I'm reading a book by David Mamet, a storied Hollywood veteran -- scriptwriter, director, lots of successful movies, lots of stories about Hollywood business and personalities. All delivered with a swift and wicked dose of Jewish humor.
On writing and directing, he has some advice:
Most contemporary directors wake up with "an idea" to the shot list. This is the plan of operations, issued each day, to the crew, and lays out that day's work.
1. Marge enters. Master, Marge and Sheila.
2. Medium shot, Marge and Sheila.
3. Close-up, Marge.
4 Close-up, Sheila.... etc.
It can be observed that most films are today shot thusly. Which is why they are all the same.
Mamet prefers to work from a storyboard. The shots should tell a story, or they aren't really adding much.
See here:
Shot of a man, sitting at a desk, staring off.
His POV: a mantelpiece, an envelope propped up on it.
The man gets up and walks toward the mantelpiece, passing a large window, closed.
Angle, the mantelpiece, the man takes the envelope.
He walks back, taking a letter from the envelope.
Shot of the desk, the man sits, he reads the short letter, he nods, leaves the letter on the desk, and walk out of the shot.
Shot of the closed study door. It opens, a young woman enters.
Her POV, the open window.
Her close-up.
Her POV, the desk, papers fluttering in the winds. The letter we saw earlier, held down by a paperweight.
She walks toward the letter.
Shot of her hand, picking the letter up.
At this point, there has not yet been any dialogue. No introductions, no character development. But there is a story here, and the viewer is already keen to find out what and why. The hook is set in the opening shots.
Pipeson bought this book after we listened to David Mamet being interviewed by Andrew Klavan on Daily Wire. Mamet illustrated the same point in the interview:
Suppose I said, "A priest, a rabbi and a penguin walk into a bar...." Now I have your attention, right? You know that something interesting is about to happen. You are interested in finding out what. This is the job of the opening scene in every story, whether it's a joke, a novel, or a movie.
Andrew Klavan is himself a writer of novels and some screenplays. I read a mystery story by him... the introductory chapter sets the stage in similar way:
A man in a hotel is watching television, absently fingering a handgun. On the television, there is a news story about a young woman who was murdered. Her husband has confessed to killing his wife and disposing her body at the bottom of the lake. Divers are searching.
The man got up from his chair and locked his pistol in its case. He turned off the TV and began packing his suitcase.
I was hooked. I read the rest of the book. I endured all of the opening exposition and character development, with the expectation that I would learn why the guy and the gun were relevant. And by that time, I was interested in the main characters and their stories.
So.... yes. Set the stage with images like the opening shot of a movie. Let those images form some action, suspense, and interest in your reader's mind. Then tell your story.
