The genre of least resistance

alex whitmer

alex whitmer

Veteran
Guns.

Not being a card-carrying member of the X-box generation, I have a hard time trying to tell the difference between all the guns and ammo films.

I've decided ....

X-box is a goverment conspiracy to get a vast majority of young males (and a few tomb-raider chicks) so into guns and large body counts, that they happily march off to war at the push of a button. I could be wrong. Usually am.

What I am NOT seeing is young filmmakers building a resume of genre variety.

Where's the command of capturing human emotion, drama through body language, or through clever dialogue, or making stories of simple pleasures interesting? When the best part of the film is the shoot-em-up scenes, and the rest feels like filler between these scenes, it ceases to be a film, and instead becomes an elaborate 'take off' on any given ultra-violent video game.

Yea? So?

Sorry, but filming the same action drama over and over and changing the title doesn't make you a FILMMAKER. Push yourself to work outside your own comfort zones.

A

www.alexwhitmer.wordpress.com



Diaper backwards spells repaid. Coincedence?
 
That's EXACTLY how I feel about some of the major SUCCESSFUL directors today (i.e. Michael Bay - even Spielberg. I remember years ago when Speilberg said "How is it that my films are up for Best Picture but I'm never up for Best Director?" - I screamed at the TV "Because staging action and having cameras and actors hit thier marks is NOT necessarily great direction!"). Hey - I should be such an untalented filmmaker! Gotta hand it to those guys though - they have their fingers on the pulse of what is marketable - and, like they say, it ain't called Show BUSINESS for nothin'.
 
Truth hurts

Truth hurts

Oh so true. Can't argue with success IF bucks is the benchmark one is striving for. Usually is.

I call it the box office orgasm, others call it damn good marketing.

But are they truly great films when analuzed under a microscope? Um, well, to speak frankly ....

And since we're on the subject ....

In all seriousness, is Titanic a really good movie, or just an awsome feat of SFX? The acting was mediocre, the story predicatble (no, I don't mean predictable because the ship sank), and the dialogue stale. Great movie, say in the league of To Kill a Mockingbird or Casablanca? Hardly.

A
 
I've got to say I agree with Spielberg regarding his treatment in the 70s and 80s. In hindsight it's definitely clear that the Academy is as prone to being pretentious snobs as anybody else.

Look at what happened to him:

Jaws: If you don't think that's some great direction than all I can say is "pull your head out of your ass." The poor bastard doesn't even get a nomination. To be fair the deck was stacked that year with Kubrick, Altman, Fellini, and Lumet but it's still a slap in the face. You want to honor Fellini, fine, give him a lifetime achievement award, don't screw over somebody who's deserving.

Close Encounters: Loses to Woody Allen for Annie Hall, ran into a buzz saw on that one.

Raiders: Loses to Warren Beatty for Reds and Chariots of Fire wins best picture. If there's anything that shows just how out of touch the board is than this is it. Is there anything more irrelevant than Chariots of Fire? Good call there!

ET: Loses to Richard Attenborough for Gandhi which also wins best picture, what a joke. Does anybody still watch Gandhi, I think not.

How could you compare the guy who made these great movies, and Schindler's List, to some hack like Michael Bay? It's ridiculous.

Who are you even talking about? You aren't wasting your time attacking Brett Rattner are you? That's like booing at the Special Olympics.
 
Young film makers will naturally try to imitate established film makers, just as in any other field (art, music, writing, etc).

And sadly, when a film maker wants a few million to make their first movie, an established genre like 'Action' is going to appeal more to nervous investors than something truly original.

And even more sadly, for every film enthusiast wanting to see something original, there are a dozen teenagers who'd rather watch two hours of stuff blowing up.
 
i agree but i also don't think all those indie / sundance type movies with some dysfunctional family or some affliction is any more original of a genre than shoot em up action movies. i think a good filmmaker can transcend any genre limitations and just make a good movie.

i think one reason why people are drawn to action movies (making and watching) is because film is a visual medium. not that you can't convey human emotions and drama and comedy visually, but an action movie won't work as a stage play or a novel.

also, action and horror tend to be good genres for beginning filmmakers because if you're resourceful, you can make it on a budget, and there is enough demand worldwide so that you have a chance to make some money.

but yeah, i don't want to keep seeing the same thing over and over. i would love for filmmakers to stop recycling the same shots and the same storylines and do somethng fresh and new. this goes for action as well as every other genre. i think it comes down to this; that it's really hard to do!
 
I think bringing up Spielberg and Michael Bey is really off-topic. Alex's question is squarely directed at young/aspiring filmmakers.

I must admit I'm quite often struck by just how many aspiring filmmakers churn out derivative mush that seems aimed at the lowest common denominator.

But I have to remind myself that none of this really matters. If you don't like emo or hip hop or alt country do you bemoan the aspiring musicians working in those genres? Obviously people try to recreate what they like. For any young artist this is of crucial importance - I think you have to imitate your idols for many many years before you can develop your own style. It's just that: development.

The important thing is to not worry about what other people are doing and to concentrate on your own work.

Sorry, but filming the same action drama over and over and changing the title doesn't make you a FILMMAKER.
Click to expand...

The thing is, the people who are doing this stuff will either a) mature and develop and explore the beautiful world of cinema outside action rubbish, or b) fail to get anywhere and eventually give-up, retreating to a solid career in wedding videos.* And we'll never have to watch their stuff again.

A final thought: if you broke down cinema in terms of genre, box office earnings, demographics etc. then action films would probably represent a huge chunk of the industry. So it stands to reason that the majority of young/aspiring filmmakers try to ape this style - it's what they like. Very few people actually appreciate how wide the possibilities are in cinema. There really are millions of different ways to skin a cat, but so few people realise this.

*Just a joke. Really. I have nothing against people who do wedding videos - f**k, I do them too. So don't go getting offended and/or flaming me.
 
PS. Almost a week ago I posted in this same part of the forum asking if there are any writers who are fans of 24 Hour Party People, Tristram Shandy etc.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=106085

So far only 21 views and no replies.

28,877 members of DVXuser.com. Easily one of the most important filmmaking forums on the internet. And I can't even find one person who shares my interest in these films.
 
I've written in many genres so far and continue to push myself to try every one. I think the only way to really be a "great" is to work in as many different genres as possible, because ultimately, no matter the genre, we are all telling one story: that of the human experience. It simply comes in many shapes and forms, but it is always a story of the status quo and the other.

I've been commissioned to write two screenplays, and both are about as wildly different as I could imagine, and both are very much out of my "comfort zone" (if I were to define that, it would be more like happy-go-lucky comedies), but I am learning far more this way. It's a challenge, and what I manage to complete will go in very different directions. If you want alifetime career, you need to be able to work in many areas.

But that isn't for everybody.
 
And who doesn't like a good action movie now and then? They're great for foreign distrib in many cases even if they stink badly. Maybe it's not for love of film that they are created, but that's filmmaking.
 
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