Thank you for this Alec! Is conflict between characters the only way to do this in your opinion?Personally, that's my go to but it feels like a crutch sometimes.
You're very welcome, James. I'd say all scenes should come down to character conflict of some description. Even when you read a combat scene in a good thriller, it's an expression of the characters' knowledge and personality. With this scene from Aliens, I thought it was a really good example of how to wring conflict out of a scene that doesn't have an obvious source of conflict, i.e. people punching each other or arguing. :D
I think that Cameron did a good job using this scene to do characterization and foreshadowing and everything you mentioned, but it does have the advantage that we know this is an Alien sequel so we know about the xenomorphs, and know that they're definitely behind the colony going dark.
If I had to pick an example of a popular movie delivering exposition masterfully, it would be the orientation ride with the cartoon in Jurassic Park. Multiple levels of characterization, foreshadowing and subtext, along with an explanation of DNA and cloning that may easily have been half the audience's introduction to the topic.
Nice! What would you make of the mission briefing in Space Odyssey? Imo, Kubrick was trying make that scene as boring as possible to make other parts of the movie more interesting by comparison.
Not seen 2001 in years. I'll have to go back and watch that scene... I wrote this piece when I was writing a mission briefing bit for Durham Red: Served Cold and needed to figure out how to make the scene interesting when all it was was just two characters playing exposition tennis. So I took a few hours away, studied the Aliens scene (which was one of the first examples that sprang to mind as I've seen - and studied - that movie a zillion times), made notes, which then helped me make something of my own scene. A lot of the pieces I end up putting on here seem to come from making my own discoveries into how to fix problems. Anyway, thanks so much for reading, Mikhail!
Welcome! I was curious because mission briefings really are a staple of genre films, and I think you're right about how the struggle for a writer is about how to make them more than just information delivery. '2001' though seems not to care about that.
I think it's essentially about finding an interesting angle, which you usually find by thinking about the interactions between the characters. There's a terrific book called 'The Emotional Craft of Fiction' by Donald Maass, which talks about this. Often, it's a case of finding an unusual emotional tack. Today I was writing a scene with a bad guy murdering someone. But instead of making her angry when she did it, I made her regretful. It changed her dialogue completely, made the whole texture of the scene way more interesting and way less bog-standard.
Hey, Cole! Thanks for reading. So sorry for the late reply, but I've been on my hols and was trying to impose a strict stay-off-screens policy. Huge fan of 5AM StoryTalk! Cav Scott recommended you at the recent comic con, and it was the Dracula piece you posted that really grabbed me. Barely read anything on here for the past couple of weeks, so I got a lot of catching up to do. Really hope you're bearing up mid-Strike, mate. Wishing you and yours all the very best. Can we DM each other on Substack? I'm not sure. Here's my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/AlecWorley Grab me via the contact page on my website, LinkedIn, Instagram, whatever and I'll ping you my email address. Thanks again, Cole. Lovely to meet you.
Always really liked the one in 'Raiders' too. Really clever how we see Indy's growing excitement and how the slightly clueless Feds start to see what's truly at stake.
The tragic fall and subtle rehabilitation of Gorman culminating in his hero’s death is one of the most brilliant things about this brilliant movie.
He always was an asshole… ;)
Loved this. Saw this film in IMAX the other day and this scene got a great response, particularly the Apone lines.
I'm very jealous. Not seen Aliens in the cinema. Wanna hear that James Horner soundtrack blasting my eardrums. :D
It was incredible! The pulse rifles sound incredible too
Thank you for this Alec! Is conflict between characters the only way to do this in your opinion?Personally, that's my go to but it feels like a crutch sometimes.
You're very welcome, James. I'd say all scenes should come down to character conflict of some description. Even when you read a combat scene in a good thriller, it's an expression of the characters' knowledge and personality. With this scene from Aliens, I thought it was a really good example of how to wring conflict out of a scene that doesn't have an obvious source of conflict, i.e. people punching each other or arguing. :D
Got it. Thank you, Alec.
I think that Cameron did a good job using this scene to do characterization and foreshadowing and everything you mentioned, but it does have the advantage that we know this is an Alien sequel so we know about the xenomorphs, and know that they're definitely behind the colony going dark.
If I had to pick an example of a popular movie delivering exposition masterfully, it would be the orientation ride with the cartoon in Jurassic Park. Multiple levels of characterization, foreshadowing and subtext, along with an explanation of DNA and cloning that may easily have been half the audience's introduction to the topic.
I missed the chance to see the theatrical cut (the best version, imo) a couple of months ago. Enjoy hearing those M41A Pulse Rifles roar, Amran!!
Nicely done. Great writing is one of the many reasons it's among the most quotable films ever.
I'm seeing Aliens on the big screen next month at my independent theater.
Nice! What would you make of the mission briefing in Space Odyssey? Imo, Kubrick was trying make that scene as boring as possible to make other parts of the movie more interesting by comparison.
Not seen 2001 in years. I'll have to go back and watch that scene... I wrote this piece when I was writing a mission briefing bit for Durham Red: Served Cold and needed to figure out how to make the scene interesting when all it was was just two characters playing exposition tennis. So I took a few hours away, studied the Aliens scene (which was one of the first examples that sprang to mind as I've seen - and studied - that movie a zillion times), made notes, which then helped me make something of my own scene. A lot of the pieces I end up putting on here seem to come from making my own discoveries into how to fix problems. Anyway, thanks so much for reading, Mikhail!
Welcome! I was curious because mission briefings really are a staple of genre films, and I think you're right about how the struggle for a writer is about how to make them more than just information delivery. '2001' though seems not to care about that.
I think it's essentially about finding an interesting angle, which you usually find by thinking about the interactions between the characters. There's a terrific book called 'The Emotional Craft of Fiction' by Donald Maass, which talks about this. Often, it's a case of finding an unusual emotional tack. Today I was writing a scene with a bad guy murdering someone. But instead of making her angry when she did it, I made her regretful. It changed her dialogue completely, made the whole texture of the scene way more interesting and way less bog-standard.
Thanks for recommending my Substack, Alec. I'm a new, but big fan of yours. How do we communicate elsewhere? I want to follow up about this piece.
Hey, Cole! Thanks for reading. So sorry for the late reply, but I've been on my hols and was trying to impose a strict stay-off-screens policy. Huge fan of 5AM StoryTalk! Cav Scott recommended you at the recent comic con, and it was the Dracula piece you posted that really grabbed me. Barely read anything on here for the past couple of weeks, so I got a lot of catching up to do. Really hope you're bearing up mid-Strike, mate. Wishing you and yours all the very best. Can we DM each other on Substack? I'm not sure. Here's my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/AlecWorley Grab me via the contact page on my website, LinkedIn, Instagram, whatever and I'll ping you my email address. Thanks again, Cole. Lovely to meet you.
I LOVE this. As you know from my newsletter, this is very much my kind of film writing. Alec just earned himself a follow!
Great article!
Wow! Thanks, John. Hope all's well.
Great blog post - I love this kind of scene-by-scene dissection of directorial styles!
Cheers! It really does pay to take stuff apart like this. So much to learn.
Always really liked the one in 'Raiders' too. Really clever how we see Indy's growing excitement and how the slightly clueless Feds start to see what's truly at stake.
That is SUCH a moment! Touches on the supernatural without showing anything.