It’s rare that I get to just sit back and enjoy a movie or a show these days. If you’re like me, you’re constantly breaking down the story already, trying to understand the character’s motives and looking for arcs and checking out the cool dialogue and trying to guess the ending and writing run-on sentences.
So if you’re one who loves having movies spoiled, come on in my friend! Let’s take a look at the ways I personally study movies.
Start with Step 0 and watch the program once.
Let that experience be PURE.
Remember, this is a medium that is meant to entertain first and foremost. Let that first viewing experience be one free of distractions as much as you possibly can.
I mean it. No phones, no doorbells, no treats for naughty puppies blocking the TV.
Alright, now that you’ve had one great viewing experience, time for a second!
Grab dat, pen and paper.
When I’m watching a show, I’ll write down scenes, characters, clever bits of dialogue, etc. Anything that really helped lay a strong foundation that brought me in as a viewer.
I’ll often number the scenes, give a brief one-sentence summary of what happens and take note of who wants what and how they did or didn’t get what they were looking for.
I’ll notate great scenes that really reveal character as well.
As an example, when watching the first episode of Downton Abbey (spoilers kind of?) there’s a point when we’re not quite sure if we’re going to keep following this Lord Grantham guy around. Then there comes this moment in the last few minutes of the pilot where he stops Bates from leaving. I practically jumped out of my seat when this happened. It was such a damn powerful moment and I knew afterward, that the audience would absolutely care about [AND TRUST] this guy and the decisions he made.
…Or would they? Watch the whole series to find out!
The best part about every subsequent rewatch will be all the pausing and rewinding that you’ll do. And what will you discover?
You’ll start to notice the way characters say things and how they both movie the sequence along AND reveal who they are.
You’ll see just how late one can arrive at a scene and how early they can leave, which will assist in cutting down your own scenes.
You’ll discover the power of those dangling moments as the commercial gets cut to or not depending on the service you’re watching.
Most importantly, you’ll start to integrate what you’ve learned into your future writings!
The world is your burrito Beef N Cheddar.
Enough from me.
What else have you learned while rewatching your favorite shows and movies?
Anything jump out at you the second, third, fourth viewing? Share in the comments below!
