Do we need them?

The Oscars? BAFTA? Award ceremonies? Do we need them? My answer is yes. The spectacle can be ridiculous with the women in bound bodies teetering onto the stage in killer heels, while the men are all loose as a goose. And the nominations and winners may not always be what I would have or you would have chosen. Even so the awards themselves do represent the need to acknowledge excellence and the incredible creative stamina it takes to take a film from inception to completion as well as the sheer craftsmanship and technical challenges that go into making movies. So in my opinion an award is well deserved, the recognition well earned.

As far as the Oscars, it’s Hollywood, and glamour, a place where stars are made, a high stakes game, it id after all a multimillion dollar industry. On a sociological level, the nominated films and performances are a map of the cultural currents as the world struggles more and more with the richness of diversity and the urgency for those stories to be told. And on a purely pragmatic level, all the entertainment award shows whether you watch them or not, are predictors of what sells hence what producers pay attention to because a lot of money has to be raised to make any film, so something worth noting.

But why mention all this now? A month or two later after the harvest? It’s old news. Because this past year in particular was one of the most eclectic line-ups of awards hopefuls in many years. The Oscars demonstrated the impact of the Academy’s attempts to create a more diverse, younger and international membership, at least at the nominations stage. That is encouraging. And whether we know it or not the work awarded will be the backdrop for much of what is in development today for next year and the year after. Most importantly beneath the haze of self-congratulatory primping and preening at the events is the underlying engine that propels us to do better and better. Below all the glamor there is still the CRAFT.

I’m not suggesting we keep all this in mind while we write, we wouldn’t write a word if we did, but I do think as writers, if we want our effort to have value and find an audience, we need to come to terms with what making movies entails. Why craft is so very important to learn and to master step by step. I’ll tell you a funny story; my husband Irv and I, once had a journalist friend ask if he could sit in on a class (something we never allowed but we made an exception) and his comment after the session was, “this is not for the curious.” I’ll never forget that. Yes screenwriting is complicated but if you’re not in a mad rush to make a million bucks and instead take the time that any craft needs to learn and master, it can be a lot of fun and very satisfying.

Screenwriting is not for everyone. Unlike other narrative writing a screenplay is a form of writing that shares telling the story with a camera and a number of other technical skills. It’s not just theory. Nor is it common sense, or just research. None of that give characters life. And it is certainly not just clever dialogue. We are talking about a whole world, a universe if you will, where we create an illusion, a pregnant reality. One where we hope to open our viewer’s hearts and minds to another person’s experience. Another perspective. a fresh way of looking at something we thought we understood. Another truth. Every story has to reveal itself with an honesty particular to that story. So behind every honest story there has to be an honest writer, a writer who brings their own emotional commitment to the story.

Speaking of ‘truth’ brings to mind the frequent objections people have about portrayals they claim, “aren’t accurate.” To that I say, the basic premise you begin with, is that your story does not need to be accurate, what it needs to be, is BELIEVABLE. You have succeeded if the film has engaged your audience emotionally. Believability comes more from an emotional response rather than a mental response. If you don’t believe something because it doesn’t make logical sense, in my opinion I think it is actually because your emotions reject it. I don’t know what scientific evidence would prove but I think if we functioned purely from the rational almost any horrors could be acceptable. Another discussion…

All this to say a few days ago I saw a film that moved me. It was also about a world I wasn’t familiar with, which I love. The film is Chiwetel Ejiofor’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. I loved it. Conventional storytelling, no cinematic innovation, neither criteria for me to like a film, it was also straightforward and predictable, but… it was believable. Often a movie can is all those basic simple things, yet not believable. And that is my point. It is a perfect example of the kind of truth and believability I’m talking about that is the most essential part any film in any genre. Believability as against accuracy and more so in this case because the film is based on a true story. And yes there have been several objections to this or that not being ‘accurate’. BELIEVABLE and if you find ways to make your film interesting too you’ve got a good movie.

Believability is a mysterious abstraction. In film believability comes from the power of emotional insights that put the viewer in the characters shoes. Film is a complicated environment. I am always shocked when i find that some budding screenwriters actually rarely even see films! Or only watch if they’re on their televisions. Leaves me speechless.

You have to be in love with film to get anywhere. Intoxicated. It’s true that to be successful a thousand other factors come into play, luck being one of them, but the most powerful of all is your passion for the medium. You must have the sickness. A commitment. Not to perfection, but to doing your best. Your best in small increments. Be prepared to start small. Remember that every script had humble beginnings in some writer’s head. So feed yourself. See films on the big screen if you can. Watch them on television. Television is good these days. Explore all the arts. They feed you. Stimulate you. Expand your horizons. And read. The newspaper is a constant source of story ideas and frequently, of excellent writing.

Life in all its forms feeds me every day.

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See you next time!