Hey ! I love your videos sooooo much ! I'm rewatching them as I'm starting the screenplay of my second short film and it's really helpful in my process. I just wanted to know if it's possible for you to tell us the name of the movies you are using in your videos please ? Thanks a lot for everything !
Over the past few months, I've been watching a lot of videos and reading a couple of books on screenplay writing. I've found them more helpful than any of the materials I've looked at on novel writing.
Overwrite exposition, you can always cut it back. Best advice I have ever gotten (I'm the new writer who doesn't write exposition because it is bad). ;^)
I disagree about the cafe scene in Inception being bad exposition. The reveal that they are already in a dream gives heightened context to the exposition being given. Coupling the exposition with such a memorable twist makes the information stick along with making the audience engage and question what is a dream and what isn't
Yeah, if the argument is that it doesn't attack the reality of the characters in the moment, the argument could be that it attacks the reality of the audience and we suddenly view the rest of the film differently from that moment on.
You shouldn't rely on outside factors to make your boring dialogue interesting. Regardless of the admittedly well crafted twist, more intriguing dialogue would have made the scene more memorable than before. If that scene had better dialogue, it would be a better scene.
@@Clayaga The problem is the scene falls flat and relies on what happens next to make it significant, and attacking the reality of the audience only works if everyone has the same viewpoint. Which shouldn't rely on so heavily on something so subjective that as a writer you can't rely on. This scene could be so much stronger. Not to say the information is terrible, just the way it is presented does nothing to progress or add to the story being told. Each scene in a script should follow or create a story arc that lets the scene stand alone. Watch that scene without watching anything else in the movie, is it still interesting dramatically? Remember don't confuse Dramatic with interesting view point on a subject. For example Scientific papers are full of interesting view points but they aren't dramatic.
I agree. It disorients the audience. They think they are safe just listening to some exposition. Then boom. You thought you were safe at a cafe but you weren't. This tells that audience that they should question every scene. Every scene could be a dream or not.
I've seen and read numerous articles and videos trying to explain or teach exposition and yours is honestly the best one thus far because you actually show examples in addition to giving good explanations. That is something seriously missing from the other videos and articles I've read including those of Screencraft. Ironically their explanations are all telling and no showing lol (examples). Good job. If I have any feedback it would be to show more bad examples, not just the good ones. Of course you can add a disclaimer saying it's your opinion.
annihilation's ambiguous ending works because of the nature of cosmic horror, what makes it scary is our inability to understand the phenomena, it defies logic in our natural world which is deeply unsettling. Giving us exposition for it would defeat it's ultimate purpose of scaring us with the unknown.
Annihilation didn't work for most of us. It wasn't because of the lack of exposition, it was the lack of a clear narrative and uninteresting characters with unclear motivations. I didn't find it scary, I found it boring.
@@pixxelwizzard That's fair enough but the point that the original commenter made still stands. The commentator's criticism was invalid. The movie certainly had flaws, no doubts here. But it is certainly arguable that the ending is well crafted.
_The Matrix_ will always be a great example of displaying exposition in an interesting way. Even in that scene when Morpheus explains the Matrix to Neo, there are still visuals backing up what Morpheus is saying.
Visual effects still dont matter, I think why it works because its said at the right time.. and showing that world to neo changes a lot of his world view, it's important for him nd also takes the story forward
Great video! Info dumps are especially tricky. I really like the idea of over-doing it in the first draft, though. It's quite liberating and gives you opportunities to surprise yourself with your story. As an author, sometimes I don't feel like I have permission to do this but it is quite necessary. Thanks again, Tyler!
Inception café scene is perfect: It's an architect talking to another architect, it shows that he cares tayloring the way he explains from person to person. So even if boring for the public it's the BEST way to show the characters values
I just want to say that I love your channel. Your advice has worked wonders for me. The most recent example was today. I was struggling with how to bring exposition into a story in a way that's engaging. I've struggled with this for years on a particular story that needs to give the reader a lot of exposition for the story to work. One piece of advice of yours solved my problem. You said "Attack with exposition." I've tried that and it works beautifully. That's what I was missing. Now the story finally works and I know exactly why. Thank you so much!!!
Show Don't Tell always feels contentious for me--I feel like some people subscribe too strongly to it. I think the second principle you cover, "Attack with Exposition" shows that there's a place for exposition, and if used correctly, it can give viewers what they need to know still being engaging.
Sure - if done with brevity style,and .. Entwined with the action? Not just "as you know, blah de blah.." like a really plodding first novel ;) If your world-premise is 'out there' like The Matrix,I figure you have to! I like it when he backtracked a bit, with 'DO write excess exposition in' - at first, to make sure YOU know whats going on ;)
I especially love it how you explained how we can attack with exposition, and how to tie this to those major plot points in the story. This can definitely be tied with the Point of no Return/Entering the Adventure World, as well as in the Third Plot Point, when the protagonist is at its lowest, created by another important piece of information and act, preferably created by that character itself. I love it how all these things come together.
Great video! There’s a lot of good info here. But I think there are a lot of great films that break that last rule about Ambiguity. I love ambiguity! As a writer, you can be ambiguous in your exposition and still fully know your story, your characters, etc. Think Enemy, 2001, Upstream Color, The Big Lebowski, The Babadook, even Shawshank Redemption. We’re not told everything but can still remain engaged and decide for ourselves what the film means. Not everyone wants a typical film-school movie that follows all the rules. There are some films where the cinematography alone keeps the audience engaged- think Terrence Malice.
The main reason "the opening text crawl" is iconic is because it replaced the opening credits that a "normal" movie would have. Star Wars subverted expectations.
@@indiannations2107 ...Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say it's a bad example of exposition. I don't think it was necessary info, but it's in service to pacing as well as sets up a big idea before walloping us with the visuals.
Truby has an interesting example of how exposition can be structured to attack character. He gives us a technique where we can begin by using subtext in dialogue where one person tries to extract info from the other. As the scene moves forward, we bring the subtext up to the surface. Good example: the whole "she's my sister and my daughter" scene from Chinatown.
Your videos are so good, I got so much more understanding why I enjoy some movies and I am bored with others. I am not even a storyteller but your content gives me so much fun! Thank you for your work!
I have to disagree with the Annihilation take... Even though there wasn't any reason given for the failure besides its ambiguity. Making the take ambiguous -- but it wraps it all together, because show, don't tell.
Plus it's cosmic horror: it needs to be amiguous by definition since the unexplainable, that which cannot be known, is the source of this type of horror
Annihilation also is only ambiguous if read literally, but it's pretty clearly intended to be read as a metaphor. Folding Ideas did a good video on it. If you follow the metaphor, then the ending wasn't ambiguous at all.
this as alot to do with from what prespective a writer/director shows a movie. great work on the examples like idiana ,alien and inception( even the one in the paris scene) due to the fact that she was the dreamer, the exposition would always feel forced because she was the ONE CHARACTER introduced to the dreaming/inception circle, and therefore the movie shows from her prespective, because we, the audience, were also being introduced to it... and then later on, the exposition will always feel smooth and flowing ( previous good example in the video) .. enjoying the vids and stream. gj
Good job. I found this useful even though I have grown better with exposition over the years. Experience helps. This video will help less experienced writers much faster than the way I'm still learning these things. Good job.
Sonata form for screenplays. Saw "Unhinged" this morning, finally back in a theater. Will see "Tenet" on a weekday next week. Bought (book of) the shooting script for "Inception", and the published script shows how adding graphic and conceptual art to a script can make the concept a lot clearer.
Would the bad example for inception not be considered a training scene similar to batman begins when Bruce goes to learn from the league of shadows? Also isn't the information attacking ariadne in the sense that now she knows what the mission involves and can decide whether to continue with them as the architect?
Mauricio Wilde I’m not Native American so I can’t speak for anybody else, but i mean they’re...not Indian. If you’re from India, you’re Indian. People often say Indian to refer to Native Americans bc of the fact that when Columbus “discovered” America, he thought he was in India, of course he was wrong, which thus led to many Westerners calling Native Americans “Indians.”
@@mauryw.1818 I've heard some Native Americans actually prefer to be called Indians because it's what they've been called for so long, but... it's not technically correct, so I don't see the point, frankly.
@@coffeefrog I've heard something similar. Most prefer being called "American Indians" because the world understands what that term means. "Native Americans," on the other hand, describes anyone and everyone born on American soil.
How to make something interesting by following the "telling." There are films and shows, like Mindhunter and etc. What element makes tell also an interesting part of the story?
A guess: It becomes interesting once the "telling" becomes the way to introducing us to progress, mood, etc. Borrowing a word from the video, It attacks the audience by absorbing us into the thought process. It helps If you establish early that the story's gonna be dialogue heavy. Another thing Said in the video: If the exposition is tied to the conflict or the goal, you can make the audience feel rewarded by developing the story through telling.
you had me until you talked about annihilation, ALEX GARLAND is an amazing writer and the ending for that story was ambiguous on purpose and it made it much more interesting, if he told us why the alien was here it would have been much less interesting, the characters completed their arcs and the story ended.
Tyler also lost me on the mention of Annihilation. Not all stories have to be the same. Another ambiguous ending is 2001. And that's not a failed film because of it either.
@@IqbalAliComics 2001 is basically the best film ever made and we are still debating what it means to this day , ambiguous if done correctly is much more interesting and in in my humble opinion Alex Garland pulled it off very well
I have to disagree on the cafe scene in Inception. That one was the most successful delivery of exposition in that movie, for me. It is tied to a conflict: the conflict is in Ariadne's challenge to learn about and possibly qualify for the job-- as she makes her way through this challenge, she becomes the central character for the time being, and we're brought along with her while she learns the information. As viewers, we can see why the info Cobb is giving her is immediately important for her to understand, even if it seems crazy, and so, even though it seems crazy to us, we have a motivation to suspend disbelief alongside her.
Good video but I disagree with the annihilation annecdote. Though it seems that there was lacking information at the end but many revealings throughout the film that opens up room for more information, I believe it was created like this because it goes hand in hand with the whole premise of the film which is that there is a huge cosmic dome that appeared on the earth and its getting bigger and nobody knows what it is. Its ambiguity goes with the lack of information because it helps to show how little we know about this universe. (But thats just me)
When it comes to information about a story while Planning, The only time it is too much is when every pebble was some backstory. The balance comes in when it comes to the Delivery. Have all the information so that if you feel the Audience needs to know the answer to a question, you CAN answer it.
I saw "TENET" this morning. I did feel the film could use more "exposition". I had read the synopsis on Wikipedia before going (to a seniors-only low crowd seating), but it would be hard to follow if you didn't know the story already. My own stuff has a distantly similar concept ... and yes, seeing the movie pointed out another flaw in my own work in progress....
But the ambiguous ending in Annihilation works in favor of the values of cosmic horror; it makes the plot more threatening and impactful by making it's characters feel helpless and minuscule when confronted by an event that's beyond human comprehension
I feel attacked lol ,my current WIP has no exposition. I thought I was doing really good but just showingand not telling though it just let to confusion
How is the coffee shop scene from Inception and the scene from Matrix any different? You said Inception coffee shop scene is a bad example but matrix scene is a good example. When they explained about the world and robots, it changed the way we (viewers) see the matrix forever and same with Inception. When we learn about the rules of dreams and the way dream world works it affect us(viewers). It changed the way we (viewers) look at inception. How can that is a bad exposing while matrix is a good exposing? They literally the same. Both scenes change the way we see the movie. It changed us as well as the characters. That girl Cobb was teaching, she changed too just like Keanu changed in Matrix. If one is good then the other should be good as well. If one is bad then the other should be bad as well.
I think theres a good line to draw between telling and showing. I think both can be very effective when used in conjuction. John wick is a very good example. We definitely see who John Wick is, but goddamn if the lines "They call him Babayaga." "the boogeyman." "Well John wasn't exactly the Boogeyman. He was the one you sent to kill the fucking Boogeyman." Don't follow me around every time I think of Wick. This serves no purpose to set up anyone but Wick, but up until this point in the movie, we haven't seen him portray any of his wrath. What follows is a path of war and destruction. To be perfectly honest I think that movie would be missing a very important element if that line were to be removed. I also think the boomerang guy in Suicide Squad was also a good use, because the joke was that he was just gonna die like 10 seconds later, which I thought was really funny, and if they actually tried to set him up seriously I don't think it would've stuck with me that much, but because he was the butt of a joke in itself, I thought it worked really well. Also for the matrix example, I think you might be missing a point, were we as the audience/Neo aren't supposed to understand what the matrix is through the text at the beginning, its supposed to be a foreign thing we get context of later. Often times these moments are to set up context later, and that is also a very good example of Exposition in my opinion.
4:25 OK, not having characters describe other characters is essential to the show not tell rule, but what of John wick. Most of the first act is characters sowing seeds of suspense; hyping John wick, shouldn't this be exempt.
"This is Katana. She's got my back. She can cut all of you in half with one sword stroke, just like mowing the lawn. I would advise not getting killed by her. Her sword traps the souls of its victim." EXPOSITION 10/10
One thing I can't understand is complaining about exposition dumps. Sure, dragging on an explanation can be boring but so can be every scene that hangs on for too long. Besides most of the times exposition provides meaningful information in context of the story.
That's a good point. If run of the mill exposition doesn't bother you, that's fine. But there are so many examples of exposition being delivered in a way that is not run of the mill, that is in fact exciting - why not try to write that way?
I feel you bro but somehow... I think star wars text roll gets a pass. I know that theoretically it is the absolute worst method to introduce your film but, I don't know if it's nostalgia but it gets me pumped to read that text.
It's not always better to show than to tell. Sometimes showing ends up taking up way too much time, and messes up the pacing and flow of a story. My personal example of this is the beginning of Rogue One. It jumps all over the place, and is badly paced because it tries to show us a bunch of preliminary plot events that establish the main action. It would have been better to put some or all of this into exposition or a briefing etc. This, in my opinion, is why the star wars crawl works better as an expo dump, rather than trying to show that information.
Hi what about Chinatown, we don’t see that Jack was a police detective who couldn’t save a woman he fell in love with but it doesn’t come across as boring when he tells us. Why is that?
For this particular topic you must see Dangal or Sanju.Both are the best biopic movies from bollywood.I would love to see you breakdown some of bollywood film making styles.
I don't know if all of what your saying is right. I mean, the "Before Trilogy" is nothing but exposition, and it's just as engaging and compelling. Nevertheless good video.
Look film expert i wanna what the hell is subversion of expectation 1. I wanna know what the hell it is 2. How can we use it to make our story better 3. How can make my story better
Expectations rely on a few things. Familiarity with the film medium, familiarity with the genre, and (if applicable) familiarity with the series the story is a part of. Expectations are a baseline assumption that a story will go a certain way based on the type of story being told. Subverting expectations is building on what the audience expects to see in a surprising way. Maybe a character archetype that's usually trustworthy is a surprise villain, maybe the story is told from an unexpected perspective, maybe the story itself is assembled in an unconventional way. What's critical is that the story must be made more resonant by the subversion - if the subversion exists only to surprise, there's nothing to build on. The subversion should not only surprise the audience and the characters but should also fundamentally alter the conflict of the story going forward. Something else to consider is that every story should create built-in expectations. We expect a love story to end with a happily ever after. We expect building tension between characters to amount to a crucial conflict. We expect a character's struggle with self-doubt to resolve with self-confidence. Working within the framework of expectations your story creates, you can surprise the audience with deviations from the expected path in ways that add more conflict to the story - as long as by the time your story lands you've convinced the audience that your ending satisfies all the story threads you set up.
Ah, yes a lot of people criticize movies for just their lazy way of explaining the plot! So we must expose the story through scenes, after all, cinema is a visual movie!
Inception’s exposition is one of the most memorable scenes in cinema. So I think you are wrong in your criticism. Bad exposition is ultimately disengaging and that was engaging so you should ask yourself why it succeeded despite not following the rules.
I have to disagree with you. You don’t need conflict to have exposition. As long as you have someone who needs to teach something to someone who needs to learn, then it’s fine. I.e. Luke and Obi-Wan when he learns about the force. I personally prefer Ariadne’s exposition sequence to the Limbo one.
I was gonna comment on this. You don't need conflict for exposition to be interesting but I get what he means. The exposition should change the trajectory of the character in the world even if it is minimal.
That inception "good" example is one of the most uniquely awful examples of exposition imaginable, because it's not interesting, it's forced in to cheaply up the stakes, and he hides the info until then for no other reason than the story needs drama at that point. Just a terrible, lazy movie full of false conflict and cheap gimmicks.
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Hey ! I love your videos sooooo much !
I'm rewatching them as I'm starting the screenplay of my second short film and it's really helpful in my process.
I just wanted to know if it's possible for you to tell us the name of the movies you are using in your videos please ?
Thanks a lot for everything !
PLEASE DONT DELETE ANY OF YOUR VIDEOS. These are all pure gold and I religiously study them while I write 🙏🙏
don't worry bro, he's not gonna delete anything
Really enjoyed this - as a novelist embarking on a screenplay I really enjoyed your take
Over the past few months, I've been watching a lot of videos and reading a couple of books on screenplay writing. I've found them more helpful than any of the materials I've looked at on novel writing.
how’s the screenplay going/how did it go?
@@hmvideos3601 Getting there, thanks ;)
Overwrite exposition, you can always cut it back. Best advice I have ever gotten (I'm the new writer who doesn't write exposition because it is bad). ;^)
100% !
Once you wrap your head around "writing is re-writing", you have the potential to tell great stories.
Yea, took note of that too.
I disagree about the cafe scene in Inception being bad exposition. The reveal that they are already in a dream gives heightened context to the exposition being given. Coupling the exposition with such a memorable twist makes the information stick along with making the audience engage and question what is a dream and what isn't
Ditto.
Yeah, if the argument is that it doesn't attack the reality of the characters in the moment, the argument could be that it attacks the reality of the audience and we suddenly view the rest of the film differently from that moment on.
You shouldn't rely on outside factors to make your boring dialogue interesting. Regardless of the admittedly well crafted twist, more intriguing dialogue would have made the scene more memorable than before. If that scene had better dialogue, it would be a better scene.
@@Clayaga The problem is the scene falls flat and relies on what happens next to make it significant, and attacking the reality of the audience only works if everyone has the same viewpoint. Which shouldn't rely on so heavily on something so subjective that as a writer you can't rely on. This scene could be so much stronger. Not to say the information is terrible, just the way it is presented does nothing to progress or add to the story being told. Each scene in a script should follow or create a story arc that lets the scene stand alone. Watch that scene without watching anything else in the movie, is it still interesting dramatically? Remember don't confuse Dramatic with interesting view point on a subject. For example Scientific papers are full of interesting view points but they aren't dramatic.
I agree. It disorients the audience. They think they are safe just listening to some exposition. Then boom. You thought you were safe at a cafe but you weren't. This tells that audience that they should question every scene. Every scene could be a dream or not.
I've seen and read numerous articles and videos trying to explain or teach exposition and yours is honestly the best one thus far because you actually show examples in addition to giving good explanations. That is something seriously missing from the other videos and articles I've read including those of Screencraft. Ironically their explanations are all telling and no showing lol (examples). Good job. If I have any feedback it would be to show more bad examples, not just the good ones. Of course you can add a disclaimer saying it's your opinion.
annihilation's ambiguous ending works because of the nature of cosmic horror, what makes it scary is our inability to understand the phenomena, it defies logic in our natural world which is deeply unsettling. Giving us exposition for it would defeat it's ultimate purpose of scaring us with the unknown.
Annihilation didn't work for most of us. It wasn't because of the lack of exposition, it was the lack of a clear narrative and uninteresting characters with unclear motivations. I didn't find it scary, I found it boring.
@@pixxelwizzard me too
Yeah that movie was trash.
@@pixxelwizzard That's fair enough but the point that the original commenter made still stands. The commentator's criticism was invalid. The movie certainly had flaws, no doubts here. But it is certainly arguable that the ending is well crafted.
_The Matrix_ will always be a great example of displaying exposition in an interesting way. Even in that scene when Morpheus explains the Matrix to Neo, there are still visuals backing up what Morpheus is saying.
Visual effects still dont matter, I think why it works because its said at the right time.. and showing that world to neo changes a lot of his world view, it's important for him nd also takes the story forward
Great video! Info dumps are especially tricky. I really like the idea of over-doing it in the first draft, though. It's quite liberating and gives you opportunities to surprise yourself with your story. As an author, sometimes I don't feel like I have permission to do this but it is quite necessary. Thanks again, Tyler!
Inception café scene is perfect: It's an architect talking to another architect, it shows that he cares tayloring the way he explains from person to person. So even if boring for the public it's the BEST way to show the characters values
I just want to say that I love your channel. Your advice has worked wonders for me. The most recent example was today. I was struggling with how to bring exposition into a story in a way that's engaging. I've struggled with this for years on a particular story that needs to give the reader a lot of exposition for the story to work. One piece of advice of yours solved my problem. You said "Attack with exposition." I've tried that and it works beautifully. That's what I was missing. Now the story finally works and I know exactly why. Thank you so much!!!
Show Don't Tell always feels contentious for me--I feel like some people subscribe too strongly to it. I think the second principle you cover, "Attack with Exposition" shows that there's a place for exposition, and if used correctly, it can give viewers what they need to know still being engaging.
Sure - if done with brevity style,and .. Entwined with the action?
Not just "as you know, blah de blah.." like a really plodding first novel ;)
If your world-premise is 'out there' like The Matrix,I figure you have to!
I like it when he backtracked a bit, with 'DO write excess exposition in' - at first, to make sure YOU know whats going on ;)
I especially love it how you explained how we can attack with exposition, and how to tie this to those major plot points in the story. This can definitely be tied with the Point of no Return/Entering the Adventure World, as well as in the Third Plot Point, when the protagonist is at its lowest, created by another important piece of information and act, preferably created by that character itself.
I love it how all these things come together.
Great video! There’s a lot of good info here. But I think there are a lot of great films that break that last rule about Ambiguity. I love ambiguity! As a writer, you can be ambiguous in your exposition and still fully know your story, your characters, etc. Think Enemy, 2001, Upstream Color, The Big Lebowski, The Babadook, even Shawshank Redemption. We’re not told everything but can still remain engaged and decide for ourselves what the film means. Not everyone wants a typical film-school movie that follows all the rules. There are some films where the cinematography alone keeps the audience engaged- think Terrence Malice.
I think that the text in the begining of star wars became an iconic intro, so I don't think people will think of it as Abad thing
The main reason "the opening text crawl" is iconic is because it replaced the opening credits that a "normal" movie would have.
Star Wars subverted expectations.
@@VirtualSG yes indeed
@@MeatCatCheesyBlaster agreed
@@indiannations2107 ...Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say it's a bad example of exposition. I don't think it was necessary info, but it's in service to pacing as well as sets up a big idea before walloping us with the visuals.
@@VirtualSG it was also a homage to the serials of the 1930's/40's that George Lucas loved esp Flash Gordon
What a true masterclass this series is
absolutely love your videos, man. Now that I've written 90 pages of my first screenplay the tips make even more sense.
Truby has an interesting example of how exposition can be structured to attack character. He gives us a technique where we can begin by using subtext in dialogue where one person tries to extract info from the other. As the scene moves forward, we bring the subtext up to the surface. Good example: the whole "she's my sister and my daughter" scene from Chinatown.
Your videos are so good, I got so much more understanding why I enjoy some movies and I am bored with others. I am not even a storyteller but your content gives me so much fun! Thank you for your work!
Brilliant! just what I needed at this moment.
Great content. I just shared this in the 10 Minute Novelist facebook group.
I have to disagree with the Annihilation take... Even though there wasn't any reason given for the failure besides its ambiguity. Making the take ambiguous -- but it wraps it all together, because show, don't tell.
Plus it's cosmic horror: it needs to be amiguous by definition since the unexplainable, that which cannot be known, is the source of this type of horror
Annihilation also is only ambiguous if read literally, but it's pretty clearly intended to be read as a metaphor. Folding Ideas did a good video on it. If you follow the metaphor, then the ending wasn't ambiguous at all.
You should make a video about the differences between Archplot, Miniplot, and Antiplot from the segment of Robert McKee’s “Story”!
Much appreciated. A very important topic I'm thankful you discussed. May God bless you all
this as alot to do with from what prespective a writer/director shows a movie. great work on the examples like idiana ,alien and inception( even the one in the paris scene) due to the fact that she was the dreamer, the exposition would always feel forced because she was the ONE CHARACTER introduced to the dreaming/inception circle, and therefore the movie shows from her prespective, because we, the audience, were also being introduced to it... and then later on, the exposition will always feel smooth and flowing ( previous good example in the video) .. enjoying the vids and stream. gj
Your videos have been SO helpful! Thank you so much!
Good job. I found this useful even though I have grown better with exposition over the years. Experience helps. This video will help less experienced writers much faster than the way I'm still learning these things. Good job.
I am a simple subscriber: I see a new video in my notifications, I stop what I am doing and click on it.
Never seen this comment before, how did you come up with it?
@@cbrreezzyy69 I have been subscribed to Tyler for a while now.
Good insight and very informative. It takes great skill, forethought, and creativity to disguise your exposition as narrative.
Sonata form for screenplays. Saw "Unhinged" this morning, finally back in a theater. Will see "Tenet" on a weekday next week. Bought (book of) the shooting script for "Inception", and the published script shows how adding graphic and conceptual art to a script can make the concept a lot clearer.
Correction at 5:53: if the characters of Inception die in the dream, they go into limbo, they don't die in real life
Until their brains turn to scrambled egg.
Yeah but they'll be in a coma, which is a kind of death.
Great video Tyler! I'm writing a short film right now and your videos have helped me in refining it hugely. Appreciate it❤
Love this - thank you!
Brilliantly shown and explained, as always 👏🏻
Would the bad example for inception not be considered a training scene similar to batman begins when Bruce goes to learn from the league of shadows? Also isn't the information attacking ariadne in the sense that now she knows what the mission involves and can decide whether to continue with them as the architect?
I wish there was a channel like this for theater.
This is EXACTLY what I needed right now since I’m working on my next film! Thanks Tyler!
I appreciate you saying Native American instead of "Indian". I still hear many people make that mistake these days.
Could you explain me why it's wrong to say "Indian"?
Mauricio Wilde I’m not Native American so I can’t speak for anybody else, but i mean they’re...not Indian. If you’re from India, you’re Indian. People often say Indian to refer to Native Americans bc of the fact that when Columbus “discovered” America, he thought he was in India, of course he was wrong, which thus led to many Westerners calling Native Americans “Indians.”
@@mauryw.1818 I've heard some Native Americans actually prefer to be called Indians because it's what they've been called for so long, but... it's not technically correct, so I don't see the point, frankly.
@@erasports7 Hahahaaaa if Kayser Soze speaks, we better agree!
@@coffeefrog I've heard something similar. Most prefer being called "American Indians" because the world understands what that term means. "Native Americans," on the other hand, describes anyone and everyone born on American soil.
Great video! Very informative!
Beautiful work bro 👏 thanks! Please do more
Great series, thank you so much
Awesome. Thank you for your series.
How to make something interesting by following the "telling." There are films and shows, like Mindhunter and etc. What element makes tell also an interesting part of the story?
A guess: It becomes interesting once the "telling" becomes the way to introducing us to progress, mood, etc. Borrowing a word from the video, It attacks the audience by absorbing us into the thought process. It helps If you establish early that the story's gonna be dialogue heavy. Another thing Said in the video: If the exposition is tied to the conflict or the goal, you can make the audience feel rewarded by developing the story through telling.
3:35 yesssssssssssssssss... i wanted to watch this movie last week. i stopped after i saw that.
This came at the right time considering Nolans latest film. A common criticism I see of his is exposition dumps. That said, I still loved Tenet.
Thanks for the great tutorial🤩🤩🤩
you had me until you talked about annihilation, ALEX GARLAND is an amazing writer and the ending for that story was ambiguous on purpose and it made it much more interesting, if he told us why the alien was here it would have been much less interesting, the characters completed their arcs and the story ended.
Tyler also lost me on the mention of Annihilation. Not all stories have to be the same.
Another ambiguous ending is 2001. And that's not a failed film because of it either.
@@IqbalAliComics 2001 is basically the best film ever made and we are still debating what it means to this day , ambiguous if done correctly is much more interesting and in in my humble opinion Alex Garland pulled it off very well
I have to disagree on the cafe scene in Inception. That one was the most successful delivery of exposition in that movie, for me. It is tied to a conflict: the conflict is in Ariadne's challenge to learn about and possibly qualify for the job-- as she makes her way through this challenge, she becomes the central character for the time being, and we're brought along with her while she learns the information. As viewers, we can see why the info Cobb is giving her is immediately important for her to understand, even if it seems crazy, and so, even though it seems crazy to us, we have a motivation to suspend disbelief alongside her.
Good video but I disagree with the annihilation annecdote. Though it seems that there was lacking information at the end but many revealings throughout the film that opens up room for more information, I believe it was created like this because it goes hand in hand with the whole premise of the film which is that there is a huge cosmic dome that appeared on the earth and its getting bigger and nobody knows what it is. Its ambiguity goes with the lack of information because it helps to show how little we know about this universe.
(But thats just me)
Really really well done. EXCELLENT examples - agree 100% on Annihilation.
When it comes to information about a story while Planning, The only time it is too much is when every pebble was some backstory. The balance comes in when it comes to the Delivery. Have all the information so that if you feel the Audience needs to know the answer to a question, you CAN answer it.
I saw "TENET" this morning. I did feel the film could use more "exposition". I had read the synopsis on Wikipedia before going (to a seniors-only low crowd seating), but it would be hard to follow if you didn't know the story already. My own stuff has a distantly similar concept ... and yes, seeing the movie pointed out another flaw in my own work in progress....
But the ambiguous ending in Annihilation works in favor of the values of cosmic horror; it makes the plot more threatening and impactful by making it's characters feel helpless and minuscule when confronted by an event that's beyond human comprehension
Thank you so much for this!
Thank you for another perfectly timed video. :)
Here's my sub. Thanks for the writing advice.
It cracks me up just how uncomfortable Joel Kinnaman sounds when he says that line about Katana.
Excellent topic.
Who says you can't "tell"? A book you read? John Truby? Another TH-camr? Here's the thing: if it wiorks you can do it. It worked in ESB and Inception.
The Katana scene in Suicide Squad is now a classic 😂
Every part of suicide squad’s character introduction is a “tell” exposition 🤣
It's sort of like those friends who talk but don't necessarily walk. We subconsciously appreciate those who act rather than those who speak, it seems.
great video..thanks bro
I feel attacked lol ,my current WIP has no exposition. I thought I was doing really good but just showingand not telling though it just let to confusion
that was very well put together! Why do you think they told Indy's achievements after showing what an adventurer he is?
How is the coffee shop scene from Inception and the scene from Matrix any different? You said Inception coffee shop scene is a bad example but matrix scene is a good example. When they explained about the world and robots, it changed the way we (viewers) see the matrix forever and same with Inception. When we learn about the rules of dreams and the way dream world works it affect us(viewers). It changed the way we (viewers) look at inception. How can that is a bad exposing while matrix is a good exposing? They literally the same. Both scenes change the way we see the movie. It changed us as well as the characters. That girl Cobb was teaching, she changed too just like Keanu changed in Matrix.
If one is good then the other should be good as well. If one is bad then the other should be bad as well.
Agreed.
Thanks alot.
What do you think about Daria´s monologues? Do they count as an exposition of her philosophy? Thanks!
Thank you so much...😊
Haven’t even started the video yet but I already put this video in my favourites playlist
3:25 i've never watched this movie... but this is the funniest shit ever
Hey Tyler can you write a script and you can live stream you writing so we can see first hand on how you write one
You should make videos on how to begin/end a movie
heey! annihilation rules! anyway, great video
I think theres a good line to draw between telling and showing. I think both can be very effective when used in conjuction.
John wick is a very good example.
We definitely see who John Wick is, but goddamn if the lines "They call him Babayaga."
"the boogeyman."
"Well John wasn't exactly the Boogeyman. He was the one you sent to kill the fucking Boogeyman."
Don't follow me around every time I think of Wick.
This serves no purpose to set up anyone but Wick, but up until this point in the movie, we haven't seen him portray any of his wrath.
What follows is a path of war and destruction.
To be perfectly honest I think that movie would be missing a very important element if that line were to be removed.
I also think the boomerang guy in Suicide Squad was also a good use, because the joke was that he was just gonna die like 10 seconds later, which I thought was really funny, and if they actually tried to set him up seriously I don't think it would've stuck with me that much, but because he was the butt of a joke in itself, I thought it worked really well.
Also for the matrix example, I think you might be missing a point, were we as the audience/Neo aren't supposed to understand what the matrix is through the text at the beginning, its supposed to be a foreign thing we get context of later.
Often times these moments are to set up context later, and that is also a very good example of Exposition in my opinion.
Nice, you just spoiled who lukes father is ! :))
4:25 OK, not having characters describe other characters is essential to the show not tell rule, but what of John wick. Most of the first act is characters sowing seeds of suspense; hyping John wick, shouldn't this be exempt.
So, I'm guessing these are like guidelines.
"This is Katana. She's got my back. She can cut all of you in half with one sword stroke, just like mowing the lawn. I would advise not getting killed by her. Her sword traps the souls of its victim."
EXPOSITION 10/10
One thing I can't understand is complaining about exposition dumps. Sure, dragging on an explanation can be boring but so can be every scene that hangs on for too long. Besides most of the times exposition provides meaningful information in context of the story.
That's a good point. If run of the mill exposition doesn't bother you, that's fine.
But there are so many examples of exposition being delivered in a way that is not run of the mill, that is in fact exciting - why not try to write that way?
Good essay
I feel you bro but somehow... I think star wars text roll gets a pass. I know that theoretically it is the absolute worst method to introduce your film but, I don't know if it's nostalgia but it gets me pumped to read that text.
It's not always better to show than to tell.
Sometimes showing ends up taking up way too much time, and messes up the pacing and flow of a story.
My personal example of this is the beginning of Rogue One.
It jumps all over the place, and is badly paced because it tries to show us a bunch of preliminary plot events that establish the main action.
It would have been better to put some or all of this into exposition or a briefing etc.
This, in my opinion, is why the star wars crawl works better as an expo dump, rather than trying to show that information.
is tenet too much ambiguity?
hows about doing a report on why films are so bad they are good. are they done due to the acting, scripts or both.
Hi what about Chinatown, we don’t see that Jack was a police detective who couldn’t save a woman he fell in love with but it doesn’t come across as boring when he tells us. Why is that?
Nice cap at the beginning, my guy.
When you talk about premise?
8:45
For this particular topic you must see Dangal or Sanju.Both are the best biopic movies from bollywood.I would love to see you breakdown some of bollywood film making styles.
4:20
I don't know if all of what your saying is right. I mean, the "Before Trilogy" is nothing but exposition, and it's just as engaging and compelling. Nevertheless good video.
Anyone else watch these and take notes?
Look film expert i wanna what the hell is subversion of expectation
1. I wanna know what the hell it is
2. How can we use it to make our story better
3. How can make my story better
Expectations rely on a few things. Familiarity with the film medium, familiarity with the genre, and (if applicable) familiarity with the series the story is a part of. Expectations are a baseline assumption that a story will go a certain way based on the type of story being told. Subverting expectations is building on what the audience expects to see in a surprising way. Maybe a character archetype that's usually trustworthy is a surprise villain, maybe the story is told from an unexpected perspective, maybe the story itself is assembled in an unconventional way. What's critical is that the story must be made more resonant by the subversion - if the subversion exists only to surprise, there's nothing to build on. The subversion should not only surprise the audience and the characters but should also fundamentally alter the conflict of the story going forward.
Something else to consider is that every story should create built-in expectations. We expect a love story to end with a happily ever after. We expect building tension between characters to amount to a crucial conflict. We expect a character's struggle with self-doubt to resolve with self-confidence. Working within the framework of expectations your story creates, you can surprise the audience with deviations from the expected path in ways that add more conflict to the story - as long as by the time your story lands you've convinced the audience that your ending satisfies all the story threads you set up.
@@ChrisOvens51 Thank you for that. Very helpful
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Still a little bit mysterious.
To be honest, Matrix exposition didn't work so well all the time. Most of the times, i felt lost...
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Ah, yes a lot of people criticize movies for just their lazy way of explaining the plot! So we must expose the story through scenes, after all, cinema is a visual movie!
Inception’s exposition is one of the most memorable scenes in cinema. So I think you are wrong in your criticism. Bad exposition is ultimately disengaging and that was engaging so you should ask yourself why it succeeded despite not following the rules.
I have to disagree with you. You don’t need conflict to have exposition. As long as you have someone who needs to teach something to someone who needs to learn, then it’s fine. I.e. Luke and Obi-Wan when he learns about the force.
I personally prefer Ariadne’s exposition sequence to the Limbo one.
I was gonna comment on this. You don't need conflict for exposition to be interesting but I get what he means. The exposition should change the trajectory of the character in the world even if it is minimal.
you dont HAVE to do anything. the point is to not bore the audience and to keep it interesting. conflict = interesting
That inception "good" example is one of the most uniquely awful examples of exposition imaginable, because it's not interesting, it's forced in to cheaply up the stakes, and he hides the info until then for no other reason than the story needs drama at that point. Just a terrible, lazy movie full of false conflict and cheap gimmicks.