The "write what you want to see" advice is some of the best advice you could possibly get. It's ALWAYS obvious when something is written in service to what the writer thinks an audience wants. It's not writing at that point, it's a boring, lifeless shopping list.
The mantra "Write what you know" doesn't apply to the people who are willing to put in the research and to interview and to investigate a world foreign to them. You can "Write what you know" or write about anything so long as you "Know what you write."
@@PhantomFilmAustralia Very true. Not really what I’m talking about though. If you want to research something new to write about, it’s still coming from a place of interest and genuine passion. Which is a good thing because you’re still “writing what you WANT to see”.
@@PhantomFilmAustraliaI've heard a better version "write what you feel" when you write characters and moments you understand emotionally, you'll know what you're doing
@@DaxterL That's basically writing what you know. You know how you feel when you're in a situation. You know your own emotional intelligence. Any blanks are filled with other's experiences or your own imagination.
I also think "over marketing" is a problem these days. When I was younger, you'd get one trailer, and it didn't really reveal a lot. Nowadays, if you watch the 50 trailers and the 30 trailer teasers, you no longer need to see the movie, 'cause you already know everything that's gonna happen and you've seen the best and most exiting parts already. That's why I avoid trailers nowadays, 'cause they ruin any suspense or surprise I could have gotten from a movie.
Well yea- because if you’ve watched 50 trailers you’ve essentially watched the entire movie. I don’t think watching one is going to spoil anything. I’m not big into trailers to begin with. I usually know after hearing a certain movie is coming out whether or not I’m gonna see it. The best trailers were always the ones they showed before the movie started at the theater. As a teenager I always loved that part of the experience.
I guess the problem is that most movies nowadays don't tell a story except "good vs evil". They are a conglomeration of action scenes, and that's what we see in the trailers.
I had the pleasure to meet the band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, phenomenal jazz and swing band, and I asked the lead vocalist/songwriter if he has any tips for a young writer, and he said he only writes songs that he wants to listen to, so you should only write what you want to read. That really stuck with me, and it's something that all writers should realize.
"write the movie you want to see" EXACTLY! too many writers these days write stuff based on what they think would be analytical successes without any love for the genre or the franchise... personally, i know what i write is obscure and some people might even hate it, but the things i write are exactly the stuff i'd like to see in for example an animated adaptation..
I agree. I told a friend about a vampire novel I was planning about 7 years ago and he said oh you shouldn't write that cause vampire stuff isn't popular anymore. I said I don't care what's popular. I have a story in my head that I want to get out cause I want to read it
The problem is the screenplay is often the movie the writer wants to see and then it ends up with studio people who changed it to what they think the audience wants to see. Maybe they even have focus groups and numbers to support their decisions, they're still very bad. I believe there's hundreds of movies ruined by test audiences.
I really think that's the way to go about it. After all, if you really want to read your book, somebody else very probably will want to read it too! But if even you don't genuinely care, you'll never find anyone else who will.
@@PaygunFGC It's just back from.the publisher for me to proof read . Found 12 errors that need to be fixed before we go to print. It's little things like a miss spelling or a double space between words, nothing serious but I want the book to be the best it can be. So with this in mind it'll take a short while to fix and re set the book. If anyone is at all interested i'll put it here when available. My pen name is WH Sayle and the book is called None Forsaken. Thanks for the interest
@@KMJoshiMusic Honestly not really. I still haven't finished the first book because it just felt like big things that should impress me were happening but nothing that was making me care. In that first book at least, all he does is flash names and places and events in front of the reader without explaining what any of that actually meant. Then like 10 chapters later, a character comes back in, and I already forgot that heard their name earlier from a background character without any context. The character introductions were underwhelming at best and the events so far seem interesting but like I stepped into a better story in the middle of the climax. I can see how if I can get through it, I might grow to love the series.
@@Tre_Storm_Art I get what you mean. I'm currently reading the Stormlight Archive. It's a massive story but beautifully written. You should give it a try if you haven't already.
@@KMJoshiMusic one of my favorite series. I highly highly recommend the First Law series, the gentleman bastard's sequence, and the wheel of time if you haven't yet. The first two are much more grim, closer to A Song of Ice and Fire than Lord of the Rings, but genuinely brilliant series'. If brutal descriptions aren't your thing, Wheel of Time is the largest and in my view the best epic fantasy out there. If you like Sanderson, you'll be glad to know that he wrote the last three books with the original author's notes and he grew up on the series.
@@Tre_Storm_Art I read the Wheel of Time in 2017 or so. I absolutely love it and consider it my favorite alongside the LOTR. That series is how I learned of Brandon Sanderson! It's too bad Robert Jordan didn't get to see it to the end, though. I love The First Law too. But I haven't read the Gentleman Bastard's sequence. I'd never even heard of it until now! I'll give it a shot when I get some time to get back to reading. Have you read Mistborn? It's wonderful.
Do you mean the movie LOTR? I don't think so, you only see and get to know 3 characters until the birthday, 3 more in the birthday, 1 more in The Prancing Pony, 1 more on the road to Rivendell, 4 more in the Rivendell, 3 in the Lothlorien and that's all the characters for the first 3 hours long movie. But in the Game of Thrones, only 50 minutes long first episode have this much of a character and it keeps increasing each passing episode. You watch different stories happening in the different geographics, geopolitics, north, south, east, west, cities and kingdoms all together. Rules are recipes for copycats who are looking for easy money. With a recipe, everyone can cook mediocre meal and with a recipe everyone can write mediocre story. And I hate mediocre entertainment. 99 Percent of a time, it's all same.
A lot of great movies do lol. The Godfather, Heat, Reservoir Dogs, the Killing of a Chinese Bookie. If it’s entertaining, ppl will watch it. The absolute worst way to start any movie tho is with an extended opening credits sequence.
Book to movie (and in LotRs case, cartoon to movie for the 2nd trilogy) is a very different beast than straight to film. Books already have a following; you just have to actually deliver, so there's a higher risk and higher reward. HP or LotR vs. Percy Jackson or Eragon.
Watch the prologue sequence again. There is only one viewpoint character. "But the power of the Ring could not be undone." "The Ring passed to Isildur..." "And the Ring of Power has a will of its own." "It betrayed Isildur to his death." "And the Ring of Power perceived...its time had now come. It abandoned Gollum." The Ring is the viewpoint character. Gandalf is the one viewpoint character for the sequence that follows.
This was great advice for me in relation to setting up my story intro. It took me near 15 pages to introduce the concept, tone, style, point of view, and main character. But now, thanks to this video, I know I must narrow it down and make it more concise. I just can't express my gratitude enough for finding this wonderful channel. Thank you film courage.
In my latest I set practically all of that up in a wordless half a page scene on page 1. I then turned my character's world upside down on page 2 and then again on page 5. Then as we watch my character navigate this new world I introduce her normal life pre topsy turvy world through flashback scenes. Only took me twenty years to craft such an opening.
If this helps, one tip from a published author (can't remember who) said that after you write your first few chapters to chuck out your first chapter and have your story begin with the second chapter. I wouldn't do that personally, but the concept is instructive. Good luck to you!
I remember watching an interview where Anthony Mackie comments that the movie star era is "dead", and most people would want to see a movie tied to a popular IP rather than starring some talented actor. Decades ago we would go see this movie or that movie because of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme or Eddie Murphy, and I agree.
These are excellent points. I've seen these type of bad openings many times. His point on having too many characters is also ignored many times. When there are too many characters, they don't receive enough screen time to tell us who they are. So, I end up not caring about any of them. Setting up the main character at the beginning also makes it easier to establish the theme of the story. It's usually through the eyes of the main character that we get the first glimpses of the mood and theme to come. On the effort side of writing, I think it's important not to rush yourself in writing or outlining your story. Recently, after setting aside a story I was working on for a couple weeks, ideas for the character's experience and others he would interact with started to surface. Now, I have so much more to work with for the character and the story. One good way to avoid starting a story in a bad way, is to not force yourself to write. Take a break. Go back to your story after a few days or weeks. You will see the beginning of your story much clearer by doing so. Film Courage is a blessing. You always share inspirational suggestions through excellent interviews with thoughtful writers and creators. Thank you.
@@filmcourageI concur 100%. You see so many interviews nowadays--side-by-sides and split screen (Zoom, for example)--where the interviewer steamrolls over the guest. You do a fantastic job of keeping the focus on the guest.
I think a good place to start a story is by having the main character trying to achieve something (and failing to do so can even be a plus). It gives you opportunity to introduce the character through their actions, rather than just talking about who they are, the good old "show, don't tell". It also shows the protagonist is active in trying to pursue their goals. It also gives you the chance to either set the tone of the story or even kick start the main plot right away. It also forces you to introduce the world by the character interacting with it, rather than having a long info-dump about the world.
Doesn't have to be so well defined. You can simply introduce them in their present state of mind and general circumstances which can be done mostly visually.
There's always room for exception. This is more of a guideline for the less experienced. Funnily enough, George Lucas should have followed some of these guidelines when writing the prequels. The Phantom Menace is an entire movie without a protagonist and it's garbage because of it.
I absolutely love this series. Thank you so much. It's short enough to integrate it in my day and long enough to take away a lot of it. Learning with each video, thank you!
"Don't start a story without introducing us to the main character" But in Star Wars, we're not introduced to Luke until 1/3 of the way into the film! I'm not saying that it's bad advice, but do bear in mind that these are guidelines, not immutable rules. There are cases when you can break them and get away with it or even produce a better story as a result.
I often think it’s bad for writers to listen to videos like these because the whole idea behind writing a movie is creative freedom. And suddenly before you’ve even began writing, you’ve introduced all these ferkakta rules that totally box you into a corner and eliminates any creative flow from happening. There are a ton of movies that don’t follow this guys advice lol and many of the other “experts” advice on this channel.
To be fair, we are introduced to Leia right out of the gate. And she's the other main character in the series. If we aren't following Luke in a scene, then we're following her and Han. The droids are the plot device joining the two.
I don't think you necessarily need to introduce the main character, but at least a main character. Vader and Leia are both main characters, but Luke is the main protagonist who takes us through the rest of the films after we meet him.
I agree, but I would say that in Star Wars the main theme is good vs evil, and this is clearly introduced to us within the first few minutes. Luke is basically an embodiment of good.
Thought he was talking about books for a second and I was wondering, does he think Game of Thrones or War and Peace are bad? But then I realized this channel is specifically about the film industry and he clearly has a lot of expertise there
For a long time I thought Reservoir Dogs opening was horrible. And I loved Tarantino but I just did not give a fuck about what they were discussing in that first scene. Just went on and on and on. I’ve grown to enjoy the movie overall.
Love these videos they are a great help but I feel they gravitate so consistently towards the money making aspect of Hollywood. I'm European and I feel the focus here is very much either artistic or rom/com family friendly local box office movies. So what I want to know more about I guess is the deeper philosophical insights these professionals have rather than the money marketing aspect of it. Again love these videos
I can think of two movies i noped out on after about 5 minutes and upon later viewing discovered each to be a little masterpiece. The first was Near Dark: left the theater during the bloodsucking-amidst-the-oil-wells scene. The other was Emily the Criminal: switched off during the opening job interview scene. Both movies were really original and both had really conventional openings.
Evil Aliens! Though, to be fair, it's a bad movie all the way through, but I still love it. It's very funny and weird. But the beginning is too... much and too bad. But it's just a few minutes, then the fun/good part begins. :)
Gangs of New York. I thought the opening fight sequence was very poorly edited. The slow motion and the music that plays during it is absolutely horrendous. That whole scene could have been and should have been so much better. Idk what Scorsese was thinking.
There's no bad way to start a story. Be true to yourself and make what you like, don't change your art for the masses. Full metal alchemist brotherhood has so many characters its insane but its still one of the most thought out and well told story's ever made. Also why can't a horror start funny? lower your guard and give you a false sense of security. A lot of games do this and this bait and switch and I need more of it. Moral of the story. Anything can be good and no one really knows what people want to see. I know they don't want to see the 1000th remake or cash grab. Just be true to yourself and make the best art you can. Don't let anyone tell you what way something should or shouldn't be done. They are only telling you they're very limited and specific perception of how they think it should be done.
Very good 3 points. I’ve seen too many films that are frustrating to watch for the first 20 minutes. And I will stop watching or walk out at that point.
There's also something to be said about mystery in an introduction. Remember that "CASABLANCA" was written and filmed under the title "EVERYBODY COMES TO RICK'S," and it wasn't renamed until immediately after the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942. So the original idea is that you walk in the theater knowing you're seeing a film about someone or something called "Rick," you learn that "Rick's" is a swanky cafe, and then you learn how important the place is when Capt. Renault says: "Tonight he'll come to Rick's. Everybody Comes to Rick's." Then the very next scene is the front of "Rick's Cafe Americain." This was the original intention, a long slow burn of clues until the reveal of Bogey playing chess by himself, a scene that raises still more questions. Once you get past the newsreel footage section, "Casablanca" has one of the best ever introducitons.
The worst way to start a movie is with opening credits that go on for 5 fuckin minutes. Like seriously? That is by far the worst way to start any movie. Just get on with it already.
I think it's always good to point out that you can break these rules and do it well. Think about how long it takes us to actually meet Harry Potter (even longer in the book!). The first characters we meet in Game of Thrones are some nobodies who immediately die and one who dies later, we have like 15 main characters and one of them dies in the first season. Fellowship of the Ring takes approximately seven hundred years to introduce Frodo.
I think Game of Thrones is a good example on how to do a prologue right. It sets the tone of the story and establish the promise of the horrors the main characters will eventually have to face. And it does in an actual scene, rather than just an info-dump. Then we get to chapter 1 and meet Bran.
When he asked the interviewer if Brad Pitt could still sell a movie and she said “I’d go watch it”, I immediately wanted to ask her when she saw Bullet Train.
Here’s the best advice anyone could ever give you about writing. Write. Then write some more. Then some more. Keep writing. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll improve after a few years. Then guess what? keep writing. You’re getting smart enough to stop listening to other people telling you how to write. You start to become embarrassed by your ego. You become humbled. You start to submit stuff. Get rejected. Over and over and over. And then you keep writing. Years pass. Improvements trickle in slowly. And you keep writing, keep submitting, keep learning to laugh at your past self and all your embarrassing pretentiousness. And you write. That is the life of a writer. Deal with it. No video is going to solve the problem for you. And if the work is too much, and you aren’t interested enough to do all this, then it probably isn’t worth worrying about.
I constantly think about a lyric from a Jesus Jones song that Steve touches upon here... "I never wrote a book like the ones I like to read..." That lyric has stuck with me for so many years.
Hmm. I’m no film expert or writer but starting a horror film with a joke sounds like a brilliant idea. Is he suggesting that all horror films should always be ominous and super serious? Maybe that’s why we don’t have any more good horror nowadays. This all seems very subjective. Advice like this should always be given and taken with a grain of salt.
The only two horror movies I’ve ever seen that I actually consider to be excellently made overall are the Exorcist and the Witch. I’m sure there are others. I’m not the biggest horror fan but those two stand out.
@@BostonsF1nest welp, the exorcist is definitely a classic. There’s a lot going for it even today. I highly recommend “The shining” if you’ve never seen it. It doesn’t get any better than that. I’ve heard the witch movie was pretty good so I guess I’ll check it out. 👍👍
It's rather fascinating that The Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring breaks all three rules of starting a story. We do not meet Frodo until around 7 minutes of backstory/intro. The war of the ring is a massive action set piece during this intro as well as we see the fall of Sauron. We are also introduced to a slew of characters in this timeframe. The funnier thing is, that LOTR is the exception to all three of these rules because it's just so damn incredible.
to be fair, no rule in writing is absolute. it always depends on what kind of story you're trying to tell, your genre, and how well you know the rules, because only once you know those rules well can you break them without it ruining your story. there's nuance to every rule, they're very dependent on the context. :)
For me the worst intro is when we are thrown into action without enough context. Just write an interesting introduction. That and writers following formulas. Forget rising action and 2nd act and all that garbage. Just write a great story in whatever structure it needs.
where i get lost is when they say things like "12 million dollar indie movies dont exist" when netflix, and hulu, and amazon are full of them. Where are these movies coming from if no one is making them? They should specify "disney / mgm / paramount arent making 12 million dollar indies. "the mid range movie is dead" translation.. "big studios dont make mid range movies anymore, and i only work in the studio system"
Somewhat disagree on the whole big action sequence at the beginning of the movie, James Bond franchise does this all the time with cold starts, though he's right you can set yourself up the fail if you don't do right things afterwards. It can work, but only if you're using it to promise something bigger or beter down the road and delver or maintain momentum or increase it as well as set the tone for the rest of the movie. Good example I'm not doing this right would be 3000 miles to Graceland, the first 30 minutes of the movie were awesome but kind I've lost speed after that.
Great interview and insights!!! I love the advice you received about only writing what you would want to go see! It’s so simple yet profound. It’s what’s missing in certain genre movies and tv shows. It’s seems like writers don’t actually enjoy the property itself or the genre as a whole so they try to “subvert expectations “ only to fail to entertain the audience who actually went to the film to enjoy those “expectations“ 😕🤔. I’m looking at you Star Wars!
I’ve always enjoyed movies with a deeply flawed main character. People with the best intentions but going about it the wrong way because perhaps they don’t believe fully in their ability or that taking the safe route yields slow results. Growing up in this generation I relate to the whole microwave/entitled mentality of things and seeing the fallout of that lifestyle/mindset is intriguing and also cautionary.
He's absolutely right about introducing too many characters too soon. However, this even applies when your main character is well established. I ran into this recently with the sequel to my novel; beta readers already know and love Jesse Davenport and where happy to spend time with him again (according to feedback), but it was hard to tell who was who with 2 new characters introduced in chapter 3. The problem wasn't that the characters weren't described well enough. It was that there was no time spent getting to know them. However, if I spent pages upon pages giving their backstory, I'd have to reconfigure the novel around them... and the story is not even _about_ them. What was the solution? Introduce each character separately, dynamically. If there is some memorable event associated with each character, having some effect on/with the known character, then they and their names will also be remembered and each would be distinct. Worked for me; I hope it works for you, too. 👍
Another good advice is to give each one traits or features that are unique to only them that allows the audience to remember them. For example, X character is disabled, Y character has 3 eyes, Z character has Cat Ears.
@@Dragonite43 I had actually done that, but it wasn't enough. Both characters are intelligence analysts with the FBI, but one is a naturalized Nigerian with a buzz cut; she's has a burn mark on her face as a victim of a terrorist suicide bombing in her home country. She nervously held Jesse Davenport at gunpoint, threatening to shoot him if he didn't back down. The other woman is white and thin with vintage cat eye glasses--she'd also disguised herself as as a quite "singular" woman Jesse Davenport was connected with, just to gain his attention. That ruse didn't go well for her, which is why the other woman pulled out her gun (even though analysts aren't authorized for firearms). You would *think* that that creates a clear distinction between the characters, right? *Nnnnope* .... apparently. The proximity and method of their introduction made them harder to distinguish by name when the main characters weren't involved, even though these women were completely different "on paper." So, yes, do make your characters distinctive, but don't introduce more than one at a time if you can avoid it. However, whether you separate introductions or not, make sure that each has their own distinctive and *significant* impact on the key characters/plot/story. This will create emotional investment with the reader... which is what writing is all about.
@@yapdoghmmm, maybe it's actually that they aren't actually distinct "on paper", as in the literal paper of the book. Sure, their appearance and mannerisms are different, but they might not be different *enough* to manifest as different characters in the reader's mind...
@@iCarus_A Aaaand that's why I posted a solution? 🙂 Not every work affords a writer the latitude to, say, add another arm or remove a leg 😅 So, one approach is to focus more on the "how" and "why" of a character rather than the "who." Just for a bit of background: one of my readers has difficulty keeping track of who's who in some popular novels. Some writers, even popular ones, tend to introduce characters, expecting the reader to remember them all. (I've had this issue with Brandon Sanderson) I don't write that way, but this was one instance where she (and others) had difficulty remembering who was who with 2 new characters. Part of the problem is these readers are already quite familiar with all of the other characters, so encountering these new people in this series threw them off a bit. However, with the changes I've made (as described in my other comments), they no longer have that problem.
THE LONG GOODBYE has a very nice intro sequence. Nothing fancy, but the main character is laying in bed, without moving. Is he dead? No he just slept over again. And then he proceeds to find food for his cat.
Loved what he said about the found footage craze. I dont necessarily agree with what he said about why they fell out of fashion (ie, the industry changing quickly). I think it fell out of fashion because people---- from execs to writers who wanted fame and not a creative experience---- saw how much money something like the Blair Witch project made (especially since it made a bazillion dollars on a $10 budget.... but my figures might be incorrect 😅) and therefore wanted a slice of that bazillion dollar pie for themselves. And thats when it swings back round to create what you love. Audiences can tell when love hasnt been put into something, and considering storytelling has been a part of the human experince since we had language, I think its part of our DNA---- though we may not be conscious of it---- we are drawn to stories created with love. But I suppose thats just my opinion, not fact 😊
1. Failure to Point out the main Character 2. Too big of Action Scene 3. Too many characters :Bounus: 4. Campy horror movie intro scene 5. Too talky.... Write what you love about Market movie well for the right audience
As a novelist I consider the first line to my debut manuscript to be perfect without breaking any cardinal rules: “It was a hot day when John woke up angry.”
"“It was a hot day" is the most boring way to say it, though. Maybe tell us that John woke up angry because he just woke up and it was already 90 degrees out, or he woke up angry because he realized he sweat all over his sheets the day after he did laundry?
@@blaisetelfer8499 . Draw us in. Waking up hot is enough to make anyone angry. Let us feel exactly what about it makes him angry. "John woke up grumbling, sweat stinging his eyes. He stumbled to the bathroom for some hopefully cool water only to be greeted with water more than warm. Blinded he slipped to the floor. Hitting his head on whatever he landed closest to. He hated Fridays."
@@5Gburn bahaha. Indeed. I’m so happy though at how kind the previous replies have been, they just wanted to help me. You screenwriting hopefuls are a good bunch.
While what he says is technically right, it's also wrong in that many movies have started the way he mentions and are considered some of the best films of all time. So really it's a matter of talent and knowing what your audience is willing to put up with.
My biggest peeve with starting a new novel is the main character being introduced right away, their name, their profession, without me even knowing *who* they are as a character first. It causes me to create a mental image of them right away, and then when more is known about them, it totally changes my mental image of them again. It's already jarring starting something new, but then having to rebuild a mental image multiple times is annoying and I just give up.
"He helped develop & shepherd film titles including Terminator: Salvation, The Book of Eli, Django Unchained, War Room, Don’t Breathe (Sequel current in post-production), the Insidious horror movie franchise, Manchester By The Sea, The Grudge (reboot), Searching, Arrival, Whiplash, The Call, Attack The Block & many others (including TV releases - The Tudors, House of Cards)." He's not credited in any of those movies and show. Be wary of taking hints from people on You Tube videos. Read successful screenplays, the ones that sold for good money and were made into great movies, that's where you'll find all the advice you need.
Totally true in books too. When the book opens with too much action, and i am just not in vested in "Why?" I know some people like to jump in hard and fast, but I need to know what the characters are doing all this action for.
Just finished Diamonds Are Forever, started with one of several villains -- one at the start of the criminal op chain that you sort of hear about after but never see again until the very last bit of the book as both he and Bond are wrapping things up. Terry pratchett also does fun openings Edit: speaking of lucrative across its life, DVD & blue ray need to come back as a default; ppl dont like online long term renting they want to have the thing in their hoard forever rather than worry if it's going to get pulled by the platform etc.
This is all about selling and marketing. I'm not a typical audience member, and no one markets to me, but I don't go see genres or stars or successfully executed formulas from the shelves of Samuel French. Just give me a good story well-told, whether it's told with car chases, singing Legos, or chainsaws. For bonus points, give me a character I haven't seen (like Norman Bates, who doesn't appear right away); an interesting structure (like "Pulp Fiction") or say something in a fresh and interesting way.
One thing I hate it is when they show an action sequence from the end of the film and then cut back to days/weeks earlier 😒😅 I always think that the director, editor, or studio did that in post because they feel the start of the film is boring. I think it kills a lot of the momentum of a film right at the start
Not a movie but one of the worst starts to a story (and keep in mind i LOVE these books and have a huge respect for em) is Tolkins Lotr start. Its a really dry historical introduction that is interesting for one minute but then keeps lingering on 😅 You gotta say tho, the world is FUCKING awesome that he built and its worth and probably one of the costs to immense worldbuilding, it takes patience to enter this awesome world
Lol no shit right. Ppl who haven’t even started writing anything yet watch these and listen to this advice which completely eliminates the whole creative process that happens when you write.
Alien starts by introducing several characters and even seems to follow a different character first. Psycho follows the wrong character at first as well.
Its funny how his last advice is mostly financial aspects of selling your movie. It shows that its not about how good your movies is, but how youre going to sell it. Makes sense when you think about how many bad movies or series are made today, which are a big success because they are marketed and sold to the right people.
in Assassin's Creed 3 you start off playing as someone else and the main character doesn't get introduced after hours of gameplay, there's quite a lot of action (moderate enough to not be too big tho) and you're introduced to quite a lot of characters before introduced to the main character
@@minbari73 oh sure i'm definitely not criticizing it, i just find it interesting how the game is kinda guilty of the 3 examples given in this video.. then again, i do think it took a little too long before we finally get to play as Connor..
The main character of Fargo shows up 34 pages into the script. Which I think works partially because of the "Based on a True Story" conceit allows the audience to accept things being structured a bit differently as it supposedly really happened this way.
I feel like marketing and making films for cheap is actually easier today more than ever. Most popular podcasts, at most, charge 30-100 Grand for an ad spot. That single ad spot could net as many as 10-30 Million watchers. Some large corporations had their best single days of their company history after doing that. Plus you can market by yourself and a few friends just by spamming stuff on different forms of social media.
Here is our full interview with Steve - th-cam.com/video/adVxPaj17rU/w-d-xo.html
The "write what you want to see" advice is some of the best advice you could possibly get. It's ALWAYS obvious when something is written in service to what the writer thinks an audience wants. It's not writing at that point, it's a boring, lifeless shopping list.
The mantra "Write what you know" doesn't apply to the people who are willing to put in the research and to interview and to investigate a world foreign to them. You can "Write what you know" or write about anything so long as you "Know what you write."
@@PhantomFilmAustralia Very true. Not really what I’m talking about though. If you want to research something new to write about, it’s still coming from a place of interest and genuine passion. Which is a good thing because you’re still “writing what you WANT to see”.
@@PhantomFilmAustralia
"Know what you write" is a perfect advice
@@PhantomFilmAustraliaI've heard a better version "write what you feel" when you write characters and moments you understand emotionally, you'll know what you're doing
@@DaxterL That's basically writing what you know. You know how you feel when you're in a situation. You know your own emotional intelligence. Any blanks are filled with other's experiences or your own imagination.
I also think "over marketing" is a problem these days. When I was younger, you'd get one trailer, and it didn't really reveal a lot. Nowadays, if you watch the 50 trailers and the 30 trailer teasers, you no longer need to see the movie, 'cause you already know everything that's gonna happen and you've seen the best and most exiting parts already. That's why I avoid trailers nowadays, 'cause they ruin any suspense or surprise I could have gotten from a movie.
I love the trailers for movies from the 90s.
@@aarkmish8087 Saaaame!
Well yea- because if you’ve watched 50 trailers you’ve essentially watched the entire movie. I don’t think watching one is going to spoil anything.
I’m not big into trailers to begin with. I usually know after hearing a certain movie is coming out whether or not I’m gonna see it. The best trailers were always the ones they showed before the movie started at the theater. As a teenager I always loved that part of the experience.
I guess the problem is that most movies nowadays don't tell a story except "good vs evil". They are a conglomeration of action scenes, and that's what we see in the trailers.
@@BostonsF1nest
Netflix's trailers show everything in one video
I had the pleasure to meet the band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, phenomenal jazz and swing band, and I asked the lead vocalist/songwriter if he has any tips for a young writer, and he said he only writes songs that he wants to listen to, so you should only write what you want to read. That really stuck with me, and it's something that all writers should realize.
Woah, crazy seeing two interests overlap like that. The internet is awesome. Great band, a lot of fun.
“You’re like a big bear, man”
@@dm_ex_machina3395pretty sure Josh Homme said something similar, and that has stuck with me for years.
I love that band, great stuff
"write the movie you want to see"
EXACTLY! too many writers these days write stuff based on what they think would be analytical successes without any love for the genre or the franchise... personally, i know what i write is obscure and some people might even hate it, but the things i write are exactly the stuff i'd like to see in for example an animated adaptation..
I can't imagine the drudgery of writing something I'm not entertained by. It's difficult enough when you love the story.
I agree. I told a friend about a vampire novel I was planning about 7 years ago and he said oh you shouldn't write that cause vampire stuff isn't popular anymore. I said I don't care what's popular. I have a story in my head that I want to get out cause I want to read it
@@Ranesbane ignore your friend, i would totally want to read that
The problem is the screenplay is often the movie the writer wants to see and then it ends up with studio people who changed it to what they think the audience wants to see. Maybe they even have focus groups and numbers to support their decisions, they're still very bad. I believe there's hundreds of movies ruined by test audiences.
Finished my debut novel. I simply wrote the book that I couldn't find to buy. A book I really wanted to read.
I really think that's the way to go about it. After all, if you really want to read your book, somebody else very probably will want to read it too! But if even you don't genuinely care, you'll never find anyone else who will.
What’s the name of it? Can’t just say that and not give us a way to find it 😂
@@PaygunFGC
It's just back from.the publisher for me to proof read . Found 12 errors that need to be fixed before we go to print. It's little things like a miss spelling or a double space between words, nothing serious but I want the book to be the best it can be. So with this in mind it'll take a short while to fix and re set the book.
If anyone is at all interested i'll put it here when available. My pen name is
WH Sayle and the book is called
None Forsaken. Thanks for the interest
Good luck mate
@@pracujemynadprojektem6932 thanks
I know he's a screenwriter, but I love fantasy stories with like 6 main characters who are often in different countries.
I take it you like Malazan Book of the Fallen then! :D
@@KMJoshiMusic Honestly not really. I still haven't finished the first book because it just felt like big things that should impress me were happening but nothing that was making me care. In that first book at least, all he does is flash names and places and events in front of the reader without explaining what any of that actually meant. Then like 10 chapters later, a character comes back in, and I already forgot that heard their name earlier from a background character without any context. The character introductions were underwhelming at best and the events so far seem interesting but like I stepped into a better story in the middle of the climax. I can see how if I can get through it, I might grow to love the series.
@@Tre_Storm_Art
I get what you mean. I'm currently reading the Stormlight Archive. It's a massive story but beautifully written. You should give it a try if you haven't already.
@@KMJoshiMusic one of my favorite series. I highly highly recommend the First Law series, the gentleman bastard's sequence, and the wheel of time if you haven't yet. The first two are much more grim, closer to A Song of Ice and Fire than Lord of the Rings, but genuinely brilliant series'. If brutal descriptions aren't your thing, Wheel of Time is the largest and in my view the best epic fantasy out there. If you like Sanderson, you'll be glad to know that he wrote the last three books with the original author's notes and he grew up on the series.
@@Tre_Storm_Art
I read the Wheel of Time in 2017 or so. I absolutely love it and consider it my favorite alongside the LOTR. That series is how I learned of Brandon Sanderson! It's too bad Robert Jordan didn't get to see it to the end, though.
I love The First Law too. But I haven't read the Gentleman Bastard's sequence. I'd never even heard of it until now! I'll give it a shot when I get some time to get back to reading.
Have you read Mistborn? It's wonderful.
The Lord of the Rings seems to violate these suggestions, but it is clearly a special case.
Do you mean the movie LOTR? I don't think so, you only see and get to know 3 characters until the birthday, 3 more in the birthday, 1 more in The Prancing Pony, 1 more on the road to Rivendell, 4 more in the Rivendell, 3 in the Lothlorien and that's all the characters for the first 3 hours long movie.
But in the Game of Thrones, only 50 minutes long first episode have this much of a character and it keeps increasing each passing episode. You watch different stories happening in the different geographics, geopolitics, north, south, east, west, cities and kingdoms all together.
Rules are recipes for copycats who are looking for easy money. With a recipe, everyone can cook mediocre meal and with a recipe everyone can write mediocre story. And I hate mediocre entertainment. 99 Percent of a time, it's all same.
A lot of great movies do lol. The Godfather, Heat, Reservoir Dogs, the Killing of a Chinese Bookie. If it’s entertaining, ppl will watch it. The absolute worst way to start any movie tho is with an extended opening credits sequence.
Book to movie (and in LotRs case, cartoon to movie for the 2nd trilogy) is a very different beast than straight to film. Books already have a following; you just have to actually deliver, so there's a higher risk and higher reward. HP or LotR vs. Percy Jackson or Eragon.
Watch the prologue sequence again. There is only one viewpoint character.
"But the power of the Ring could not be undone."
"The Ring passed to Isildur..."
"And the Ring of Power has a will of its own."
"It betrayed Isildur to his death."
"And the Ring of Power perceived...its time had now come. It abandoned Gollum."
The Ring is the viewpoint character. Gandalf is the one viewpoint character for the sequence that follows.
This is the reason i don't like lord of the rings despite having a lot of things i really like in a story
My man has three first names, no wonder he feels strongly about introductions
This was great advice for me in relation to setting up my story intro. It took me near 15 pages to introduce the concept, tone, style, point of view, and main character. But now, thanks to this video, I know I must narrow it down and make it more concise. I just can't express my gratitude enough for finding this wonderful channel. Thank you film courage.
In my latest I set practically all of that up in a wordless half a page scene on page 1. I then turned my character's world upside down on page 2 and then again on page 5. Then as we watch my character navigate this new world I introduce her normal life pre topsy turvy world through flashback scenes. Only took me twenty years to craft such an opening.
@@formulaic78 Weldone to you on eventually getting it right. One must refine, refine, refine, until it is perfect.
If this helps, one tip from a published author (can't remember who) said that after you write your first few chapters to chuck out your first chapter and have your story begin with the second chapter. I wouldn't do that personally, but the concept is instructive. Good luck to you!
@@jonathanrivlin6248I was literally thinking of doing this, though I haven't heard it as advice.
That anecdote about not knowing who you are is powerful, good stuff
More from this guy PLEASE!!
Much more to come! Here is everything with Steve we have published this far - tinyurl.com/y6ybw9mc
I remember watching an interview where Anthony Mackie comments that the movie star era is "dead", and most people would want to see a movie tied to a popular IP rather than starring some talented actor. Decades ago we would go see this movie or that movie because of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme or Eddie Murphy, and I agree.
These are excellent points. I've seen these type of bad openings many times. His point on having too many characters is also ignored many times. When there are too many characters, they don't receive enough screen time to tell us who they are. So, I end up not caring about any of them. Setting up the main character at the beginning also makes it easier to establish the theme of the story. It's usually through the eyes of the main character that we get the first glimpses of the mood and theme to come.
On the effort side of writing, I think it's important not to rush yourself in writing or outlining your story. Recently, after setting aside a story I was working on for a couple weeks, ideas for the character's experience and others he would interact with started to surface. Now, I have so much more to work with for the character and the story. One good way to avoid starting a story in a bad way, is to not force yourself to write. Take a break. Go back to your story after a few days or weeks. You will see the beginning of your story much clearer by doing so.
Film Courage is a blessing. You always share inspirational suggestions through excellent interviews with thoughtful writers and creators. Thank you.
Steve is fantastic. I would love to see the longer interview.
More to come! We look forward to posting the entire interview as soon as we can!
This does channel has the best format ever though/video release structure
Not sure we have ever gotten that feedback. Nice to hear!
@@filmcourageI concur 100%. You see so many interviews nowadays--side-by-sides and split screen (Zoom, for example)--where the interviewer steamrolls over the guest. You do a fantastic job of keeping the focus on the guest.
Thank you @5Gburn!
I think a good place to start a story is by having the main character trying to achieve something (and failing to do so can even be a plus). It gives you opportunity to introduce the character through their actions, rather than just talking about who they are, the good old "show, don't tell". It also shows the protagonist is active in trying to pursue their goals. It also gives you the chance to either set the tone of the story or even kick start the main plot right away. It also forces you to introduce the world by the character interacting with it, rather than having a long info-dump about the world.
Doesn't have to be so well defined. You can simply introduce them in their present state of mind and general circumstances which can be done mostly visually.
my first time ever to hear from this gentleman. it was really great info and clearly explained. thank you so much for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it! Here is everything we have published with Steve thus far - tinyurl.com/y6ybw9mc
It truly is incredible how good this channel is. Thank you!
Star Wars opens with droids. The main character comes in later.
There's always room for exception. This is more of a guideline for the less experienced.
Funnily enough, George Lucas should have followed some of these guidelines when writing the prequels. The Phantom Menace is an entire movie without a protagonist and it's garbage because of it.
I absolutely love this series. Thank you so much. It's short enough to integrate it in my day and long enough to take away a lot of it. Learning with each video, thank you!
Wonderful!
"Once Upon a Time" is a classic tbh
"Don't start a story without introducing us to the main character"
But in Star Wars, we're not introduced to Luke until 1/3 of the way into the film!
I'm not saying that it's bad advice, but do bear in mind that these are guidelines, not immutable rules. There are cases when you can break them and get away with it or even produce a better story as a result.
I often think it’s bad for writers to listen to videos like these because the whole idea behind writing a movie is creative freedom. And suddenly before you’ve even began writing, you’ve introduced all these ferkakta rules that totally box you into a corner and eliminates any creative flow from happening.
There are a ton of movies that don’t follow this guys advice lol and many of the other “experts” advice on this channel.
To be fair, we are introduced to Leia right out of the gate. And she's the other main character in the series. If we aren't following Luke in a scene, then we're following her and Han. The droids are the plot device joining the two.
I don't think you necessarily need to introduce the main character, but at least a main character.
Vader and Leia are both main characters, but Luke is the main protagonist who takes us through the rest of the films after we meet him.
The original cut introduced him early but (Mrs Lucas iirc) removed it because it didn't add anything.
I agree, but I would say that in Star Wars the main theme is good vs evil, and this is clearly introduced to us within the first few minutes. Luke is basically an embodiment of good.
Thought he was talking about books for a second and I was wondering, does he think Game of Thrones or War and Peace are bad? But then I realized this channel is specifically about the film industry and he clearly has a lot of expertise there
For a long time I thought Reservoir Dogs opening was horrible. And I loved Tarantino but I just did not give a fuck about what they were discussing in that first scene. Just went on and on and on. I’ve grown to enjoy the movie overall.
It is a terrible opening because it is a boring static talking heads scene. The only reason it got any attention is because it is sexually explicit.
Love these videos they are a great help but I feel they gravitate so consistently towards the money making aspect of Hollywood. I'm European and I feel the focus here is very much either artistic or rom/com family friendly local box office movies. So what I want to know more about I guess is the deeper philosophical insights these professionals have rather than the money marketing aspect of it. Again love these videos
Can you think of a great movie that has a bad opening?
Reservoir Dogs
I can think of two movies i noped out on after about 5 minutes and upon later viewing discovered each to be a little masterpiece. The first was Near Dark: left the theater during the bloodsucking-amidst-the-oil-wells scene. The other was Emily the Criminal: switched off during the opening job interview scene. Both movies were really original and both had really conventional openings.
@@familycorvette"Noped Out" I'm running with that phrase lol.
Evil Aliens! Though, to be fair, it's a bad movie all the way through, but I still love it. It's very funny and weird. But the beginning is too... much and too bad. But it's just a few minutes, then the fun/good part begins. :)
Gangs of New York. I thought the opening fight sequence was very poorly edited. The slow motion and the music that plays during it is absolutely horrendous. That whole scene could have been and should have been so much better. Idk what Scorsese was thinking.
There's no bad way to start a story. Be true to yourself and make what you like, don't change your art for the masses. Full metal alchemist brotherhood has so many characters its insane but its still one of the most thought out and well told story's ever made. Also why can't a horror start funny? lower your guard and give you a false sense of security. A lot of games do this and this bait and switch and I need more of it.
Moral of the story. Anything can be good and no one really knows what people want to see. I know they don't want to see the 1000th remake or cash grab. Just be true to yourself and make the best art you can. Don't let anyone tell you what way something should or shouldn't be done. They are only telling you they're very limited and specific perception of how they think it should be done.
Very good 3 points. I’ve seen too many films that are frustrating to watch for the first 20 minutes. And I will stop watching or walk out at that point.
Got right to the point in the beginning of the video! Well done!👍
There's also something to be said about mystery in an introduction. Remember that "CASABLANCA" was written and filmed under the title "EVERYBODY COMES TO RICK'S," and it wasn't renamed until immediately after the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942. So the original idea is that you walk in the theater knowing you're seeing a film about someone or something called "Rick," you learn that "Rick's" is a swanky cafe, and then you learn how important the place is when Capt. Renault says:
"Tonight he'll come to Rick's. Everybody Comes to Rick's."
Then the very next scene is the front of "Rick's Cafe Americain." This was the original intention, a long slow burn of clues until the reveal of Bogey playing chess by himself, a scene that raises still more questions. Once you get past the newsreel footage section, "Casablanca" has one of the best ever introducitons.
More with this guy please. :)
The worst way to start a movie is with opening credits that go on for 5 fuckin minutes. Like seriously? That is by far the worst way to start any movie. Just get on with it already.
I think it's always good to point out that you can break these rules and do it well. Think about how long it takes us to actually meet Harry Potter (even longer in the book!). The first characters we meet in Game of Thrones are some nobodies who immediately die and one who dies later, we have like 15 main characters and one of them dies in the first season. Fellowship of the Ring takes approximately seven hundred years to introduce Frodo.
I think Game of Thrones is a good example on how to do a prologue right. It sets the tone of the story and establish the promise of the horrors the main characters will eventually have to face. And it does in an actual scene, rather than just an info-dump. Then we get to chapter 1 and meet Bran.
"
The night was humid..."
Inglorious bastards had a ton of intense dialogue at the opening of the movie and it worked perfectly. so there are some exceptions obviously
When he asked the interviewer if Brad Pitt could still sell a movie and she said “I’d go watch it”, I immediately wanted to ask her when she saw Bullet Train.
Here’s the best advice anyone could ever give you about writing.
Write. Then write some more. Then some more. Keep writing. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll improve after a few years.
Then guess what? keep writing. You’re getting smart enough to stop listening to other people telling you how to write. You start to become embarrassed by your ego. You become humbled. You start to submit stuff. Get rejected. Over and over and over.
And then you keep writing. Years pass. Improvements trickle in slowly. And you keep writing, keep submitting, keep learning to laugh at your past self and all your embarrassing pretentiousness.
And you write.
That is the life of a writer. Deal with it. No video is going to solve the problem for you. And if the work is too much, and you aren’t interested enough to do all this, then it probably isn’t worth worrying about.
You may enjoy this one - th-cam.com/video/M_teOIKYv1w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=FoPV5Jiq_FsH7XG3
A good sign for me that a movie will be bad is when they take an action scene that takes place in the middle and they move it to the front.
Do you mind giving me some examples?
@@jenpachi2408 yes! Skyline (2010) horrible movie and they made sequels!
The minute he asked "can Brad Pitt still sell a movie in this country? I don't think he can." My opinion of everything he's said or will say is crap.
I constantly think about a lyric from a Jesus Jones song that Steve touches upon here... "I never wrote a book like the ones I like to read..." That lyric has stuck with me for so many years.
Hmm. I’m no film expert or writer but starting a horror film with a joke sounds like a brilliant idea.
Is he suggesting that all horror films should always be ominous and super serious?
Maybe that’s why we don’t have any more good horror nowadays.
This all seems very subjective.
Advice like this should always be given and taken with a grain of salt.
The only two horror movies I’ve ever seen that I actually consider to be excellently made overall are the Exorcist and the Witch. I’m sure there are others. I’m not the biggest horror fan but those two stand out.
@@BostonsF1nestTry Nosferatu (the 1922 version), or The Bride of Frankenstein.
@@BostonsF1nest welp, the exorcist is definitely a classic. There’s a lot going for it even today. I highly recommend “The shining” if you’ve never seen it. It doesn’t get any better than that. I’ve heard the witch movie was pretty good so I guess I’ll check it out. 👍👍
@@rickythedrawer I’ve seen it
It's rather fascinating that The Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring breaks all three rules of starting a story. We do not meet Frodo until around 7 minutes of backstory/intro. The war of the ring is a massive action set piece during this intro as well as we see the fall of Sauron. We are also introduced to a slew of characters in this timeframe. The funnier thing is, that LOTR is the exception to all three of these rules because it's just so damn incredible.
to be fair, no rule in writing is absolute. it always depends on what kind of story you're trying to tell, your genre, and how well you know the rules, because only once you know those rules well can you break them without it ruining your story. there's nuance to every rule, they're very dependent on the context. :)
Too many characters is a big one for me but the rest I feel can be okay if done correctly.
"Dont have too many characters"... Enter Cdramas like The Untamed with 40-50 important characters 😂
For me the worst intro is when we are thrown into action without enough context. Just write an interesting introduction. That and writers following formulas. Forget rising action and 2nd act and all that garbage. Just write a great story in whatever structure it needs.
where i get lost is when they say things like "12 million dollar indie movies dont exist" when netflix, and hulu, and amazon are full of them. Where are these movies coming from if no one is making them? They should specify "disney / mgm / paramount arent making 12 million dollar indies. "the mid range movie is dead" translation.. "big studios dont make mid range movies anymore, and i only work in the studio system"
Somewhat disagree on the whole big action sequence at the beginning of the movie, James Bond franchise does this all the time with cold starts, though he's right you can set yourself up the fail if you don't do right things afterwards. It can work, but only if you're using it to promise something bigger or beter down the road and delver or maintain momentum or increase it as well as set the tone for the rest of the movie. Good example I'm not doing this right would be 3000 miles to Graceland, the first 30 minutes of the movie were awesome but kind I've lost speed after that.
Star Wars doesn’t introduce the main character for a loooong time
Great interview and insights!!! I love the advice you received about only writing what you would want to go see! It’s so simple yet profound. It’s what’s missing in certain genre movies and tv shows. It’s seems like writers don’t actually enjoy the property itself or the genre as a whole so they try to “subvert expectations “ only to fail to entertain the audience who actually went to the film to enjoy those “expectations“ 😕🤔. I’m looking at you Star Wars!
I’ve always enjoyed movies with a deeply flawed main character. People with the best intentions but going about it the wrong way because perhaps they don’t believe fully in their ability or that taking the safe route yields slow results. Growing up in this generation I relate to the whole microwave/entitled mentality of things and seeing the fallout of that lifestyle/mindset is intriguing and also cautionary.
Great questions and great responses.
yessss this guy speaks the truth. a lot translates to making music too. art in general. make what you want to see. or want to hear.
He's absolutely right about introducing too many characters too soon. However, this even applies when your main character is well established. I ran into this recently with the sequel to my novel; beta readers already know and love Jesse Davenport and where happy to spend time with him again (according to feedback), but it was hard to tell who was who with 2 new characters introduced in chapter 3.
The problem wasn't that the characters weren't described well enough. It was that there was no time spent getting to know them. However, if I spent pages upon pages giving their backstory, I'd have to reconfigure the novel around them... and the story is not even _about_ them. What was the solution?
Introduce each character separately, dynamically. If there is some memorable event associated with each character, having some effect on/with the known character, then they and their names will also be remembered and each would be distinct. Worked for me; I hope it works for you, too. 👍
Another good advice is to give each one traits or features that are unique to only them that allows the audience to remember them. For example, X character is disabled, Y character has 3 eyes, Z character has Cat Ears.
@@Dragonite43 I had actually done that, but it wasn't enough.
Both characters are intelligence analysts with the FBI, but one is a naturalized Nigerian with a buzz cut; she's has a burn mark on her face as a victim of a terrorist suicide bombing in her home country. She nervously held Jesse Davenport at gunpoint, threatening to shoot him if he didn't back down. The other woman is white and thin with vintage cat eye glasses--she'd also disguised herself as as a quite "singular" woman Jesse Davenport was connected with, just to gain his attention. That ruse didn't go well for her, which is why the other woman pulled out her gun (even though analysts aren't authorized for firearms).
You would *think* that that creates a clear distinction between the characters, right? *Nnnnope* .... apparently. The proximity and method of their introduction made them harder to distinguish by name when the main characters weren't involved, even though these women were completely different "on paper." So, yes, do make your characters distinctive, but don't introduce more than one at a time if you can avoid it. However, whether you separate introductions or not, make sure that each has their own distinctive and *significant* impact on the key characters/plot/story. This will create emotional investment with the reader... which is what writing is all about.
@@yapdoghmmm, maybe it's actually that they aren't actually distinct "on paper", as in the literal paper of the book. Sure, their appearance and mannerisms are different, but they might not be different *enough* to manifest as different characters in the reader's mind...
@@iCarus_A Aaaand that's why I posted a solution? 🙂 Not every work affords a writer the latitude to, say, add another arm or remove a leg 😅 So, one approach is to focus more on the "how" and "why" of a character rather than the "who."
Just for a bit of background: one of my readers has difficulty keeping track of who's who in some popular novels. Some writers, even popular ones, tend to introduce characters, expecting the reader to remember them all. (I've had this issue with Brandon Sanderson) I don't write that way, but this was one instance where she (and others) had difficulty remembering who was who with 2 new characters. Part of the problem is these readers are already quite familiar with all of the other characters, so encountering these new people in this series threw them off a bit. However, with the changes I've made (as described in my other comments), they no longer have that problem.
Worse way to start a story: Say X amount of time earlier, and have the entire story be a flashback.
*breaths out sigh of relief as I realise I didn't do any of these*
This is an advice for Zack Snyder, Michael Bay and for us interested to start a film.
Seven Samurai breaks this first rule and still works.
Too many characters reminds me of how fun it was to meet all the students when I read Wayside School as a kid
THE LONG GOODBYE has a very nice intro sequence. Nothing fancy, but the main character is laying in bed, without moving. Is he dead? No he just slept over again. And then he proceeds to find food for his cat.
The crash of DVD sales also killed movie marketing and business. See Matt Damon's Hot Ones interview for more.
Yeah he brings up a very good point. Kind of a shame really. Might explain the decline in quality in the past few years in Hollywood
Loved what he said about the found footage craze.
I dont necessarily agree with what he said about why they fell out of fashion (ie, the industry changing quickly).
I think it fell out of fashion because people---- from execs to writers who wanted fame and not a creative experience---- saw how much money something like the Blair Witch project made (especially since it made a bazillion dollars on a $10 budget.... but my figures might be incorrect 😅) and therefore wanted a slice of that bazillion dollar pie for themselves.
And thats when it swings back round to create what you love. Audiences can tell when love hasnt been put into something, and considering storytelling has been a part of the human experince since we had language, I think its part of our DNA---- though we may not be conscious of it---- we are drawn to stories created with love.
But I suppose thats just my opinion, not fact 😊
Many classic films sometimes don't intro their main character for 15 or so minutes. Star Wars. War Games. Fargo (twice as long to get to Marge).
This is hitting deep with the advice
Thank you
Webster’s Dictionary defines Introduction as the act or process of introducing or the state of being introduced.
It's interesting that The Hobbit introduced 15 characters in the first chapter. Seemed to do okay as a book, though.
1. Failure to Point out the main Character
2. Too big of Action Scene
3. Too many characters
:Bounus:
4. Campy horror movie intro scene
5. Too talky....
Write what you love about
Market movie well for the right audience
Lotr breaks many of these rules but has one of the best openings of all time
As a novelist I consider the first line to my debut manuscript to be perfect without breaking any cardinal rules:
“It was a hot day when John woke up angry.”
"“It was a hot day" is the most boring way to say it, though. Maybe tell us that John woke up angry because he just woke up and it was already 90 degrees out, or he woke up angry because he realized he sweat all over his sheets the day after he did laundry?
@@blaisetelfer8499 . Draw us in. Waking up hot is enough to make anyone angry. Let us feel exactly what about it makes him angry.
"John woke up grumbling, sweat stinging his eyes. He stumbled to the bathroom for some hopefully cool water only to be greeted with water more than warm.
Blinded he slipped to the floor. Hitting his head on whatever he landed closest to.
He hated Fridays."
I was usually told to avoid beginning with your main character waking up.
I'm going to hazard a guess that this is a stab at parochial irony.
@@5Gburn bahaha. Indeed. I’m so happy though at how kind the previous replies have been, they just wanted to help me. You screenwriting hopefuls are a good bunch.
While what he says is technically right, it's also wrong in that many movies have started the way he mentions and are considered some of the best films of all time.
So really it's a matter of talent and knowing what your audience is willing to put up with.
Rules in art are like laws. You learn them as well as you can so that you can break them 😂
Steve: My brother goes to the movies to watch fast and the furious. I go to be scared.
Me: Have you watched any DCEU or MCU movie lately?
My biggest peeve with starting a new novel is the main character being introduced right away, their name, their profession, without me even knowing *who* they are as a character first. It causes me to create a mental image of them right away, and then when more is known about them, it totally changes my mental image of them again. It's already jarring starting something new, but then having to rebuild a mental image multiple times is annoying and I just give up.
I made a videogame I myself always wanted to play... 90 percent of testers couldn't get through character creation without asking for my help
"He helped develop & shepherd film titles including Terminator: Salvation, The Book of Eli, Django Unchained, War Room, Don’t Breathe (Sequel current in post-production), the Insidious horror movie franchise, Manchester By The Sea, The Grudge (reboot), Searching, Arrival, Whiplash, The Call, Attack The Block & many others (including TV releases - The Tudors, House of Cards)."
He's not credited in any of those movies and show.
Be wary of taking hints from people on You Tube videos. Read successful screenplays, the ones that sold for good money and were made into great movies, that's where you'll find all the advice you need.
Oooh, The Block is such a great movie! I never see people talk about it though. :) Cool.
"It was a dark and stormy night".
Honestly some really solid points.
Lol the first 4 examples are how Tarantino did Death Proof.
This guy is awesome
Totally true in books too. When the book opens with too much action, and i am just not in vested in "Why?" I know some people like to jump in hard and fast, but I need to know what the characters are doing all this action for.
Nobody knows what is right and what is wrong! Writers do their own thing.
Point 1: JRR Tolkein; Let me start off with just two dozen pages talking about lives and habits of Hobbits...
Just finished Diamonds Are Forever, started with one of several villains -- one at the start of the criminal op chain that you sort of hear about after but never see again until the very last bit of the book as both he and Bond are wrapping things up.
Terry pratchett also does fun openings
Edit: speaking of lucrative across its life, DVD & blue ray need to come back as a default; ppl dont like online long term renting they want to have the thing in their hoard forever rather than worry if it's going to get pulled by the platform etc.
This is all about selling and marketing. I'm not a typical audience member, and no one markets to me, but I don't go see genres or stars or successfully executed formulas from the shelves of Samuel French. Just give me a good story well-told, whether it's told with car chases, singing Legos, or chainsaws. For bonus points, give me a character I haven't seen (like Norman Bates, who doesn't appear right away); an interesting structure (like "Pulp Fiction") or say something in a fresh and interesting way.
"It was a dark and stormy night..."
One thing I hate it is when they show an action sequence from the end of the film and then cut back to days/weeks earlier 😒😅
I always think that the director, editor, or studio did that in post because they feel the start of the film is boring. I think it kills a lot of the momentum of a film right at the start
Establish theme. Establish setting. Establish tone. Establish main characters.
Don’t start with the character waking up. Get in as late as possible and get out as soon as possible
What if the "waking up" plays into what they see seconds later as being real or not?
Good interview.
Thanks Charles!
Not a movie but one of the worst starts to a story (and keep in mind i LOVE these books and have a huge respect for em) is Tolkins Lotr start. Its a really dry historical introduction that is interesting for one minute but then keeps lingering on 😅
You gotta say tho, the world is FUCKING awesome that he built and its worth and probably one of the costs to immense worldbuilding, it takes patience to enter this awesome world
People watch movies in order to feel something. Depending on whom you speak to, you can either invite your audience or insist.
“Don’t even try to make movies” is what I’m getting from this… right?
Lol no shit right. Ppl who haven’t even started writing anything yet watch these and listen to this advice which completely eliminates the whole creative process that happens when you write.
Alien starts by introducing several characters and even seems to follow a different character first. Psycho follows the wrong character at first as well.
“Apocalypse Now”-would that be one that breaks the rule a bit?
Its funny how his last advice is mostly financial aspects of selling your movie. It shows that its not about how good your movies is, but how youre going to sell it. Makes sense when you think about how many bad movies or series are made today, which are a big success because they are marketed and sold to the right people.
Disagree with his point about starting a horror as a comedy. Sometimes that kind of tonal shift can be way more effective.
in Assassin's Creed 3 you start off playing as someone else and the main character doesn't get introduced after hours of gameplay, there's quite a lot of action (moderate enough to not be too big tho) and you're introduced to quite a lot of characters before introduced to the main character
...and as a result, by the end the story seemed so much more epic, as they took the time to set up everything.
@@minbari73 oh sure i'm definitely not criticizing it, i just find it interesting how the game is kinda guilty of the 3 examples given in this video.. then again, i do think it took a little too long before we finally get to play as Connor..
@@12DAMDO I didn't think you were. Also, games aren't movies. Particularly not games with a 30 hour play time like AC3.
@@minbari73 wait, AC3 had 30 hours of playtime? damn, no wonder i never 100percented it
Actually imo assassin's creed 3 is far worse than 2 and the other Ezio games.
ALIEN has too many characters. Didn’t know who was the main. But it was great
The main character of Fargo shows up 34 pages into the script.
Which I think works partially because of the "Based on a True Story" conceit allows the audience to accept things being structured a bit differently as it supposedly really happened this way.
I feel like marketing and making films for cheap is actually easier today more than ever. Most popular podcasts, at most, charge 30-100 Grand for an ad spot. That single ad spot could net as many as 10-30 Million watchers. Some large corporations had their best single days of their company history after doing that. Plus you can market by yourself and a few friends just by spamming stuff on different forms of social media.