What lessons did you learn from films?
1. In "The Godfather" the camera moves around the characters but never moves with the characters.
2. The reveal.
For instance, if someone is looking out a window and looking for someone, we might see someone run by outside and then look disappointed when it's not whomever they were waiting for. And then later on in the movie we might see that person running by again and this time there's no disappointment on their face when they look out the window so now we know who they were waiting for.
This is a basic storytelling technique that I think everyone should master before making a movie or writing anything narrative driven.
I've been trying to use this technique more often in my own work although I'm not always successful since I don't always know when to use it or how to use it correctly. But it's good practice to try more often.
I also like this article about using reveals in comedy: https://www3.ndchostingguide.com/how-to-write-a-comedy-article/
3. Don't show me what I already know or am too familiar with (i.e., "establishing shots")
Movies do this all the time and it's annoying as hell when you're trying to pay attention to what's happening now and some idiot director thinks he has to show me every tree, building, street corner, etcetera just so I won't get lost later on if he decides to move locations without any warning (which happens all the time).
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