A European Observation about American Film
Excerpt taken from movieScope Magazine, Issue 14
There are interesting reasons for the global dominance of American movies, like the fact that they generally have less dialogue than their European counterparts, and their scenes are shorter than those in most EU movies. This has the psychological effect of giving the movie greater impact on the audience-visual storytelling plays into the nature of ‘seeing’-we believe what we see-and also by leaving gaps-cutting the beginning and end from scenes, which does wonders to improve the pacing of the film. We, the audience, fill in those gaps and that makes us feel good about watching the movie.
All good lessons from a European observer. Â Are you showing and not telling in your script? Â Are you allowing the audience/script reader an opportunity to “fill in the gaps” and be more personally engaged in the story? Â If not you are missing some of the qualities that make a script great.
Create a visual map for a character’s emotional journey. Pull stories from character rather from rote story structure beats. Some of the largest international media companies, use this in story and character development.
A clear concise guide for writers and producers to have by their side as they embark on a project. It gives a really vital reminder of what is key for story success.
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