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
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