The Lost Art of Storytelling

For the past several weeks Fox has had its new reality show 'On the Lot' bringing up-and-coming directors into the limelight. Some have some innovative ideas, some are special effects wizards, some are pretty funny, and even a few have style. But what is glaringly obvious is that none of them seem to understand the heart of storytelling. And that is the major problem with Hollywood movies.

Look, we've all said it - "It wasn't a great movie, but it was fun. It was entertaining. Sometimes I just want to have mindless entertainment." Fair enough. Yes, I said it, fair enough. But porn is mindless entertainment. Quite fun too, I imagine. Films, at their very basic core, are stories. And the problem with the storytellers is that they are directors, more concerned with scenes, visual personifications, and gimmicky wow factor BS that manipulates audiences' emotions.

This is evident in 'On the Lot' when guest judges (Hollywood movie makers) critique the short films of contestants. Only Wes Craven has provided any clear insight for the young directors. Craven actually made a statement about a film where the characters lacked causality (not his exact term, but that's what he meant). While it's fun to see what these directors are able to come up with in just a week, it's also exposing how lost Hollywood really is when it comes to storytelling. And there is absolutely NO constructive criticism. It's a popularity contest. After all, Hollywood is high school with cigars.

And so, here are a few thoughts about writing and storytelling from some famous dead, nearly dead, and never dead people. Enjoy.

"Many books require no thought from those who read them, and for a very simple reason; they made no such demand upon those who wrote them."
- Charles Caleb Colton (1780 - 1832), Lacon, 1820
(The same is true for movie makers)

"Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard."
- Daphne du Maurier (1907 - 1989)
(Directors drench their movies with their "style" and often kill the story)

"The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think."
- Edwin Schlossberg

"Please write again soon. Though my own life is filled with activity, letters encourage momentary escape into others lives and I come back to my own with greater contentment."
- Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, A Woman of Independent Means
(This is why we love movies so much)

"It's not enough to create magic. You have to create a price for magic, too. You have to create rules."
Eric A. Burns, Gossamer Commons, 06-15-05

"Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it."
- Jesse Stuart
(Hollywood suits always try mass appeal because it will sell more tickets, and we end up with crap)

And finally, let's end with F. Scott Fitzgerald. Why? Because it's my blog, that's why.

"Begin with an individual, and before you know it you have created a type; begin with a type, and you find you have created - nothing."

"Draw your chair up close to the edge of the precipice and I'll tell you a story."

"Find the key emotion; this may be all you need know to find your short story."

"To have something to say is a question of sleepless nights and worry and endless ratiocination of a subject - of endless trying to dig out of the essential truth, the essential justice."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald