One if the best pieces of writing advice I was given at college was, action moves things along.
This dropped into my mind again tonight as I was talking to a friend about a short film I’m in the process of putting together, (a cutesy story you’ll all love, am sure!)
Can I be in the sequel? they joked. I thought about it, the character becomes good at the end of the short, and so, there’s nowhere for it to go for there to be a sequel. There will be no sequel. Good = boring, I text back.
Although this was all a joke text conversation, it’s a relevant story to tell here, besides I haven’t blogged in foreverever.
The weekend found me at what is fast becoming my second Edinburgh home, the Cameo Cinema, I saw two films, three actually but only two are relevant, I don’t want to be reminded of the strange tale that was The Master. The films in question were Breaking Dawn pt 2 and Argo.
Breaking Dawn was the last in a long, drawn out money spinning run of the Twilight Saga. I don’t know why it was made. I don’t know why they split it into two films, anymore than I know why Twilight is 4 books and not 3. My guess is thats it’s down to money making. For all it’s long awaited ness, it was a let down. Mainly shot in the Cullen’s house, it was boring, they didn’t move anywhere. Aside from the battle scene which pulled the movie back by the skin of its teeth, it came too little, too late. Sad to say that Twilight has had it’s day, and yes, I am a fan. I didn’t need to wait a year for a straight to DVD film.
Argo on the other hand, wowee! I cried, I laughed, I bit my nails, it was everything a movie should be. Of course there were dodge parts, namely the ‘groovy’ haircuts and outfits of the 6, reminded me of Scooby Doo, but it’s good, I like Scooby Doo.
But what Argo did was keep things moving and provide lots of action. We discussed the story after, you couldn’t have made that story up. As newbie scriptwriters and writers we’re all looking for ideas, Argo is a brilliant idea, but if it was made up, people would have laughed. “A what? Hahaha!”
However, what is clear is that Argo was made into a film, events were dramatised for viewing, to tell the story, action was added to have you on the edge of your seat.
For a good, clear piece of advice on what a fab, old fashioned, thriller should look like, see Argo!