Bad Drama Is Filled With False Moments - Dan Attias
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- čas přidán 28. 07. 2024
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Dan Attias has worked as a director in the film and television industry for 37 years. As a director of series television he has received the Directors Guild of America award for outstanding direction of dramatic television and has been nominated for multiple Emmy awards for his comedy directing.
He continues to work on some of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed American television shows, including Homeland, The Americans, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Billions, and The Boys.
Previously he has directed The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, True Blood, Entourage, The Killing, The Walking Dead, True Detective, Ray Donovan, Bloodline, Friday Night Lights, Northern Exposure, House, Lost, Alias, among many others.
His first professional directing assignment was the feature film, Stephen King’s Silver Bullet, produced by Dino DeLaurentiis. Dan started his career studying acting, then worked as an assistant director on E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Airplane!, One From the Heart and several other feature films.
He has taught acting and directing workshops in the United States, and has appeared as a guest speaker at festivals in Italy, Brazil, Greece, Mexico and Canada. Before working in the film and television industry, Dan was enrolled in a Ph.D. program in English literature at U.C.L.A., then transferred to the Theater Arts Department where he earned an M.F.A. in film production.
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#Homeland #Writing #Entertainment
Here is the follow up video with Dan Attias - czcams.com/video/CgNYKuzAkpY/video.html
Had the pleasure of working with Dan on ‘Seven Seconds’ (Netflix) and this man really helped bring out some of my best work a to date; I’m a better actor as a result. Nice guy too
I read his book and thought it was really on point. Recommended it to some young directors I know.
This was a really good video. Real dramatic moments are one of the hardest parts of writing. It's the inevitable clash of the character's motivations versus the author's plans for the plot.
I watched the Homeland trial scene he talked about...and realized that he is really talking about taking the shit script he was given and elevating it to something watchable. That scene reeeaaalllly could have benefitted from rewrites. All these writers are treating their jobs like a semester long group project that everyone else has worked really hard on, but the writers only start working on it the evening before it is due and won't accept any feedback on it even if it makes the whole project fail.
I know he's talking about directing tv, but I think a lot of this advice applies to any good character-based storytelling.
Indeed!
I like the fact that he goes into the mental process of crafting the courtroom scene in his recount of the Homeland show. Would love more interviews along that format instead of just a lecture of Dos, Don'ts and suggestions.
Let's give a hand for the interviewer! The way she urged him to read from his book got to me. It was authentic. :)
This man is suuuuper wholesome and I love him. He is really intentional with everything he says and he's very upfront about expressing himself.
Like, you can tell he's living his message in the very fiber of his existence.
Thanks for watching! Much more to come with Dan.
I think seeing a movie in the dark in a large theater mimics humans sitting in the open around a campfire listening to a story from an elder. And stories in general are how humans fill in the missing pieces of the picture of the world for each other. "I was in a car accident last week", "Oh no are you ok?" "Yes, I had my seatbelt on and the airbags deployed and saved me". Humans learn from any story they are told and hearing another person's story is like getting free life experience that one can incorporate into one's own life, generally to avoid 'the bear cave' or the 'poisonous plant' (or bad curve on a highway), but also on how to better attract a mate or cook the perfect turkey for Thanksgiving. Enjoyed this video, Dan is great to listen to.
Amazing! Watched the whole thing with the eyes glued to the screen. This man really knows how to tell a story haha
Glad you enjoyed it! This is our first segment with Dan. We have a lot more to share.
@@filmcourage Eagerly Waiting..
Genius. Not only did he explain how to realize realistic transformations in our characters, but he also described how we can experience authentic transformation in our own lives.
"Life imitates Art."
Damn that was powerful.
Thanks for watching Cody!
"Bad Drama Is Filled With False Moments " Why did I immediately remember the SW Disney trilogy?
because it is a great example of leftist woke marketing, which has taken over so many stories. Sometimes I can relate to a nine year old girl. Hollywood thinks we only relate to skin colour and gender. With that as their foundation, they will always fail. The only successes come when the artist/writers secretly subvert the woke marketing.
Yes! And having your face smashed into a pile of moralizing rather than experiencing a compelling drama.
As a writer, if my story was ever made into a movie, I would want it only in the theaters, not on any streaming platform. Because you and Dan were right on point: there's something deeper and beautiful about sitting in the darkness and just forgetting. The money is worth it.
Story is not the plot; it's the authentic growth of the characters.
It's an interesting journey he took to make that scene credible.
I came for the title, because in my own writing, I want everything to be credible, and I want all payoffs to be earned by what has come before.
The example of a false moment I thought of was the character of Spock in Star Trek Into Darkness yelling "Khan!" when Kirk dies near the end of the movie. When Kirk did that in the second Star Trek movie, the two characters (Khan and Kirk) had a history of enmity, and Khan had outfoxed Kirk at that moment and was gloating about it.
Also, when Spock dies at the end of Wrath of Khan, Kirk is gutted. The scene is so melancholy. Two longtime friends are saying goodbye, and one is not ready. "No..." is all Kirk can muster,
But when Kirk dies in Into Darkness, Spock completes the parallelism by shouting "Khan!" But it's not a scene of two longtime friends saying goodbye. These characters don't really know each other very well, and it's never been overtly stated on screen that they even like each other very much. Add to that the Vulcans' practice of emotional control, and the outburst makes no logical or narrative sense. It's just a parallel to the previous film combined with the knowledge the audience has grown up with outside the theater, that Kirk and Spock are good friends. But without any of that being portrayed by the actors, the moment just seems false, the payoff unearned.
I have enough confidence in myself to start writing, but I think it's also important never to trust yourself. Always ask the questions: Does this work? Why does this make sense? Have I set up this moment enough to write what I think should happen next?
I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness and I concur 100%. Besides, such an iconic moment shouldn't be attempted again, in my opinion, because it cannot be done.
Really amazing to hear him put into words what I've been struggling with in my own writing
Oh my, this was beautiful. I teared up and got a great reminders about creating real drama.
I love this discussion, such an interesting perspective and thoughts about the strategy of directing. Surely this amount of thought isn’t put into most shows/episodes of tv.
It's reassuring to see that there are still writers and directors in the movie industry that still give a fuck about the quality of their stories and characters. Hollywood is mostly a creative wasteland at this point.
0:20 great answer! Thank you both for a terrific interview
This was so helpful and insightful. Thank you!!!
Wow. Really impressive. To work within the constraints to find real drama. And to be able to explain it.
This is a very deep meaningful conversation. Like some college class session. Thank you so much
Goodness me! Directing sounds....complicated... I remember a frustrating conversation with a theatre-director friend, when I wasn't allowed (in my little competition entry) to explain the subtexts of the words I put down, so how was the actor supposed to act it? They could miss the entire story. Give me a novel to write anytime!
Another way the script could have stayed authentic would have been to turn the sister telling her she was a hero into a moment of self recognition and transformation. She could use that to reflect on her actions and realise that she was not a hero regarding her child and that she would use that knowledge to honour to be that hero, deny her sister the doubt that she could be and perhaps at the same time as rescuing her chance to keep her child she could rescue her relationship with her sister whose actions allowed her to transform.
One word. Authenticity.
An interesting video and very intriguing from a storytelling point of view.
However if we're speaking just about Homeland, I disagree with a lot of how he portrayed the characters in this conversation. Carrie is at best an anti-hero, and at times crosses into becoming a true villain, just saved by myopic focus. This makes sense from the character's psychological perspective and her hero complex, but she's no hero.
Meanwhile her treatment of her daughter is outright abusive at times and Maggie is a voice of reason and empathy. This is an excellent example of exactly when the parent should not be allowed near their child.
While it's important from a storytelling point of view to try to understand and empathise with every character, by later seasons Carrie is more a villain protagonist. If there was any justice Carrie would be rotting in prison for committing war crimes, murder and torture. Claire Danes does a great job of portraying this character, but the writing really zigzags in quality and in how it portrays a warped view of the reality perpetuated by US imperialism to justify their violence.
I like my theaters to be dark so I can see the screen better
this guy is brilliant
Fascinating thoughts, I love Silver Bullet and he's directed tons of great TV shows.
I LOVE that passage from his book. I think a good example of that is to look at Breaking Bad. Lots of natural conflict and tension. Compare that to Ozark, which I think presents a lot of tension and conflict it doesn't earn. It's more like a soap opera where characters will jump to extremes. I'm not saying Ozark is a bad show, but compared to Breaking Bad his thoughts feel extremely accurate to me in that comparison.
Martha? WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME!?
Haha! That was a terrible line, and what's even worse is that if you cut that line from the scene, the scene becomes stronger.
One of the most fake moments of all time.
It sounds like the problem was either the writers not doing a good job of telling the story, or the director not listening well. In the end, nothing changed except he realized what they writers actually wrote was right. Right?
marvellous
this is all similar to "believable science fiction". Yes all the things that happen in science fiction aren't possible. But what they do so often now is make something happen or make something possible that shouldn't be possible, or that isn't believable, based on the world that is created and the dynamics that should be possible.
And they do just about every time when they are trying to force feed the audience with female hero characters.
Will my book jbe rejected because the first chapter (1900 words) is a flash back (in media res)? How can I be sure of this? Thank you
Dan Attias what a scoop!
This is my favorite CZcams channel
Thanks Brooklyn NY! We're happy to have your support!
I never watched that TV show, so I could be wrong. However, what I heard implied by his description of the court scene and the writers refusal to change their idea was something that I see as a very common issues in TV and movies over the past say five years, or thereabout. The problem is sometimes called OP (Over Powered) or in this case overly perfect characters.
In Star Wars, for example, Rey was an OP character. She had ALL of her abilities at level 10 for no reason. Her character was loved and given accolades by everyone she met, immediately. There was no character arc, no real growth or challenges. She was able to win all the "Stuff" with little to no difficulty. There wasn't a character there. Just like Michael in the unwatchable SciFi show, Discovery.
It sounds like the writers had decided to make Daines' character SOOOOO perfect, that even her sister, the one who had been fighting her season after season finally had to admit just how much of a Mary Sue she was. I am also going to presume that years before the character was complex, and had interesting storyline, but slowly "THE MESSAGE" was drip, by drip used to poison the show.
He'll always be the guy who directed Silver Bullet to me. Love that movie.
Amen
so in the end, the writers hadn’t written a false moment, but he needed his time to justify it to himself. i appreciate the transparency in sharing his process, but he also described a process where he seemed to “solve” a problem that never existed outside his own understanding of the story. in the end, all the dialogue was as originally written. i’m left wondering if a director who was a sister and a mother would have had as much trouble coming to grips with the nature of the drama.
thank you so much for sharing these interviews. you are the best interviewer, and i never get tired of your channel.
A director that is a sister and a mother may have more quickly come to a similar conclusion to David's, because she may feel closer to the material. But the fact remains that any director must interpret a script in order to direct authentic performances. The problem here is not necessarily with the dialogue but with the turning point the writers identified. External turning points -- like the shark attacks in Jaws -- are easier to identify, but internal turning points -- like the one described in this video -- can sometimes be more difficult to find on the page. However, internal turning points are obvious onscreen. You will see them in the actor's face. And if the director and actor can't find the truth in a character's internal journey it will not move the audience, no matter the intention.
@@ckrug32 thanks for the comment. i appreciate your point.
I'm seeing Claire - I just click.
Hi Dan ****
Damn 😳🤯
Or need answer for our life. That we can't find
now i wanna hear from people who direct shit show. Like Batwoman
Why do we like movies? For the same reason we like gossip. By nature, *_we're nosy AF!_*
Discussing the importance of being genuine while being completely disingenuous, priceless.
i would NEVER EVER EVER WATCH A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE EVER AGAIN. saving money -> 👍