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.
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.
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'm a huge fan of expositional dialogue scenes done well. I would argue that John Carpenter is the master at this, but ALIENS is also a great example of how it can be done right. Part of it is the script but it is mostly the cast and how they deliver their dialogue AND how they react to it being delivered to them.
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's a good one, but you know what I like even better? The scene afterwards when Marcus and Indy talk about him going after the Ark. The camera pans away from Indy packing to a worried Marcus sitting on a sofa and he reveals his apprehension about what his friend is going after: “For nearly 3,000 years man has been searching for the lost Ark. It’s not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It’s like nothing you’ve ever gone after before.” Indy shrugs off Marcus’ warning but his words, accompanied by John Williams’ quietly unsettling score, suggest the potential danger Indy faces messing with forces greater and older than himself.
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.
Great article!
Wow! Thanks, John. Hope all's well.
I LOVE this. As you know from my newsletter, this is very much my kind of film writing. Alec just earned himself a follow!
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.
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.
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.
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!!
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'm a huge fan of expositional dialogue scenes done well. I would argue that John Carpenter is the master at this, but ALIENS is also a great example of how it can be done right. Part of it is the script but it is mostly the cast and how they deliver their dialogue AND how they react to it being delivered to them.
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's a good one, but you know what I like even better? The scene afterwards when Marcus and Indy talk about him going after the Ark. The camera pans away from Indy packing to a worried Marcus sitting on a sofa and he reveals his apprehension about what his friend is going after: “For nearly 3,000 years man has been searching for the lost Ark. It’s not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It’s like nothing you’ve ever gone after before.” Indy shrugs off Marcus’ warning but his words, accompanied by John Williams’ quietly unsettling score, suggest the potential danger Indy faces messing with forces greater and older than himself.
That is SUCH a moment! Touches on the supernatural without showing anything.
YES! Subtle but it really draws you in. Just one of the many brilliant moments in RAIDERS.
Modern blockbusters seem to be missing moments like this.