Hi There,
And Happy New Year! My newsletter returns with some random musings about storytelling for the screen –
TROPES & MYTHS
I really enjoyed this question and answer from RICHARD LINKLATER’S Q&A in The Observer New Review on November 24th –
‘There’s a line early on in your latest film (HITMAN): “Hitmen don’t really exist.” You mean that they are, essentially, an invention of Hollywood films. Were you surprised by this fact?
No, I’m completely amused and thrilled by it. I’ve known this for 25-plus years: hitmen are like snuff films, they don’t really exist. There’s not one record of a hitman being arrested. This is a myth, but one people believe so thoroughly because of pop culture – movies and TV mostly. [A hitman] is just a great character and we love the idea of them too much – even though shouldn’t we be relieved that there aren’t any?
This is such a fascinating idea – that a narrative mythology has grown up around this completely fictional – but somehow incredibly persuasive – notion of the hitman. So many films focus on this character (eg Grosse Point Blank, The Day Of The Jackal, No Country For Old Men… the list is potentially huge).
It’s such an interesting aspect of stories for the screen – mythologies and cliches that have developed even when there is so little basis in grounded reality.
Which prompts the question – what are other examples of characters or tropes beloved of film and TV that don’t exist in real life? I’d love to hear of any other examples that come to mind!
Sidenote: I’m fascinated to see that Richard Linklater has now undertaken a film project with an even more extended shooting life than Boyhood – an adaptation for the screen of Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful musical Merrily We Roll Along to be shot over a 20 year period! Starring, among others, Paul Mescal – a show that moves backwards in time – a storytelling device that works brilliantly on stage.
ROMANTIC COMEDY – THE APARTMENT
My local Aldeburgh cinema, showed THE APARTMENT on New Year’s Eve afternoon. I hadn’t watched the film for a very long time. And what a treat it was to see it in its natural home on the big screen. I was blown away by its brilliance – the design, the acting, but in particular the wonderful script by Billy Wilder and IAL Diamond.
It sparked many thoughts – for instance I was reminded just how incredibly similar are the ending sequences of THE APARTMENT and WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. The ending of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY is almost a ‘homage’ / nod to THE APARTMENT. It made me think about the history of this genre (romantic comedy), how lessons are handed down the years from writer to writer. Clearly one of Nora Ephron’s inspirations for WHMS was TA, but both films, while sharing so many genre tropes and similarities, still both feel absolutely like their own things with their own distinct and brilliant voices and agendas as films
It made me think about how in every genre all those conventions of genre should be respected and recognised – before they are subverted. Exploring and enjoying genre is such a great way into story.
Other things I enjoyed about THE APARTMENT – the visual storytelling is so good – images that stay with you – CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) stood up outside the cinema, a tissue floats out of his pocket. The tennis racket used to drain the spaghetti. The depth of the vast insurance office. The detail of the apartment itself – such a key part of the film’s storytelling. Business in his kitchen – making his own TV dinner – dramatizing without stating his solitary home life. Baxter at his desk on the phone. In the scene in Sheldrake’s office lots of comic business with tissues and nasal spray – but Baxter’s ongoing cold is such a great character note, an integral part of the story, there’s a reason for it (being locked out of his apartment on a cold winter evening).
The callbacks in the dialogue – eg ‘That’s the way it crumbles, cookie-wise.’ ‘Be a mensch, a human being.’ Repeated by Baxter – and this is what the film seems to be ultimately about.
And how the ‘Alpha’ Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) hijacks Baxter’s rehearsed speech, using the exact same words Baxter was going to use. The comic artificiality of this moment works because it’s smart and surprising.
Lessons I was reminded of by the two brilliant scenes in which Baxter and Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) play gin rummy. In particular – whatever your characters are saying, also have them DO something. The bulk of the dialogue in both in these key scenes is just about the game itself, cutting and dealing the cards etc, none of which I really understand – but the writers masterfully let us draw our own interpretations of what is going on underneath the gin rummy dialogue – the subtext, the real meaning and purpose of these scenes. We will all make our own possibly different interpretations all of which will be equally valid, none of which may be exactly what the writers intended – but that’s alright.
How we see things wrongly through the POV of Dr & Mrs Dreyfuss in the next door apartment. Misinterpretation is a key part of the story – Baxter’s own misunderstandings, mis-readings of situations, relationships – and others’ misunderstandings of Baxter’s actions and behaviour.
It’s a longish film – 2 hours+ – but the storytelling feels so tight. Not a single wasted scene, not a single scene that doesn’t have real story value, that alters the story status quo significantly.
SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE
I watched the final series three episodes of series 3 on the same evening as THE APARTMENT (that’s how to spend New Year’s Eve!). It occurred to me that both THE APARTMENT and SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE are about deeply ordinary central characters – people living small, unexceptional lives, struggling to find their way and to find fulfilment. And Sam in SOMEBODY SOMWHERE and CC Baxter in THE APARTMENT are two of the most engaging, enjoyable characters you could wish to spend time with. Neither character is ambitious in the conventional sense – but they’re both looking for meaning in their lives, both are to some extent lost – and this lack of personal resolution and the struggle to correct this is all you need to create a deeply memorable and enjoyable central character.
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I’ve been working with a writer on a multi-stranded story which wasn’t quite coming together. Individual scenes were brilliant but the story didn’t quite coalesce – it felt like separate story strands fighting each other for our attention. But this writer finally nailed it – story is quite simply about connection – it’s about one thing leading to another to another and so on. It’s about actions and events generating consequences; and this chain of connection spiralling upwards with increasing dramatic intensity as things come to a head.
It’s sometimes difficult to see how a theory / idea like this can be applied to your own work – to achieve that objective clarity of vision about the stories that are inside you. Finally this writer felt this idea – and suddenly this succession of excellent scenes, with minimal changes – in fact mainly cuts – turned into a wonderfully engaging, moving story about a family and its history.
SCREENWRITING – THE CRAFT AND THE CAREER by PHILIP SHELLEY
A reminder that my screenwriting book is now available for pre-order from Nick Hern Books and officially published on Thursday January 23rd. More about this in the next newsletter!
https://www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/screenwriting
https://script-consultant.co.uk/screenwriting-book/
SCRIPT READING AND DEVELOPMENT Q&A
I am now taking bookings for the next SCRIPT READING & DEVELOPMENT Q&A which will take place on zoom on the evening of Tuesday January 28th (6-8.30pm).
Three of the max eight spaces are currently available.
This is an opportunity to look deeper into work as a script reader, development executive, script editor, etc and to discuss your plans for getting or increasing work in this sector – as well as a chance to meet other like-minded people in an informal setting.
https://script-consultant.co.uk/script-reading-development-qa/
The next newsletter will be with you on Friday January 24th,
Best wishes
Phil
PHILIP SHELLEY
Twitter, BlueSky: @PhilipShelley1
Friday January 12th 2025
