Stupid auteur theory
(Billy Wilder)

“What does the director shoot—the telephone book? Writers became much more important when sound came in, but they’ve had to put up a valiant fight to get the credit they deserve.”

The best plot is no apparent plot
(Stanley Kubrick)

“I like a slow start, the start that gets under the audiences skin and involves them so that they can appreciate grace notes and soft tones and don’t have to be pounded over the head with plot points and suspense hooks.”

Always use acting adjectives
(Quentin Tarantino)

“You shouldn’t try to predestine where you’re gonna go and what you’re gonna see. You can hit the nail on the head, but you want the kind of freedom that allows for something you hadn’t even imagined to happen. I’m very much a man of the moment. I can think about an idea for a year, two years, even four years all right, but what ever is going on with me the moment I write is gonna work its way into the piece.”

Trading scraps of paper
(Wes Anderson)

“We do a lot of talking about what we’re going to write for a long time before we ever start to write. And when we do start writing, it’s a lot of trading scraps of paper back and forth for a long time. That sort of grows into something.”

Get ideas for 70 scenes
(David Lynch)

“If you want to make a feature film, you get ideas for 70 scenes. Put them on 3-by–5 cards. As soon as you have 70, you have a feature film.”

Things I hear the characters say
(Jim Jarmusch)

“A lot of times when I’m writing I’m just sort of writing down things I hear the characters say, and I really don’t believe it came from me.”

Writing is just a tool
(Sofia Coppola)

“I find that [writing and directing] are both part of the same process for me, because the writing is just a tool to getting to the final story. But writing is so hard for me—it’s the most challenging part [of the writing process]—so when you finish it and print it out, that’s the most gratifying.”

Have no limits.
(Pedro Almodovar)

“A film has thousands of shots. You have to ask for a lamp or you won’t get one, you have to ask for a color or you won’t get it … everything has to be very organized at the time of shooting. But in writing and conceiving the film, my way of being sincere and honest is to have no limits. To let things happen almost from the most irrational point of view.”

You can be a terrible writer
(David Cronenberg)

“It’s a very pared down, simple form, really, the screenplay. The only thing that goes directly on the screen is the dialogue and the narrative structure. You can be a terrible writer, but if you write good dialogue and have a good sense of narrative structure, you can be a good screenwriter and still be functionally illiterate, which a lot of good screenwriters in my experience are. Very different.”

I prefer collaboration
(Jane Campion)

“I prefer collaboration because it’s not so neurotic-making. You can check things through and laugh. The other person can help you feel better when things go badly.”

Rewriting is for pussies
(P T Anderson)

“The passages you have to labor over are invariably worse than the ones that seem to write themselves. This notion that writing happens in the rewriting is something that I’ve never agreed with. I’ve always hated rewriting. Rewriting is for pussies! Send it out, zits and all, is my feeling.”

I just do it.
(Nora Ephron)

“When I work with my sister Delia, we outline everything we’re doing. Completely. The outlines are endless, at least fifty pages long. But when I write by myself, I almost never have an outline; I just do it. I know the structure. I know the beginning, the middle, the end.”

Everything becomes fodder.
(Lena Dunham)

“To my own detriment, everything that happens to me becomes fodder. Sometimes I wonder if I would be a bit happier if I were more in the moment, and less trying to translate the moment into a piece of writing or a piece of film. I have never known another way to express myself, whether it was writing weird confessional poetry in fourth grade or my first play, which was closely based on what I thought the relationship between my mom and her two sisters was.”

Script, script, script
(Alfred Hitchcock)

“To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script, and the script.”

I write essays
(Jean-Luc Godard)

“I write essays in the form of novels, or novels in the form of essays. I’m still as much of a critic as I ever was during the time of ‘Cahiers du Cinema.’ The only difference is that instead of writing criticism, I now film it.”

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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I’m not sure what attracts me more in The Parallax View: Warren Beatty’s flawless charm, the genuine sense of menace throughout the picture, or Pakula’s breathtaking direction. In terms of tone, Pakula manoeuvres from dead-cool suspense to straight-up fun, without blinking.

Somewhere early in the film, Beatty’s character Frady takes on a local redneck who turns out to be the deputy. It’s an odd combo of tough physical action, and a touch of vaudeville. Only in the seventies.

Movie With A View

[Spoilers] Pakula often frames his shots with large, angular shapes. The characters often drown, or disappear in them. In this film, it may well be a metaphor for the way the System consumes us. The individual is powerless.

A first example appears immediately in the Seattle opening sequence. In a nail-biting sequence, we witness the assassination of a popular senator, on the top of the Space Needle.

A metaphor for the way the System consumes us. The individual is powerless.

Can you imagine a chase on top of the domed Space Needle roof? Well, that’s what you get, in wide shots.

Mind-blowing.

If you wish, you can find a number of parallels with Chinatown (also released in 1974). In a scene that reminds of the water dumping in Chinatown, Frady visits the scene of a suspicious death with the sheriff.

Pakula frames the men with a long lens in a wide shot, against the backdrop of the dam. Suddenly, it opens and the white water thunders out. Spectacular.

The first half of the movie is a lot of fun to watch. The fun suitably comes to an end at the mid point.

You may have figured out that I am a sucker for mid points. This one is a mofo in its own league. To understand it, I need to tell you about a Russian who died nearly half a century ago.

The fun suitably comes to an end at the mid point.

Hitch And Lev

Film students know about Lev Kuleshov, or at least the effect named after him. If you saw Koyaanisqatsi, you saw eighty-six minutes of pure Kuleshov. Let me enlighten you.

The Kuleshov effect says that your perception of an image is coloured by what you see before or after. It’s essentially the principle of editing. It’s what people mean when they say “That was out of context”. Give anything context, and its meaning will change… Or it will GET meaning.

Lev Kuleshov showed the photo of an expressionless face to an audience, three times. First, in conjunction with a plate of soup, next with a woman on a divan, and finally with a coffin. The audience raved about the acting, believing the expression subtly changed from hunger to desire, to grief.

The Kuleshov effect says that your perception of an image is coloured by what you see before or after.

Hitchcock fans may remember how Hitch would look into the camera, squinting. Next follows footage of a woman with a baby, and Hitch smiling. He’s a kind old man. But when the woman and baby are replaced by a woman in bikini, Hitch becomes a dirty old man. That’s the power of Kuleshov effect.

At the Mid Point of The Parallax View, Frady gets to see his own mini-Koyaanisqatsi.

Kuleshov On Steroids

True to Kuleshov, this is not really a scene you can watch out of context. My apologies if you never saw The Parallax View. You will have to now (and I will guarantee you won’t regret it).

The mid point of this film is testimony to Pakula’s brawn. He put a six minute sequence with a barrage of still images at the centre of the film. Not only does it show he had balls, but he also had clout with the studio. There must have been some talk about this scene at Paramount before it made the final cut.

So before you watch it, I will give you a little context.

There must have been some talk at Paramount
about this scene before it made the final cut.

In his investigations about the murder of the senator, Journalist Frady traced suspicious documents back to a corporation that seems to recruit and train assassins. He infiltrates the ‘Parallax’ company. Next, as part of an induction test, he is made to watch this video.

During the video, his responses to the images are measured. Because we know that Frady doesn’t fit the profile of a murderer, some tension lies in the fact that this sequence may unmask him as a fake.

Just sit back, Nothing is required of you, except to observe the visual materials that are presented to you. Alright?

We hope you’ll find the test a pleasant experience.

-Karel Segers

https://ozzywood.wistia.com/medias/e65m0p5pqh?embedType=iframe&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=901

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Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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If anyone did understand how film works, it was Alfred Hitchcock.

I keep rewatching Alfred Hitchcock’s movies and to my taste, they never date. He was known to be irritated by people questioning plot twists based on plausibility and he used to call that breed of people ‘the Plausibles’.

Today my 7-year old son reminded me how much he loved The Adventures of Tintin, which we watched together last week. Yet, the day after our viewing, he asked me “Papa, who stole Tintin’s ship?”. I believe he detected a plot hole in the film… Still he loved the movie.

This is exactly what Hitchcock meant: a well-written script in terms of anticipation and suspense may well succeed despite issues of plausibility.

Do you have any examples of movies you loved, despite any plot holes you found?

Karel

If you liked this, check out more videos about screenwriting or filmmaking. And if you know of a great video on Screenwriting, let us know in the comments. Thanks!

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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Here’s my weekly selection from the blogosphere. Feel free to recommend anything or give your feedback in the Questions and Comments below.

And don’t forget you can subscribe to our posts so you don’t miss any of this, ever.

• John Michael Hayes on writing for Hitch. Scott Meyers quotes.
• 7 scripts you must read and the reason(s) why.
• Loglines. You can’t overestimate their importance. Here’s 10.
• Another list of 10: Potential Oscar Contenders.
• Night M. Shyamalan’s best 2 scripts at Script Collector.
• Mystery Man points us to 8 reasons to believe in H’wood again.
• By accident I found Chris Vogler’s “Writer’s Journey” blog.
• Inspired by a book? John August tells what’s next.
• The director who’s movies we like but whose behaviour we despise.
• Not everybody thinks Cody’s Body is crap.
• George A. Romero to pen zombie foundation myth.
• The behind-the-scenes stuff that rules what we get to see.
• Where do you get your ideas? Plus: Two tests to check their power.

COMING SOON to the Story Department:

• Structural breakdown of A BEAUTIFUL MIND
• Paul Gulino: Screenwriting, the Deadline Approach.

Enjoy!

Karel

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!