• From: Farmington, CT
  • Registered: 2010-05-08
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Topic: You know what you guys should have?

This might be something for DiF 3.0. Have a page that explains, in no uncertain terms, what the elements of a good movie are. It would be a great resource for people who are writing scripts (like I am), who need some great DiF advice but don't remember from which episode the best bits of advice came from. Heck, it could be something that I share with my writer friends that could introduce them to the show. Thoughts?

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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  • Eddie
  • Laser Fists
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  • From: Van Nuys, CA
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Re: You know what you guys should have?

I would be a bit hesitant to do that.  I think our glossary sets up our terms and provides context for what we look for, but I think if there's one lesson we've learned over the course of our run is that there's no real recipe for a good movie.  I view it as that good movies tend to have certain things in common, as opposed to there being some sort of instruction manual for a good film.  There are many films where things technically shouldn't work, but sometimes do.  Sometimes a movie doesn't break any rules at all, but can still lack a certain magic that would make it memorable.  The path to a bad movie is a lot easier to identify than that of a good one.  Maybe my fellow DiF'ers disagree, but that's how I see it.

Eddie Doty

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  • Teague
  • Teague
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Re: You know what you guys should have?

We should focus some Intermission time to this, though, I think. Maybe we do a couple of those this weekend. Frame it as "after nearly two entire weeks worth of talking about movie structure, how would you approach __________" questions.

None of us are out to write a book, but I think we could at least discuss the thought process and order of operations we'd use personally.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • Eddie
  • Laser Fists
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Re: You know what you guys should have?

I agree with this.  This sort of question, I think, is better suited to a conversation amongst a few of us versus one document written by one person, even if it had input from others.

Eddie Doty

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  • Trey
  • Trey
  • A Grizzled Old Dick With Stories To Tell
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Re: You know what you guys should have?

The DiF movie good-movie theology is just a loose amalgamation of the theories of Goldman, Mamet, Snyder, Field, McKee, etc.   But I agree that it's well worth discussing for an Intermission or two.    For example, the pros and cons of all those screenwriting books - although we disparage the late Mr. Snyder sometimes, we also quote him a lot, what's up with that?

On that note, now that the State of California caused Amazon to cancel the affiliate program, have we done away with the "Recommended Reading" links entirely?   Still would be good to have a list of books we recommend for folks who want to know more about this silly business.   Even if we don't get a penny for every sale.

Trey's Website

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  • From: Buffalo, NY
  • Registered: 2010-01-08
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Re: You know what you guys should have?

On this note, the Intermission episodes really should have episode titles or at least the topics discussed. Once you have fifty of them, people are going to want to pick and choose from the eventual RSS feed. (apart from this forum, I rarely go to the website of podcasts I listen to)

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

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