Immersing yourself in the world of movies
On Saturday, I posted a great interview with screenwriter Lem Dobbs. In it, he says the following:
No one seems to realize that the people at the very top, the ones everyone else would like to be — Spielberg, Scorsese, Tarantino — they know more about movies than you do, they’ve seen more. Thousands more. Movies are in their blood. It’s incredible when you read the bad screenplays of amateurs and aspirants, not only do they not resemble real life or human behavior, they don’t resemble movies… You have to inculcate movies, not “screenwriting.”
I have said as much here: “In order to learn the craft of screenwriting, you must immerse yourself in movies.”
And here: “But most importantly, you need to watch movies in order to ‘get’ how movie stories work. If you immerse yourself in the world of film, it’s like a Gestalt experience where you begin to grasp intuitively scene composition, story structure, character functions, dialogue and subtext, transitions and pacing, and so on.”
And here: “I believe that it is hugely important for writers to immerse themselves in the world of film. And the best way to do that is simply by watching movies and reading screenplays.”
Becoming a good screenwriter is not just about screenwriting. There is an entire history of cinema — 125 years old at this point — beckoning you. There are screenplays, books, lectures, interviews, articles, journals, analysis, and on and on.
Over the weekend, it occurred to me instead of haranguing GITS readers with this point, why not provide some practical ways each of us can immerse ourselves in the world of movies.
I already have a host of ideas and tips in mind, but I’d like to get your thoughts. How do you bathe in all things cinematic. To wit:
* What movie list do you consider to be authoritative? IMDB top 250? AFI top 100? WGA top 101?
* What books about movies do you think are mandatory reading?
* What online websites do you consider to be essential to learn the most about movies?
* What documentaries about movies are critical for one’s education?
* Who provides the best movie analysis around and where is their analysis available?
* Short of going to film school, which historical areas of filmmaking do you consider pivotal to learn (e.g., French new wave, film noir, Bunuel, Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini)?
* Which silent movies are absolutely must-sees?
* For cash strapped souls, what free online resources exist that feature movies, books, articles, analysis, etc?
In sum, what I’d like to do is provide the names of resources on all fronts — movies, books, analysis, DVDs, articles, etc — to create for GITS reader a specific context in which they can immerse themselves in movies, not just an amorphous blob of “what the hell am I supposed to do,” but actual tangible tasks we can put in front of ourselves to tackle.
What I propose to do is a multipart series to run beginning Monday, May 16. Why that date? Because it is the 3rd anniversary of the day GITS came into existence. And I can think of no better way to celebrate that fact than to provide readers with a distillation of what I try to do here: Give you the resources you need to make it as a screenwriter, TV writer, and/or filmmaker.
So consider this a clarion call! I want your ideas. And while we’re at it, let’s come up with a name for this project. I’m tempted to do something in Latin except for the small problem that movies didn’t exist in ancient Rome. Otherwise I might go with “The Cinema Seputus Project.” But we can do better than that!
How to “inculcate movies”?
Let’s hear your ideas in comments.