Using Movies to Learn Writing

There's nothing like sitting down with a movie and some popcorn (except for sitting down with a book and a something to drink, or eat). But did you know that you can actually learn things while watching movies that you can apply to your writing? It's a two for one deal. In this post, I'll show you some easy ways you can use moving watching to learn about writing.

Plot Structure

One of the best ways to learn from movies is how they structure their plots. It's much easier than trying to do so with a novel because with a movie, you can see the whole story much clearer than in a book. A movie can be watched in two hours and then you have the whole thing fresh in your mind. A book can take days and you might forget stuff that happened near the beginning by the time you get to the end.

Next time you watch a movie (or use this as excuse to watch a movie), study it for plot structure while you watch. You could either just do this in your head or you could take a piece of paper with the plot points on them and fill it out as you find them. My sister and I discuss plot points all the time while watching movies. This will help you learn where plot points fall, as well as how not to do it, or how you can deviate from it and still make it work, in some cases.

Example: In UP, the inciting incident is Carl's promise to Elle to go to Paradise Falls. The key event is when he actually takes off in his house flown by balloons. And so on.

Wordbuilding

Filmmakers have it easier and harder with worldbuilding. It's easier because they can literally show you the world. You can see how the buildings are made, the people's lifestyles, and even what their clothing and utensils look like. But on the other hand, they have it harder because you can see easier if the world is underdeveloped.

Find a good fantasy or sci-fi movie and look at the world the filmmakers have built. Note the costumes, the sets, the little things that make the place feel lived in. They had to make each of those sets, so see how they did it. Then see what sort of details you can bring into your own worldbuilding. Adding a little thing about how their clothes are made to ride in (a horse based culture) or that all their utensils are made of stone or metal (because there's no wood around) can really make or break your worldbuilding.

Example: Peter Jackson and his team worked for months on the world development of The Lord of the Rings. They sketched, built, sewed, and made the world you see in the movies mostly from scratch, taking much inspiration from the book. You can feel the life it brings to the movies.

Character Developement

Like with the plot, it can be easier to see character arcs while watching a movie than reading a book sometimes. Movies give that visual aspect that books cannot. When watching a movie, you can really see how much a character wants something through a simple look. And then you can see how he doesn't want it in the end in how he walks away. Not that none of that is in books, but it can be easier for me to notice it while watching a movie.

See if you can figure out what the main character wants in the next movie you watch. And if you can't find it, then that's a sign of poor character building, a major problem in today's films. But if you can figure it out, watch as he goes after it, then learns what he really needs.

Example: In Moana, Maui wants to get his fishhook back and regain the love and fame that comes with it. He spends most of the movie trying to get that, until the end, when he comes back to help Moana and loses his hook completely. But the thing is, he doesn't just want what comes with the hook anymore.

What Works and What Doesn't

Watching a movie can really help you figure out what works and what doesn't in a story. And you can use that to figure out how to avoid that in your novel. It could be a little thing, like something a character says that doesn't seem in character. Or it could be a big thing, like an irrelevant scene in the middle. And on the flip side, you can also find what makes you more interested. An actions sequence that has you on the edge of your seat or a line that makes you laugh out loud.

Next time you find yourself bored in a scene, or thrown off by something, try to figure out what turned you off. Should the scene have been cut? Placed in a different location? Have higher stakes? Or what about scenes that make you unable to look away? What did they do there to make you so interested?

Example: The Crown, season 2, episode 4. This episode is where Margret meets the man she will later marry. It has lots of good stuff, including an excellent performance by the actress who played Margret. But the end was so slow and I didn't understand what was happening, so I got bored. I think there was supposed to be a metaphor there, but I couldn't find it.

There are also many other things you can learn from movies, but I can't go into all of them here. I do suggest reading posts that tell you what you can learn from various movies, like the ones I've written or the ones Victoria from Wander's Pen does. They can be very helpful and I learn things all the time from reading other people's posts.

Let's talk! Do you learn writing from movies? What do you like to watch for? Plot? Character arcs? Tell me in the comments.