{"id":522,"date":"2018-02-19T18:01:53","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T01:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/?p=522"},"modified":"2018-02-19T18:01:53","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T01:01:53","slug":"directors-close-up-storytellers-writers-and-directors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/2018\/directors-close-up-storytellers-writers-and-directors\/","title":{"rendered":"Directors Close Up: Storytellers: Writers and Directors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-508\" src=\"http:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/DCUlogo-e1518207645549.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"127\" \/>Week two of Directors\u00a0Close\u00a0Up:\u00a0Storytellers: Writers and\u00a0Directors featured writers Mike White and David Branson talking about their methodology for writing scripts. It\u2019s common knowledge that writing a feature-length movie script or a season of TV series is no easy feat. Mike White talked about different events that influenced his thinking. One specific scene from a film he wrote, <em>Beatriz at Dinner<\/em>, features a man talking rather proudly at a dinner party about being an animal poacher. Mike talked about how he imagined what might happen at a dinner party where someone spoke about doing something like that? What would happen? David also spoke about how scenes with little dialogue may seem easy, but are in fact the hardest of all to write. Having a character talk to themselves or to try to create a natural awkward conversation presents many challenges to writers. \u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad<\/p>\n<p>Something I found particularly interesting was the different writing styles these two have. Mike has the need to write early in the day and have a sense of accomplishment. If he doesn\u2019t write anything before noon, his day is wasted. David\u2019s style involves a rhythm and discipline. To help him write, he likes to do the same thing every day, at the same time, in the same location. It may range from going to a coffee shop every morning, to swimming in the ocean every day.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-523 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Jennifer-Cochis-Mike-White-David-Branson-Smith-Stage-FS.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"247\" height=\"165\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Jennifer-Cochis-Mike-White-David-Branson-Smith-Stage-FS.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Jennifer-Cochis-Mike-White-David-Branson-Smith-Stage-FS-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Jennifer-Cochis-Mike-White-David-Branson-Smith-Stage-FS-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Jennifer-Cochis-Mike-White-David-Branson-Smith-Stage-FS-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 247px) 100vw, 247px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The two also talked about the relationship between director and writer. The writer creates this story and it\u2019s the director\u2019s job to be able to interpret and project it in a way that will be enjoyed and understood by viewers. Both talked about how they see their scripts as their children. Giving away something they love is rather difficult. And, seeing it transformed into something unrecognizable causes a mix of emotions, just like seeing your child grow into adulthood.<\/p>\n<p>The take away for me is that a film\u2019s writer has the biggest influence on the story. But in many ways, the smallest influence on the audience. Looking into a writer\u2019s world can truly reveal a new side of watching films.<\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: right;\">From left to right: Moderator Jennifer Cochis,<br \/>\nWriter Mike White, and Writer David Branson Smith<br \/>\nImages courtesy of WireImage and Film Independent<\/h6>\n<p>By Gerry O., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 15<\/p>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Week two of Directors\u00a0Close\u00a0Up:\u00a0Storytellers: Writers and\u00a0Directors featured writers Mike White and David Branson talking about their methodology for writing scripts. It\u2019s common knowledge that writing a feature-length movie script or a season of TV series is no easy feat. Mike White talked about different events that influenced his thinking. One specific scene from a film [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-critics-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":531,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions\/531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}