Learning story as a director
If you would indulge a brief background, so the question has context. I grew up in and around the film business in Culver City. My godfather, whose name I carry around, was a Property Master for many years with Paramount. All that said, I wanted nothing to do with the film business — and stayed clear until my early 40’s. I have been a self employed business consultant for about eleven years now.
When I turned 43, three years ago, I took a crash course (three months) on film production. I think my motivation was really to explore my heritage some. Well, I got the bug then. I wrote, produced and directed my first short. It cost me like $2500. The story sucked like a hover, but the production value and the casting got good reviews. So I started going to lots of workshops on all aspects of the film business. I really would like to evolve to a producer/director type.
Recently I finished my second short film. My first short had eight cast and crew, this last project had over forty with some people from the industry helping out. I spent ten grand, and the short came out a ton better and I learned a ton more. I handled lots of set ups, producing, casting, and other things just fine. But AGAIN, the story was weak and thus although the film is a huge step forward –I’m not getting the story locked down. Doing films means more to me that anything I have ever done. I do ok as a business consultant, I make a decent living. But my little films, with all their flaws, mean so much more to me then anything I have ever done. I want to get good at the story part of this.
I will never be a great screenwriter, I suspect. I got some really good feedback from the industry people that felt very strongly I should stick with the directing and producing, though. I considered just optioning, and even started reading scripts. But that will not work for me. My brain needs to understand at an intimate level, the driving forces of cinematic storytelling — for me to establish my POV more solidly as a director, to be there for my talent as a fully prepared professional, and to know how to collaborate on scripts in development.
What would you recommend for a director/producer type that eventually, just wants to make really good films from really good scripts someone else writes. How do I learn to really master the driving forces of cinematic storytelling? I would GREATLY appreciate your counsel. I don’t want to give this up, as it means so much to me. But I have to get the story part to this equation on much more solid ground.
– Bob
Film is a hundred different skills and disciplines, and no one person is going to be great at all of them. 1
Fortunately, film is also a collaborative medium, which means you get to bring in people who are excellent at the things you don’t do as well. You have cinematographers, production designers, costumers and gaffers who make your vision possible in ways you simply couldn’t.
You’re not good at story. And while you may be able to get a little better with experience, the truth is you will probably never be great at it. So you need to find a collaborator who is. You need a writer.
I’d like to convince you to get over your reluctance to simply option someone else’s material. The vast majority of scripts written are never shot, and some not-insignificant percentage of those are pretty damn good. Find a script that won an award at a festival and convince the writer to let you shoot it.
If I can’t get you to simply sign on to someone else’s project, then let me encourage you to find a writer with whom you can collaborate. Many producers and directors have writers they go back to again and again. Most of the Merchant/Ivory films were written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. I’m working on my fifth Tim Burton movie. That’s all good.
The best filmmakers recognize their strengths and weaknesses. But rather than flailing themselves over their deficiencies, they enlist talented people to help. You’re a business consultant, so on some level you must understand that putting together a strong team doesn’t make the boss any less central to the success.
- Well, sure: James Cameron. But I’ve heard he can’t cut hair for shit. ↩
Articles
June 17th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Bob,
Couldn’t agree with John more. As you’ve probably already figured out, part of your job is to trust that other people can do theirs and give whatever guidance you can. This works with writers as well, just make sure that you’re still connecting with the material. As an audience member you can connect with a story, so too can you as a reader.
But if you just want to know what makes stories tick, here are the things I’ve found, as a writer, that have helped me.
Pick a style or genre (right now, for instance, I”m looking at popularity-at-a-price stories like Teen Wolf, Can’t Buy Me Love, etc.) and map them out. Watch the films and jot down all the scenes and why the scenes exist (Character A wants to get laid; Character X’s parents stand in his way). You’ll start to notice the patterns and trends in that particular type of story, especially if you give yourself the homework to look them over. Don’t just pick, say, your 5 favorite movies however. Look for the connecting tissue between certain films so you can start to understand what makes up a genre, archetypal character, or specific type of story.
The Writer’s Journey is the one screenwriting book I’ve found that you could definitely make a decent script from just by following it word-for-word. It’s not the be-all, end-all, but it’s also not a whole bunch of film theory or self-help nonsense. It’s practical and it helps. From a director’s perspective I can’t recommend a “best” book, but Bruce Block has a book on directing that I found very interesting in a simple to understand, hard to master type of way.
Read a lot of scripts. Find any type of scripts — a friend’s, a film that hasn’t come out yet, a film you haven’t seen — print it out, and jot notes on how you think it could be better as if you had to give a critique to the person. On the back of the last page of the script, write a summary of the plot (go back and doublecheck things you are unclear about) and think about how those 120 pages really do boil down to just that one page you just wrote, in terms of the broader aspects of the story.
But the best advice is something you’ve already mastered — admitting weaknesses and wanting to improve. Just by keeping your eye on the prize you’re already well on your way to getting better. Good luck!
June 17th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Yeah, but can James Cameron compose?
June 17th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Yeah. There are tons of writers in L.A. looking for someone like this with whom to collaborate. The fact that this guy is mature enough to have his shit together and can corral (and finance) a reasonable-size production a is a big plus.
P.S. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is also a pretty bad-ass boxer, according to the DVD commentary on Blood Simple.
June 17th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Bob;
It sounds to me like you’re doing everything right – you’re out there actually doing stuff and improving with each effort. That’s really all anyone can do.
I know as a writer I love it when I meet someone like you; someone who’s actually doing stuff as opposed to talking about doing stuff.
June 17th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Find a script that won an award at a festival and convince the writer to let you shoot it.
:waves hand frantically: Ooh! Ooh! I have one!
My writing partner Joel Davis and I won the Grand Prize in the screenplay competition at the 2008 Rhode Island International Film Festival, and it probably wouldn’t take a lot to “convince” us to let you shoot it.
It’s called “Last Ride of the Valkyrie”, and it’s a semi-epic fantasy inspired by Norse mythology (though it plays very fast and loose with the established mythos).
June 17th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I’ll toss the Robert Rodriguez hat into the ring with Cameron.
June 17th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Kudos for understanding that you have weaknesses and are willing to let someone else take the reins in that area. You’ll go so much further if you’re willing to collaborate than if you decided to do it all your self but sucked at one area — especially one as important as writing.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
John isn’t it essential that a director also be a writer, not necessarily a great one. But good enough to understand both what makes a good screenplay (so they can option it when they see it), but more importantly so they can tell the story visually – as a director?
also, you forgot Stanley Kubrick: Director, OSCAR nominated writer, was also a cinematographer, editor, sound recordist, composer (he played drums)
Having said that, even he collaborated with other writers (and all his notable films were adaptions).
June 18th, 2009 at 6:10 am
John Carpenter.
June 18th, 2009 at 6:39 am
C’mon people, let’s be serious:
ORSON WELLES.
(And who couldn’t secretly count Ed Wood, too?)
June 18th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Bob -
I recommend you read Backwards and Forwards by David Ball, and In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch. You may not become an award-winning screenwriter yourself, but you can get a better feeling for how cinematic stories feel when they are told well.
As a side note, I think it’s terrific that you want to understand story as a director. You just might make it a bit easier in this world to be a screenwriter. :D
Earl
June 18th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Seriously, Bob, there’s like eighty million writers in LA who would LOVE to work with a director who has his stuff together. Including me. Do your movies have explosions in them?
June 18th, 2009 at 7:49 am
I wish I could contribute meaningfully to the whole thread. I can’t.
But there is no way I’m letting emily blake slip off without telling her how much her last line made me laugh. It’s been a long time since I genuinely LOLd. Thanks!
June 18th, 2009 at 11:55 am
John, you’re on the money, but I don’t think you answered his question. He’s trying to get a sense of what makes a good story versus a bad story, a sense without which he wouldn’t be able to tell if a story were worth optioning.
I would suggest reading Syd Field or Crafty Screenwriting so you understand what a hook is, what stakes are, and what makes characters compelling.
Because otherwise, you end up with The Hottie and The Nottie.
June 18th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Kubrick never composed for film, right? I can’t even find any info that he wrote music at all.
June 18th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
@Morley: Good suggestions, though I’d like to throw in Sydney Lumet’s book. After all, he is an incredibly well loved director who certainly has a grasp on story and working with writers. I think it’s called ‘Making Movies’ and covers a lot more than just the story.
June 18th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Alejandro Jodorowsky is one. That man does it all. On one of my bootleg copies of El Topo (before the proper releases) I think he was credited with set design, acting, writing, directing, composing the music, and something else.
June 18th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Explosions? LOL. Bob, how about a low budget love story? Congrats on completing your short films. Your passion shines through and that’s what will lead you to success!
June 18th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Read and analyze lots of screenplays for good movies and bad and over time you should develop a sense for why something works or why it doesn’t. The books can tell you the basics about structure, which is a start, but it’s not enough. The rest is harder to distill into a formula, which is why there’s no substitute for self-education. You can get scripts at script-o-rama.com or you can go to the WGA Library at 3rd and Fairfax (you can’t check them out, but you can read them there).
June 18th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Yay!
Glad I could help, Douglas.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
So James Cameron has no chance of getting in the make-up department then? :P
June 19th, 2009 at 10:55 am
If you don’t know “story” as a director, then you’re not a director. Doesn’t matter if you completed some short films, doesn’t make you a director/filmmaker.
Directing is about telling a story visually. Maybe that’s why you say that your stories basically sucked?
If you can’t tell a story yourself (ie. write one), then why should someone give you their story to shoot? There are thousands of film students out there, looking for scripts, because they can’t create anything themselves. They know what f-stop is, but they don’t what a good character looks like.
Forget about finding someone who’s going to give you their script. It’s never gonna happen. You need to write you own, that’s how it is.
Anyone can direct or learn how to direct, not anyone can write a good story, create memorable characters etc.
June 19th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
James Cameron? More like Shane Carruth.
June 19th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
“But my little films, with all their flaws, mean so much more to me then anything I have ever done.”
Then keep working at it. Maybe make more of an effort on getting your script where it needs to be before shooting.
There is no simple answer to great storytelling. It’s like asking: “How do I build a really great space shuttle?” Well, you start with…
We all suck, especially at the beginning.
June 20th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Clint Eastwood?
June 21st, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Anyone can’t just pick up a camera and call themselves a director as well. It’s takes an enormous imagination to put words into visual motion. AN not everyone has this side of the brain talent.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Hey John, I can cut hair like nobody’s business.