Writing and Directing Tips from Greta Gerwig
Are you listening to your characters and collaborators?
Writing and directing is an exploration into your own hopes, dreams, and desires and how you can communicate those through your characters to an audience. One of the most exciting voices doing this right now is Greta Gerwig.
She's the mind behind Frances Ha, Mistress America, Lady Bird, and Little Women, but she still needed to find the courage to get out of her own head and attack directing. She has a lot of knowledge and tips to share on both writing and directing.
Check out this video from Outstanding Screenplays, and let's talk after the jump.
Watching this video, I gained an immense appreciation of the stark honesty with which Gerwig answers questions and gives advice. She's always rooting for the best ideas to be made and for filmmakers to find the courage to tell the stories that mean something.
I love the idea that story structure is ingrained in us as our birthright. Our life has beats and moments that help us see the structure within stories themselves. And that characters can be the brave and courageous versions of ourselves, doing things we might not ever get the chance to do.
At the core of Gerwig's storytelling and directing is a simple question I think we should all ask ourselves: "What excites me?"
After all, filmmaking is our chance to get an audience to empathize with our understanding of the world and to impart our point of view. When we figure out what excites us, we can dig into the nitty-gritty of the idea. One thing she searches for is that feeling of, "I can't believe no one has made this movie!" That's how she chooses ideas to direct and to see to the end of the cycle.
Gerwig does all this while never shying away from the emotion of the story. She wears her heart on her sleeve and unabashedly puts all she has onto the screen. I think that lends itself to the most important tip in the video.
What did you learn from the video and Gerwig's films? What are some key lessons you think every writer and director should heed?
Let us know in the comments.
Source: Outstanding Screenplays