Video: 10 Screenwriting and Filmmaking Tips from Akira Kurosawa

The famed filmmaker share insights into the creative process.

Outstanding Screenplays with a video compilation featuring the filmmaker Akira Kurosawa whose screenwriting credits include No Regrets for Our Youth (1946), Scandal (1950), Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), and Yojimbo (1961). In this video, Kurosawa shares thoughts about his creative process, both screenwriting and directing.

Here are the tips:

1:54 — For writers, the most essential thing is the forbearance to face the dull task of writing one word at a time.

3:18 — Choosing what film to make is like sowing seeds — depending on the time and social situation, some seeds sprout all of a sudden. You can’t force them.

3:54 — Making films costs a lot of money, but all you need for writing a screenplay is a pen and paper.

4:30 — The theme alone doesn’t explain all the sensitive details of human feelings. So stating the aim or message of the movie before making it would work against that.

5:27 — When you’re climbing mountains, the first thing you’re told is not to look at the peak. Writing is the same — start at the bottom and put one foot in front of the other.

6:02 — Pay attention to the details. The audience might not notice everything, but they will feel it.

8:15 — Creating comes from memory. You can’t create something out of nothing. Form memories from things you experience or read about.

9:12 — Always think of your next project as the one people will remember you by.

9:48 — When you write, write all the way. If you give up once, giving up will become a habit.

11:20 — Adapt characters, plot and dialogue from real life.

Here is the full quote using mountain climbing as a metaphor for writing:

“I think young people today don’t know the trick of it. They start and want to get to the end right away. When you go mountain climbing, the first thing you’re told is not to look at the peak but to keep your eyes on the ground as you climb. You just keep climbing patiently one step at a time. If you keep looking at the top, you’ll get frustrated. I think writing is similar. You need to get used to the task of writing. You must make an effort to learn to regard it not as something painful but as routine.”

So true. Keep climbing. One step at a time. Keep writing. One word at a time.

A special bonus, here is a 1981 interview with Dick Cavett.

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