A good flick once in a while can do you some good
There are a lot of ways in which college students spend their free time. Personally, I watch films. There’s nothing better than a good flick on a boring day. Last year, I probably rented out half the selection in the library and paid a ton of late fees (and accordingly got a Netflix account this year). I love films because they take me away for a couple hours, like a good novel. They inject fear, inspiration, laughter, knowledge and a whole bunch of other things into my day. And as a writer, they teach me a thing or two.
Before I jump into the benefits of watching good films, I really need to define what I mean by a film, or better yet, what I don’t mean. A film is not the summer box office hit you took your girl to. It’s not the action flick with explosions every two minutes and it’s not the drama with the played-out lines any half-conscious person can see coming a mile away. Don’t get me wrong, I dig those movies too––I’d watch Megan Fox in Transformers any day of the week––but that’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about the films you’d never see on Fandango. The films that were never box office hits and that your favorite actor might’ve been in as a 22-year-old nobody. The films all your teachers and professors know about and always recommend. The films you only hear about when they’re racking up Academy Award nominations while you scratch your head, thinking, “When the hell did that come out?” You get the picture.
Besides having the ability to both entertain and to bring about all those aforementioned emotions, these films––for a writer––shed some light on what hooks people; what makes people remember a plot.
It’s easy to think of film and literature as totally different media, given that they don’t work with the same equipment and often take different approaches. That said, I think they’re really related. There’s a reason why some of the greatest films ever made are adaptations of novels. Now as far as I know, the relationship has never been the opposite (i.e. a film turned novel), but that doesn’t mean films aren’t helpful to writers. I think they can benefit the writer who watches more as a student and less as a person seeking entertainment.
To illustrate what I’m talking about, I’ll use one my favorite films, The Usual Suspects. The Usual Suspects is a favorite of mine in the genre of what I like call “knock-you-on-your-ass-films.” To sum it up, it’s a film about a crime retold by a dude in a police station. As the guy is telling the story, it’s all happening on screen and as a viewer you can’t help but be sucked into the plot. It has everything a good story needs: drama, love, greed, highs, lows, and so on. Then at the end, BAM! Turns out dude made the whole story up. Subsequently, you are knocked on your ass.
That was probably the worst movie review ever, but I’m not a critic. When I say to watch as a student, I don’t mean watch as a critic. I mean watch like you’re trying to get something out of it. So when I watched The Usual Suspects for the second time (couldn’t help but be solely entertained the first) I was looking for what moved me during the course of the film. What got me invested in the characters? What was left out or hidden from me? What was revealed? Why is it that, even though I had to pee, I didn’t budge? That’s the type of stuff I’m thinking about, and that’s the kind of stuff I make mental notes about.
And the answers aren’t easy; in fact, it’s really hard to even write about them. But if you watch enough movies, you’ll start to see trends. Which is why I would suggest younger writers with some more free time on their hands to watch some good movies. Check out the list of critically acclaimed ones. TIME has a list, and I’m sure there are plenty more out there. What I’ve found is that once you find a few good ones, there’s a breadcrumb effect and you just keep finding more and more.
