How Greta Gerwig Makes a Film

From Frances Ha to Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s films have a distinct style and voice - a thread that runs through her body of work. From her roots in theater, to her early films with Joe Swanberg and the Duplass brothers, Gerwig has established an approach to filmmaking that is all her own. So what makes a Greta Gerwig film? By focusing specifically on her work in Frances Ha, Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie, this video will explore how her movies have a particular way of subverting genre, eschewing conventional structure, and playing with film form.
//CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
01:10 Subverting Genre
01:39 Barbie
02:12 Lady Bird
03:49 Frances Ha
05:37 Little Women
07:50 Women’s Stories vs The Hero’s Journey
10:13 Subverting Structure
10:19 Her Writing Process
13:18 Theater Roots
13:29 Mumblecore
14:44 Greenberg
15:31 Subverting Form
15:37 Recapturing the Mistake of Theater
16:11 Using Lots of Takes
17:15 Rhythm of Language
18:05 Overlapping Dialogue
19:32 Outro
//VIDEOS:
Lady Bird BTS, Little Women BTS, Greta Gerwig on Frances Ha, Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan On the Importance of Female Voices in Hollywood | TimesTalks, SBIFF Cinema Society - "Little Women" Q&A with Greta Gerwig & Amy Pascal, Greta Gerwig on Little Women: Reel Pieces with Annette Insdorf, Directors Roundtable: Todd Phillips, Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach | Close Up, Full Director's Roundtable: Angelina Jolie, Guillermo del Toro, Greta Gerwig | Close Up With THR, Greta Gerwig Career Retrospective | SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations, Joe Swanberg Films Chicago, Greta Gerwig Likes Writing that Doesn't Look Like Writing, Meet the 2018 DGA Nominees for Feature Film, Criterion Conversation between Sarah Polley and Greta Gerwig on Frances Ha, Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig | Mistress America, BARBIE (2023) Behind-the-Scenes Greta's Vision
//PODCASTS:
KPCC interview with Greta Gerwig, Sam Jones Off Camera Ep. 84 - Greta Gerwig, Dua Lipa: At Your Service Podcast S2 EP 10, WTF with Marc Maron Ep. 869 - Greta Gerwig, Deadline CREW CALL 18: “Writer/Director Greta Gerwig, Editor Nick Houy, and Cinematographer Sam Levy, WGA East On Writing Episode 27: Greta Gerwig, “Little Women”
//MUSIC:
hello sunny by johnny_ripper, i was dreaming of you by johnny_ripper, join the bugs by johnny_ripper
#videoessay #gretagerwig #barbiemovie

[@aidilfawzy1665]

I love that all her films that she directed are completely different from each other in terms of visuals & storyline and yet it all has a similar theme & message that can only be told in a way that only HER can do it. This just proves that she established herself as a filmmaker that will be adored, respected & studied as years pass by, and that's really amazing knowing that female filmmakers don't usually get the same treatment as the male ones does.

[@JessHeIsMe]

how lucky are we to be alive alongside greta

[@fromtheframe]

So true 🙌

[@omarherasme6699]

That's a great video! And as for Greta, following her career for the past 10 years has been a great journey. Can't wait to see what she'll do in future films.

[@fromtheframe]

Thanks! Couldn't agree more.

[@MB-io2lk]

A great introduction to Greta's directorial and screenwriting style and the work behind it ! ❤😊 Congrats 👍

[@fromtheframe]

Thank you so much!

[@rebeccapatterson649]

She’s a political hack - her victims are never seen. She abuses other women whom disagree with her selfish ways.

[@edo27]

loved this video! it is so well done and i loved how you intertwined her interviews and thought processes along with your own thoughts re: Greta's way of working! thanks for making! it made me want to rewatch ladybird and watch little women and frances ha!

[@fromtheframe]

So glad you enjoyed the way the video was put together. Honestly, I found so many great sound bites while researching for this video, it was hard to narrow them down to what’s there. Thank you for the support!

[@alfalej]

This is gold. Thanks

[@karipola]

i loved so much your analysis about Greta's movies! I'm writing a comic book and your video found me right in the moment i'm stuck in a chapter, and watching it kind of helped me to see more clearly what I wanna say??? lol i don't know, guess we really learn from others perspective of things, your channel is already one of my favorite when the subject is cinema. Thank you for sharing your ideas and never stop making such great videos!

[@RavikantRai21490]

I love your channel. Thank you for another amazing video essay. I've been thinking of doing something like this for film editing with several video ideas I had but never really got started.

[@fromtheframe]

Thanks! You should definitely start - that's the hardest part. I love seeing other people's perspectives and would love to see a channel on film editing.

[@cholocco2831]

Another fantastic video. Can’t wait to see more!

[@fromtheframe]

Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sawyerspecter]

Wonderful video. I've loved all your videos so far. They are all well thought-out and well presented videos that I can learn something from. I like your perspective. One of my favorite films are 20th Century Women and C'mon C'mon. I'd love to see your analysis on director Mike Mills and those films in particular because I never see people talking about him and I think he is one of the most under appreciated directors right now. Anyway, keep up the great work!

[@fromtheframe]

Thank you so much for the kind comment. Also, 20th Century Women is literally one of my favorite films! I feel like Lady Bird was a spiritual successor to that film - just from Gerwig's perspective. Mike Mills is definitely a director whose work I would be interested in exploring in the future.

[@sawyerspecter]

​@@fromtheframeI agree. Would be anticipating then!

[@emilthilsing]

one of my favourite channels at the moment!

[@fromtheframe]

🙏

[@joaopedrotoledo5787]

That's an incredible video! Best on Gerwig's filmmaking. Thank you for that!

[@fromtheframe]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@trevormcmahan4415]

This was genuinely incredible, really well done! You nailed this analysis Dash I don’t know if family video essays feeling like a gain valuable insight, but on this one, I did! Thanks again, I’m can I go check out your other vids!

[@fromtheframe]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@trevormcmahan4415]

@@fromtheframe I'm so sorry lol I used voice to text to type this comment and reading it back, it's incoherent 😅

[@trevormcmahan4415]

​@@fromtheframe meant to say "This was genuinely incredible, really well done! You nailed this analysis - I don’t watch many video essays that leave me feeling like I gained valuable insight, but on this one, I did! Thanks again, I’m gonna go check out your other vids"

[@ov3rthinkingit]

great vid!

[@KHALIL_AMINE]

best video I've watched this week, I learnt a lot

[@fromtheframe]

Wow, thanks!

[@spring6066]

11:51 omg i need that 400 pages long version of little women script.....

[@fromtheframe]

I know, that would be amazing to read. There is an alleged “early draft” floating around the Internet; however, I can’t vouch for its legitimacy, and it's only 142 pages.

[@anneboyer6359]

Fantastic. I had a question too. All the effects from 11:34 to 11:52, how do you make all that? Where to learn that?

[@fromtheframe]

Thanks for watching! It's just a mixture of keyframing the position of objects on and off-screen, and for the text effects, some of that was done in Keynote using the "Trace" animation.

[@anneboyer6359]

@@fromtheframe thanks, what about the fancy background paper animation? Is that just some video you downloaded of the paper animation from another source?

[@fromtheframe]

Oh yeah, that was just the screenplay over a crumpled paper animation with a blend mode applied.

[@anneboyer6359]

@@fromtheframe so creative, so beautiful, thanks.

[@mahmoudshaban9009]

great video

[@coochiedestroyer500]

GENIUS

[@magvad6472]

Bingeing your channel, holy shit, so good.

[@3sedavis]

It’s fantastic she is getting the attention she deserves!

[@Valkyri3Z]

I just realized that whole point of Frances Ha was totally lost on me. I did not even notice the friendship between the two women.

[@jayci1]

nice

[@IAmMakaylaMcIntosh]

Greta Gerwig and Sarah Polley together - dream team!!!

[@thehostofmmm]

Might wanna redo the thumbnail. Misspelled "expectations"

[@fromtheframe]

Thank you so much. A little easter egg - there's also a minor one in the video. Of course I noticed that one, but not the glaring one in the thumbnail 🫣

[@itsrob2321]

To be fair, writing is at first, improv… It comes out of the imagination to create the story. The difference is in writing it can be tweaked to create all the dimensions of unity within the story.

[@BH-Movie-Reviews]

after watching Barbie,,, i doubt i will ever watch another one of her films

[@BH-Movie-Reviews]

"I need the money..." she said,,,, well that just explained that hot mess Barbie movie.

[@manzell]

Ha and Lady Bird were so much better than Barbie I can't believe there's a real debate over Barbie's "lack of" nominations.

[@BH-Movie-Reviews]

after hearing "talk",,,, makes me wonder who is really writing her stuff..

[@justafidemyself]

She better enjoy this brief acclaim before imploding with snow white 😪

[@Uroboros663]

Incedibely overrated

[@nolongerlistless]

Incedibel? Incel-ibed? Incredible?

[@Uroboros663]

@@nolongerlistless Lol, there’s no need to be offended because of an opinion about someone you don’t personally know 😂

[@rebeccapatterson649]

Ask her about using her art to abuse and hurt other women.

[@user-dy7un3wg9q]

I was analysis your channel. I see your video quality is very good and as such you should get more views and subscribers. But you are not getting good results. can we talk abouth growth your channel?

[@emilthilsing]

no