What I Learned In Film School
Whenever possible, have a character say, “Look at me.”
People often forget what it’s like to take a shower. Show them.
It’s morning. Dan enters Sara’s office and fires off a whole bunch of orders or complaints. Sara cheerily says, “Good morning, Dan” because Dan should have led with a friendly greeting. Chastened, Dan ruefully says, “Good morning.” They smile. Chills every time.
Instead of a father calling his son by his name, he should call him “buddy.”
If someone sees herself on the TV news, whether she’s a disgraced politician or a fugitive or whatever, she wouldn’t be curious about the coverage. I mean, who would be? She must turn off the TV in boredom or disgust.
Back to “Look at me.” It’s good for all occasions: parent to kid, stoic to hysteric, superior life planner to stubborn fool. Have your character say it twice. Twice as good.
Whenever someone answers the phone in bed, in the dark, their deep sleep interrupted, they should say to the caller, “It’s 3:00 in the morning!” The words “in the morning” are key. Without them the viewer will think it’s 3:00 in the afternoon.
A grieving woman must go to the closet and plant her nose in the dead guy’s clothes.
“Know this:” punches up a threat. If the actor says it right, you can actually hear the colon.
Is your character a prof? At the end of class, she should yell out the next assignment. Syllabi are boring.
Don’t ever worry that showing your hero entering her apartment will tip off the viewer that someone is lurking there. Why would your viewer think that? People enter their apartments all the time, and the point of film is to show as much mundane behavior as possible. (See above: showers.) The element of surprise will be preserved. I can just hear the yelps.
Don’t confuse “Look at me” with “Look at you.” Also outstanding, but different.
“Seriously?” is a unique way to challenge anything outlandish. A camper when a grizzly bear enters her tent. A sunbather when a tsunami bears down. A baseball fan with great seats who realizes he’s having a heart attack in the bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded.
Want to show a loser? His car doors creak. At home, his light-switch plates are dirty.
Someone answers a phone thinking they know who’s calling and blurts out a bunch of words. But hold on — their guess about the caller was wrong, and their words insult the caller or give away a big secret. So funny.
Opportunities for “Look at me” abound. For an adaptation, Ahab to the whale. For a biopic, John Wilkes Booth to Lincoln.
Any of these great ideas will earn you the golden words when you pitch: “I’ve never seen that before.”
