“Everyone is very aware that the same old formula is not working like it used to.”
—James Mangold, Logan Director.
Nothing is new under the sun, but that doesnt mean you gotta disrespect your audience by serving them stale, and sterile, and souless stories, bub.
ETHOS
"On this film, we really focused on doing something different: a dramatic and character-driven film rather than trying to compete in the arms race of comic-book films...'I can spend more than you, I can blow up more than you.' We wanted to make a film that operated on the character engine and emotion."
Stories are founded on rethorics, which brings us to Aristotle, which brings us to Ethos.
Which is about character.
99.99% of stuff you read is crap, because it lacks character.
It lacks soul, vitality, substance.
It feels empty...
ARCHETYPES
Dense writing is drenched in myth, expressing timeless archetypes
Which are all stored in our Collective Unconsciousness
In this pool of eternal wisdom we all have access to truths passed down for eons.
This is how Cowboy, Samurai, and Wolverine are entwined.
WESTERN
"I love Westerns for their SIMPLICITY. I think movies have gotten really plot heavy and lost their focus on character, and one of the really beautiful aspects of the Italian, American and Australian Western is that they really go deep in CHARACTER...
They're still action films but they go very deep exploring the characters involved in the stories. Same holds for Samurai pictures which were very related to the Western in tone and style."
Once you have a clear understanding of the classics, you can write a blockbuster.
NO REWRITES/OUTLINES
"When Mangold came in on The Wolverine, the script was already written. He RE-wrote the screenplay along with Scott Frank upon entry, but it was still not something that he could really call his OWN...
...The Wolverine flopped...
Everyone knows I champion NO rewrites/outlines. And Mangold agrees with me:
"I cant outline. I dont like to outline. I write in full screenplay format and try to figure out my movie at the same time.
"If I start writing in some abbreviated version, I already hate the scene...
..It's dead. It's inert. And to me, writing an outline creates stories that feel that they were made in an outline."
How you feel during writing transfers into the writing. Upon reading, your audience feels how you felt. If you hate it, if you're bored, they will always know.
CREATIVE CONTROL
"On Logan, I started with a blank sheet of paper. If you like it, I am happy. If you don't like it, I'm sorry but it was very much an EXPRESSION of what I was hoping to explore with this character. I share those interests with Hugh Jackman who also was looking to do something very personal with this film.
He had so much CONTROL over the final cut that he goes on to say, "If you don't like the film, I can’t blame the studio, it’s 100% what I wanted to put on the screen. There was no one rounding the corners or telling me how to cut it. Obviously, we had a lot of great collaborators and everyone voiced their notes and opinions on the movie, but I was NEVER FORCED to do anything I didn't want to do."
"I think movie studios, in general, are not really interested in screwing around with the director's vision unless the director's vision isn't working
"Most times, when it becomes an act of a committee trying to figure out how to fix a movie, they aren't fixing it because it works so well, they're fixing it because they've screened it for people and no one seems to like it."
Dont listen to ANYONE, when you're writing.
Most people listen to too many voices, absorb millions of voices, silencing their own.
Your own voice is the only shot you have.
And it's right there inside of you, waiting for you to listen to it, and it whispers: "So this is what it feels like."
If you want to know more about archetypes, no rewrites and outlines, and all there is about writing, check this out.
Further reading. Other pieces pertaining to cinema: