As an English Major in college, I concentrated in Film Studies. In one of my film theory classes, I had a writing assignment—who determines the meaning in a film. Our selection had to be defended with a solid argument. The class was split with some choosing audience, others the director, and others, maybe the screenwriter? Honestly, I don’t recall the other choices, but I defended the director as the one who determines the meaning of a film. I didn’t save the assignment, which surprises me since I squirrel away just about everything I’ve ever written. Yet, I think I can still remember bits and pieces of my defense. As a writer, I know my job is to create the story. But the director takes the story and reimagines it through the lens of a camera by what remains in a series of shots and scenes that tell the story. Everything beyond the visuals is part of an unseen world within the borders of what the director has created. A film can never do more than create a window into another world. The choices the director makes to show the world inside the story, for me, determines and controls how I will see it, and, ultimately the meaning.
By nature, movies are voyeuristic, We, the audience members, are the watchful eyes. Rarely do the characters address us, the voyeurs. When they do, it’s by design to step outside the story and talk to the audience for brief moments. Yes, breaking the fourth wall, the one that separates the actors from the audience, can be effective. My favorite example is in the movie “Alfie” that rocketed actor Michael Caine to stardom in 1966. It’s like saying to the audience “here’s what I’m really thinking” to the nth degree. But there’s no guess work when a character looks right at the camera and there’s no character in the movie privy to what’s being said. I’ve never written a script with this plot or character devise, and most likely never will. As a novelist, I struggle enough with literary point of view and keeping out of the heads of several characters. Yes, “show, don’t tell” also applies to novels as I have discovered with directives from editors!
As a screenwriter, I’ve been instructed many times over not to add POV shots in my scripts. The specifics may all change in the hands of the director during production. A writer/director will take the liberty to add POV to their scripts, of course, because he or she is the ultimate creator of the visual storytellng. Two remarkable award-winning projects, Emerald Fennell’s “A Promising Young Woman” and Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” were written by excellent writer/director talents. I read “A Promising Young Woman” in one sitting, a riveting page turner with a film true to the written word.
One should buy Kamagra to sildenafil super active cure ED. It has most likely influenced each man eventually http://cute-n-tiny.com/tag/dog/page/2/ purchase cialis in his life. However, this drug cialis soft order was very costly and therefore not treated. Below is the list of advantages of Kamagra: * Kamagra tablets give you effective and fast results * You will not best viagra price face any kind of side effects occurring are minimal.Honestly, I’ve broken the avoid POV rule in a few of my scripts. Sometimes, it just makes sense to see a particular scene through the eyes of a certain character. If I’m lucky enough for a wonderfully talented director to take on the project, I’d gladly delete any of my specific shots! Because, as I said, I do believe the director determines the ultimate look and meaning of a film. Yet, some stories require POV shots like horror films and the one that comes to mind. Any guesses? Our initial meeting of Michael Myers in “Halloween” via first-person POV creates a feeling of being trapped into the world of a psychopathic killer! The entire opening sequence is an unforgettable (unfortunately) use of what I call “watchful eyes” that I watched, or didn’t watch by keeping the palm of my hand and fingers held in place as a convenient curtain. The music alone sent chills up my spine. Years after the movie was released, I remember a friend of mine inviting a few of us up to a Halloween bonfire in a kind of remote location in Pennsylvania. Her family’s house was a bit isolated, too, and the interior reminded me of the “Halloween” set with its slatted closet white doors. Plus, my friend was going to be home alone for the weekend after we left the bonfire. She laughed it off, but I couldn’t shake the “what if” feeling for quite a while, and I still mention the experience to her!
In the next few weeks, I’ve committed to a screenwriting course. It’s been quite a while since I’ve done actual coursework in script writing. I figured the classroom environment with assignments, even if virtual, would kick me into high gear. Plus, I’ve completed the final draft of my second book in a novel series. The manuscript is now in the hands of an editor for the month of June. So, here I sit conjuring up a world in a contained movie with one or two settings and a handful of characters. The horror/thriller genre ia a ntural fit for a contained movie, and dramas like “Twelve Angry Men” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” i.e. stage plays made into movies. I started my contained movie notion with thoughts of revamping and revising a script I’ve already written. But, while working through the pre-lesson exercise, a new idea came to me! Now, I’m excited to be developing a purely contained script instead of shoehorning an existing one into the model. So, here I go—thinking, plotting, daydreaming—all the stuff of creating a new world and the characters that live in it. The watchful eye will start with my mind’s eye! I wish all of you watchful eyes that create a world for other to see or read and experience! Keep the dreams alive!