You know, I'm gay and I grew up being aware of that at a very early age, in a fairly repressed family.
Alan BallRead
If a scene is longer than three pages, it better be for a good reason.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Scenes in storytelling should be concise and purposeful.
Alan Ball emphasizes the importance of brevity and intent in storytelling, suggesting that longer scenes should only exist if they serve a significant narrative or emotional purpose. This reflects a broader principle in writing and filmmaking that values the economy of storytelling, where every element should contribute meaningfully to the overall piece.
Themes
StorytellingBrevityNarrativeFilmWriting
In practice
Example use cases
In a screenwriting class, while discussing scene structure.
More from Alan Ball
All quotes βIt's hard for me to get interested in stories that ignore death, which is what American marketing culture would like to do: pretend that death doesn't exist, that you can buy immortality; just buy these products, and you'll be forever young and happy.
Alan BallRead
Death is a companion for all of us, whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we're aware of it or not, and it's not necessarily a terrible thing.
Alan BallRead
I need to feel like the work I'm doing is not necessarily important, but meaningful, at least to me, because otherwise it just becomes a day job. It just becomes factory work and I get really frustrated.
Alan BallRead
I was conveniently bisexual for a long time, and then I went, 'Come on, who am I kidding?' And I have to say, it was the single biggest step I took toward emotional well-being, to stop feeling like I had to hide who I am.
Alan BallRead
I try to tell the best story, and the story that has some heart and some genuine terror and some social commentary and some comedy and some romance and some sex and some violence.
Alan BallRead
Similar quotes
Right from the outset, the prevailing mindset in British comics fandom was a radical and progressive one. We were all proto-hippies, and we all thought that comics would be greatly improved if everything was a bit psychedelic like Jim Steranko.
Alan MooreRead
With Bound, we wanted to pull at conventions, because you begin to wonder, Why do these stereotypes exist? Where do they come from? You use that as the subtext.
Lana WachowskiRead
I think the way to be a writer is to experience things, certainly, and be open to things, but at some point to become dedicated to the craft of writing and to create a stable environment for that writing to occur in.
T. C. BoyleRead
All books can be indecent books, though recent books are bolder._x000D_ _x000D_ For filth, I'm glad to say, is in the mind of the beholder._x000D_ _x000D_ When correctly viewed, everything is lewd._x000D_ _x000D_ I could tell you things about Peter Pan_x000D_ _x000D_ and the Wizard of OZ, there's a dirty old man!
Tom LehrerRead
In a successful painting everything is integral - all the parts belong to the whole. If you remove an aspect or element you are removing its wholeness.
Richard DiebenkornRead
People are craving this great progress in electronics, going after computers, the Internet, etc. It's a giant progress technologically. But they must have a balance of soul, a balance for human beauty. That means art has an important role.
Mstislav RostropovichRead