6 Filmmaking Tips From Steven Spielberg

6 Filmmaking Tips From Steven Spielberg

Features By Scott Beggs on May 16, 2012 | (2) Comments

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With a giant pile of movies to his name, Steven Spielberg has the considerable honor of being the only filmmaker who makes entertainment that’s massively popular, critically acclaimed and decade-enduring. It’s an illusive triumvirate. His fundamental success is owed to a lot of things, but principle among them is his childhood sense of wonder and magic – a sense he’s never let go of.

His childhood was also spent with a camera in hand.

From Jaws to Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Indiana Jones to The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun and Jurassic Park and Amistad and Schindler’s List and Munich and, and, and…he’s been a prolific, skilled presence in the filmmaking world for going on 5 decades, and he’s done so by spanning genres, tones, and subjects.

So here’s a bit of free film school (for fans and filmmakers alike) from a little kid who hid under his bed after watching Bambi.

Your Assumptions About Your Own Film Will Be Wrong

An excellent place to start. Perhaps the best singular piece of advice this column has looked at because it throws out a vile mindset that can corrode the filmmaking process. It’s easy to assume that as director (or producer) that you’ll have complete control over what you’re making. That assumption would be wrong.

“Well, for one thing, I don’t know what I’m in for. Most of my presumptions about a production are usually wrong. For instance, with Schindler’s List, I was pretty certain that whatever came my way in Poland I could tolerate, and just put my camera between myself and the subject, and protect myself, you know, by creating my own aesthetic distance. And immediately, on the first day of shooting, that broke down. I didn’t have that as a safety net, and immediately I realized that this was about to become the most personal professional experience of my life. It was a devastatingly insightful experience, but it’s something I still haven’t gotten over.

I think back on the production of Schindler’s List with very sad memories, because of the subject matter, not because of the working experience. The working experience was nearly perfect, because everybody held on to each other in that production. We formed a circle. It was very therapeutic, and for a lot of people, it changed their lives. A lot of the actors, a lot of the crew, it changed their lives. It changed my life, for sure. But then other productions that I’ve gone into with a blithe spirit, thinking, This film’s a pushover. It’s often when I take that attitude, the movie turns around and runs me over as if it were a tank. And so I’ve tried my best to stop second-guessing what the working experience is going to be like. Because I’m usually wrong.”

It might be the experience that can’t be predicted, but for anyone who’s ever tried to make a creature feature starring a shark only to make a Hitchcockian thriller about a shark that features almost no shark, it’s clear that the process can shift out from underneath you for reasons beyond your control. How you respond is what will define you and the movie.

The Right Kind of Collaboration is Key

“When I was a kid, there was no collaboration, it’s you with a camera bossing your friends around. But as an adult, filmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself.”

Movies are a team sport.

Be Your Perfect Audience (and Hold Onto Your Childhood)

A Little Scamming Never Hurt

“I was fifteen, or sixteen. I was in high school. I was spending a summer in California with my second cousins. And I wanted to be a director really bad. I was making a lot of 8mm home movies, since I was twelve, making little dramas and comedies with the neighborhood kids.

One day I decided to get on the Universal lot. I dressed up in a coat and tie. I actually had taken the tour the day before at Universal, and actually jumped off the tour bus. (It was a bus in those days.) I spent the whole day on the lot. Met a nice man named Chuck Silvers. Told him I was a filmmaker from Arizona.

He said, “Kid, come back tomorrow. I’ll write you a pass and you can show me some of your 8mm films.”

I had a little film festival for him.

He said, “You’re great. I hope you make it. But, because I’m just a librarian I can’t write you anymore passes.” (He laughs.)

So the next day, having observed how people dressed in those days, I dressed like them, carried a briefcase, and walked past the same guard, Scotty – who had been there for like a long time, because he the oldest. He waved me in.

For three months, that whole summer vacation, I came on the lot every single day. Found an office. Went to a little store that sold cameras and also plastic title letters to title your films. Got the letters. Found an abandoned office, and put my name and the number of my office on this directory. Opened up the glass directory and stuck these stick-on letters on the directory. And basically went into business for myself. But it never amounted to anything. I learned a lot about editing and dubbing by watching all the professionals do it, but I never got a job out of my imposition.”

Spielberg has spoken quite a few times about his Universal Studios scam as a young man, but it’s even more fascinating in the context of Catch Me If You Can.

Of course, you might not be able to pull off quite the same scam today.

More Isn’t Always More

“Bloated budgets are ruining Hollywood – these pictures are squeezing all the other types of movies out of Hollywood. It’s disastrous. When I made The Lost World I limited the amount of special-effects shots because they were incredibly expensive. If a dinosaur walks around, it costs $80,000 for eight seconds. If four dinosaurs are in the background, it’s $150,000. More doesn’t always make things better.”

Amen.

The Stress and Madness Might Be Worth It

“It was worth it because, for number one, Close Encounters, which was a film I had written and a film nobody seemed to want to make, everybody seemed to want it right after Jaws was a hit. So, the first thing Jaws did for me was it allowed a studio, namely Columbia, to greenlight Close Encounters. For number two, it gave me final cut for the rest of my career. But what I really owe to Jaws was creating in me a great deal of humility, about tempering my imagination with just sort of the facts of life.”

In the best interview Spielberg’s done, Quint from Aint It Cool spoke to him in considerable depth about his career and the crappy shark that changed it forever. He speaks on giving personality to special effects, his personal drive, and a dozen other topics. It’s a revealing talk, but one of the clear indications is that going through hell is sometimes necessary, but the rewards are also worth it.

What Have We Learned

Spielberg is a unique filmmaker in his ability to tell uncynical stories. As Richard Dreyfuss points out, there’s a positivity surrounding much of his work. A “niceness” that encompasses the tone and the aesthetic. There’s also a grand sense of adventure, and doesn’t that always stand in for a theme of human achievement? Of human possibility?

That’s what many of his films represent (even when the morality or pragmatism of that advancement is questioned), but on a simpler note, Spielberg succeeds because he’s able to make jaws drop. Sometimes it’s because of human cruelty/kindness, a terrifying nightmare, or because a huge valley is filled with living dinosaurs.

Dropped jaws are at the heart of his filmmaking, and at the heart of that sensation is a spark of wonder that the younger versions of us understand better than we do. Spielberg stands hand in hand with his younger self, making magic

Twenty Tips on Stage Etiquette

Etiquette in all areas of life, not just the stage, has gone the way of the Thylacoleo carnifex. “Please, thank you, I’m sorry, excuse me” have been booted out of our vocabulary. However, here are a few examples of bad and good stage etiquette.

ARE PRACTICAL JOKES ON STAGE GOOD OR BAD ETIQUETTE?
I was in a regional production, playing the mother of a young actor whose type we all have unfortunately met. “I am the best. You are a bug under my foot. I am clever, witty, destined for stardom” — an obnoxious actor whom I, as an older, theoretically more mature, tolerant adult, should have been able to treat graciously and all times smile and smile, and rein in my villainous feelings. (Do you Hamlet types recognize the mangled allusion?)

I was polite during rehearsal and on stage. Polite. Period. Off stage I stayed as far away from him as I could.

So being polite and staying away is one route (not, however, I emphasize, the ideal route) to stage courtesy. There must be ten thousand better ways to handle obnoxious people, on and off stage. But ignoring and avoiding are two ways to avoid confrontation.
During a matinee well into the run, we get to the scene where he and I have our big scene. He starts rewording and rewriting every line in our lengthy dialogue. No cues, no nothing. Just him being cute. No, he did not “go up” on his lines. This was his idea of a joke.  He asked me later if I enjoyed his little exercise in improv. Now that’s one genuine example of bad stage etiquette.

ETIQUETTE TIP: Learn your lines. Say them when you are supposed to. If nothing else, at least give the cue for the next actor. Don’t joke around on stage, either in performance or rehearsal. The example cited here was a very well-paid regional production. Actors are paid to perform, not play jokes or pranks or kid around during performance. The audience deserves something better for their money.

It is absolutely essential that those of us out there together in a scene help each other, not play one-upmanship. If someone genuinely forgets his lines or loses his cue, it is professional etiquette to rescue the lost actor. Feed him his own lines in any way possible, until he gets back on track. That’s one kind of etiquette. It’s also called being professional.

OTHER SITUATIONS CALLING FOR ETIQUETTE
What about props?

TIP: Check them before curtain. See that you do not remove or move your props or someone else’s. The prop table has been set up deliberately. Follow the design of where things are placed. Replace your props. That’s another form of stage etiquette.

TIP: The same goes for costumes. Hang them where they should be hung. “Hang them.” Important words. Don’t throw them over the back of a chair.

DRESSING ROOM ETIQUETTE
TIP: Keep the roar down. Some people actually like to focus and run their own lines before going on stage. Keep your makeup in your assigned spot. Another pet peeve of mine (actually an Equity rule, I believe) is smoking in the dressing room. And that peeve is followed very closely with a hiss/boo for those actors, male and female, who drown themselves in perfume or shaving lotion. These acts of carelessness all fall under the umbrella of stage etiquette.

PUNCTUALITY
HUGE TIP: The most important of all stage etiquette, right up there with learning your lines, is being punctual.

To summarize the most important rules of etiquette in acting (in semi-rap):

Learn your lines.
Be on time.

ETIQUETTE ON STAGE (As contrasted with “off stage”)
Watch out for those actors who insist on upstaging you, forcing you to turn your back to the audience.

TIP: Solution: Let’s hope the director or stage manager catches on. But if they do not, then just deliver your lines out front. Remember in real life you do not have to face someone to talk to them. In the theatre the line of authority if from you to the stage manager, not from you to a fellow actor. If you must discuss this upstage problem, do it with the SM.

What if someone keeps jumping your lines (not allowing you to finish your lines)?
Tip: First thing is to be sure you yourself are not plodding. There are technical ways to stretch out an important word without taking interminable pauses. Sometimes the other actor just does not know whether your pause is intentional or whether you have forgotten your line.

So first look in the mirror when someone steps on your lines.

If it continues, keep your fingers crossed that the stage manager or director notices. If they don’t, then grin and bear it. Keep it in proportion. It will pass. Just don’t create a hurricane about anything, if you can possibly avoid it.

That covers fellow actors, your props, dressing room, responsibility about lines and times. Now to the other side of the table:

THE DIRECTOR, AND OTHERS

ONLY ONE TIP: Handle with velvet gloves.

Life will be a lot easier for both of you. Yes ma’am and yes sir — or at least have the attitude of yes ma’am and yes sir even if the titles of address are omitted. It really is quite possible that the director does indeed know more about the character and how it should be played than the actor does. It really is quite possible that the director does indeed know how to block skillfully. It really is quite possible that the director does indeed know what he is doing. After all, he cast you. So he must be smart. Even if he proves otherwise — that is, not “smart” — respectful behavior is the key.

No gossiping, no “attitude,” no arguing. He or she’s the boss. Your professional life will flourish much more rapidly if you recognize that.

If you have them, discuss your objections privately with him if he’s the kind that can be talked to. If not, just keep quiet, do a superb job, get great reviews. Learn when it is wiser to say nothing than to win an argument.

There are probably dozens of other situations or people who fall under the umbrella of  etiquette. Remind me if I’ve omitted something/one important. And again, thank you to our Philippines’ actor for the question. They — your comments and questions — are all welcomed.

Thank you for reading ActorTips.

Please continue to do so.

Excuse me for omissions.

And all those other lost phrases of etiquette!

May etiquette spill over into all our hours, not merely those on stage!

By Ruth Kulerman

Twenty Tips on Stage Etiquette

Etiquette in all areas of life, not just the stage, has gone the way of the Thylacoleo carnifex. “Please, thank you, I’m sorry, excuse me” have been booted out of our vocabulary. However, here are a few examples of bad and good stage etiquette.

ARE PRACTICAL JOKES ON STAGE GOOD OR BAD ETIQUETTE?
I was in a regional production, playing the mother of a young actor whose type we all have unfortunately met. “I am the best. You are a bug under my foot. I am clever, witty, destined for stardom” — an obnoxious actor whom I, as an older, theoretically more mature, tolerant adult, should have been able to treat graciously and all times smile and smile, and rein in my villainous feelings. (Do you Hamlet types recognize the mangled allusion?)

I was polite during rehearsal and on stage. Polite. Period. Off stage I stayed as far away from him as I could.

So being polite and staying away is one route (not, however, I emphasize, the ideal route) to stage courtesy. There must be ten thousand better ways to handle obnoxious people, on and off stage. But ignoring and avoiding are two ways to avoid confrontation.
During a matinee well into the run, we get to the scene where he and I have our big scene. He starts rewording and rewriting every line in our lengthy dialogue. No cues, no nothing. Just him being cute. No, he did not “go up” on his lines. This was his idea of a joke.  He asked me later if I enjoyed his little exercise in improv. Now that’s one genuine example of bad stage etiquette.

ETIQUETTE TIP: Learn your lines. Say them when you are supposed to. If nothing else, at least give the cue for the next actor. Don’t joke around on stage, either in performance or rehearsal. The example cited here was a very well-paid regional production. Actors are paid to perform, not play jokes or pranks or kid around during performance. The audience deserves something better for their money.

It is absolutely essential that those of us out there together in a scene help each other, not play one-upmanship. If someone genuinely forgets his lines or loses his cue, it is professional etiquette to rescue the lost actor. Feed him his own lines in any way possible, until he gets back on track. That’s one kind of etiquette. It’s also called being professional.

OTHER SITUATIONS CALLING FOR ETIQUETTE
What about props?

TIP: Check them before curtain. See that you do not remove or move your props or someone else’s. The prop table has been set up deliberately. Follow the design of where things are placed. Replace your props. That’s another form of stage etiquette.

TIP: The same goes for costumes. Hang them where they should be hung. “Hang them.” Important words. Don’t throw them over the back of a chair.

DRESSING ROOM ETIQUETTE
TIP: Keep the roar down. Some people actually like to focus and run their own lines before going on stage. Keep your makeup in your assigned spot. Another pet peeve of mine (actually an Equity rule, I believe) is smoking in the dressing room. And that peeve is followed very closely with a hiss/boo for those actors, male and female, who drown themselves in perfume or shaving lotion. These acts of carelessness all fall under the umbrella of stage etiquette.

PUNCTUALITY
HUGE TIP: The most important of all stage etiquette, right up there with learning your lines, is being punctual.

To summarize the most important rules of etiquette in acting (in semi-rap):

Learn your lines.
Be on time.

ETIQUETTE ON STAGE (As contrasted with “off stage”)
Watch out for those actors who insist on upstaging you, forcing you to turn your back to the audience.

TIP: Solution: Let’s hope the director or stage manager catches on. But if they do not, then just deliver your lines out front. Remember in real life you do not have to face someone to talk to them. In the theatre the line of authority if from you to the stage manager, not from you to a fellow actor. If you must discuss this upstage problem, do it with the SM.

What if someone keeps jumping your lines (not allowing you to finish your lines)?
Tip: First thing is to be sure you yourself are not plodding. There are technical ways to stretch out an important word without taking interminable pauses. Sometimes the other actor just does not know whether your pause is intentional or whether you have forgotten your line.

So first look in the mirror when someone steps on your lines.

If it continues, keep your fingers crossed that the stage manager or director notices. If they don’t, then grin and bear it. Keep it in proportion. It will pass. Just don’t create a hurricane about anything, if you can possibly avoid it.

That covers fellow actors, your props, dressing room, responsibility about lines and times. Now to the other side of the table:

THE DIRECTOR, AND OTHERS

ONLY ONE TIP: Handle with velvet gloves.

Life will be a lot easier for both of you. Yes ma’am and yes sir — or at least have the attitude of yes ma’am and yes sir even if the titles of address are omitted. It really is quite possible that the director does indeed know more about the character and how it should be played than the actor does. It really is quite possible that the director does indeed know how to block skillfully. It really is quite possible that the director does indeed know what he is doing. After all, he cast you. So he must be smart. Even if he proves otherwise — that is, not “smart” — respectful behavior is the key.

No gossiping, no “attitude,” no arguing. He or she’s the boss. Your professional life will flourish much more rapidly if you recognize that.

If you have them, discuss your objections privately with him if he’s the kind that can be talked to. If not, just keep quiet, do a superb job, get great reviews. Learn when it is wiser to say nothing than to win an argument.

There are probably dozens of other situations or people who fall under the umbrella of  etiquette. Remind me if I’ve omitted something/one important. And again, thank you to our Philippines’ actor for the question. They — your comments and questions — are all welcomed.

Thank you for reading ActorTips.

Please continue to do so.

Excuse me for omissions.

And all those other lost phrases of etiquette!

May etiquette spill over into all our hours, not merely those on stage!

By Ruth Kulerman

Going from Good Acting to Great

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Unfortunately the word “great” has become so trivialized from careless overuse that it’s lost all its energy. However, to me it still means splendid, awe-inspiring, and beyond talent and into genius. Therefore moving into “great acting” is the equivalent of climbing Everest–difficult, but it can be done.

While clearing out paleolithic e-mail I unearthed this note. Six years later, the content is still intriguing, an attempt to define something we may only sense:

“Something wonderful happened in my audition. Remember you said you felt I was holding myself back? Something snapped and I couldn’t stuff myself back in the box if I wanted to. It feels great.”

Fast forward six years to this month. “Bob,” an adult newcomer to acting, is reviewing his monologue with me. “I know I can do better. I just can’t seem to let go,” he says.

Bob’s “letting go” equals the 1999 e-mail reference to “holding back.” When asked what he would do differently if he “let go,” Bob’s answer showed profound self-awareness: “I’d quit thinking about myself. In the middle of my monologue I started thinking, ‘What I am doing here? Do I really think I can be an actor? Am I crazy?’”

What is “Holding Back”? Or its opposite “Letting Go”?

How many times have we said, “That didn’t feel quite right”? Perhaps “not quite right” was the result of holding back.

It’s difficult to describe what holding back feels like–maybe like a cocoon separating you the actor from total you the actor. Or perhaps it feels like a self-imposed barrier separating adequate, OK, competent from mesmerizing, volcanic, meteoric. In simple terms, perhaps it is an awareness that you can give more in a line or even in the entire role.

How do you know if you have more to give? The inner being, the performing self knows. If you ask yourself the question, “Am I holding back,” the answer will most likely be “Yes, indeed.” The question is the answer!

If you say, “I know I can do better,” you are right. The actor himself recognizes his own holding back. Trust your intuition. In this area do not rely on friends’ and family’s ego stroking. Rely on the still voice of your internal talent, which is demanding to be loosened from your self-imposed limitations.

Why Do We Hold Back?

There are numerous reasons why we do not let go, why we are stuck in good and cannot move into great.

One of the main causes is precisely what Bob described. We lack focus. We allow the mind to doubt, question, and wander while in the middle of saying a line. Acting requires focus and focus requires discipline and discipline, ironically, is the beginning of letting go.

Holding back has many other causes: fear, lack of imagination, lack of respect for acting as an art, laziness, cowardice, not knowing that there is such a thing as “letting go,” willingness to “settle” for good or mediocre or competent or embarrassing rather than demand the totality of your talent. Lack of pride. Willing to be so-so rather than the best. Dilettantism.

Examples of Those Who Never Held Back

In order to let go, you have to know that letting go exists. Perhaps you need to see someone who did not hold back. I was lucky to have seen the greatest example at age 17.

Maria Callas, a controversial opera singer, was once the most famous singer in the world, scorned or adored, but never ignored! Her daring theatrics while singing sent shivers up your spine. She performed way out there at the edge. She dared and occasionally fell on her face.

As a voice student I heard her in Lucia di Lammermoor. Lucia (Callas) descends the wide curving staircase in her blood-splattered white gown, clutching the knife she used to kill her bridegroom. Callas gets to the final high E flat of Lucia’s famous “Mad Scene,” the one note the audience has waited for the entire evening. The cadenza ends. The E flat looms. Callas goes for it.

Her voice cracks.

Some of the audience boos. La Diva Callas steps to the edge of the stage, flays the audience with a look of utter scorn, repeats Lucia’s final cadenza and blasts out an E Flat that toppled buildings in Nevada. That was my introduction to the alpha and omega of not holding back. What was behind that rescued E Flat? PRIDE. COURAGE.

Remember the hypnotism of those old-time traveling preachers who could turn sensible people into hollering praise-the-Lord converts? Those preachers–charlatans or angels–did not hold back. Neither did Louis Armstrong going for that top note, Van Gogh swirling in a madness of color, Tina Turner strutting energy, Janis Joplin’s ironic gutsy raspy self. Letting go is controlled uncontrol. These are masters.

Steps in Letting Go

First comes courageous self-examination of your potential. A director may order louder, faster. But loud/soft-fast/slow relate to variety, not to letting go.

Variety, in all its variations, is a technique. Letting go is an attitude.

Next comes the courage to want to give more. We must dare to go from OK to better and then after better must come the courage to make the Grand Canyon leap into “best.” Having embraced the need to let go, next comes a grocery list of basics:

(1) have a polished technique,
(2) intelligently and imaginatively explore the script, remembering the powerful word “variety”
(3) diligently over-memorize the lines,
(4) discover a “competent” (believable) delivery that does not sound actory.
(5) search for every possible line reading and opt for the most interesting delivery, given the context of the scene.
(6) over-prepare and tune yourself up into a bundle of energy.
(7) insist that you have the right to be great but that right is not given–it is earned.

A major step in letting go involves Bob’s need to “focus.” He logically asked, “So what do I focus on, myself? The character?” No, no and another no. Focus on the words. If you focus solely on the words you are speaking and the pictures they create then it is impossible to start questioning your ability!

In other articles we have written about not focusing on character or on your own feelings. That focus perpetuates the self-doubts. Focus on the words. The words do the emotional work for you. They bring up remembered pictures and pictures bring up the emotions, leaving you focused not on you but on the words and pictures. My sports fan husband says it is called “in the zone.”

The final step in letting go requires common sense. Just go for broke. What is there to lose? If you are over the top, your coach or your director will pull you back. “Go for it” creates another way to break out of the self-created cocoon.

Before you perform or audition, picture something full of energy and light. My own favorite is the brightest star in the heavens: Sirius. Some actors envision a comet or meteor, some a sun spot, some the July 4th fireworks–whatever says “energy” to you.

A HUGE CAVEAT:
Letting go does not mean self-indulgent, uncontrolled, chaotic solipsism. In time, your intuition (or your director) will find a balance between giving all and going nuts.

The Reason to Let Go
Letting go is what performing is about. Being a “great actor” is not merely the thrill of being in the spotlight or on camera or the applause or the recognition or even the money. It is about the joy of being totally alive during performance.

There are two lines from a Yeats’ poem that come closest to describing-if not defining-my point:

O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?

The dancer and the dance, the actor and the role. Try it. But only after all the preparation, the analysis, the studying, the experimentation, the control, the technique–all of these things, plus the still silent center — these are part of you as an actor. They are all necessary in order to let go and be a great actor. Not good. Great.

Tips on Script writing

5 Scriptwriting Tips that Will Make Any Story Better

by Jeff Goins | 26 Comments | Twitter, Facebook, Google+

From Jeff: This is a guest post from Lia London. Lia is a writing coach, author, and blogger. You can connect with her at her blog or follow her on Twitter (@LiaLondon1).

Whether it’s a work of fiction, a poem, or the narrative of a soul, good writing pulls the reader into the reality of its words and imprints an experience in the mind’s eye as real as any staged play.

After 30 years of scriptwriting, I’ve found a handful of  techniques that can help tell any story.

Photo credit: Karen Cox (Creative Commons)

1. Establish and maintain a clear voice

In a well-written play, each character has his own speech patterns.  Some ramble; some utter grunts. Some use flowery language; others are coarse. If they all sound alike, none feel genuine, and the audience senses a disconnect.

Likewise, our voice — our character, if you will —should not sound like everyone else. We may admire the way another person writes, but if we emulate too closely, we rob readers of diversity and run the risk of presenting only a stale copy.

If we are writing a work that requires more than one voice, we should be careful that no given speaker flips back and forth between sounding like Dr. Spock and Anne of Green Gables. That gets very distracting. Each voice should be distinct and consistent to ensure fluidity and credibility.

This is not to say that a writer cannot be poetic and verbose in one essay, and practical and concise in another. But within a given text or persona, we need to make the voice clear.

2. Speak in vernacular

Characters on a stage need to convey their personalities through the way they speak, and the more natural the speech is, the more accessible the character. That is partly why plays are not written to sound like chemistry text books.

Depending on the venue, grammar rules can and ought to be flexible. Avoiding split infinitives, for instance, is a rule left over from Latin where infinitives are one word, not two. Is it really going to thoroughly unravel the message if I say I need to quickly run to the store for more eggs? Of course not. And half of you probably didn’t catch the “mistake” anyway. 

In casual writing, following stuffy, prescriptive rules, with all those “to whoms” and “with whiches” feels like legalese, not a blog post from a friend.

Intentional disregard for a rule can create a timing or mood effect that enhances the writing. Conscious use of fragments, for example, can direct pacing or add emphasis. And it’s how people talk. (Anyone who has ever had to transcribe candid speech can tell you that. Some sentences contain more switchbacks and drop-offs than a hike in the Gorge.)

A word of caution: “natural” is not the same thing as “sloppy.”

It is a mistake to think that grammatical conventions are unimportant. They provide clarity. A communication world without proper punctuation gets messy and confused very quickly. (You’ve all seen the “Let’s eat Grandma!” vs. “Let’s eat, Grandma!” example, right?)

Thus we need to know the rules of grammar well enough to know when and how we can break them.

3. Give stage directions

In a script, there are often cues given to the actors as to how they should say their line: 

[Sadly], [Hesitating], [While toppling off the desk].

Sometimes we need to tell our readers how to “hear” the lines we are delivering. In casual writing, this usually involves things like bolds, italics, CAPS — em dashes — or ellipses…

These tools, like the tweaks in grammar, aid in a sense of timing or emphasis, which in turn help convey the intended mood.

That said, we can overuse these tools easily. We should write the first draft without all the doodads, and then read it aloud to find out where the natural words of emphasis are.

Are they obvious? Or could someone logically punch up a different word, and thereby change the meaning? If so, add the cue.

But if it is 99% likely that the average reader will interpret the sentence the same way you do, then leave out the markers. It gets too visually busy and pulls away from the import of the words that do receive special font treatment.

4. Show, don’t tell

Although it is occasionally necessary to have a Narrator explain exposition in a play, that’s usually deemed a cop-out for a script writer. Audiences should ideally be able to pick up on the context from the dialog and action.

A well-placed line can give attentive listeners information about the past and clues about the future.

Likewise, we don’t need to say, “This is a story about a youth coming of age blah blah blah…”

We need to paint the story of growth and self-realization through the events and images in our writing. Our readers are smart enough. They’ll figure it out.

We can get our message across without stating and restating the obvious.

5. Leave ‘em hanging

No playwright wants that 15-minute intermission to turn into an opportunity to slip out the back door.

Well-crafted scripts make sure that questions are left unanswered and conflicts left unresolved at the end of each act so that the audience will keep coming back for more.

When writing, we need to be aware of the adrenaline levels of our readers. Are they up? Are they metaphorically on the edge of their seats, wanting more? Good. Time to end the chapter.

Because then they have to start the next one… just to see what happens next, of course. And then they’re hooked for the next umpteen pages because no one wants to put the book down in the middle of a chapter. It isn’t right.

Every writer wants to hear,

Music Video Directing

Shooting the music video

1. Record the track that you are playing back on set as you shoot. Thisscratch track will help you synchronize the shots with the clean track in post-production.

2. Instruct the singer to sing properly – no half-hearted singing or, worse, miming. If they mumble or mime, it will not look right when you lay the shots against the song, because the tension and movements of the face and body will not be consistent with the sound of the song. They must sing as if you were making a real recording of the song.

3. Remember that recording the singer while you shoot and using that copy of the song for the music video is not an option. It simply doesn’t work. You need the definitive recording of the track before you shoot, and the singer must match it exactly. It takes a little practice, and as the director, it is your job to make sure it is being done properly (check outhow to direct.)

4. Shoot plenty of angles, and make sure that most angles cover the entire song. If you do not shoot enough angles of the whole song, the final edit of the video might be too slow.

5. You should also shoot plenty of cutaways, also known as B-rollshots. Use these to give some variety to the video. Some directors intercut performance or dance routine shots with random cuts to shots in which the singer is neither singing nor dancing, but doing something vaguely relevant to the music video’s theme. This jump cut technique is usually disastrous in movies, unless it is used to achieve a specific effect, but it works nicely in music videos.

6. It is inefficient to shoot complicated and time-consuming setups that only cover a small part of the song – don’t schedule too many of these.

7. If there is a dance routine, make sure that the dancers know it properly, and that the lead singer is also completely at ease with it (you’d be surprised).

Editing the music video

Review all the takes and choose your favorite take for every shot. In practice, you may prefer different sections from different takes. For example, you may decide that your favorite beginning of a crane move is in take 2, whereas your favorite ending of the crane move is from take 6. That’s okay, providing of course that there is a cutaway between the two clips. If you want the crane move to be uninterrupted, which is highly unlikely in a music video, you will have to choose your favorite take and leave it uncut.

Use the waveform picture in your editing application to align the scratch track with the master copy of the track. In this way you will achieve perfect synchronization between sound and picture. Having synchronized the video clips with the track, disable the scratch sound tracks, but don’t delete them from the timeline, because you might need them again later. In this way when you scrub the timeline you will only hear the master track and you will see your music video take shape.

A nice trick I have used to edit a music video efficiently is to place all the selected clips on the timeline, one above the other on stacked video tracks. They must all be in their correct positions relative to the song, i.e. they must all be synchronized – except, of course, for the cutaways, which can be placed wherever you like.

To cut from one shot to another, you simply use the razor tool and delete all clips above the one you want. In this way you cut the video without having to drag and drop clips, because that step was taken care of when you synchronized your selected clips with the song. In this way you are effectively switching view from one angle to another, a bit like real-time editing of TV shows. This technique is not applicable to movies, but works very nicely when editing music videos.

Advice for success in the music video industry (includes rant)

Stylistic coherence

One of the characteristics of high-end music videos is their high level ofvisual and stylistic coherence.

Very simply, that means that every shot in those music videos looks like it was designed, lit and directed by the same person. This makes the whole music video gel together very well.

The importance of this is that many music videos for which I am asked to give feedback tend to lack visual coherence: the shots in the music video do not match particularly well in terms of art direction and lighting, and the music videos just don’t feel like a coherent whole.
For an example of a highly visually coherent music video, check out Mark Romanek’s video for “If You Can’t Say No” by Lenny Kravitz:

The kind of music video that tends to do well: conceptual, non-vanilla videos

The music videos that tend to be appreciated by the industry these days are highly conceptual. This means that the imagery used in the music video is mostly unrelated to the lyrics — sometimes ideas and visuals are shamelessly stolen from famous painters, as if plagiarism were somehow ennobled by its employment in a music video (you know who you are, mister!).

The best way to make a music video that will be overlooked by those who matter in the industry is to make a video that is very obviously based on the song’s lyrics. This is an understandable tendency for narratively oriented filmmakers, but the problem is that, as a music video director, you’re quite simply not allowed to make sense. The further removed from the actual story the images are, the more the music video will be appreciated by those who matter.

Again, refer to the Mark Romanek music video above to see what I mean: although the music video features a man and a woman and the song is about a man and a woman, that is where the storytelling ends as far as I can see: everything else is just extremely stylish, eye-catching shots that elicit the correct mood without actually telling the story directly. I actually like that music video a lot – it is my favorite, and even this one is probably too “straight” by modern standards.

You shoot yourself in the foot as a music video director when you employ a close reading of the lyrics in your direction of the music video. For example, if the song is about unrequited love, shooting a video based on couples walking on the beach and things like that will guarantee that the music video industry will not respect it — it would be too straightforward for them, too vanilla, too 1990s. Yes, there are exceptions, but you cannot rely on them — be smart and let the general trends guide you.

The general trend is that the music video industry disrespects vanilla directors and meaningful storytelling. Just pack as much visually impressive nonsense as you can into the music video and you stand a much better chance of impressing those who can make a difference to your career as a music video director. If you are exceptionally fortunate, you might even impress those who are most out of touch with good filmmaking and good taste, such as advertising creatives.

The only case in which you would be well advised to make a music video that has a strong narrative element to it is when the narrative of the song itself is bizarre and outrageous. If the song is just about a gal who is feeling sad because she cannot secure the commitment of the man of her dreams, you cannot follow that narrative, because it will result in vanilla storytelling. You will instead have to come up with spectacular, impressive and completely unrelated visual and narrative elements.

The 1990s ended a long time ago and this is the reality of the modern music video industry. They can’t afford me and I will have nothing to do with them, but if music videos really float your boat, this is what you will have to put up with.

Can young directors earn a living making music videos?

Back in the 1990s when the music video industry was not yet in its death throes, it was general industry practice to allocate 10% of the budget for the director’s fees. No matter how much or how little money was available to make a music video, 10% of that amount was automatically designated as the music video director’s fee.

Back then music videos were an excellent way for a young director tobuild a reel and gain some practical experience while at the same time earning a modest living. Most of them were not wealthy by any means, but they managed to pay the bills by directing — imagine the privilege!

Fast forward to the present day and there is no longer any money in the music video industry, for reasons I explained in the past.

The music video industry never really respected directors, partly because directing music videos isn’t really about narrative filmmaking, it’s more about making a commercial for a song that will attract as many views (and therefore sales) as possible, and partly because the music video industry doesn’t really appear to treat anyone particularly well.
The current reality of music videos is that everyone expects directors to work for free indefinitely. There is no longer even the pretence that anyone will get paid — young music video directors are shamelessly exploited and told in no uncertain terms that there is no money in it for them. As far as serious career-oriented directors are concerned, there simply isn’t anything in it for them any more: no money, and above all no prospects!

If you are a serious narratively oriented director — in other words, a maker of films — there are sound financial and philosophical reasons for abandoning music videos altogether. The financial reason is that you are exceedingly unlikely ever to see a penny from music videos.

The philosophical argument against music videos is that they are strongly anti-filmmaker: as a director of music videos, you’re not allowed to make sense, and you’re not allowed to tell a story in any meaningful way. Meaningless visuals and jump cuts are the bread and butter of modern music videos.

If you’re serious about making films that will touch hearts, my advice to you is to bypass the music video industry completely and focus on TV commercials and films. TV commercials are much more difficult to break into as a director, but you will very rarely be asked to work for free, and you will develop more transferable skills that will come useful in feature films. The pay is better, prospects are better, and TV commercials have considerable benefits in terms of professional development. You will have to grit your teeth with advertising agency creatives looking over your shoulder while you direct, but that’s life.

In short, the more talented you are as a filmmaker, the more you stand to lose by involving yourself with the dead industry of music videos.Focus on what you really want to do and stop agreeing to make videos for an industry that cannot and will not ever pay or respect you.

9 Top Tips For a Music Video Director

Posted on August 10th, 2012 by Lee Jarvis in TV & Film Industry Advice

Image by Gamma-Ray Productions via Flickr (Creative Commons License)

So, you want to be a music video director? After wading through what little help is out there, Media Match pulled together some of the prime pieces of advice to help you with your entertainment industry career, and avoid some of the pitfalls made by new music video directors.

Writing

John Dowdle tells The Art of Manliness “I do think it’s important to learn to write. Having a good sense of story is invaluable. I believe nothing is more important than that.”

Crew Selection

Jeff Clark at MV Wire advises about working on a tight budget: “A small crew travels fast, so use as few crew members as possible. Hire those that are diverse in their talents and can work several jobs simultaneously. A good example is a Production Assistant who does craft service or a makeup artist who handles wardrobe.”

Shooting

Some solid ideas from LA Video Filmmaker: “Instruct the singer to sing properly – no half-hearted singing or, worse, miming. If they mumble or mime, it will not look right when you lay the shots against the song, because the tension and movements of the face and body will not be consistent with the sound of the song. They must sing as if you were making a real recording of the song.”

Organize

Video director Arthur T. Flegenheimer wrote a step by step guide on About.com: “On the day of the shoot be prepared and organized. Keep a record of shots you’ve made; it’ll make editing much easier. Always allow plenty of time for shooting – the finished shot may only last 10 seconds, but could easily take several hours to set up and shoot. When you’re happy with a shot, if you have time, shoot it again. You can never have too much footage, and the retake may capture something that you hadn’t noticed first time round. You’ll have your plan and storyboard to follow, but remember that some of the best moments in a video can be unplanned. Keep the camera rolling – these days tape is cheap.”

B-Roll

Roy Sallows authored a page on music videos here, and says: “You really have two choices when it comes to B-roll for musical performances. You can mix multiple camera angles and show various shots of the performer performing, or you can cut away to show shots of images related to the theme of the song, like ocean waves or snow-topped mountains. These related images can be full-motion video, but they don’t necessarily have to be. Still photos often work well in music videos. Search old photo albums to see if the images you want are already there. You can use still photos to create a video montage, with the music in the background. Try cross fading from one photo to another or slowly scanning across an array of photos.”

Stock Footage

Jeff Clark chips in with another budget idea: “Short-ends or buy-back (leftover film stock from other shoots) are good ways to purchase film stock cheap. You can purchase such stock directly from shoots that are nearing completion or from film brokers such as ShortEnz or Dr. Rawstock. Sometimes Kodak and Fuji will donate film or give discounts to students and young filmmakers. A little begging may be involved, but you may find their generosity to be quite rewarding.”

Editing

More expertise from LA Video Filmmaker: “A nice trick I have used to edit a music video efficiently is to place all the selected clips on the timeline, one above the other on stacked video tracks. They must all be in their correct positions relative to the song, i.e. they must all be synchronized – except, of course, for the cutaways, which can be placed wherever you like.”

Stay Green

Adam Powell gave an interview with Sound on Sound last year and said: “If I was starting now I’d approach everything in the same way; I’d put my heart into it. You have to be true in what you’re doing and true to yourself, and don’t put formats and technology before ‘soul’. One piece of advice that I always give people is: don’t try and make what you think a music video should be, make what you feel is right. It’s easy to become limited by what you’ve seen already, but with so much out there, doing that can make a video fall by the wayside. If you have a strange idea, go for it with whatever tools you have. Don’t worry about whether it ‘seems’ like a music video or not.”

Have Fun

Tech site Mashable had some wise words from OK Go‘s Tim Nordwind: “When thinking about making videos, we ask ourselves, what would be fun to do for a few weeks? That’s where our ideas stem from; dancing with dogs, making a Rube Goldberg machine, a dance with time, performing with a marching band, they all just seemed like fun things to try to create.”

Lastly, if you want to take the easy short cut, simply follow comedian Rich Fulcher’s 10 easy steps to achieving your Music Video Director career dream.