Not sure if the “next project” will actually be the sci-fi one that I mentioned. I’ve got a few pots on the stove but we’ll see!

T

You make a really good point when you say that production design shouldn’t overtake the story. My recent reading of Donald Norman’s ‘Emotional Design: Why we love (or hate) every day things’ (2004) also raises this issue. He paraphrases Jon Boorstin’s writings in ‘The Hollywood Eye: What Makes Movies Work’ (1990) at one point, discussing how the voyeuristic level (what Norman calls the reflective level) can make or break our experience of a movie.

At the voyeuristic level, we are always observing and interpreting what we see before us, seeking explanations and delighting in “seeing the new and the wonderful.” While the voyeur is picky - “Where are they?” “How did they get there?” - it can be placated by clever storytelling and create a moving experience for the viewer. An example I read somewhere was if you see a couple chatting in a restaurant and then a bomb goes off under their table, that’s shocking. But more emotional impact would result if you saw them chatting and saw the bomb before it went off, with everyone around oblivious, that would create more tension. It’s the apprehension you feel when you know more than the character and, when it’s something bad, you almost don’t want to watch it. There were a few moments in Refrain where I found myself shouting at the t.v. in an attempt to prevent what was coming. (Or at least what I thought was coming: you did a great job of surprising me).

Done right, this can emotionally engage the viewer, but, just as you said in your video diary, if production design takes over, the viewer will consciously notice it and be snapped out of the story. Norman cites The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) directed by the Coen brothers as an example where the cinematographer fell in love with the use of black and white images, with the result that you notice them while watching the film and are pulled out of the ‘flow’ state. I haven’t seen it myself, but his description marries well with what you covered in your video.

I think you got the balance right in Refrain. I won’t say too much as I still want to write that review (a favourable one, promise!), but I picked up on lots of little details in the film and really enjoyed it because of that, but not to the extent that I was pulled out of the story.

Great! I love anything sci-fi so I look forward to your next project. It seems you do an incredible amount of work, you know, I hope you find time to relax.

Cheers,

Daniel

Glad you enjoyed Refrain!

You made a good point about not only creating background for characters but also for “the world” in which the story takes place. In a “real world” drama such as Refrain, these notes were already incorporated into the character profiles but in a fantasy world such a background “bible” would be very handy. When I was working on Minushi my bible was my sketchbook and all of that background went into production design (http://ow.ly/1MBWb). Currently I have another sci-fi type of project in the works where such a background will be a vital reference.

Thanks for bringing that up.

T

In my first year I wrote a short story about a policewoman who gets possessed by a demon (yeah(!)). I spent a great deal of time just researching the police force (clothing, hierarchies, locations etc) before writing my outline and fleshing out my characters. For the characters, especially the main character, like you I wrote her backstory: her turbulent upbringing, her love life, her career-driven attitude. It was terribly cliché I have to admit, and it wasn’t used in my story directly, but I found that just knowing these things about my character made it easier to know how she would react when it came to writing the events of the story, and also suggested situations to me that would best bring out those elements of her character that I wanted to explore.

I hadn’t heard of the cue card approach, although I am familiar with Final Draft, having used it in my screenwriting class, so maybe i’ve used it and didn’t realise. For the short story I used a program called Scrivener on the Mac. The good thing about it was that it allowed me to write a little synopsis for each document i’d written and then I could see them all on a virtual corkboard and drag them around, seeing how they fit together.

My story was nowhere near as complex as your screenwriting projects, but a lot of what you’ve written is good advice for any writing discipline. We did a broad swathe of styles - from poetry to fiction to screenplays - and good research and planning is always helpful.

Another wonderful article Tyler, i’ve been following these with interest and forwarding them to my partner who is pursuing writing as a career. Myself, I really enjoy writing, but i’m a bit lost in the woods right now with regards to what I want to do career-wise. Looking forward to part three.

Oh and you’ll be pleased to know my copy of Refrain finally arrived. My partner and I really enjoyed it. Expect a review from me soon=)