America 1987

Chapter 107 Musical Film

"No, and writing a screenplay doesn't necessarily require personal experience." David felt it necessary to correct the other person's misconception.

Robert McKee, the godfather of Hollywood screenwriting—

The author of "Story" once proposed that stories are a distillation of reality, rather than a direct copy of personal experiences.

Otherwise, even the most experienced person cannot sustain a long and diverse screenwriting career based solely on their personal experiences.

The vast amount of material obtained through research can support screenwriters in building logical character arcs and conflict structures, allowing them to transcend the narrow boundaries of personal life and recreate a more universal reality than a single personal experience.

"Sometimes, watching a few movies might even spark a burst of inspiration and lead to a great screenplay."

"See a movie?"

"Yeah, the number of films you've seen, oh right, you might not know this since you're not in this field," David added. "Many professional Hollywood screenwriters are generally required to have seen at least 800 films."

Upon hearing this, Catherine didn't react much, probably because she didn't really grasp the concept of that number.

"Is 800 a lot?"

"It's not a lot for people in the film and television industry, but it's quite a lot for ordinary people."

The reason for setting this number is that it just covers the core representative works of classic and mainstream genre films in film history, which can help a person establish basic film aesthetics and narrative cognition, and meet the basic skill requirements for entering the industry.

This number of films watched is not considered high, barely on par with the average level of a seasoned film enthusiast, and quite far from the advanced standard of over 3000 films required by senior filmmakers in China.

It's said that Quentin Tarantino watched over 7000 films before his debut. That's a bit too extreme. If he watched three films a day, it would take him almost seven years to keep that up.

How many films does the average person typically watch?

"That depends on what kind of ordinary person it is," David replied after a moment's thought. "If watching movies is just a form of entertainment, then most people probably won't have watched more than 200 movies in total."

Before David's time travel, the average number of times people around him went to the cinema was about 2 times a year. In addition, with the content they watched online, the total number of movies they watched throughout the year was generally between 10 and 30.

"Besides entertainment, what other purposes do ordinary people have for watching movies?"

Catherine asked curiously, "To expand your social circle and gain topics of conversation?"

"Yes, that's one of them, but not all of them," David said, demonstrating his point. "I used to watch movies alone and rarely discussed this with others."

"Then what is it for?"

"To heal my emotional wounds."

Movies are a low-cost "haven for the soul." While watching a movie, people can release pent-up emotions by following the characters' experiences, project themselves onto the protagonist, and experience the satisfaction of overcoming difficulties in the ups and downs of the plot.

Therefore, for the sake of box office success, producers generally assume that the protagonist's ending in the movie shouldn't be too tragic.

Before David traveled through time, whenever he lost interest in everything around him or couldn't find meaning in life, he would rewatch Fight Club or American Beauty.

Both are films with an anti-establishment core, making them suitable for watching when you're caught in a cycle of self-destruction caused by perfectionism and worldly rules.

"A mental illness? You have a mental illness?"

"Of course, everyone has some psychological issues to some extent," David suddenly thought of something and asked, "Do you know what bipolar disorder is?"

"It's probably a mental illness." Although she didn't know why the other person would suddenly ask this question, Catherine answered calmly.

"That's a disease you got more than twenty years later in the original timeline," David thought to himself.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a condition characterized by alternating episodes of mania or hypomania and depressive episodes.

In layman's terms, it's a recurring cycle of alternating between "extreme euphoria" and "utter depression," and it happens without any reason or warning.

The most typical warning sign is a sudden onset of insomnia for several consecutive days without feeling tired, a sudden surge in large-scale spending in a short period of time, and unexplained outbursts of anger and impulsiveness, followed by a prolonged period of despair and helplessness.

"You have this disease?"

"No, no, how could I possibly have such an illness? It's just some mild anxiety and low mood."

David quickly waved his hand, "Watching a couple of movies will help me adjust."

"Watching movies? What kind of movies do you like?"

"I'm not picky about the subject matter," David said without hesitation, "as long as it's not a linear narrative."

Single-line narrative, because it advances the story from a single perspective, has a clear plot, like a river flowing downstream. Its advantage is that it has a very low barrier to entry, is easy to read and understand, has the widest audience, and allows viewers to quickly immerse themselves in the protagonist's growth.

Films that become global box office champions generally employ a single-narrative structure, with occasional exceptions. However, in such cases, the content and perspective during the viewing experience are relatively limited, making the story seem somewhat flat and straightforward.

With multi-narrative structures, David no longer has to passively receive the plot while watching. Instead, he can actively piece together clues, predict the intersection points, and get a sense of "aha" moment as the information is gradually filled in. Suspense works can also greatly deepen the layers of suspense.

"What's wrong with a linear narrative? Do you think linear narratives are bad?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that I don't like passively receiving information and following the protagonist when watching movies, because that doesn't give me any intellectual enjoyment."

David continued, "However, there are always exceptions. If the director can add something unusual to a linear narrative, I'm still happy to watch it."

"For example?"

"For example, musicals that intersperse song and dance sequences during the narrative."

Among musicals, David's favorite isn't "Chicago" starring Catherine, which focuses on the absurd story of a murderer becoming an overnight sensation through media hype. Although it's quite sensational, you can only find such things in the news and have a bit of fun by commenting on them with netizens.

It's too far removed from his daily life, making it difficult to find a reflection of his own life in the characters' experiences, resulting in a slight sense of "alienation." His favorite film is "La La Land," starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. It's a very clichéd and simple story, but it still manages to stir his emotions and leave him feeling deeply moved for a long time.

"A musical?"

Catherine was somewhat surprised. "You also like musicals?"

Of course I like it, but only if it's a well-made musical.