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misc Why is Hollywood Ditching Its Rule of "Show, Don't Tell"?

Why is Hollywood Ditching Its Rule of "Show, Don't Tell"?

This article SUBTEXTUALLY points out why I am no longer writing specs. All one has to do is watch much of the "CONTENT" [sic] on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. to see that we've crossed the line of SHOW, DON'T TELL and are now in TELL, DON'T SHOW territory. LOL.

The author of the article ends by saying we writers along with audiences and critics know better... LOL. I don't think that's quite true ANYMORE.

I know some fairly new professional readers that don't even understand subtext some or most of the time... They simply don't get it.

Somewhere along the line, storytelling has changed when it comes to new films within the Hollywood arena. Thank GOD some do, on occasion, make it through all the wickets and manage to tell a good story on screen but in my humble opinion, they are few and far between.

Either that or I am just very old.

I do NOT see the dumbing down of writing ending anytime soon either.

That's why I've turned to writing books but I've even seen books beginning to take this detour.

Do you think it's because of social media? Perhaps. Laziness also comes to mind. COMBINE the two? Hmmm.
 
I wonder whether the writers are to blame or the producers, because they fear losing the audience? It could certainly be both.

At the same time, I continue to marvel (on the nose translation: hate) at the increasing length of movies. I think 90 minutes is perfect, 2 hours is OK, and most of those that are 2+ hours would benefit from some serious trimming. And it's a major reason why I don't see movies like Tár in a theater - it's 2 hours and 38 minutes but not a visual spectacle like The Black Panther or Top Gun sequels that will clearly lose something on the small(er) screen.
 
I agree with you... Most movies I see that are over 90 minutes have fluff they just don't need. You could easily cut all that fluff and most likely have a much tighter movie with less breathing time thus, giving an audience member a better overall experience.

Gotta say though when it comes to Producers... LOL. Most don't know what the hell they're reading which is why they use readers. Don't get me wrong... There's some great producers out there who REALLY KNOW STORY but they are becoming a little known quantity in my humble opinion.

Yet? The industry still hires readers damn near every day. I know at least 7 or 8 professional readers who REALLY know their shit... We communicate from time to time and just based on those communications? It seems that a lot of new readers aren't being trained in the same way and in addition to that? They still have the same if not more of a workload, often taking scripts home over the weekend to catch up OR make more money.

Then of course, there's the cannibalization of previous coverage when a script seems to be going in the same direction of a previously covered script.

Then of course, there's YouTube and all the other video platforms that pretty much perform their storytelling directly on the nose -- not that they shouldn't... I mean by and large, they are not making even short films let alone narrative features. They're just making content.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it's PROBABLY a combination of all the above. Unfortunately.

All I know for sure? I rarely go to the theater anymore and when I was? I think I went for damn near a year always walking out thinking to myself... "What a waste of money."

Having said that... I don't see it as an actual MOVEMENT or agenda or anything as devious as that... LOL. I just think it's different times.

The author of the article -- at least in my humble opinion -- seems to say that we all need to go back to the way it was so movies getting made become worth watching again. Sure, if EVERYONE saw it that way and endeavored to actually do that?

Could work.

But that AIN'T gonna happen. LOL. When the herd turns into a different direction? Nine times out of ten, they keep going in that direction.

At least that's MY experience.
 
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In Ticket to Paradise, two of the characters were introduced like this. Mind you, we haven't seen them yet and don't know who they are.

Two women swimming somewhere in the ocean. They have goggles and flippers on. One says to the other "Oh my god, where's the boat?!" "I don't know, they must have left us".. They look around and there is no boat to be seen anywhere close. "what are we going to do?" Suddenly, out of nowhere a sail boat is practically on top of them. "Hey, save us!". The handsome young man piloting the boat stops and picks them up. He and one of the girls falls madly in love.

Talk about lazy, cheap storytelling. Yeah, they told instead of showed. Why did they do it? probably to save 5 days of production that would have been needed to SHOW who these girls are and why they are in the middle of the ocean.
 
If i had to guess ... this is kind of a wild guess but... if i had to guess.. its because people are multitasking now.
They have the TV on in the background while they are on their computer or they are playing in tiktok.

If you show, but don't tell, then they completely miss the plot element of whats happening.

If it's AUDIO and you TELL it then they can be looking at something else and still following along with the TV
 
If i had to guess ... this is kind of a wild guess but... if i had to guess.. its because people are multitasking now.
They have the TV on in the background while they are on their computer or they are playing in tiktok.

If you show, but don't tell, then they completely miss the plot element of whats happening.

If it's AUDIO and you TELL it then they can be looking at something else and still following along with the TV
That's as reasonable of a reason as any.
 
We've come full circle. Radio>>Movies>>Back to Radio - or in other words Tell>>Show>> back to tell


A little off subject but what about the way movies stop the action every once in a while to tell us what's going on? There's always 1 character who is confused or just got there so that one of the other characters has to fill them in. Those scenes always make me smirk because the truth is they only have those scenes to fill in the audience members who haven't been paying attention (or went to get popcorn or to the bathroom....)
 
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We've come full circle. Radio>>Movies>>Back to Radio - or in other words Tell>>Show>> back to tell


A little off subject but what about the way movies stop the action every once in a while to tell us what's going on? There's always 1 character who is confused or just got there so that one of the other characters can fill them in. Those scenes always make me smirk because the truth is they only have those scenes to fill in the audience members who haven't been paying attention (or went to get popcorn or to the bathroom....)
God I hate exposition being displayed that way... LOL. I really do. Do it in argument or something where we're not really hyper-aware that it's being done. LOL.

I think I'd rather listen to old radio... LOL.
 
It's nothing new. The problem is the "good" movies and shows are now pulling this trick, the trick that has always been used on more pedestrian stuff like CSI TV shows etc.
 
if i had to guess.. its because people are multitasking now.
They have the TV on in the background while they are on their computer or they are playing in tiktok.

If you show, but don't tell, then they completely miss the plot element of whats happening.

Or simply "bad habits" infecting the wider world of writing-for-(any)-screen? Isn't this a variation on reality TV's incessant signposting of what's coming up after the break/happened before the break, or telling us that "Jimmy's concerned about how long this is taking" while Jimmy's on the phone saying "I'm worried this is taking so long ..." Or, again, YouTubers introducing their 2m30s video with the line "Hi guyzz, in this video we're gonna take a look at how to ..." when that's precisely what's described in the title.

Is it a case that the viewing public has become so overwhelmed by "content" that they (we?) are immune to this practice now; or is it a case of writers believing their audience has become so dumb and/or distracted they need to be dragged back into this story?
 
If i had to guess ... this is kind of a wild guess but... if i had to guess.. its because people are multitasking now.
They have the TV on in the background while they are on their computer or they are playing in tiktok.

If you show, but don't tell, then they completely miss the plot element of whats happening.

If it's AUDIO and you TELL it then they can be looking at something else and still following along with the TV
Are you suggesting writers are adjusting their storytelling to accommodate viewer distraction?
 
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