Writing Outstanding Shorts

Writing Outstanding Shorts

Script to Screen welcomed three screenwriters into the Writer’s Room in August to discuss the art of the short film. All three had work screening in this year’s ‘Homegrown’ section of the International Film Festival which celebrated an exceptional quality of New Zealand shorts. Shuchi Kothari (Fleeting Beauty, Clean Linen, Coffee and Allah), Tearepa Kahi (The Speaker, Taua) and Louis Sutherland (Dead End, Run) spoke with guest MC Vanessa Alexander about ideas, techniques, collaboration and genre in the short film craft.

Where do ideas come from?
Tearepa felt knowing which ideas would be at their most powerful in short format is a large part of the skill needed to make a good short film. His idea for Taua came to him as he was walking in a forest. He asked himself questions, answered them and so the story progressed; ‘What would be interesting to see in a forest?’ ‘A waka.’ ‘Why would a waka be in a forest?’ ‘Because it is making a journey.’ ‘Why is that journey taking place?’ ‘A waka is long and specifically for war so perhaps a war party are transporting a prisoner.’ Taua is the story of a young man’s journey from one end of a waka to the other, motivated by the challenge of giving water to the prisoner.

Louis searched the past for ideas. While brainstorming for Run, Louis and co-creator Mark Albiston looked at ‘slices of life’ from their own childhoods. They found many potential ‘slices’ but Louis advised that choosing a specific slice is important; ‘The slice has to have depth, characters that can be developed and potential to fill out in different dimensions’.

On the day of the London bombings, Shuchi left that city and her family to return to Auckland. This event motivated her to ask: What is it like to be a young Muslim woman in New Zealand? Who could this young woman be? Coffee and Allah is a character driven film and Shuchi researched her protagonist well before she developed the story. ‘An idea is definitely not a story,’ she said. ‘An idea can be seen, experienced, sensory, or it can be a thought about an issue or a feeling, but a story is much more than that.’ Shuchi advised writers to note down ideas as they come but allow time for them to breathe; instead of rushing to make a story from every idea, return to them later, or better still, let good ones return themselves.

Techniques
Louis showed his script to others and this aided the development process. Questions asked helped to define characters for Louis and Mark and clarified what they should keep, lose, and what resonated with them.

It is often noted that New Zealand scripts are dialogue-heavy. Tearepa’s Taua is notable for its lack of dialogue. ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ said Tearepa, ‘I love dialogue. The conventional rule in film is usually: ‘what can be said in ten words you say in five’, but most of my whanau use fifty words instead of ten, and that’s cool too’; which is why The Speaker boasts a scene with high dialogue flow. But the story of the waka and its journey required silence. A war party with a prisoner does not want to bring attention to itself. Tearepa stressed the decision should not be whether to make a script dialogue-heavy or not, but rather the importance is in the character and world you have created, and that world should determine the manner in which the story is told. Both his stories are high contrast and employed a technique which suited each one – there’s not necessarily one rule for all.

Shuchi bases her shorts on a triangular structure. The apex of the triangle represents what the story is about. One corner of the base, is the central character, the other corner is the outside world. The two sides –the journey of the character and external factors-must lead to the apex where the essence of the story lies. ‘That’s what your film is about and what you commit to,’ said Shuchi. ‘The triangle is a good shape. If there’s a slope it forces me to climb.’

There is a well known saying that ‘film is life without the boring parts’. In spite of this, Louis wrote with heart and turned an ordinary slice of life into a compelling journey. Run depicted a story that Louis had ‘lived and soaked up’ so ‘writing with heart’ came naturally and infused the film with a distinctive tone. Louis and Mark did not want a resolution or happy ending, ‘All people have a past and it’s often not perfect so the film was to show that’ he said. When Louis translated his story into a classic narrative structure of beginning, middle, end, he did it with a ‘thick, hearty dimension’ and Shuchi felt Run is superb because it takes an ordinary slice of life and makes it extraordinary.

How to attract funds?
The screenwriters offered advice for those seeking to fund their short films. ‘There is no substitute for originality and emotional resonance,’ said Tearepa. ‘Put those two into any location or setting and they’ll stand out.’ He advised stripping scripts back to the basics to ensure clarity of characters and story. Shuchi felt that paying attention to the craft of putting a script together pays off. ‘Try and get the beginning, middle and end formula to work before playing with it,’ she said, adding that the 11th draft can often be the first draft. Vanessa suggested striving for elegance, saying, ‘What the filmmaker has to say should be absolutely clear.’ Shuchi agreed that clarity is important and reminded writers to let their work sit for awhile to allow it to become clear.

Who can write about who?
Shuchi believes anyone can write about any character. However, this requires writing with respect, truth and taking time to engage with several people who inform the character. ‘Sometimes characters transcend their cultural and physical traits,’ she said, citing the good Samaritan in Taua as an example. ‘He’s a young Maori boy but his character transcends his culture and gender when we think of it as a story of compassion.’ Shuchi also advised that characters must always be anchored in reality and in truth.’ She encouraged writers who are keen to explore other people’s experiences to commit to research, get regular feedback, and to have empathy towards the truth they’re exploring.

Collaboration - The role of the writer versus the writer/ director
Shuchi started writing shorts to explore producing and creative involvement but she only produces her own work with producing partner Sarina Pearson, thereby retaining complete control over and involvement with her script. This offers Shuchi the opportunity ‘to dig deep’ when writing. However the role of the director is of absolute importance to her and must be someone who will relate to her story. ‘A director should add to the story and take it to another level,’ she said, adding different projects will require different directors and she advised writers to ask potential directors ‘what resonates with them about the script.’

Louis and Mark Albiston have a unique relationship. They grew up together on the Kapiti Coast, attended the same primary school and worked in the same production company. They have an intimate knowledge of each other’s background and learned the craft together. This relationship has given them a strong common language, and they can work quickly and honestly as a team. They cast Run together but on set Louis was acting so he had to remove himself from directing. They cultivated the film together in the editing room and for their next production they will co-direct because that feels right to them.

Tearepa is comfortable writing and directing his own work. ‘When I see a picture, I hear the soundtrack; the writing flows in after.’ Tearepa directed The Speaker, a script given to him by Ainsley Gardner and Cliff Curtis. In the process of developing the film, Tearepa contributed to the script because he identified strongly with a character who apologises to his brother, ‘I’ve got a younger brother and have had to say sorry many times!’ This understanding of the characters allowed Tearepa to add to them and the script became a collaborative one.

Tearepa undertook the roles of both writer and director of Taua but emphasised the need to draw a clear line between the two. ‘I had to divorce myself from the director’s chair because you can limit your writing if you are thinking logistically.’ But Tearepa admits he thinks about the look and the cinematography of his story while writing it. Intimate knowledge of the story and characters enabled Tearepa to cut sections of the shooting script without losing story during the shoot, and he always felt qualified to direct Taua, ‘If it’s within me, I can do anything with it. It’s hard to feel and do the same things with a story if it comes from outside me – the trick is to make it all come from the inside’.

Genre
Vanessa said that ‘coming of age’ is a recurrent theme in New Zealand short films, citing Two Cars One Night, Run, Fog and Clean Linen as examples. Shuchi suggested most films often have a personal take; ‘The present can be too messy and the past is an easier place to rest your head.’ Younger writers will often search their childhoods for subject matter as the memories are fresh. Vanessa said shorts usually require a ‘small moment with big significance’ and these are often more common in childhood.

Tearepa said The Speaker was a story about redemption rather than childhood experiences, and Taua was a good Samaritan/ Hero story. However, Tearepa concedes, ‘Taua might have become a coming of age film because the central character is a young boy.’ But that decision was guided by the world and purpose of the film; a character most at risk during war was needed and a child was the best candidate.

Shuchi suggested that New Zealand writers should experiment with various forms of storytelling. She attended a worldwide short film festival in Toronto recently and said shorts from all around the world - including Morocco and Uzbekistan - used children. This is a universal theme, ‘however the way some were done was completely original and fresh; one was a musical with outlandish fabulous songs,’ she said.

The August Writer’s Room was an opportunity to farewell current Executive Director Rebecca Kunin who is taking maternity leave for the next six months and introduce new Executive Director Simon Marler. Simon said ‘the quality of conversation on craft and experience combined with the warm atmosphere of the Writer’s Room is wonderful to be a part of. I look forward to bringing the screenwriting community many more Writer’s Rooms, starting with ‘Telling Maori Stories’ in September.’

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