Cause and Effect
I often comment on how hard it is to make an indie film and therefore how important it is that one makes it count. To make a film count means to say something that leads to change. That change can be opening the viewers’ eyes up to something they never thought about but after watching your film cannot stop talking about, it can be changing people’s minds about something they thought they completed understood and having watched your film realize they don’t or it can simply be saying to a viewer “I feel your pain, you are not alone” and changing the way that person feels about themselves and the predicament he/she/they are in.
When I express my pain about people not making films (and I am talking about feature films though I think this all could apply to shorts) about something meaningful, I get one of the following reactions:
Right on!
Why can’t it just be entertaining?
I don’t want to get political. It could damage my career.
I’d love to but I don’t want to be preachy.
I want to, but I don’t know how to do that.
Let’s go through each of these, shall we?
Right on! Awesome! These people get it and they are out there doing it. They are expressing their points of view about a topic and sharing with the world hoping to exact change. Bravo! Brava! Bravi!
Why can’t it just be entertaining? Because you are going to spend years making a feature film. Literally, years of your life and you are going to look back and say what “I’m so impressive, I spent years making a film so I could have a cool car crash and say nothing?” or “I should get an award because I made a film where many heads exploded.” That’s pathetic. Sorry but not sorry. Not at all. I’m disappointed in you and I don’t even know you.
I don’t want to get political. It could damage my career. My immediate thought is “What career?”. I’m not making fun of you and I’m not being pessimistic. I’m being practical in that statement. If you have been making films for a while or you are just starting out with no real connections and the magic funding fairy has not arrived, I hate to break it to you, but the odds of getting fully funded as an independent filmmaker (meaning not a job directing television or being in a specific non-directorial role on a film (e.g., editor), are low. Really low UNLESS…unless you stand out. How do you stand out? By standing up. Stand up. Be heard. Yes, some people will run from your projects. I’m working on raising money for a film where a Muslim child and a Jewish child become friends in a town riddled with systemic racism. Ask me how that is going? (I get comments that it’s not shown why the racist white characters are racist so it’s not believable. First of all, it is explained in the script of what has driven these people there. And second, have you been to America where hate is passed on from generation to generation?) Even liberal people with money are afraid but eventually I’ll find the right people who are not afraid or sell my right kidney. (I’ll keep you posted on that.) If I decided to make the film about two white girls being friends, I think the resounding response from investors would be “who cares?” and I’d be thinking that along with them. I’m damned if I do or damned if I don’t. So I’d rather go down swinging and making a fuss because the squeaky wheel gets the grease after all. I get we all have “day jobs” as filmmakers, whether in the industry or out of it. But I really don’t think anyone is going to fire you because you want to make a film about Climate Change or LGBTQ rights or systemic racism. Whatever your higher ups may secretly think, that would just make them look really bad. Instead, I suspect they’ll talk about how great you are for caring. It might be BS, but it’ll be positive BS. And, you might find, the higher ups you are working for do care and really do applaud you for it. Either way, I think it’ll be fine and this is just fear talking you out of it.
I’d love to but I don’t want to be preachy. If you create authentic characters and write authentic dialog, you won’t be. It’s like any other script really. There is just a backdrop about a cause. It’s not just a film about someone trying to win the talent competition, it’s a film about someone who is bullied, doesn’t fit in (is actually just plain weird) and wants to win a talent competition. It’s not just a film about someone going home for a funeral. It’s a film about someone going home for a funeral and facing his family with the truth that he is a homosexual.
Let’s take these two examples to tackle the last comment, I want to, but I don’t know how to do that.
The answer is simple: do not state the issues but to show them. That’s right. It’s like any other script and the old cliche, “Show don’t tell."
I want to warn you there are spoilers below and I’ll be writing about the films “Troop Zero” and “Uncle Frank” so if you want to watch them first, go ahead. They are both available on Amazon Prime.
Okay…so here come the spoilers…warning you again so you have time to close this tab…
Troop Zero, set in the 1970s, tackles the first topic about being comfortable in your own shoes and dealing with bullies perfectly. The characters are real. They are broken in so many ways and yet they are completely endearing. The are all real people. Even the character that would typically be the “evil” adult in this film, is not all evil. You actually feel for her and her team of dancers at times. You see both sides of them. True her team of dancers are a bunch of bullies and she’s pretty much a bully but there is a person in there who honestly knows the Troop Zero team cannot possibly win and will probably just embarrass themselves and in her way, she is protecting them. This film works well because the “good guys” don’t win. No one “fixes” the bullying. No one even talks about it. That’s right. No one gives a speech about why bullying is wrong. No one gives a speech saying “it’s okay to be different.” You just learn by watching as they learn by doing. Write a script where people do and don’t talk about what they are doing or why they are doing it. Get them from a starting point to where you want them to go without explaining it with words. And, above all, keep the film honest. In Troop Zero, things are just happening while this young girl and her teammates try to first become eligible for the competition and then attempt to win it. It’s a complete disaster in many ways for this team but what they figure out as they go is that they can do their best when they rely on their strengths and each other. It’s honest about everything. It’s honest about the team having no hope to win. The team’s leader states it. Literally. “You know you can’t win.” They go ahead anyway. There is no BS. There is no perfect ending. And in fact, their entry in the competition goes awry and there is peeing on stage. It is simply a group of misfits finding their way in the world and accepting that their way is a winding road full of sharp turns and mountains to climb. And it’s hilarious. Really recommend it. And, I want to add there are lots of subtle commentary made throughout the film as well. Little nuggets that might go over a child’s head but an adult will get which makes it enjoyable for everyone, young and old and every age in between.
Uncle Frank is a film about a grown man coming out as a homosexual to his religious and homophobic family. He has been lying for decades and hiding a secret that has driven him to drink and it all almost destroys him. And, he does not want to come out of the closet. It’s not about someone standing up, it’s about someone being supported to an upright position, figuratively speaking. And that’s part of what makes it great. There is no great epiphany on his part that this is the right thing to do. It just happens. And he faces the honest fallout. His family does not magically say, “We knew it all along and totally support you and love you and are so glad….yadda yadda BS.” Nope, some of them are obviously appalled. Others have such “honest but trying to be nice” reactions that you laugh. One of his aunts says something to the effect of (and I am paraphrasing here) “Well, I accept that but you are going to rot in hell.” And Uncle Frank says, “I appreciate that this is the best you can do.” and he smiles. It’s honest. He was probably expecting worse from her and appreciates her efforts. He gets it would be impossible for her to understand his side fully or agree that his sexuality is okay because of her deep religious beliefs to the contrary. But none of this is fully said out loud. It is really said with that one smile. That’s what makes it not preachy. There is no dialog of “how can this family behave this way and don’t you see how…” Nope. They just are the people they are and the film and the main character in it allows them be those people. These characters show the viewers that are going through this process that they are not alone in the mixed reactions they get. It is honest so it helps others know in advance what they will face, setting up realistic expectations. It’s not going to be the tear jerking made for TV movie. It’s going to be the part tear jerking, part hilarious, part heartbreaking made for streaming movie. There is no defense or attack on his family members either. They are just allowed to exist and have their opinions and responses. Because really, you can’t change everyone’s mind. You can only be yourself and stand for what you believe in.
So do it. Stand up. Good people will be around to make sure you don’t fall over.