You don't have a ton of time to tell a movie. How do you give the best information in the least amount of time? Images and Actions.
Films exist in a world that hinges on the visual. Dialogue is important, and we all have our favorite movie quotes: "Unite us. Unite the clans," is one of mine. But films are meant to be visual: When William Wallace, his back to the camera, turns to face his cheering band of Scotsmen because he successfully led an attack against the English that killed his wife, I had an epiphany. It became the chief cornerstone for me wanting to enter the arts. In that moment, I knew I wanted to be involved, in someway, with making movies.
The master filmmakers know how to visually tell their stories. They know how to reveal character and plot and theme primarily through image/action and secondly through dialogue. And the master screenwriters do just the same. One of my favorite screenwriters is Wes Anderson. Yes, he also directs his work, and that makes him better than the rest of us, but so what. His voice is unique. His stories are profound, honest art.
Films exist in a world that hinges on the visual. Dialogue is important, and we all have our favorite movie quotes: "Unite us. Unite the clans," is one of mine. But films are meant to be visual: When William Wallace, his back to the camera, turns to face his cheering band of Scotsmen because he successfully led an attack against the English that killed his wife, I had an epiphany. It became the chief cornerstone for me wanting to enter the arts. In that moment, I knew I wanted to be involved, in someway, with making movies.
The master filmmakers know how to visually tell their stories. They know how to reveal character and plot and theme primarily through image/action and secondly through dialogue. And the master screenwriters do just the same. One of my favorite screenwriters is Wes Anderson. Yes, he also directs his work, and that makes him better than the rest of us, but so what. His voice is unique. His stories are profound, honest art.
Near the end of our second session, for the eight week mini course in screenwriting at Concord University, I showed the class just how concise Wes Anderson's storytelling is - and it's because his images and actions are so concrete and specific. The film was Bottle Rocket (1996). It was cool to see the students' eyes open wider as they watched crucial information come to them in such a little amount of time. Without words crowding the space. Without heavy exposition. Within the first ten minutes - even less - the class knew the film's main characters and their relationship to one another and the film's theme.
Screenwriting demands a word budget that focuses on image and action, first, and dialogue, second.
It's hard to do. What a surprise.
Screenwriting is the poetry of prose.
Screenwriting demands a word budget that focuses on image and action, first, and dialogue, second.
It's hard to do. What a surprise.
Screenwriting is the poetry of prose.
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