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On Directing Film
I'm now utterly in love with David Mamet. My favorite quote so far from On Directing Film:
Mamet: What do we do first?
Student: Establish the character.
Mamet: The truth is, you never have to establish the character. In the first place, there is no such thing as character other than the habitual action, as Mr. Aristotle told us two thousand years ago. It just doesn't exist.
It just doesn't exist.
In just 107 pages, Mamet does a very blunt, very thorough treatise on exactly what's needed to tell great stories, and, perhaps more importantly, much of what is NOT needed. It's based on his classes at Columbia University's film school.
I now understand why that first Lost Toys piece worked so well, and why I really want to continue in that style. Why my favorite stories I've written are Ishida's Ghosts and Some Things Never Change, why Watched For and Seen worked, and why there is so much of Twin Souls that does work for people and how not to just follow the boys around for *everything* they do. *dances about*
Mamet: What do we do first?
Student: Establish the character.
Mamet: The truth is, you never have to establish the character. In the first place, there is no such thing as character other than the habitual action, as Mr. Aristotle told us two thousand years ago. It just doesn't exist.
It just doesn't exist.
In just 107 pages, Mamet does a very blunt, very thorough treatise on exactly what's needed to tell great stories, and, perhaps more importantly, much of what is NOT needed. It's based on his classes at Columbia University's film school.
I now understand why that first Lost Toys piece worked so well, and why I really want to continue in that style. Why my favorite stories I've written are Ishida's Ghosts and Some Things Never Change, why Watched For and Seen worked, and why there is so much of Twin Souls that does work for people and how not to just follow the boys around for *everything* they do. *dances about*