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Post by abraham on Dec 1, 2016 14:15:51 GMT -6
My advice for Justice League:
1) Don't stuff your film with too many plot lines.
This can't be stressed enough. Take the time to develop a handful of plot lines.
Let's get to know the characters and the central conflict.
2) Take time to develop the villain.
This is a villain so powerful that we have to assemble an entire team of superheroes to defeat them.
So let's actually get to know the villain and their motivations.
3) Don't bombard us with exposition.
Show don't tell is one of the great advantages of both cinema and television.
When you're writing a book, it is very tricky (not impossible) to adhere to this rule.
However in visual story telling, the "show, don't tell" rule should be observed.
If you are struggling with conveying every plot point through showing them to the audience, then simplify the story.
4) Make every team member essential to victory.
Don't incapacitate The Justice League, so that Batman can solo the main villain. That is just plain unsatisfying.
I want to see all team members contributing towards taking down the villain. The villain should be impossible for the members to take on individually.
Since non of them can take on the antagonist on a one on one fight, this forces them to work together.
I want to see Cyborg using his hacking abilities, Wonder Woman being a front line fighter, Aquaman summoning the power of the oceans, Batman's tactics and The Flash flanking.
All of these heroes play to their strengths to save the day.
5) Superman is not necessary.
If you can't find anything interesting for Superman to do, just remember you don't really need him.
If you do intend to use Superman, make him integral to the plot or don't include him. With Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash as well as the main antagonist, the film is already stuffed with important characters. He is not needed. There is another Superman film coming up, so we can save his return for this film.
If you wish to include him, perhaps make him integral to the defeat of the main antagonist.
6) Don't make the film too long.
2 hours 30 minutes is enough. Personally I prefer films to last 1 hour 30 minutes. However if you want to tell an epic story spanning 3 hours, then justify it with character development and plot development.
7) Consider your tone and pacing.
Tone is important. It is. You need to establish how the film is going to look, sound and feel. However tone also describes the content of the film.
If you have a single tone (i.e. really dark or bright and vibrant) it is easier to be consistent. If you have multiple tones e.g. happy, sad, sombre, upbeat, funny, exciting, tense, vibrant etc, then it is going to be hard to mesh them all together. To be honest I'd have loved to have seen a Guardians of The Galaxy esque Suicide Squad and a beak and dark Suicide Squad. They both make great films. However combine the two and you get the mess that was this year's Suicide Squad.
The other thing about tone is pacing. If you have bombastic action scenes, then lots of slow scenes pacing becomes difficult. Imagine a really sad scene followed by a happy scene that ignores what happened before. Imagine a dramatic scene ruined by an amusing quip. Imagine a funny situation suddenly take a dark and depressing turn out of nowhere.
Okay. let's put it this way.
Look at the following genres.
Comedy: Fairly difficult.
Drama: Fairly difficult.
Dramedy: Almost impossible to pull off.
You see, comedies are there for us to laugh at the absurdity of the situations presented in the film. Drama is about us taking the situations in the film seriously.
Doing both demands a lot from the audience and in order to be successful, you must have really amazing pacing and incredible film making skills to blend the two seamlessly. It's been done successfully, but it would be easier to be either a comedy or a drama.
So pick one. Either be a comedy with some serious movements (like Marvel Cinematic Universe) or be a drama with the occasional moment of levity (like the Dark Knight trilogy). Don't attempt both unless you know what you're doing.
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