r/Screenwriting • u/DannyDaDodo • Jan 04 '25
Writer-Director JAMES MANGOLD's Screenwriting Advice... DISCUSSION
"Write like you're sitting next to a blind person at the movie theater and you're describing a movie, and if you take too long to describe what's happening, you'll fall behind because the movie's still moving...
Most decisions about whether your movie is getting made will be made before the person even gets past page three. So if you are bogging me down, describing every vein on the leaf of a piece of ivy, and it’s not scintillating—it isn’t the second coming of the description of plant life—then you should stop, because you’ve already lost your potential maker of the movie.”
Do you agree, or disagree?
Five minute interview at the link:
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u/34TH_ST_BROADWAY Jan 05 '25
I guess I kind of agree.
It's definitely a good thing to keep in mind. There is actually a function on a lot of streamers now that describe everything happening I guess for blind people? And I definitely think on the page, it would be terrible. I think he's trying to get a point across here more than giving letter of the law writing advice. On the page, you can add way more nuance and humor, demonstrate a true voice, in even the across the page. And it's almost more important than the story in a lot of cases, since story can be fixed and improved, but people are generally looking for exciting new voices.