The purpose of this two-part blog is to try and explain my style of writing and directing along with some examples to help out.
I have already written a similar post in the first year for our directions unit but since then I have developed my style more and have been able to pinpoint it more accurately.
We’ll start with writing:
1. Psychology of the characters
I am hugely interested in exploring the psychology of the characters and to put them in vulnerable situations. I believe it was influenced around the time I was at college as my taste in music and films changed. I used to listen to a lot of modern-rock bands such as Linkin Park; System of a Down and other similar artists but then shifted to more ambient and post-rock music and more emotionally provoking songs and pieces (covered in my Directing Style blog).
Some of my favourite films before college included Con Air and National Treasure but then evolved to films like The Green Mile; Oldboy; La Haine; Gran Torino and The Dark Knight.
It was this shift in music and film taste that altered my mindset, way of thinking and how I wrote ideas. I couldn't possibly mention some of my old ideas prior to college as they are so awful looking back at them now but there is a stark difference in where my focus is at: I went from action-based to character-focussed writing.
Personally I am very introverted and like to keep to myself and be alone a lot of the time, this means that a I do a lot of thinking and it's this thinking that allows me to play a lot of scenarios out in my head; be it scenes, quotes etc. and from there I can get into a similar mindset of a particular character. This enables me to think how the character would or to force the character's mindset into that scenario to see how they could behave or cope.
Making a character vulnerable is another aspect of writing I like to do. Similar to the psychology area, vulnerability allows the character to become relatable. I strive for realism in my films and a lot of characters in today's films are almost invincible and appear superhuman. I prefer to show my characters as normal people: like us. This gives them a real presence and to me makes them more likeable and respectable.
2. Emotional Scenes
My interested for this first became apparent when my taste in music changed; ambient music hit a note in me that I hadn't really looked at before. The music would either sound emotional, sad, or would fit in with a very powerful scene. It was this type of music that made me explore emotions more along with all the thinking time I had.
This plays hand-in-hand with the psychology and making a character feel vulnerable so I won't discuss much about this as I feel they are quite the same, but what I will mention is that when it comes to emotion, my writing does extend beyond of just the character.
Although this could be argued as more a directing style I do like to use the world the characters are in help provoke emotions in characters. Predominantly the use of silence (which will be covered in the Directing Style post).
Provoking emotions from the audience allows me to make them feel the same as the character does: thus making the relationship tighter and the audience to feel more engaged and involved in the film.
This plays hand-in-hand with the psychology and making a character feel vulnerable so I won't discuss much about this as I feel they are quite the same, but what I will mention is that when it comes to emotion, my writing does extend beyond of just the character.
Although this could be argued as more a directing style I do like to use the world the characters are in help provoke emotions in characters. Predominantly the use of silence (which will be covered in the Directing Style post).
Provoking emotions from the audience allows me to make them feel the same as the character does: thus making the relationship tighter and the audience to feel more engaged and involved in the film.
3. Unpredictable scenarios/endings/unconventional scenes
Again with the shift from secondary school to college and from action to character based stories, my view of tropes and conventions changed. I developed a dislike towards cliches and conventional scenarios such as Deus Ex Machina: which was first introduced in Greek plays as "an actor playing one of the Greek gods who decides at the last minute in the story to descend from on high to save the hero from a trap he couldn't otherwise escape from." [Sauber, 2006: 122].
To me: a scenario where the hero is saved implies that in a real world or even a slightly alternative one, they would die in that situation. Luck in a film is too convenient and to me cheapens the whole plausibility of the scenario, and even potentially the film.
My desire to keep things realistic almost automatically means I deviate from certain conventions such as a happy ending or sometimes closed ones: I like to sometimes leave endings open enough so that the audience can attempt to work out what they've seen; question what they've seen or even create their own ending based of how they reacted to the film or the characters.
This doesn't translate to every idea I write: I aim more to avoid conventions that I do towards getting an ambiguous ending.
Other types of unconventional scenes I like to put in include normal life events such as a couple of characters sat together having a random conversation. I like to include these 'dead scenes' because they can help add background to a character; to show another side to them or to show a relationship between two or more characters. Scenes like these can be considered 'dead' as they generally provide no new information or progress to the plot or the goals of the characters and can tend to slow the pace down. However I believe that if used well; these 'dead scenes' can in fact give you new insight into motives, personality or just seeing a piece of their normal life. This style came about because of my second year at college: it was a 5-day week and every break and lunchtime myself and around 6-10 friends would gather in one particular spot. It was during these that some of the funniest and best moments of my time at college happened and as my style of writing was evolving these moments began to bleed through and influence it. I began to think of what characters' down time would consist of and how it would: based on my down time with friends.
Examples can be found in Quentin Tarantino films like Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Inglourious Basterds (2009) however these are just examples from a filmmaker who has a similarity with myself and not an influence.
4. Style of language
A style I recently picked up is writing in a combination of a script and a book.
This immediately looks like a big no-no but I feel that the formality of a script is sometimes too vague. A book is very descriptive and builds the world for you to read the story in; I've taken this element and added it on top of the script style. I don't remove the original format of the script but instead describe in more detail certain locations, people or scenes. I feel this gives the script more life.
However, from an actor's perspective they probably won't read all of that, instead just focussing on their lines but I feel it's there for screen direction: for myself (as the person who will be directing the script) like a set of instructions but it's also there for departments also working on the visual side of the film: cinematographer, lighting, costume and sometimes sound too.
5. As aware as the characters
The last of my writing styles is that I ensure that the audience only knows as much as the protagonist does. I do this to create a level playing field between the audience and the film.
If the character doesn’t know or isn’t aware of a certain thing, then we don’t know about it either. This, to me, keeps things realistic and removes the constant understanding that we’re just watching a film. Removing that element of the story means we are closer to the protagonist; we are in the exact same situation as they are and can relate to them easier. This also helps prevent the audience predicting outcomes of scenes, the ending or even being left frustrated or guilty by knowing something the character doesn't.
I'm happy with my writing style: I feel it's fresh enough that it provides a powerful and engaging story to draw people into it but doesn't alienate them to the point of the writing looking as though it's trying too hard to be different.
Bibliography:
Sauber, Howard. (2006) The Power of Film USA: Michael Wiese Productions.
Reservoir Dogs Script, [Online] http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Reservoir-Dogs.html (Accessed on 8.10.15)
Again with the shift from secondary school to college and from action to character based stories, my view of tropes and conventions changed. I developed a dislike towards cliches and conventional scenarios such as Deus Ex Machina: which was first introduced in Greek plays as "an actor playing one of the Greek gods who decides at the last minute in the story to descend from on high to save the hero from a trap he couldn't otherwise escape from." [Sauber, 2006: 122].
To me: a scenario where the hero is saved implies that in a real world or even a slightly alternative one, they would die in that situation. Luck in a film is too convenient and to me cheapens the whole plausibility of the scenario, and even potentially the film.
My desire to keep things realistic almost automatically means I deviate from certain conventions such as a happy ending or sometimes closed ones: I like to sometimes leave endings open enough so that the audience can attempt to work out what they've seen; question what they've seen or even create their own ending based of how they reacted to the film or the characters.
This doesn't translate to every idea I write: I aim more to avoid conventions that I do towards getting an ambiguous ending.
Other types of unconventional scenes I like to put in include normal life events such as a couple of characters sat together having a random conversation. I like to include these 'dead scenes' because they can help add background to a character; to show another side to them or to show a relationship between two or more characters. Scenes like these can be considered 'dead' as they generally provide no new information or progress to the plot or the goals of the characters and can tend to slow the pace down. However I believe that if used well; these 'dead scenes' can in fact give you new insight into motives, personality or just seeing a piece of their normal life. This style came about because of my second year at college: it was a 5-day week and every break and lunchtime myself and around 6-10 friends would gather in one particular spot. It was during these that some of the funniest and best moments of my time at college happened and as my style of writing was evolving these moments began to bleed through and influence it. I began to think of what characters' down time would consist of and how it would: based on my down time with friends.
Examples can be found in Quentin Tarantino films like Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Inglourious Basterds (2009) however these are just examples from a filmmaker who has a similarity with myself and not an influence.
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| Above: Excerpts from Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992) |
4. Style of language
A style I recently picked up is writing in a combination of a script and a book.
This immediately looks like a big no-no but I feel that the formality of a script is sometimes too vague. A book is very descriptive and builds the world for you to read the story in; I've taken this element and added it on top of the script style. I don't remove the original format of the script but instead describe in more detail certain locations, people or scenes. I feel this gives the script more life.
However, from an actor's perspective they probably won't read all of that, instead just focussing on their lines but I feel it's there for screen direction: for myself (as the person who will be directing the script) like a set of instructions but it's also there for departments also working on the visual side of the film: cinematographer, lighting, costume and sometimes sound too.
5. As aware as the characters
The last of my writing styles is that I ensure that the audience only knows as much as the protagonist does. I do this to create a level playing field between the audience and the film.
If the character doesn’t know or isn’t aware of a certain thing, then we don’t know about it either. This, to me, keeps things realistic and removes the constant understanding that we’re just watching a film. Removing that element of the story means we are closer to the protagonist; we are in the exact same situation as they are and can relate to them easier. This also helps prevent the audience predicting outcomes of scenes, the ending or even being left frustrated or guilty by knowing something the character doesn't.
I'm happy with my writing style: I feel it's fresh enough that it provides a powerful and engaging story to draw people into it but doesn't alienate them to the point of the writing looking as though it's trying too hard to be different.
Bibliography:
Sauber, Howard. (2006) The Power of Film USA: Michael Wiese Productions.
Reservoir Dogs Script, [Online] http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Reservoir-Dogs.html (Accessed on 8.10.15)
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