I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as the scene played out.
Why is he still walking?
Despite my attempts to will this guy to stop, the character on screen just kept walking. And we saw him walking from all kinds of angles.
Character enters the courtyard from an overhead angle, camera perched two floors above.
CUT TO: low angle shot of Character as he walks past the camera.
CUT TO: a pan from behind some railing to reveal Character, still walking through the courtyard.
CUT TO: Shot from behind of the Character walking away from camera.
CUT TO: original, overhead shot of Character as he exits the courtyard.
Good grief, it was exhausting to watch. And pointless. Nothing at all happened in the scene that was of any relevance to the story.
And this was my film!
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I was sitting in one of my collegiate film production classes as our instructor screened and critiqued each project. My film was called Valediction and was a drama about a college student dealing with the grief of his father’s sudden death.
And as I think back now to that moment, watching my main character walk through that courtyard… and walk some more… and continue to walk, I can’t help but think of George Lucas’ reaction after screening The Phantom Menace for the first time:
I could see that I had overdone it without anyone having to point it out to me. And it was in that moment that I learned an important lesson about storytelling:
Economy…
Allow Dr. Ian Malcolm to explain it in his own words:
Like the Jurassic Park scientists, I was excited about the possibilities that digital filmmaking afforded me. Remember that, until college, my entire movie-making experience had been completely analog — shooting on VHS tape and editing linearly with two VCRs.
Editing was labor-intensive for me. So, a lot of my shots were locked off, my cast of friends and family acting out each scene much like a stage play. That meant that I wouldn’t have to splice shots together later, which saved time (ironically my movies were way more economical then).
But when I finally had access to non-linear editing software, suddenly a new world opened up to me. I could shoot as much coverage as I wanted to. It was quick and easy to splice shots together and the edits were seamless. I didn’t have to worry about seeing the annoying tracking line on each edit point when the control track was misaligned.
I knew about coverage very early in my attempts at making movies with friends, even if I didn’t know the term. I understood (by watching a lot of films) that directors employed different camera angles to edit a sequence together and tell a well-rounded story. And so when I got to college and I was exposed to non-linear editing, I took advantage.
But, like George Lucas with The Phantom Menace, I went too far in places.
It’s easy to shoot coverage; to capture the same action from multiple angles, again and again…
…but it shows a sense of auteur maturity to tell a story economically; understanding how to maintain positive forward momentum and hold the interest of your audience; to know when you’ve got it.
You may not realize it consciously when you’re watching a movie, but I think most people can tell that a movie feels different when in the hands of an economic filmmaker.
I still think about that scene in Valediction — a pointless over-shot sequence of a college student walking across a courtyard — as a reminder to be economical. In reality, I didn’t even need that scene. The better choice would have been to simply cut to the interior of his dorm room when he first received the phone call about his dad.
There are two moments I want you to notice in this scene from Spectre (sorry this clip isn’t in English, but you don’t need to understand what they’re saying for this exercise).
The first comes about :06 in to the clip. James Bond is standing at the window of his apartment. The bell rings. Someone is at his door. Bond turns. Then CUT TO: Bond opening the door to reveal Miss Moneypenny. We didn’t need coverage of Bond walking all the way across the room to open the door.
The second moment comes toward the end of the clip, around the 2:28 mark. Moneypenny has wrapped up her conversation with Bond. There are no “good-byes,” no, “Let me see you out,” no chit-chat. We just cut directly to Moneypenny, already outside, walking down the street.
Just get the story moving. And keep it moving. Tell us what we need to know, when we need to know it. Get in. Get out.
Your audience (and especially your film instructor) will thank you.