Feed Your Imagination: Why Filmmakers Must Read

From scene-building to story-making, reading unlocks the depth and delight your films deserve.

Dear filmmakers you need to be reading.

Not just for the purpose of research. For idea-making. For image-making. For mind-expanding. For scene-building. For story-making. And most importantly, for delight and pleasure.

You may say, I barely have time to make my film, when will I read?

I hear you. I have asked the same question.

I, too, don’t “have” time to read. But if you’re creative enough, you can find time to read before you get out of bed, or before you go to bed, when you commute, when the coffee brews, when the baby naps, when you’re standing in line, or when you’re on the potty. If you still say, I don’t have 10 minutes, check your screen time app on your phone and see where you are wasting 10 minutes. Steal back that time, for a book.

Always keep a book on you (or Kindle if that’s your thing). I tend to have two books going at once. A nonfiction book, usually a collection of essays, for the morning. A book with real and tangible possibilities that allow my brain to form opinions, make connections, and get excited about big ideas. And a novel, or collection of fiction for the nighttime. Stories that allow me to sink into the unknown and unwind.

So why as a filmmaker should you read?

Building Scenes. As an active reader the role of imagining scenes is up to you. You decide where the camera is (i.e. you, the reader is the camera) in the room when the action is unfolding. You decide if we see a close-up shot of the character or stay far away from the argument. How quick are we cutting between characters during an exchange of dialogue? Are we diffusing or creating tension through that pace? Are we establishing exposition through wide shots? Or are we deeply lost in the mind of our character? As you read, you construct a visual and auditory scene out of text. The way you imagine the room to look and feel will be different from the way I do. This is your style of directing. Actively reading a book is like directing a film you don’t have to write. The hard part, an interesting story or idea, is already right in front of you. So your brain gets to play with other things - like point of view, color, action, pacing, and methods of immersion.

Settings & Characters. You come across characters whom you recognize yourself, or others, in. Or characters that are completely unfamiliar and surprising. You study their quirks. You read (i.e. hear) the way they speak. You form an image of them in your mind and the depth of character, if it is a good piece of writing, only grows as you read. You explore how character and setting are intertwined. You examine what is left unsaid/unwritten and the role of restraint. This will tell you a lot about what types of personalities you are drawn to, and maybe what types of personalities you are repulsed by.

Story. You pick up on what makes a satisfying story to you. When you are actively reading, you are guessing what this moment will lead to. You are forming expectations. Those expectations are either met, or not, but your (dis)satisfaction will tell you a lot about the stories you value. Are you a person who prefers ambiguities and open-endings? Or do you want a bow wrapping up a detail-rich account? Picking up on your own preferences for narrative - and noting them as you read - will help you to reflect on what storytelling techniques (such as open/closed frames, the role of a narrator, time, open/closed endings, and parallelism) you could experimenting with in your own work.

Curiosity. You don’t need to read work that is just like the film work you make, but in book form. It’s actually better if you don’t. If your films are character-driven, try reading a book that is more action-oriented. If your films are expository and traditional, find books that employ a lyrical or poetic restraint. If you make films about contemporary life, look to history for perspective and flavor.

And finally…don’t overwork your brain and make reading “work” - enjoy the process of holding the book. Slow down the moments, read them over and over. You don’t have to blaze through a booklist to make reading worthwhile.

—

I remember reading Ben Okri’s A Way of Being Free while making KING COAL. Okri is a Nigerian poet who greatly influenced much of my thinking and writing about how we, as storytellers, need to do the work of finding the lost dreams and bringing them to light.

The storyteller's art changed throughout the ages. They became the living memory of a people. They kept the oldest and truest dreams and visions of their people alive. They also kept alive the great feelings, the healing tragedies of the never ending journey towards their utopias, the other moving dream of happiness. They had to go down deep into the seeds of time, into the dreams of their people, into the unconscious, into the uncharted fears. (Ben Okri)

And a passage of narration, written by yours truly, from KING COAL:

There have always been those of us
who travel
in and out of the kingdom
looking for stories, that keep us alive.

Here’s a bunch of other books I read while making KING COAL.

Truly, all of my best ideas come from reading books, watching films, and being in the world. And when I fill full from these methods, the best ideas come when I sit silently.

And if you need an extra nudge to really commit to the written word, Werner Herzog also thinks it’s a great idea for filmmakers.

Currently reading: Having and Being Had (nonfiction), The Hurting Kind (poetry), Pew (fiction), Valley So Wild (folk history)

What are you reading?