Thursday, August 27, 2009

Tips For Movie Makers to Make Movies Suck Less

I watch a lot of major motion pictures. I consider it my duty as I have a degree in the entertainment industry. I've been thinking of a couple ways that movies could suck a little bit less. Some of these are based on current movies, others I came up with long ago.

Don't number sequels.
I think it has to do with the concept that everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end that if a move has one sequel, it must have a third. For some reason they insist on numbering the movies, so that you know that they are related. I understand the concept, but it causes the viewer to compare the movie very closely with the original. If the original was big because it was in fact "original" the sequel will bomb because they audience will be expecting it to be as cool as the original. It also suggests that the later movies have no reason to exist other than to continue the original story, which should have been wrapped up in the first movie.

Which brings me to my next point

Do not cliffhanger a movie.
The last thing anyone wants is to watch a movie or $10 only to discover that in six-twelve months he will have to shell out another $10 to find out how it ends. It's okay if the main story has been closed up and that it just implies that the journey continues, but it is rude and disgusting to actually treat a movie ending like a season finale, yes I'm looking at you Matrix Reloaded. They are cutting the last Harry Potter book into two movies but I'm allowing the exception after the atrocity it did to the sixth book.

I like how this is flowing to...

If you base it on something else (a book, a video game, etc.), actually base it on that material.
Every year at least a dozen books/video games/cartoons/comics/etc are made into movies. Three things I think of here:
  1. Stay true to the original work
  2. Update it to be current
  3. Enhance the work to become a Major Motion Picture
Don't completely change the story and claim that it is still based of said work. Updating is fine, change the Nazis to terrorists, Soviets to aliens, US agency to UN agency. Add a black guy to the cast. Make the pseudoscience match better to real science.

Do not change the laws of the universe, such as was done in Eragon. Do not kill off all of the main characters, like in X-Men: The Last Stand.

Respect the original work and make sure that you raise it up to the right level. Just because it is based on a Saturday morning cartoon doesn't mean that you can't take it seriously. In fact, I know I've seen children's movies where they take the kids more seriously then they do super heroes.

If you are going to do it, do it awesome.
This is almost something you could live by. If you are going to do it as well as possible. It should feel real to the audience, there is no excuse for it not to be.

That took longer then I thought.
-X

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