Comments on: Writing Novels Easy, Making Films Hard

By: wandering-dreamer

wandering-dreamer — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:20:15 +0000

Wow, I should’ve looked at the directors name again, now I feel like an idiot.

By: Justine

Justine — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 08:22:52 +0000

wandering-dreamer: The Host is South Korean, not Japanese.

Celia: I’m so pleased. I think the movie is pretty much perfect.

By: Celia

Celia — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 07:03:54 +0000

I definitely wouldn’t have picked up The Host if it weren’t for this blog post, as I didn’t think monster movies were really my thing. But I did, and it was awesome, so thank you for recommending it

By: wandering-dreamer

wandering-dreamer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:48:38 +0000

Lol, I looked at the trailer for that and it looks so quintessentially Japanese, except for the shot guns. Might have to check that out next Halloween, not a big monster fan though so I should grab some friends to watch it with me. And I actually wouldn’t mind having to go on location to get research for writing, I’d rather be outside having an adventure than sitting inside writing all day.

By: Summer

Summer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:37:13 +0000

I love The Host! And yeah, after watching a few film docs, I found myself thinking the same thing.

By: Mel

Mel — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:46:38 +0000

And when you write, you don’t need to spend an hour setting up a single shot…

By: Tamara

Tamara — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:25:43 +0000

wow. I’m going to have to take a look at that movie.

And yes…I’d much rather write books.

By: Mary Elizabeth S.

Mary Elizabeth S. — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:39:01 +0000

I’ve taken a couple of writing workshops that focused on how to apply tricks of movie-making to your writing. Stuff like how direction or shapes can influence the viewer/reader.

For example, movement to the left or upward (actor crossing the screen from right to left, character reaching up for something) is subtly perceived as difficult, whereas movement to the right or downward is subtly perceived as easier. With shapes, it’s about curves and lines. Curves or round shapes are perceived as organic and soft, whereas lines or edges or squares are thought of as hard and usually inorganic. (Hey…Clankers vs. Darwinists, anyone?)

The fun part, though, is that none of that stuff makes for hard and fast ques. They’re just suggestions, and other elements (light, color, space) can alter them to give a different message entirely.

~Mary

By: Travis

Travis — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:51:23 +0000

I own that movie, just haven’t watched it yet. Right now I’m going through all of the seasons of Angel. I may take a break now though because The Host sounds really interesting.