Skip to main content

Skype Call with Dennis Kelly

Dennis Kelly is a British scriptwriter, playwright and producer who is perhaps best known for writing the TV series Utopia (2013) and Black Sea (2014).

 Last Friday, a group of Year 2 Film Production students were given the opportunity to talk with Dennis Kelly over Skype, specifically focusing on script-writing. Dennis shared his writing experiences with the group, and gave tips and advice on how to better their writing skills.

 Here are some of the notes I jotted down from the conversation:

  • I'm not interested in what other people want me to do.
  • Part of the (scriptwriting) process is not doing anything and messing around.
  • If you sit in front of a piece of paper for two hours, eventually something will appear on it... I think.
  • I tend to hear character's voices. I don't know a character until they start speaking. Sometimes the situation determines who the people are. Each character needs to be bespoke, not stereotypical. You write accordingly to what the characters say.
  • The trick is not to panic.
  • Fear is a big thing in writing - you're putting your thoughts onto a page only for people to tear it into pieces. But within that comes useful information.
  • Before doing a second draft talk to other people, and get feedback.
  • If you write by hand start with a new page. If you start with a brand new document all the things that need to be on it will appear.
  • I don't like to know too much, but just enough to know where the story's going. As you're writing, ideas come up that might be useful in the future.
  • Forget your future, what are you writing now?
  • I like to do research, but only after I've written something.
  • My perfect writing environment is where people can see me, but don't know what I'm doing.
  • You can't wait for inspiration; you make inspiration happen.
  • Find out what you want to write most in the world, and write about the things that matter most to you.
  • You have to be brave and not be too worried about what people are going to say. We make decisions to be scared, but we shouldn't. It's better to fail at something because you tried, rather than fail because you were to scared to try.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hobbit - Defining the Look

A look into the use of lighting and colour to create emotion. Originally published in 1937, The Hobbit was written by J. R. R. Tolkien. It has since been made into a Trilogy by the film director Peter Jackson consisting of: The Unexpected Journey The Desolation of Smaug The Battle of the Five Armies What is most notable about these films is that they are very different to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Although set in the same universe of Middle Earth, there is a tangible contrast between them.  The Hobbit, some might say, is lighter, funnier and more suitable for children when compared with The Lord of the Rings. This being said, J. R. R. Tolkien did write the book for children and it was aimed at young readers around the ages of 9 and 10. One difference, for example, is the use of lighting and colour - which is used as a n extension of a particular character -  to provoke an emotional response from the audience. In general, the film is brightly lit,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gasman - the Importance of Trust between Characters

Gasman is a short film made in 1998 by Lynne Ramsay about a man who lives two lives. The film is shown mainly through the eyes of his daughter, in an innocent but hard-hitting way. It's the Christmas season. With her mom's help, Lynne, a girl of perhaps eight, dresses up; her younger brother Steven plays with a toy car. The children leave with their dad, who's affectionate with them. They walk down a railroad track where an unkempt woman waits with two children, about the same age as Lynne and Steven. The children go with them. They're all headed to a holiday party at a pub. Lynne notices that the girl acts all too familiar with her dad. What's going on?   Plot Summary - IMDB The film has an observant feel to it, like the camera itself is a 'third person' watching the plot unfold - sometimes from a distance and other times up close. The camera is mostly hand-held, free in a documentary style. It seems that the camera was left rollin...
Post a Comment
Read more

STORYBOARDING: The Chess Player

A few months ago I was presented with the opportunity to create the storyboards for a student project at the University I had graduated from. Having always storyboarded my own projects, and used to drawing what I could see inside my own mind, I jumped at the chance to help visualise someone else's film. Everybody sees things differently. We imagine, we visualise in different ways. Maybe because our brains are wired differently, maybe because we all rely on different experiences or the things we've read. A wide shot to one person might be a close to another; or someone might prefer a high-angled birds eye view, whilst another a fish-eye lens effect. There are endless ways to visualise a story and we are all unique when it comes to this. So being tasked with aiding in the visualisation of someone else's film is by no means an easy feat. One must be able to see inside the director's mind, understand their vision and translate that into something that will reach and ...
Post a Comment
Read more