All language subtitles for MasterClass Ron Howard Teaches Directing - 104 - Refining A Script

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when we tell a story to our friends

about a recent U vacation or a date we

went on we tell the story most of us are

probably recognize that the first time

we tell the story as an anecdote it's a

little too long it's a little awkward it

doesn't quite get the reaction you

thought it ought to um you've forgotten

something in the middle and you have to

remind people later uh you don't tell it

very well

but you know people still kind of lean

into the story and they're curious

you'll find the next time you tell it

you'll probably tell it a little bit

better why because it's a communication

that's meant to express an idea and

let's face it you're you're you're

asking people to listen you know there's

an expectation that it's in its own way

it's going to what entertain it's going

to engross it's going to Fascinate it's

going to express something in a

meaningful way by the eighth time you

tell the story you know maybe even

embellished it a little bit who knows uh

but it's better it's tighter you want to

put your screenplay through that through

that

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process the director is The Keeper of

the story and ultimately it's the

director's taste that's going to

determine the creative choices that are

made and that sort of the allocation of

the resources I'm talking about a

liveaction production now more than anim

that comes back to the script and the

way it's going to be interpreted and the

director needs to you know intimately

understand that screenplay and support

it and if there is a difference of

opinion with a writer over the

screenplay this is where collaborators

can come in very handy but a great a

great uh exercise which is used in

television all the time is used in

theater all the time is used in movies

some of the time but it's so valuable

and that is to Simply do a read through

get a group of actors they don't have to

be the actors who are going to you know

be be in the

project and give it a good read through

maybe videotape it so you can play it

back or record it make sure the the

screenwriter is there if you want to you

can open it up to conversation I've done

read throughs where I even give people

questionnaires afterwards so that they

don't they're not shy about telling you

what you know what bothered them but go

ahead and apply extreme scrutiny to that

project and at that point it's not a

finished film but you know it's a really

important step and it's going to raise

some questions it's going to give you

confidence in the in in in some ways

because you you just have a little

greater sense of how that how that story

unfolds as written and and that's um a

really important step and and a

fundamental um misjudgment in my mind

when people you know don't expose the

script to that that kind of process and

that

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scrutiny when it comes to rewrites I'm

very involved um I sometimes it's a

matter of sitting with the writer um and

um you know and literally pitching ideas

some writers do better under those

circumstances and other WR Writers Do

Better having a conversation and going

away and sharing with you what they've

come up with and again I try to adapt my

process to try to elevate the way that

person naturally works so I try not to

impose myself too much on the process

you know unless it's simply you know not

not working for me uh uh but uh

generally you know whether it's an actor

whether it's a music composer a

cinematographer I try to begin to

discern you know how that person excels

and try to create the you know the the

environment the opportunity for them to

work you know at their highest level um

the various ways in which uh a

screenplay can be tested um really you

know they begin with the director but

they carry over to the actors and while

you know I never never want to turn the

rewrite process over to the actors I

often really benefit from um even a

pre-rehearsal period where you sit you

do a read through you hear the scenes

actors very very quickly come to

understand those characters and come to

terms with them in ways even more

intimate than the screenwriter because

they're they're they're imagining

playing those scenes they're imagining

seeing them now sometimes they they're

missing something and again it's the

director's job The Keeper of the story

to be you know policing that and and not

not letting wrong-headed ideas push the

project off in a you know in in a in a

misdirection but that

conversation between the writer the

director the actor sometimes the

producer sometimes a studio executive a

kind of a Roundtable conversation is a

very healthy thing as long as you

quickly distill it down to you know a

one-on-one conversation between the

director um and and the writer and and

ultimately the writer is going to go and

and and execute I have a lot of respect

for the writer's Vision um as well and I

will often defer to the writer because

again on some organic level I trust that

they understand some things about this

story and script that go beyond

intellect um and that that that X Factor

is something that's that's incredibly

valuable I think if you're a filmmaker

young or old you get you get either an

idea you read an article a book um you

somehow get control of that idea and

you're a part of developing it or it's a

screenplay that you look at and you know

and you might feel like there's some

some adjustments you'd suggest here were

there but this is something you're

willing to commit to you believe in I

think at that point just you know enjoy

the excitement of it really feel it um

you know um uh kind of kind of glow a

little bit with the inspiration and the

excitement and the possibility of it and

then you need to get down to the

business of really understanding it and

understanding how other people connect

with it so do they share your excitement

for it and if they don't it doesn't mean

you shouldn't do it but you should

understand it are you going to be able

to bridge that Gap

or are you going to make a film that's

tailored for a niche audience maybe your

particular

taste is you know never meant to align

with broad audiences it's a you know you

have a you there you have some

like-minded um um U you know audience

members out there that uh that you can

communicate with well can this idea

communicate

with them who does it land with you're a

movie or television lover

um what would it take for you to go see

it um and begin to step away from the

the excitement you know sort of put the

idea on the table and walk around it and

sort of say who does this work for who

does it not work for and how do I align

with that or

misalign and I think if you get get

excited about that and there are

enough answers that keep coming up that

sort of say either I can overcome it or

I can work with that or you know this is

all systems go and you you know imagine

that as you're circling that

idea that you begin to bring others into

your orbit and you're all sort of

talking and eventually you're going to

find those collaborators who are the key

ones who can actually help you make it

maybe that's a studio executive maybe

it's an agent maybe it's a producer

maybe it's a a writer or a co-writer um

maybe it's a maybe it's an actor you

know whoever it might be begin to sort

of see where those connections are and

then on a practical level you have you

know a a chance to believe that that you

know there's a reason to go ahead and

and invest these people's resources and

my own in this project my affection my

excitement can be communicated in a way

and that mean something