Teaching the pursuit of voice and style

“Film School Professors: The Mentors,” an article in The Hollywood Reporter today, originally published online Wednesday, includes the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television:

“When you look at films from the past, you see the many different ways that filmmakers solve storytelling problems,” says Robert Rosen, dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. “And you break with formulas because you realize there are many ways to solve a problem. By looking at the past, you get the courage to find your own voice.”

UCLA professor and screenwriting chair Richard Walter helped David Koepp find not just his voice but his style: “(He) told us to write the descriptive passage that would set up an exterior scene on a college campus,” says Koepp, who has written numerous blockbusters, including Paramount’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” “He let us work for 10 or 15 minutes. Then he had people read their lines, which of course tended to be extremely long and detailed. Then he read his. It was six words: ‘Exterior, college campus. Students, teachers, books.’ That really sank in.”

In a supplemental article, each of the film school professors are profiled:

Robert Rosen, UCLA

Former students: Patricia Cardoso (2002’s “Real Women Have Curves”), Jonathan Dayton (2006’s “Little Miss Sunshine”), Alexander Payne (2004’s “Sideways”)

Cardoso on Rosen: “When I was making my thesis film, I got to a point where I said, ‘I’m not going to be able to make it.’ He was really supportive and encouraging. He would show me different ways of doing things. He knows so much about film from different parts of the world, and also in history, that he has a perspective that very few people have.”

Richard Walter, UCLA

Former students: David Koepp (2002’s “Spider-Man”), Scott Kosar (2004’s “The Machinist”), Audrey Wells (2003’s “Under the Tuscan Sun”)

What do you teach?: “You can do anything you want, if in three words I could put it like this: Don’t be boring! As a member of an audience, I would rather be offended, disturbed, provoked, upset, saddened, or frightened than rendered bored.”

Keywords

"robert rosen" "richard walter" "david koepp" 

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