Film School

This can be a hard one to dig deep and engage with, but it's a really important question. Fear affects us all, and it affects us the most when we don't even know it's there. It kills creativity, it makes us act irrationally, and it lies by telling us that it's protecting us. So, what are you afraid of? And how does it hold you back? We dig deep this week!

When you're a jet, you're a jet all the way! One of the definitive musicals of the 50s stage takes to the silver screen in the epic-ly scaled and shot masterpiece from Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The dancing is spectacular, and the cinematography is cutting edge, standing up even to this day. The love story is the beating heart…does that stand up as well? We break it down this week! *snap* *snap* *snap*

Here are the 6 Core Questions from the story breakdown section:

1. What is the Beginning Hook, Middle Build, and Ending Payoff?

2. What is the Genre?

3. What are the Obligatory Scenes and Conventions of the Genre?

4. What is the POV?

5. What are the objects of desire?

6. What is the Controlling Idea/Theme?

And here is the article from the Story Grid website that explains each of these questions: https://storygrid.com/an-editors-six-core-questions/

The Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Hindu epic, tells us that we are entitled only to our WORK. We are not entitled to the FRUITS of our work. So...what does that mean? And *is* there wisdom in detaching ourselves from expected results? What if we work forever and never see anything come back? What if keeping our eye on the prize ruins the work? What if we get the prize...and it doesn't make us feel what we thought it would? We really get into it this week, wrestling with this ancient edict; easily our most back and forth conversation yet. Don't miss it!

You talkin to me? You talking to ME?! Martin Scorcese may have broke through with Mean Streets, but it was this classic DeNiro collab that cemented him as a cinematic force. And the same for DeNiro, who was becoming the biggest star of the silver screen at the time. He's sensational as the unstable Travis Bickle, and Marty shows off all his best tricks: narration, moody lighting and music, and explosive violence. We break it all down, this week!

Boundaries; the line between me and them, and I get to draw it wherever I want. But...where do I draw it? Who and what do I need to keep separation from? And how do I keep that separation when the line is inevitably tested or crossed? These are all questions that are crucial to a healthy balance in life and in writing. Boundaries are an indispensable part of creativity, and they take many, many forms. Josh and Ira explore what those are this week!

The "Sometimes it just takes awhile to click" Cutting Room Floor Ira references is episode #038, which you can check out here!

Russian Roulette. Historical inaccuracies aside, it's director Michael Cimino's central metaphor for the Vietnam War. It's also the pillar around which he builds this epic tale of three normal, blue-collar guys from Pittsburg who live for drinking, women, and hunting deer. 'Nam will change each of them, tragically, forever. Easily one of the most disturbing war films ever made, and certainly the most obsessed with Russian Roulette…how does it hold up?

You're exhausted, but exhilarated. The words are done, they're on the page, and they were perfect. Inspired. A breakthrough! We've all had that writing day. They're magic. We've also all had the opposite: you're exhausted, frustrated, nothing good came out, and you're worrying 'I'm never going to crack this open.' So…how do we get more of the great days, and less of the terrible? Josh and Ira talk about what's working for them!

Don't let him kiss you Hawkeye! Robert Altman's episodic tour through the absurdity of war stars Elliot Gould, Tom Skerritt, and Donald Sutherland as army surgeons who skip seamlessly from elbow-deep blood and guts to chasing tale, antagonizing Nurse Hoolihan, and putting together a football team. Yes. A literal football team. This movie is pretty bonkers…but it's also a pretty profound commentary on WAR! What is it good for?! (absolutely nothing)

How close is too close? How far is too far? Just how close / invested / inside our characters should we go when we're writing their story? As with most things, it's all about a balance? Josh and Ira share how they find that balance in their own writing, what has worked for them, and what hasn't.

Cary Grant stars in (one of) his iconic roles as Roger Thornhill, the very normal, very dapper bachelor thrown into a very abnormal, dangerous game of spies and assassins and femme fatales all because of mistaken identity. Hitch and 50s aesthetic were both at the height of their powers, and it was 3 years before Bond. One of the greatest spy films ever made, if not the best. This week on the 'cast!