Motion Sketches Ep2 - There's no such thing as good writing
Episode 2 of MotionSketches looks at the fundementals of dramatic writing. No matter what screen form you're writing for the key aim of a good script is to make the viewer worry. This episode looks at simple but powerful concepts for creating characters in action, crafting dramatic wants and how to beat your script into submission.
Another intriguing and well done episode. The "no bullshit" approach to writing and screenplays is much appreciated. The image of you doing the show in the middle of traffic is perfect for the point you were trying to make. I think there is room for debate on the "dialogue isn't important" idea you present in the documentary. No question that presenting characters "in action" is the primary interest on screen for creating "worry", but language can reveal (or hide) character in ways that simple movement or the director's mise en scene cannot. Remove the monologues from Ep 2 and it wouldn't make any sense (although it would look cool). Language itself is an action. All of the noir film conventions wouldn't amount to much if we didn't have the narrator's voice to put the visual events into perspective. So, I think you give too much to the "it's all in the visuals" argument. Of course, my background is in Theatre, so I'm biased :p
And thank you for not mentioned McKee's STORY in your piece. The zombie followers of this author are legion and will eat your writing brain if you aren't careful.
Excellent and enjoyable show. If we can get our damn blog up at machiniplex.com, I'll let the rest of the machinima community know about your work. We are hungry for these kinds of ideas!
Posted by
Ricky Grove
on October 03, 2007 at 04:50 AM EST
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Thanks very much for your thoughts Ricky. But dont get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that "it's all in the visuals", rather that great dialogue is the vehicle for drama/narrative/concept/idea. Too many new writers tend the work/think the other way round (especially machinima makers unfortunately) using the idea/drama/narrative as vehicle for the dialogue and the result is generally un-motivated writing - pretty words but without dramatic and cathartic drive. A film like American Beauty for example is very wordy but every word is motivated by dramatic action, by characters tangible, even visible, desires. A documentary like One Day In September is likewise very wordy and orally driven but the never falls into the trap of letting what is for the eye be repeated for the ear, instead the 'action' (in the broad sense) is commented on, altered and contrasted with the dialogue.
You got me worried now, that perhaps I wasnt clear on this in the video.
Anyway, many thanks for your comments. Stay tunned for Ep3.
Mike
Posted by
Mike Jones
on October 03, 2007 at 08:41 AM EST
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<<lightbulb goes off in my head>>
FANTASTIC! THANK YOU!
And...like you said, all of this is true for ALL varieties of dramatic writing.
Posted by
grapeshot
on October 04, 2007 at 01:22 PM EST
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Thanks for your comments grapeshot. The mistake I think we often make when thinking about all the varieties of cinematic form - film, tv, video, online, mobile, gaming, mahcinima, animation, music videos, installations and so on and so on - is that somehow that because the mechanism or 'form' is different that the 'rules' and principles must be different. This is not to say that there arent differences but drama, engaging cinematic drama, stories, progression of narrative no matter how acute or abstract is really about being Human and how human beings engage with story. Those principles arent scraped because a work moves from passive to interactive, from the big screen to small, from the long form to the short.
Stay tuned for future episodes that will look at where technology and the process of building cinema can and should be embedded in the process of writing itself. In this light the next episode will focus on sound - how to write sound, how communicate with sound, how to conceive sound and how sound is in turn perceived how to engage sound as a narrative driver.
Posted by
Mike Jones
on October 04, 2007 at 05:40 PM EST
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Thanks for clearing that up, Mike. Don't think you made it quite that clear in the doc. Then again, maybe I was just in the mood to use the phrase "mise en scene".
Looking forward to Ep3. Our blog a machiniplex.com is almost up and I'll be doing a post there.
cheers!
Posted by
Ricky Grove
on October 04, 2007 at 06:20 PM EST
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Hey Mike,
couldn't find an email address to sent this to, so I have to post here. We'd like to feature your two Motion Studies docs at our Machiniplex.com site via vodpod.com stream. Is that ok with you?
Ricky
Posted by
Ricky Grove
on October 05, 2007 at 04:06 PM EST
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Of course Ricky. Would love you to, very much appreciated. If you're going to embed the vids in your site use the ones from celtx.blip.tv, they look better than the ones from YouTube and play as native widescreen 400x225.
My email address is on the About page of my website www.luciferjones.org if you need anything to assist.
cheers
Mike
Posted by
Mike Jones
on October 05, 2007 at 08:46 PM EST
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Thanks, Mike. The blip.tv suggestion is excellent.
Posted by
Ricky Grove
on October 06, 2007 at 06:19 AM EST
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And thank you for not mentioned McKee's STORY in your piece. The zombie followers of this author are legion and will eat your writing brain if you aren't careful.
Excellent and enjoyable show. If we can get our damn blog up at machiniplex.com, I'll let the rest of the machinima community know about your work. We are hungry for these kinds of ideas!
Posted by Ricky Grove on October 03, 2007 at 04:50 AM EST #
You got me worried now, that perhaps I wasnt clear on this in the video.
Anyway, many thanks for your comments. Stay tunned for Ep3.
Mike
Posted by Mike Jones on October 03, 2007 at 08:41 AM EST #
FANTASTIC! THANK YOU!
And...like you said, all of this is true for ALL varieties of dramatic writing.
Posted by grapeshot on October 04, 2007 at 01:22 PM EST #
Stay tuned for future episodes that will look at where technology and the process of building cinema can and should be embedded in the process of writing itself. In this light the next episode will focus on sound - how to write sound, how communicate with sound, how to conceive sound and how sound is in turn perceived how to engage sound as a narrative driver.
Posted by Mike Jones on October 04, 2007 at 05:40 PM EST #
Looking forward to Ep3. Our blog a machiniplex.com is almost up and I'll be doing a post there.
cheers!
Posted by Ricky Grove on October 04, 2007 at 06:20 PM EST #
couldn't find an email address to sent this to, so I have to post here. We'd like to feature your two Motion Studies docs at our Machiniplex.com site via vodpod.com stream. Is that ok with you?
Ricky
Posted by Ricky Grove on October 05, 2007 at 04:06 PM EST #
My email address is on the About page of my website www.luciferjones.org if you need anything to assist.
cheers
Mike
Posted by Mike Jones on October 05, 2007 at 08:46 PM EST #
Posted by Ricky Grove on October 06, 2007 at 06:19 AM EST #