I love movies. There is nothing more relaxing than finding a good flick on TV or Netflix, curling up, and enjoying it. Sometimes, I want something light-hearted and spend my weekend watching the Harry Potter series. I use my subscriptions to expose myself to movies that I used to love (Airplane!) and to find things that I can’t wait to watch again. What makes a film hold special places in your heart? How do the best filmmakers and directors speak in a way that sticks with you?
All creation starts in the same place – with an idea. No matter if we’re thinking of a new novel to write, a new piece of art, or a film, it’s all about the idea. What is it about a film that stays with us – that something we saw 20 years ago can make us feel just as amazing when we see it again? How do we apply the things that make films special to what we want to create?
Be Honest and Sincere
One of my favorite movies is Girl, Interrupted. I really enjoy the character study, but the film, for me, is sold at the end, when the main characters are finally having it out. (I know the film was made years ago but SPOILER ALERT ahead) When Winona’s character tells a young Angelina Jolie that she is “dead already” it is one of the most riveting moments of the film. It’s point blank honest where one character tells another exactly what the audience was thinking.
People tell stories at the beginning of presentations and webinars that are about the mistakes they have made along the way. The best characters that we encounter in books and movies are the ones that appear as a bit of a mess. Be honest in your creation – don’t be afraid to personally admit or create a character that is flawed. It’s the truth that people want to hear and enables you to be relatable.
Create to Entertain and Not to Sell
I watched this great documentary called Best Worst Film surrounding a little known 80’s flick known as Troll 2. Everyone, including the actors, freely admits that yes the movie was terrible, but the film still has this national cult following. People love both because and in spite of it being terrible. In the documentary the director was asked about how he felt about the critical review of his film and his response was that he wanted to entertain, and if he achieved that, he was happy.
Now I’m certain that the director of the “worst film ever made” didn’t set out to have that stigma on his film, but in the end, it made people happy, and he’s okay with that. When we start the creative process, I don’t think the primary of goal of making money should be where we begin; our goal should be to create things that entertain. When we start with the idea in our head that we’re going to be a best seller or a top grossing film I think we lose something in the creative process. We start to nit-pick our ideas when we see them through the lens of “well no one is going to buy this” when what we need to do is create something we can love, and if other people love it too, that’s great.
Emotional Reactions
I’ve often heard that when it comes to an audience’s reaction with a film, the filmmakers just want you to feel something. Obviously the preferred reaction would be for you to leave the theater and say it was the “best film ever” but let’s be honest – the list of Oscar Winners is short. Movies like Schindler’s List do not create those kinds of happy emotions, but they do make you think, and for a film maker that’s a perfectly acceptable reaction.
When you start to create something, you should have an idea of what you want your audience to feel by the end of your creation. Do you want to write a book that will make people happy? Are you trying to create something that will stir controversy and conversation? Determine that in the beginning but don’t be afraid to let something change you along the way. Creation is kinetic.
Creativity begins in many of the same places and just because our end result isn’t that of the film maker, we can still learn a lot from the way they approach their craft, and apply it to the way we approach ours.
