FILM/TV1 – Question Number Three

One of our readings for FILM/TV1 this week was Slogans for the screenwriter’s wall. In Mackendrick, A. On film-making, (p. 40-43). New York: Faber & Faber, 2004.
A point that excited me (or more so, one that I found interesting) within this reading was the concept raised;
“If you’ve got a beginning, but you don’t have an end, then you’re mistaken. You don’t have the right beginning”.
This was particularly interesting to me because of how blatantly the statement is put. I would relate this to the planning process, when the writer becomes stuck, instead of trying to make the ending fit, re-write the beginning so the end will simply…work. Another point was the idea that “student films come in three sizes: Too long, Much too long and very much too long”. it’s always been stressed that simple is better, and this reading stresses it to the max; stating that “if it can be cut, then cut it out. Everything non essential that you can eliminate strengthen’s what’s left” (41). However in saying that, what is purposefully left unsaid can be just as important as what has been stated.

A point raised throughout the reading that was completely new to me was the discussion of an actors association with director. “It has been said that an overly conscious understanding of the film director on the part of the actor may, in some cases, hamper his ability to give a good performance”  (180). Overthinking, as suggested by the reading, may in fact damage the success of the process for the actor. The article speaks of how the director must be fully aware of what is happening in front of him, and what he has to work with, the actor may in fact be hindered by too much information.
Another short point that I was unfamiliar with before reading this article was the concept of a ‘foil character’. We all are familiar with a foil character of course, however we probably haven’t been able to attach an official term to it. According to the reading, a foil character “is a figure invented to ask the questions to which the audience wants answers (asking the question may be more important than getting the answer)” (43).