Your Guide to Making Scenes That Are the Opposite of Flat! #Screenwriters #Filmmakers #Filmmaking #FilmmakingTips

Do you ever watch a movie and think, “Eww, that scene could have been so much better and way more epic!” Or “That was it? That big reveal could have soooo much more impactful!” Or “Seriously that character arc fell flat. What a dud!“

The horror of people watching our movies and thinking the same thoughts! 

We not only want to produce the best films that are void of flat, empty, disappointing scenes and dry dialogue we want our audience to leave our movies satisfied and inspired by what they have just seen!

I have some easy tips to help you make that goal a reality!

Avoid Flat Scenes by being mindful of these 6 Scene Mistakes:

1. Unrealistic interactions between characters
2. Dialogue that feels out of character for your characters and made to only move the writer’s agenda ahead
3. A slow pace 
4. Excessive dialogue
5. Excessive exposition
6. Lack of Color/Bad Lighting/Boring Cinematography

How To Make Flat Scenes Full Of Life, Energy, and Emotion by Correcting the 6 Scene Mistakes Like This:

1. Try not to make your characters each other’s Ying and Yang. Sometimes characters need to butt heads and be unpredictable. 
2. Try to maintain consistency with who your characters are. Are they jittery? Nervous? The Dare Devil? The Flirt? Always suspicious? Then use your scenes to bring the personality traits of your character out so that viewers can grow to understand them better
3. Even a scene with two people sitting in a dull room can be intriguing if executed properly try to give characters a purpose in each scene either to bring something out of another character or to reveal something about said character’s personality. Also, try to use events, threats, victories, etc. as an initiation point for verbal action and to show the dynamics of each character (Think of that standout, subtly intense, and memorable scene in Inglorious Bastards. Refresh your memory of it here).
4. When it comes to dialogue the goal is to say as much as possible with as little as possible 
5. Okay, verbal exposition is not good anyway, but sometimes it seems impossible to avoid in a movies. What can make a scene feel flat is having too long of a “trips down memory lane.” Keep those at minimum and only give exposition to describe things that you cannot showyour viewers as opposed to telling them. 
6. Take the below tips to heart as they provide 8 Simple Rules to getting the “Film Look” and therefore easily upgrading your movie to heights unseen.

• Adjust your camera settings to film in 24fps (Frames Per Second)
• Do Color Grading based on your film’s genre
• Use Cine Bars to set your film in 2:35:1 Aspect Ratio
• Be selective with your shots and angles
• Keep in mind that while many things can be fixed in post you need decent footage to edit in post
• Choose the right lens (50mm and 24mm are your basic lens to start off. You may have to get creative, but together they can do most anything for the average film!)
• Lights and knowing your lighting techniques are the key to quality shots
• Planning and having an organized production will enable you to bring forth the best film that fulfills your inspiration and showcases the skills of your entire production team!

~ IS