“What is happening NOW is not as exciting as what may or may not Happen NEXT. Alexander Mackendrick
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Archive for February, 2014
Feb
13
2014
 
“Exposition is BORING unless…”Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Exposition is BORING unless it…”
Feb
12
2014
Obligatory Scene = Story’s ThemePosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“The obligatory scene, usually the denouement of a story, classically expresses the theme.” Alexander Mackendrick “Cinema hits us at a gut level—its impact is sensory and physical.”—Alexander Mackendrick “Dramatic tension generally requires an element of conflict. The nineteenth-century theorists suggested that conflict requires the presentation of an onstage clash of wills between hero and his antagonists. Later critics pointed out that in many cases, when a story is really rewarding, the tension may be a matter of not what happens, but how it […] The man in this case was writer/director Alexander Mackendrick, and what he walked way from way making movies in Hollywood. Here’s a documentary about the film Mackendrick made and how he turned to teaching at CalArts—a school founded by Walt Disney. Scott W. Smith Tagged: Alexander Mackendrick, CalArts, Walt Disney “‘Protagonist’ (the name given to the leading character in your story) literally means the person who initiates the agon (struggle). ” ‘Look, Highland cattle!’ This was a quote from a particularly amateurish travelogue in which a character pointed off-screen, said this line, and the film cut to guess what? “—Making the case against bad dialogue. “One of the tasks of the director is almost to forget what the characters are saying and reimagine their behavior as being mute…” Today I’ll start a series of posts on Alexander Mackendrick. He directed Sweet Smell of Success and received an Oscar nomination as one of the writers of The Man in the White Suit. Frustrated with the Hollywood studio system he turned to teaching at CalArts, where he was Dean of its School of Film from 1969 […] |
