I have found this video helpful thank you

If your story is 90% backstory then you don’t have a story, you have a premise

Why is writing so hard ?

Lol I've tried writing this complex short but it just keeps ending up as a backstory thing so I'm starting to wonder if I've perfected the intro to my first feature 😂

That means that you learn from your mistakes, unlike M Night Schamalayan who seemed to never felt cringe at all from his works.

Well honestly if u set up the hints well enough, a twist would probably work It's mostly that u probably mustn't have a twist if you don't establish your character's motivations properly

I feel personally attacked.😂🙄😳

Leave me alone...

@@johnalexandergifford8751 ouch

Ah

😂

Thank you

Better to watch 'Love, Death and Robots' for lessons.

Nice job.

Yes yes yes :)!

One caveat to this is when it is comedic. South Park "montage song" is one example, but also Hot Fuzz when Angel is traveling to the countryside. The montage is so jarring and disjointed it becomes comedic, throwing the fact it is a montage in your face

@@jaredmaybee4377 Most people see this as a comedy, not a montage, and thus if we look at the full picture this montage doesn't say that is a montage but it says that this is a comedy and thus this is a good montage...

i really like the montages in the Dark series

There was a montage in Parasite?

@@nubivagant3068 Yes, it starts with plan on how to fire old maid and ends by showing blood on the tissue thus convicing mrs park that their maid has TB....

Haha, I fully agree. I was so excited to play that game. Then I did. Then I got rid of it.

How does this miss the point of stories?

How is that perfect timing?

Here here😂😂😂

@@shivamnanchahal4035 for editing?

@@diiii_mondlol😂

Good points!

Philosophy is mundane too.

dont these two approaches boil down to the same thing? the protagonist must choose between two values/sides of the philosophical conflict: their old ways or the new ways introduced in the story

@@kaidne exactly

@@kaidne yup. If they choose the "truth", they'll get rewarded, if not, they'll get punished. Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis.

But you gotta showcase that epic b rolllll!!!

I suspect this is because a lot of people lack access to capable actors, so writing proper dialogue may not be useful, if you haven't got anyone to say the lines.

this video is not a 'short film'?

@@StayFractalesque no

Talks so much but I never heard him say something about his projects , if he has any tho...

Wow you all are incredibly rude.

@@ninja_tony That's what happens when you give crap writing advice...

1.Character has a belief that's wrong. It normally stems from fear or something. Ex. Marlin believing that his over protection is beneficial and good for Nemo. 2. We will throw things at the character so he would change, we basically become a god that's trying to teach this guy a lesson. Ex. Nemo goes to open water, he gets captured. Because of that, we force Marlin to go out of his comfortable world. 3. We basically play with the character. A push and pull. We reinforce his belief. Ex. The sharks, reinforcing that it's dangerous out there. But, we also show test his belief. Ex. The turtles and Dory. 4. It all boils down to the climax in which he would choose what to do. Stick to his belief or abandon it (this is shown by action). Ex. Marlin embodies the theme/truth/what were trying to teach him. Pixar is fucking cruel. Marlin already has nemo, but wait, dory is gonna fucking die, and nemo is the only one that can save her. Marlin embodies the theme even though he can lose his son.He puts trust in him, and it thankfully ended happily.

I would check out "Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times." The best short I've ever seen and a master class in short film making. And it's on KZfaq!

I would recommend Nursery Rhymes and Curfew.

Watch my video on the purpose of conflict.

@@TylerMowery I appreciate the quick reply. Will check it out now!

I've always felt like dropping some of my scripts after a while--the best thing to do is to not give up on it and keep on improving it. If you have a new idea you're really passionate about, it's fine to pursue a new idea

Do the new one if you wanna do it. George RR Martin was writing science fiction but quit halfway when the idea for game of thrones same along and he went with it. If you feel passionate about this new idea, work on it, and maybe in the future you may lurk back to the old one. You have to follow the flow of your creativity otherwise it's all forced.

@@forfunely1240 yeah, sometimes its time to quit in order to pursue a better idea

Ive seen it recommended in a lot of books to have a few pet projects you jump between to keep it fresh.

My advice: take a break, create another first draft or outline of another story and come back to the first story after a little while, might be a matter of hours or month. This will have two effects: no more over-exposure effect that can be sometimes problematic to creativity and you will have a new and fresh viewpoint of you story far more productive than if you had just keep working on it. This can be the difference between just clearing some common little mistakes and ereasing structure issues.

@@c4n940 thanks but I've tried that, I either have the same problem as described above or I see a completely new take on it which basically is a new idea and the problem above is repeated

@@benjaminread5287 the latter in your initial post. Save a copy of your first draft and operate on the duplicate. Cut, rewrite, edit etc. It saved my life because I could never imagine rewriting the same story again for any textbook reason. You’ll get the same results or even better oppose to the other because if you aren’t trained to do that your story can take a major turn without knowing before it’s to late. Secondly, professionals approve of this and said it helps. Lastly, there aren’t any rules to this subjective world.

@@Sanctionedboss lol, thanks. But what professionals? I've heard many talk on this matter and all of them say that rewrites are necessary. Even Taika Waititi, who hates writing rewrites (though he waits about 5 years before doing so)

@@benjaminread5287 rewrites are obviously necessary but you can find and correct mistakes on the first draft without starting over if you think that works for you.

Most ppl aren't tarantino tho

@@seanosullivan4935 so ?

@@tareklegrand7747 so STFU buddy

right, but there is a lot more than just that, it's not just them talking about it - there is a lot of onscreen action going on.

@@feebee6810 sure but there's much more action offscreen as what they said about mr Blonde.

Give them small obstacles that are an objectification of their lifestyle. We probably won’t care about the exact daily routine but the bigger picture, meaning the general lifestyle which is a result of their world view. Create contrast in the interactions between the two characters.

No. Please, just no. Let me guess: character 1 wakes up to the alarm clock and sluggishly hits the snooze button. He gets up. He brushes his teeth. He eats 1 fried egg. He leaves his house. Character 2 leaps out of bed and runs to the bus, already fully dressed. These people are DIFFERENT! Please never do a daily routine. Always mise en scene...start with the action. Now if character 1's daily routine is to feed the gimp housed in the cage in his dungeon, MAYBE an exception can be made and that's only because it shows the...uniqueness...of the character. Montages are almost never good. Rocky montage? Ehhhh...maybe.

Thats not philosophocal conflict. Philosophical conflict is when two opposing beliefs about the world are brought into opposition through characters. A guy doing something he doesnt want to in order to help his family is internal conflict, but its not philosophical conflict. What is the counter argument? Who is making it? Why does that matter? That being said, not every story needs philosophical conflict to work. The purpose of philosophical conflict is to examine the ways in which we should live our lives. If your story has a different purpose then it may require something different.

@@jessegoonerage3999 There is a scene with a police officer...

If you can avoid it or it doesn't add much to the story, try not to add naration.

@@xLightcrystalx I know that but i liked how scorsese used voice overs in his movies.. Thats why asked.

@@athulsanu769 narration in story all comes down to visuals vs dialogue. Let your visuals speak as clearly as the narration.

@@younghoratio6239 yeah i got it. I wrote my first draft with narration and the second draft without it. Then i understood that using narration is so lame.

@@athulsanu769 lol well as long as you find what works for you.

Use your scenery for that. For example a clock in the background or a calendar. Or use things like a date that was talked about and the action shows the day has come. Hope this helps.

It can. Definitely.

Paperman

Documentaries are basically structured like an essay, since they’re just informative video-essays. So start researching there

...and that is why I have 250 movie channels that are included for free with my TV. Philosophical reasoning doesn't have to be deep or central. In his example with the guy selling stolen things, even him struggling with the criminality of it would have accomplished that. But then maybe we find out that he is employed full time with a phd but his niece is battling cancer and their family has to have big money NOW to save her life so now we're supporting his crimes so we have to battle our OWN philosophical reasoning which creates an emotional response which makes a good movie.

Dan Harmon circle works for film any size. It's not a time thing just a structure thing. Hope this helps

I'm already turning it off. Now if it were "A girl SHOWING a story about her experience when she was still in love" then we may be onto something.

I don't think it's a budget thing more so than an air tight film script thing. I think with shorts you can't expect to hit a home run every time with structure like this and to me it's just better to lean into what works best visually in what ever amount of time you have.

A boring movie is boring whether it cost $350 to make or $350mil to make. These are MOVE-ies, not TALK-ies (although I guess since audio came along they are called talkies but that's a coincidence.) If making a movie in 1 day is more important than making a good movie in 8 days, then you'll have a movie that was made in 1 day which nobody will watch so why make it at all? I've made several movies in 1 day and always make sure to show and not tell.

@@HikingWithCooper Sometimes it's just not possible to shoot for 8 days. Lets be straight here. Short films are not even the step required to enter hollywood anymore anyway, as it used to be. So who cares.

I do wanna add that I love all your videos, just that these short film ones just feel, just really poorly considered.

I will also add thats I’ve been teaching a short fiction film class (practical) at a Uni here in Australia for the last 4 years and have become obsessed with single scene (ish) shorts and have can get you a list of incredibly well structured minimal scene shootable short films to use to illustrate a simplified version of the three act structure within a short short - which is distinctly different from a mid short (8-15mins) or long short of 16-30 minutes or the other way to a shorter ‘Skit’ - these times are approximate and the category is more representative of narrative structure than the length.... anyway now I work in tv and the distinction between narrative structure when learning to write the two mediums is night and day....

@@zacka161 I would love to know any short films you really dig zack! I kinda agree with you overall with this video; it feels petty and way too concrete when you say, don't use montage 90% of the time. I'd also love to see Tyler's shorts to see these examples he talks about exercised.

@@bczpkhny while I agree with most of his general points, he is making the same points as in any of his feature videos while not catering to the short film specifics, or understanding the variations of short film length and how this effect narrative, character and world building structure. For example, how to introduce a protagonist, their goals and obstacles, then have them face them, overcome or fail and be changed, all within the space of a single scene, this is on the surface the same as a feature but really not, a short film demands a completeness of the presented arc within a scene, while also doing all of the setup and payoff. It’s not the opening or closing scene of a feature, or even the middle, it’s doing the work of all of them. Which is why it can be difficult and also seemingly why Tyler refers to a TELEVISION SHOW to explain how to write a short. It’s different and it’s wrong.

@@bczpkhny some shorts Jane campions PEEL WHIPLASH original short film Wes Anderson’s HOTEL CHAVALIER THUNDER ROAD short Derek cianfrances Lately There Have Been Many Misunderstandings in the Zimmerman Home (a bit more left field and could be a skit) Dane Mckusker ANGELFISH Jim cumming THE ROBBERY Luci Schroder SLAPPER (a bigger short) Andrew luarich A REASONABLE REQUEST (the absolute funniest awkward movie) And my friend Renee’s film TANGLES AND KNOTS That’s a start but I could keep going. Short films are amazing, and amazingly difficult to make.

I say all humans want something

i agree . it's a short film afterall they are meant to be short. what kind of a "story" you can tell in such a short time ?

I feel ya. Like the VR one. I would actually watch that and it conveys a powerful message, what we do online affects our real life

@@tareklegrand7747 You can definitely tell a structured story in such a short time.

btw i feel another reason to shoehorn in a montage is to show off a song that you like lol

I don't find those goals to be compelling at all. Let's break it down: 1. OK, this one could be a good goal if we understand why she is in and why she can't get out. Is she trapped by a pimp? By the drugs? By her need to choose her own working hours? 99.99% of people have never been prostitutes and I'd say a good portion of those don't have much empathy for them so why do we even like this person? 2. A job? No. That is a throwaway goal. Ooh, she had a glamorous life as a (fill in the blank.) I gloss over at this just like when movies talk about money. "We are going to steal a diamond worth a million dollars I mean a billion dollars no wait it's worth a zillion dollars." Not the high stakes the filmmaker was going for. 3. Unless you're in the 1950s and working for Disney, a "man" is not really a big yet relatable goal anymore. It's more the stuff of a throwaway Lifetime Network movie. What if her goal was to right a wrong she committed? Help a new recruit get out of the life? There's so much more to life on the street than wanting to find Prince Charming. And frankly, as someone who is probably regularly abused by men, I doubt that she in particular would want to find one at all. I think that being a prostitute is already a tragic story so I would suggest avoiding her new job being the tragedy. I would write it as prostituting being a symptom of a more relatable or at least a more global tragedy. Maybe parallel her journey through the biz with a story that everybody goes through with similar goals to what we all have. Personally, I don't have a goal to get off heroin and remain free of most STDs so if those are her struggles, I wouldn't relate and would tune out. But maybe she's trying to get it together so she can get a proper home so the state will give her her kid back and she can drop back in to school to get her Associates degree. Or maybe she's a fish out of water genius with a goal of finishing her phd and working for NASA. Most people probably don't go through that exactly but we understand and emphasize with the individual elements at some level.

I find that to be what horror is. I'm honestly not scared of some guy with a chainsaw chasing me through the woods. That's just dark fantasy and has no bearing in the lives of almost all people, ever. But most people deal with depression and grief which are horrific and, more importantly, relatable.

Youre taking the phrase "show dont tell" too literally. Opening text is no different to voice over. Both are still telling information over demonstrating that fact through the events and interactions of a story. Scenes demobstrating The pressense of the death star and storm troopers occupying various planets unopposed in the name of the empire shows us that the empire has taken over the galaxy. Showing people cowering in fear of them is also showing they are a threat.

@@jessegoonerage3999 Ok good points. But what do you think is better, a voice over, or texts? Like, I know that it’s always better to show instead of tell, but if telling was the only option, what is better in your opinion, a voice over, or texts. Thanks for the response btw.

Good. Writers should learn from formulaic stuff so they can make great stuff. And not just what not to do, but also why you shouldn't do it the way it was done. A bad formulaic film can do something that doesn't work, while a good film can do the same thing but it does work, because the filmmaker understood that thing and decided to add it to their story.