Richard Bell – 8 Rather Nots

8/15/2019 Richard Bell – 8 Rather Nots

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8 “We’d Really Rather You Didn’ts”

Richard Bell

Guillermo del ToroFind extraordinary things in the most mundane situations

90% storyDon’t be too big, too complexStay inside something you have some knowledge of Don’t start writing before you know what resources you have: ‘The Box’ – stay inside it

(equipment, money, time, talent, costumes, locations, transport etc)Basic 3 Act structureEncourage the students to write

Get a script first – head off the crap, helps visualisation

Sunset Boulevard

Go through the process before you shoot the filmStages1. Box2. Most important person in the story: who are they, what do they want?3. Work through series of Qs > one line synopsis.

Who (a little bit of backplot),Plot/Sub-plotMotivationOutcome/Result

4. Scene by scene break down of what happens – no dialogue5. Add dialogue – stuff that cannot be explained any other way: last resort

e.g. plumber can be shown by tools etc

AdaptationNo voiceover: too easy, too lazyCannot have a protagonist without a desireMust have conflictEvery day something happens, something is resolvedGo inside themselves: write about something they know about – pain, loss, trying to hidea secret from somebody etcDon’t tell us a story we’ve already heard (action drama etc)NO cliché: stop it before shooting startsBe delicate when discussing scripts with students – gently (Sunset Boulevard) – push

and pull on script/synopsis page stage (eg. Jaws shark was awful so had to be cut downextremely tightly)Common Genre OK – but how can they add to it?Make sure ending cuts to the heart of what it is about – even if you’ve led them downalleys, given red herrings etc ending must bring it right back to the core

BrickBeautiful twist on a common genre – film noir but transposes it to a new(Whole script of Brick is available on the net)Magne

Tell it with a cutUse audience imaginationStrength of film-making: take hurdles with a simple cut



Down by LawDown by Law escape (BIG cuts still tell story)Make them watch a foreign language film with subtitles off – see if they get the point:Night Train etc – great way to make them think visually.If they cannot understand their film without dialogue, what’s wrong?Precise, accurate, no repetition, every scene must have a meaning; every shot within itmust also have a meaning – NO PADDINGEvery scene and every shot must move the story alongStart as late as possible; end as soon as possible – cut each scene down to minimum

P2Layer CakeIncredibly violent but uses a lot of imagination, minimum tech or props etc: commonlocationsLocations are vital – tell us a lot about characters etcDon’t set film in a boring location

Pans Labyrinth conversations - Benicio del ToroLocation externalises the two relationships1. Don’t use only one soundtrack – sound is essential in terms of storytelling.

Can provide imaginative extended stage set (noises off) etc)2. Sound is the one thing that lets down many productions – the one are that will

instantly improve the soundGet the mics as close as possibleMake sure the dialogue can be heard (cf. Brick)We spot a mistake in the sound well before we spot a mistake in the frameRecord (plenty of) buzz track in locationTry to get software/editing facilities that allow them to work on the soundseparately from picture

Set time for them just to work on the sound: make them focus on it

THX 1138 (example that makes great use of sound/sfx)Sound designed and mixed by Walther Murch – read also In the Blink of an Eye

Don’t use rotten actorsCast people who are what they are looking for Put the effort into castingRehearse the actors as much as they can so actors understand who they are in the film,what they are about, etc

Hard but worth the effortDirector must understand their characters and convey that to themUse (again) what they know eg bullying etc

KEY POINT: TELL THE STORY VISUALLY – WITHOUT DIALOGUE

Eg. History of ViolenceEnd of the film, final scene only has on the script page ‘There is hope’

SummaryNot the 10 commandments – film is flexible



Q & A

How are music videos different from short films? (Garageband etc)Nothing wrong with making music videosCan encourage them to take lots of short cutsA treatment is essentialPrefer them making a music video for a friend or music they have written themselves

Very valuable on many levels for teaching film making BUT won thelp them in regards otscript writing per seGives them freedom, allows them to push boundaries of imagination etcNot a bad idea to make them create a narrative video rather then other optionsGarageband is great

Creative ScreenwritingGreat podcast from LA – available through iTunes podcastsGet directors up on stage to talk about their script etcBG TICK for Pans Labyrinth

Bullet point reduction process reduces rubbish before they get to shooting

Richard Bell – 8 Rather Nots

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