How do you pick the right story when you make your short
film?
Aside from using in a bathtub. That is assumed. |
Almost every independent filmmaker has to struggle between telling
the story they want to tell and telling the story other people want to watch.
Independent filmmaker Hal Hartley told No Film School “people don't go to movies unless you see
sex and violence. So no matter what you are to address …, no one's going to pay
attention unless there's a girl and a gun. And so I try to just wrestle with
that.” The juggling of these things becomes something of a Faustian bargain
between making something meaningful
and something enjoyable.
I wanted to challenge myself with my first short film—Kelly vs The Philosophers—to effectively
tell a story that was both deep and really fun to watch. Now, I have an
advantage because my favorite movies are the ones that have appeal to the
elites and the masses, such as Gladiator,
Silver-Linings Playbook, Inception and Iron Man. So to me it’s not a Devil’s pact as it is just making the
kind of movie I’d like to watch. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
The story for Kelly vs
The Philosophers came about when my politics professor David Tubbs told the
class that we should “struggle” with the philosophers he was assigning us to
read. He believed if we argued mentally with what they were saying we would get
a lot more out of them than if we just passively accepted or dismissed their
ideas. For me, my first thought was? What if I too that idea and had a student
literally fight with the philosophers, action-hero style? And what if I played
against type and made the action hero an average girl rather than action
archetype? From there the ideas came quickly and easily.
Our lineup of philosophers was actually pretty intimidating, right? |
The film, when it finally premiered, opened to enthusiastic
reactions at my school. Everyone enjoyed it and were—best of all, also—engaged
with the ideas. That convinced me that I was on the right track with my
self-challenge to make movies that are fun and important.
Four takeaways.
1. Don’t feel like you’re cheapening the story by also having
it be fun. You don’t have to be. And it will mean more people will engage with
the story you want to tell.
2. Play against type. A lot of the magic of the story came
from gender-swapping the lead character from the expected guy to girl. That
makes your story a little different and sparks creativity.
3. Know your audience. My college was very into philosophy.
So taking an idea that was relevant to the student body meant that the people I
would be showing it to could get excited about the idea.
4. Love what you’re telling a story about. I love philosophy
and I love action and comedy. These are things that are worth celebrating to
me. People love to see other people share what they love with them—even if they
don’t already love them. People can tell, and believe me, it’s infectious.
Do you have a story about coming up with a story for your
film and what you learned? Sound off in the comments below!
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