Fred Goes to the Movies

There's a lot to be learned from the movies, even as a writer. Sometimes it takes a few watchings and sometimes it helps to watch the extras. I started wondering what lessons I've learned from my favorites, so here we go.

Spoiler alert! I'll be talking about some of films- if you haven's seen them, be warned, there be spoilers here. For good measure, you should watch them.

Aliens- the 1986 sci-fi film. The last hour of the movie is a master class in making the viewer ride a roller coaster of emotions. Let me sum it up. They're safe. No they're not. Now they're safe. Just kidding. They've got to be safe now. No. For the love of God, I'm about to have a heart attack! Fine, it's over.

Director Ridley Scott sucked me (and lots of folks) in by peaking the excitement, then just when you think they're safe and the alien is defeated, they're back in danger. As a writer, I want to provide plot twists like his that make the reader keep coming back for more, both in this book and then to look for the sequels. 

Favorite Quote- "Get away from her, you bitch!" Ripley to the alien. This is the type of thing action heroes say!

Silence of the Lambs- the 1991 thriller. The movie was adapted from a book by Thomas Harris. In an interesting side note, this is the only book I know of where the book and the movie are equally good. Most of the time I prefer the book, but there are exceptions. 

I used to work in a great thrift store and thus had access to the super-special-deluxe DVD versions of all my favorites. Anthony Hopkins, of course, played the Hannibal Lecter character. Now realize, he's a classically trained Shakespearian actor tasked with playing a, well, cannibal serial killer. And play him, he did! He won an Academy Award and the character is in every discussion of the greatest film villains of all time. But why? 

In the DVD extras, he talked about how he chose to play the character against type. Brilliant! You expect a psychopath to act like Lector's neighbor, Multiple Miggs, not a refined gentleman. That he's quiet, polite, and almost sensitive (right before he eats someone's face off) is what makes him so creepy. For me that means don't play to the stereotypes, either good or bad. 

Favorite Quote- "I'm having an old friend for dinner." Dr. Lecter to Clarice as he stalks his former tormenter. I do love some good wordplay!

Jaws- 1975- the movie that spawned the term, "Blockbuster." People lined up around the block to get into the theater and a phrase was born. What's fascinating to me, is that the book by Peter Benchley is, in my humble opinion, terrible! This is one of the only examples I can give where the movie is better than the book.

They say desperation is the mother of invention, and a young, not quite so well-known Steven Spielberg made that come true. The shark rarely worked, so he had to figure out how to make a film on a budget and build the terror without usually being able to show the main villain. I think he did OK. 

The lesson? Limitations can breed creativity. Sometimes what you don't see is more scary than what you do. Or what your characters don't know can hurt them. 

Favorite Quote- "I got no spit." Hooper to Brody when he can't spit in his swim mask. It's also a fine example of "showing" a feeling instead of "telling" it.

Bonus thoughts- Kudos to composer John Williams: Never have three notes been used so well. And to the movie for bringing more light to the USS Indianapolis tragedy than any history book ever has.