4 Tips for Writing Directing and Producing a Short Film

Writing a great script for a short film is hard. Most people feel like you have to lengthen the script to create an in depth story, which isn't true. To make the most of your limited pages and minutes use these ideas:

1. Create complex characters. 
Before or during writing, ask yourself some questions about your characters. Asking questions like "What was the worst moment in your characters life?" might seem silly, but it could lead you to some very interesting conflicts and plot points in your story. If anything questions like this will help you to make a world around your character it makes sense for them to exist in.  Here are some character questionnaires to start with.

2. Don't neglect your set. 
Though most of us are just happy to get a location to shoot in, remember that the location of your film can be a goldmine for planting character information and foreshadowing. Avoid exposition through dialogue by leaving a characters room a mess with clothes and make up before a date, or show the room as immaculate if your character is very controlling.

3. Make dialogue that sounds real. 
People in the real world don't talk in full sentences, they sometimes stutter, pause, misspeak, use contractions. Read your dialogue out loud while writing. Do you believe someone would actually say it? Don't waste time with lengthy dialogue when you could convey the same idea visually.

4. Be confident.
Throughout this process realize that this is your vision and you are going to have to work hard to bring it out to the world. Be your own best advocate. Be confident that your idea is great and that it can impact something, and people will be willing to help. No one wants to work on a film that even the creator isn't excited about.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Last week, I wrote a post about the trailer for the upcoming Captain America sequel. I decided that I really enjoy dissecting trailers and everything they hold, so this week, I'm doing it again with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This time, though, I won't be focusing on the dialogue. That's because, well, there really isn't any.

The Dialogue
There's a million different ways a person can edit together a trailer. One of the biggest decisions the editor has to make is which dialogue they are going to feature in the preview to their film. Many editors choose to use very many of the most climactic, the funniest, or the most inspirational quotes to draw in movie-goers. The editor(s) for this trailer, however, decided to take the completely opposite route.

He/she/they chose to use absolutely zero lines of dialogue throughout the entire trailer; that is, until the last five seconds when Ben Stiller asks a man if there are any car available to rent and the man replies "Yeah. We have a blue one and a red one." These five seconds could either serve to emphasize the fact that the film is indeed comical at times, or could serve to represent some sort of change in Stiller's character (the majority of the film appears to be bluish, so choosing the red car could mean that Stiller eventually goes for change or wishes to stand out--it's a long shot, I know).

Either way, the lack of dialogue in the trailer leaves a lot to viewers' interpretation. Yes, this is a remake of a 1947 film, but who knows how closely the writers will stick to the original? Any character or voiceover telling me what's happening, I'm sitting there wondering why the pictures on the walls are moving. I'm wondering who the girl is who Stiller keeps looking at. I can make whatever assumptions I want, but the fact that I'm so intrigued to find the answers to my questions that I'll go see the movie in theaters means the editors did their job.

The Coloring
Wow. How about that coloring?! Everything's blue! I honestly don't know what to say about it besides the fact that it is simply stunning.

I mean, seriously! Hot damn!

Since IMDb is telling me that the film is an Adventure/Comedy/Drama, I'm not quite sure what kind of response the coloring is supposed to draw from viewers. With a drama, it would make a whole lot of sense. The blue adds a bit of bleakness and sadness to the overall emotion of any film. How the blue is intended to interact with the adventure and comedy of the film is beyond me. Maybe I'm looking too far into it? It's possible, but I'd like an answer, nonetheless.

The Storyline
Here's another thing about this trailer I know very little about, but intrigues me, nonetheless: the storyline. It doesn't give anything away! I have personally never seen the original Walter Mitty, so I have absolutely no foundation of understanding when watching this trailer. I've tried my absolute best to avoid asking others about it, too. Since this trailer has intrigued me so much, I want to go into the theater with nothing but my own expectations. Here's what I've deduced from the trailer: man is bored with life, man is bored with job, man likes girl at job, man imagines going on adventures, man eventually goes on adventures. I could be wrong, and I hope that I am. I'd really like to be surprised with some kind of surreal, unexpected plot that just shocks everyone.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has an incredibly enticing trailer. Its cinematic beauty manages to give away very little with the extreme lack of dialogue, and I can't wait to see what I've been waiting for when it comes out this Christmas.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Did you watch it? Well if you didn't, then do it. Seriously. Now.

This trailer has revived my faith in reboots. At the start of the trailer, we see Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) discussing their weekends. The short conversation brings back much of the light humor from the first film as well as a reminder that Capt. isn't in his domain anymore--keep in mind he was frozen in ice for many decades.

As he jumps out of the plane, it's hard not to smile. "Was he wearing a parachute?" "No. No he wasn't." From those two lines, viewers are reminded of Captain America's greatest superpower: courage. It's cheesy, I know, but that's why Steve Rogers was chosen to be the world's first superhero, anyway. Wasn't it? Besides his super strength, quick reflexes, and devilishly good looks, the greatest thing about this hero is what's inside. It's why we all grew to love him in the first film.

"I joined SHIELD to protect people." This line worked as another great reminder of why we love this hero. The only reason Captain America does what he does is to protect those who cannot protect themselves. He swore that he would use his powers for the greater good of the world. Without his promise, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to be the hero he became.

"Captain, to build a better world sometimes means turning the old one down. And that makes enemies." Oh no! Conflict! What could it be?? We don't know, and that's the point. A good trailer doesn't need to flat-out tell you what the main conflict in the story is. Can they? Sure. But I'm personally a fan of showing rather than telling, which is what the trailer goes on to do.

We are then shown a shot of this man...

Say hello to The Falcon (Anthony Mackie), the newest addition to Marvel's movie heroes. The Falcon, also known as Sam Wilson, has the powers to telepathically communicate with birds and can see what birds see. Who knows if Marvel will stay true to these powers, considering they seem to like to stay away from supernatural powers in their films, but this hero is also highly trained in hand-to-hand combat and, yes, even gymnastics. I'm not quite sure how our new character will be incorporated into the storyline of this film, but at least Marvel can throw him into the Avengers in the upcoming sequel.

"Look out the window. You know how the game works. Disorder. War." It's easy to tell that this Captain America sequel will be much, much darker than the first. After just listening to this one line, as well as watching cars blow up, I suddenly knew that this film will probably not be nearly as light-hearted or comical as the first. Marvel seems to be going down this road with all their sequels. Iron Man 2 was clearly much darker than the first, but then much of the humor we loved from the first film  was brought back for the third installment. The upcoming Thor sequel looks much darker in content has well.

"We want to neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen." "I thought the punishment usually came after the crime...This isn't freedom. This is fear." I guess Marvel decided to take a more real-world approach in this film! Often with government agencies--the FBI, the CIA--people question the morals of the things they do and the way those things are carried out. Captain America takes the stance of much of the general public when Nick Fury tells him that SHIELD is taking a new approach to fighting possible threats. He accuses Fury of what many people accuse the U.S. government of doing--acting without just cause.

Next, we see Captain America kick and punch a group of guys in an elevator. Many explosions follow.

In the ending shot of the trailer, we finally get a better look at the villain of the film. They call him the Winter Soldier, but his real name is...wait for it...almost there...getting closer...Bucky Barnes!! Yup! It's Captain's best, dead friend from the first film. How is he alive? No clue. I'm sure I could ask Google and I'd find out in a matter of thirty seconds but I'd much rather find out when I see the film in theaters--probably on opening night.

Along with the excellent dialogue selections they chose from the film, the makers of the trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier used some very visually appealing shots to even further enhance the effectiveness of the trailer. I'm not usually one to enjoy sequels, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jumping up and down in my seat after watching this trailer.

Wag the Dog

    I have seen this movie several times, but this past weekend I watched it once again, paying closer attention to the actual production.  The dialogue is amazing. It is hard to follow at the beginning but it is because the dialogue is so similar to actual conversations, ideas pop in and out. One story leads to another. Someone starts to say something, another person goes on a tangent and then five minutes later we are back to the first story. It is fun to see how all the parts of a conversation fit so nicely together when at the surface they seem to be all over the place.  The fast paced conversations remind me a bit of Gilmore Girls, but in the movie the lines seem to be more real, with verbal pauses and repeated speech. Hilary Henkin was the writer of the screen play. If only writing how people actually talk was as easy as this movie makes it seem. I suggest that everyone watch it, it is in the library