Deborah S. Patz - Author

Author & Filmmaker

  • Books
  • About
  • EXTRAS
    • Fun FAQ
    • For Profs
    • Film Resource Links
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Film Production Books
  • All Books

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… the Opera

April 2, 2010 by Deb Leave a Comment

1. You Can Do Almost Anything, So Long As You Sing It
How you tell a story is what’s important. Sure there are underlying messages beneath the overall framework of the story, but how you communicate the story will determine how how entertaining it will be. You’ve heard “write what you know” and when you think about what you know it may seem a little boring… OK, take the “boring” (which you know so well) and make it interesting by how you express it.

2. The Star System Makes It Happen
Even years ago when operas were first written, Stars helped to shape the final product. Take the Romeo & Juliet opera (by Charles Gounod). As I’ve heard the tale, Gounod was commissioned to write the opera for the opera house owner (who’s wife was going to be the Star). The Star didn’t like one of her solo arias and asked for it to be rewritten. Gounod was unhappy (to say the least) about having to rewrite it, so wrote a solo aria for her that was totally different in tone from the rest of the opera – a waltz. Perhaps he hoped to embarrass her with the “unfitting” aria… but what happened instead was that that waltz aria became his most famous song. How the star system helped push him to create some of his best work!

3. A Story Is Filled Arias & Recitatives
An aria is basically a melodic song, whereas a recitative is basically sung prose. You can’t string aria after aria for an entire opera – it would be too much. You can’t have only recitatives for the entire duration either – it would be too dull. You need pacing between songs and prose. That’s the journey. When it comes to movies, I see the arias as action sequnces, or comedic moments, and recitatives as deeper moments, linking moments. And yes, the right pacing makes it work.

All the best & an operatic shoot to you!

Cheers,
Deb

Filed Under: Life, What I Learned From... Tagged With: opera, stars, story

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Subscribe to Blog via Email (BLOG RETIRED)

Categories

  • About Deb Patz
  • Books on Deb's Shelf
  • Budgets
  • Ciné Surfer
  • FILM
  • Forms & Templates
  • Front Page
  • Fun
  • Gladys Comics by Deb
  • How It's Like…
  • INDUSTRY
  • Industry News
  • INK
  • Ink Wisdom
  • Inspiration
  • Life
  • Management
  • Moviemaking Tips
  • Rayne's Coast Comics by Deb
  • Script Road Map
  • Skills Development
  • Tips from a Busy Person
  • What a Writer Needs to Know
  • What I Learned From…
  • What's It Good For?
  • What's Stopping You?
  • Work-Life Balance

Tags

3D animals awards budgeting callsheet career choices children choices christmas computer tips confidence coproduction dreams equipment film education film festival film terms free halloween imax Industry News maniac mansion mistakes movie moment movie quote MWP networking persistence perspectives pm101 preproduction resources scheduling screen credits scriptwriting social media stars stress management time management travel weather wordsearch wrap writeshootedit writing process

Connect with Deb

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Goodreads
  • Amazon Author Central

Looking for something?

Deb’s FILM & INK Newsletter

Subscribe to the Newsletter

RSS Deb’s FILM N INK BLOG (RETIRED)

  • Deb’s FILM & INK Newsletter… come ‘n join!
  • Dinosaurs in the Airport
  • The Oscars are Coming, the Oscars are Coming!

Copyright © 2021 · Author Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in