The movie I keep going back to over and over again from this year's award cycle is The Brutalist. It's such an epic that it feels like there are a million lessons locked inside its vaults. Today, I want to focus on three of them that deeply affected me and that I am using to keep myself on the storytelling track now. Let's dive in. - YouTube www.youtube.com 1. Character Drives Narrative I have these words on a Post-it note hanging over my desk. The better and deeper the character, the better the narrative you can tell. There are so many layers in this movie. László Tóth, is complex and flawed. He's a Holocaust survivor, an immigrant, and a visionary architect struggling with his past and his new reality. He has an ego, a deep anger, and an addiction. All these things drive the narrative. So try to focus on creating compelling and multi-dimensional characters who feel real and lived-in. Give us motivations, flaws, desires, and goals that can feel palpable. Audiences connect with characters they understand, even if they don't agree with their choices.2. Plant Subtle Clues Sometimes, you want to use a hammer to tell the audience something, but what I think The Brutalist does so well is that everything is subtle. Plant and payoff is the most important screenwriting lesson. One of the delicate things that the movie places into our world is the idea of László Tóth constantly having his visions disregarded by jealous people. Like the chair...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - 3 days ago