Dispatch from The Quest: Ben Odgren

Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the fifth week of Prep. Today’s dispatch: Ben was inspired by the movie Argo and shares some thoughts on it:

I love movies about process. Usually it’s tied into journalism somehow, but not always. Movies like All the President’s Men, Shattered Glass, Zodiac, and the entire fifth season of The Wire to name just a few. I saw Argo this weekend, a movie filled with people talking on phones and walking in and out of offices, which is what got me thinking about this type of movie.

I think it’s that they’re filled with little moments of discovery that are significant for the character. Whether it’s something they didn’t think they could do before, or picking up a key clue that ties everything together in one moment.

Scenes like this one from Shattered Glass that turn checking a phone number into something memorable and exciting for the characters, and for us:

Or like this one from Zodiac, where an investigation at someone’s home takes a turn the character wasn’t expecting:

It seems to me that these are probably also the hardest kinds of movies to write, since they’re free of all the “cool stuff” we normally associate with big movies. Where, instead, the climactic scene is just someone talking on the phone a little louder. It would be like if the scene where Hulk throws down on Loki in The Avengers was Loki spewing his insults and Hulk yelling “I don’t agree with you!” and then jumping through the ceiling.

Heck, 12 Angry Men is proof that all you need is a bunch of good actors, good characters, clear motivations, and a table.

Argo is great, by the way. See it!

Ben makes an interesting point. Stories are scalable in terms of their breadth and scope. Action movies may require exploding bombs and crashing cars. Conversely in dramas, something as mundane as a phone conversation can take on enormous emotional impact.

As writers, we need to look for those key moments, no matter the genre.

Tomorrow: Another Dispatch from The Quest.

About Ben: Maine writer with a love for pulpy genre movies, keeping library books out for a little too long, and strong coffee. Twitter: @benodgren.