people who've seen fit to remake these classic favorites? It cannot simply be for the thrill of giving a working concept a shiny new veneer. It cannot simply be that no one in Hollywood has any more ideas of original, interesting, thought-provoking characters in wonderful, exciting new environments.
Could it?
I was asked a question by some young filmmakers once during an impromptu street interview, why did I want to go into video production? At the time, I didn't know quite how to answer (it was a pretty spur of the moment thing and I'm terrible with on-the-spot questionnaires) but as I thought more about it, it came to me. I'm SICK of seeing bad movies. I'm SICK of seeing my favorite actors portraying rubbish characters in rubbish stories. I'm sick and tired to death of crap being rolled out on the conveyor belt, and even more horrified to watch the helpless general public paying money to see it. I hate seeing people visit crappy movies, wasting precious dollars that they should be saving for the upcoming Depression, and coming out of the theater dumber than when they went in!
Stories were intended to entertain and educate. In the fashion of Aesop, they were meant to teach morals. The modern purpose of movies have been to either educate, thrill and always, entertain. Movies take our minds off things, or make us feel better about things, or make us ponder things. Movies have the potential to be extremely powerful. Like our history books, they can fabricate the truth, or rectify it. In the age of visual media, they will become more important than ever as a pulpit for political propaganda, as a forum for analysis of social issues and as visual codeine to alieve the pain at the pump, or at home or anywhere else.
A friend of mine once made me question my decision to go into film, because as he put it, I was too good for it. I should and have the capacity to be something greater, like a doctor, someone who heals people. I thought about it for a long time because I was worried that he was right. Maybe filmmaking was worthless and useless in the long run. I would be helping society much better as a medical practitioner, someone with strong ethics and a love for humanity.
I've come to wonder if filmmakers and doctors aren't so different. They both start out young, excited and wanting to change the world. And out of both groups, some become twisted and jaded, losing their creativity and love for originality in favor of money....or losing their humanity and love of helping people in favor of money...
- Marian
I keep forgetting that this isn't the 50ies anymore, not that the 50ies in Hollywood were terribly different. Stars were just paid less and not nearly as hassled as our modern starlets are. And the movies were either bad, good or avant garde. I keep imagining if a moviegoer from the 20ies or 50ies were to step into a 21st Century theater, what would her impression be? Shock? Awe? Horror? If Saw or Gladiator were showing, she might swoon on the spot. But it's interesting to contrast between the grainy, concept obsessed ye olde days of cinema and the drive through, "how much will this make us?" attitude of modern filmmakers.
Not to say all filmmakers are so very inept. But what else could it be about besides money? With such a slew of remakes such as The Pink Panther, The Stepford Wives, Rear Window (aka Disturbia), Psycho and now The Women and The Day The Earth Stood Still looming upon us, what can be said about the people who've seen fit to remake these classic favorites? It cannot simply be for the thrill of giving a working concept a shiny new veneer. It cannot simply be that no one in Hollywood has any more ideas of original, interesting, thought-provoking characters in wonderful, exciting new environments.
Could it?
I was asked a question by some young filmmakers once during an impromptu street interview, why did I want to go into video production? At the time, I didn't know quite how to answer (it was a pretty spur of the moment thing and I'm terrible with on-the-spot questionnaires) but as I thought more about it, it came to me. I'm SICK of seeing bad movies. I'm SICK of seeing my favorite actors portraying rubbish characters in rubbish stories. I'm sick and tired to death of crap being rolled out on the conveyor belt, and even more horrified to watch the helpless general public paying money to see it. I hate seeing people visit crappy movies, wasting precious dollars that they should be saving for the upcoming Depression, and coming out of the theater dumber than when they went in!
Stories were intended to entertain and educate. In the fashion of Aesop, they were meant to teach morals. The modern purpose of movies have been to either educate, thrill and always, entertain. Movies take our minds off things, or make us feel better about things, or make us ponder things. Movies have the potential to be extremely powerful. Like our history books, they can fabricate the truth, or rectify it. In the age of visual media, they will become more important than ever as a pulpit for political propaganda, as a forum for analysis of social issues and as visual codeine to alieve the pain at the pump, or at home or anywhere else.
A friend of mine once made me question my decision to go into film, because as he put it, I was too good for it. I should and have the capacity to be something greater, like a doctor, someone who heals people. I thought about it for a long time because I was worried that he was right. Maybe filmmaking was worthless and useless in the long run. I would be helping society much better as a medical practitioner, someone with strong ethics and a love for humanity.
I've come to wonder if filmmakers and doctors aren't so different. They both start out young, excited and wanting to change the world. And out of both groups, some become twisted and jaded, losing their creativity and love for originality in favor of money....or losing their humanity and love of helping people in favor of money...
- Marian
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