20 Screenwriting and Directing Tips from Steven Spielberg on how he created Jaws and West Side Story

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Steven Spielberg is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He's films include Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and the latest West Side Story.
Dream for a living.
The goal is to bring together people of different ideologies under one roof and make them walk out of the theater feeling the same emotions.
Learn how to be a storyteller first.
Life is one long string of character defining moments. Listen to your intuition when facing them.
If you’re making a historical movie, it needs to be told as truthfully as possible.
Think back to your previous film or an idea you had and look at it from another angle and ask yourself ‘what if this happened?’
Almost every story is a reimagining of an older classical story, told from a contemporary perspective.
Ask the actor to give you too much at first, then bring them down to life-level.
Bend the rules to learn about filmmaking.
Make your film a conversation with the younger generation to inspire change and to inspire the way they make films.
Musical sequences, even more so than action scenes, require a lot of mathematics and equations so you need to find good collaborators that can help you solve it.
Stay devoted to your original idea.
Sometimes your dream whispers, it doesn’t shout. Listen to the whisper.
Pay attention to the past. Respect the films that have come before you.
Aim to tell a story, rather than trying to sell a product.
You can express yourself with very little. Use everything available to you.
When you fail, immediately throw yourself back into your next project.
It’s ok to first steal something you like and later on find your voice.
Create suspense by not showing the threat for some time.
When an idea hits you like a ton of bricks, start writing scenes and put the story together immediately.
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#stevenspielberg #screenwriting #screenwriter

[@seekeroftruth101]

With all the craziness that's been going on as of late I get such a strong feeling of nostalgia remembering the times I would watch Spieldberg's amazing pictures when they first came out, like the original Jurassic Park as an example. Man, good times!

[@Theomite]

The problem is that man went away to make SCHINDLER'S LIST and never came back. He was different forever and never managed to get back to that same headspace he used to have. The closest he ever got to being his old self was THE TERMINAL, which was more Capra than Spielberg, which may have been why it worked.

[@Lee-xn8by]

Raiders, E.T. , Jaws, Temple of Doom, Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, Schindler's list, Close Encounters, Last Crusade, Empire of the sun

[@smalltownglobalproductions]

My hero. A true filmmaker for all times. Perhaps he is the most important filmmaker we have or have ever had.

[@joannkelly7994]

What gets me with Spielberg is how humble he is and willing to share. Also, his respect he has for those who told the stories in the past. Thank you for this video.

[@BrianMcAleer]

When I was kid, wanting to write stories and make movies, Steven Spielberg was my idol, and I was lucky to catch a glimpse of him on TV being interviewed about his newest movie. When DVD came along, I got to know him a little bit more with the bonus extras and interviews. Now, thanks to KZbin, Spielberg is my mentor. I can literally sit here and watch video after video, for hours on end, learning from the greatest living director of all time speak like he's still a child living with total awe and inspiration.

[@changgang299]

I love you Spielberg so much! E.T. Jurassic Park, jaws, saving private Ryan, all masterpieces!👏👏

[@mramitverma1773]

Well E.T is not basically Spielberg's idea. This is the origin story and idea of Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

[@karenmink865]

"..As close to the feeling of flying i evet had" Now that is passion and true love for writing

[@filmmaker610]

Tip 3 is where every artist should start. Still one of the greatest director working in Hollywood today.

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

The Adventures of Tintin, Jaws, E.T, Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park. Movies I genuinely loved.

[@sonnov0]

Hey again

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

@@sonnov0 forgive me, I've kind of forgotten you. Would you please remind me of my previous interaction with you?

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

@@sonnov0 wait, never mind. Hello.

[@ARKHAMxMaverick]

could listen to him talk about movies for hours on end.

[@gbengaodimayo2859]

One with so much to give both behind and in front of the camera. I relish the authenticity of his every comment - as I have relished his every movie to date. Spielberg reminds us not only of what we can(not) see in this world ... but of what we can be! Inspirational. Footnote: bravo to the editor too, on your work

[@peacenow4456]

Wow, I adore Steven so much. We all can relate to him especially when he describes his childhood. Thanks for assembling all these icons for us writers who are struggling in one way or another. Steven is my favorite as all his stories have such heart.

[@brianhiles8164]

Filmmaking is hard, but Spielberg makes it as easy as it can be. I´m convinced that this is so because all the myriad crew who help him realize his works (who he tends to employ from film to film) don´t make doing so any more difficult than it has to be. The basis of this is _mutual respect._ Believe me, there are a _lot_ of stories of _productions from hell_ in Tinseltown. He doesn´t need to worry about this.

[@colleencupido5125]

For the community experience of an audience sitting in a darkened theatre that you brought up- brings a memory of the late 1970s, with my parents and I sitting in a second-run movie theatre and watching the Sean Connery James Bond classic, "From Russia with Love." Part way into to film- in the projection room something happened and the film lost all sound. When the problem couldn't be fixed, the manager offered all in the audience a refund for their ticket. But some decided to stay anyway- including me and my parents. I will never forget the audience participation: When Connery mysteriously came up with a ship's Captain hat while steering a small craft- someone in the audience yelled "Where the hell did he get that hat?"//But the Ultimate remark of the evening was when the villain of the piece- a women who wore a shoe that she could eject from the toe an attached, poisoned blade she killed people with; when she finally met her end near the picture's conclusion, her face looked as if uttering this loud, painful shriek with mouth wide open while she slowly crouched/fell to the floor- one wit in the audience yelled out "I'm melting!" Four decades later...and I still remember it and the audience reaction

[@phenomenal14U]

Steven Spielberg's Schindler's list was the first black & white movie I saw from start to finish in once. And man it was a experience it was just so moving and heart crussing No surprise black and white movies have the norm because it enhances the story and performances

[@AmericanActionReport]

On tip #20, Spielberg used a similar technique when choosing his victims in the movie "Jaws." The first victim was unknown to Brody and was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be at that time of day. From that point, each victim was someone closer and closer to Brody, culminating in Quint. Lastly, Brody was threatened by the shark. Sometimes, the threat comes geographically "closer and closer," such as walking up a flight of stairs toward the victim behind a door.

[@jellestarremans5990]

This is going to be a awesome video. I hope you do more tv writing videos. I really enjoyed them.

[@Theomite]

I wanna see a TV series about young Speilberg's time sneaking into Universal. It could be half-real, half-fiction, but all fun and delightful. He could even produce it since it'd be off of his memory.

[@ThomasLuca]

Steven is a #MasterofCinema

[@malinhessedahl]

Love hims movies💙💖 Love jurassic park 1998 1993 2001 movies , hook 1991 , ET 1982♥️

[@justanothercreator7273]

Every time you watched a Spielberg masterpiece you knew you where watching a masterpiece of atmosphere

[@jamesthokcha4299]

I hv been dreaming, plus watching good movies from 2006... Now my mind is full of movies like visualization

[@FilmQi]

It was an excellent video, It's always a pleasure to hear Steven

[@robertroman6214]

"If you feel like you don't fit in, use your screenplay to explore a world where you could." Damn that one is pretty good.

[@ahsanmohammed1]

Thank You well put together

[@reyesplace1096]

He is delightful to listen to.

[@GarretGrayCamera]

I'd like to know more about his technique. Most of the stuff he made he didn't write but he talks a lot coming up with a story and things related. I can see him running with a good idea someone gives him, maybe that's what's he's talking about. Or maybe he puts together a rough sketch of a story and a screenwriter runs with that.

[@overshadower3794]

At 16:27 Steven talks about how the voice that tells you, "This is who you are, and this is what you are supposed to do, comes as a whisper, not a shout." He refers to is as intuition, or gut. From the story of Elijah, we learn that God speaks to us in "the whisper": The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13, NIV) What we call our inner voice, our conscience, our intuition is really our Creator saying, "This is the way, walk in it. This is the purpose for which I created you. Becoming the person I created you to be is where true happiness comes. Doing what I created you to do is where true satisfaction comes. Walking through life hand in hand with me is where true belonging, love and security comes from. Just say, Yes, to Me and listen for My whispers. I still speak."

[@chipcurry]

Superb. They should have 1 million views

[@scenebyscene47]

I loved this!

[@heisenberg8077]

03:10 Shoojit Sircar ❤

[@RMFATO]

Love Spielberg.

[@charlie-obrien]

Schindler's List. This movie alone earned Steven Spielberg the honor of being one of the greatest directors in the history of motion pictures. There are maybe 3 other films over the last 100 years that have been as brave a commitment to telling the honest story of the human race.

[@abhiraajsingh5878]

I have not really fully explored Spielberg’s work, I have only watched Jurassic park and Catch me if you can!

[@derricksilverthorn5815]

Your films are amazing . Every time matety👻💀

[@ManaBDew]

From Dr. Steven Spielberg for real

[@thaisgoncalvessanto5754]

I loved ET só much

[@JakeandElwood1980]

He did Duel 1971 movie

[@regibson23]

5:10 pick a bloody one for me

[@hitenbarad8858]

Schindler's list best movie ever

[@luzng]

5:13 Harryson Ford is that you?

[@subhashnisarta3347]

Thanks for this conversation about script writing as well as screen play ⏯️▶️ both are alternative related to the story structur may be sometimes whole in screen play ⏯️▶️ but as well as possible 😁😁 I wanted to skow what sources is in present 💝🎁 available because of one day among them will be memory for me 😀🎥🗣️💖💖 and it will be one of the part of the film 🙂🎥🗣️💟❤️ it's says itself many words which is actually not available but some of the sign ☢️🛑 which is left ⬅️◀️ that is important for me#creators group with me.

[@mramitverma1773]

Well E.T is not basically Spielberg's idea. This is the origin story and idea of Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

[@chyke6272]

Well, yes.....but Spielberg's technique of making the film reigns supreme.

[@mramitverma1773]

@@chyke6272 yeah everyone has their own way, i love the movie schindler's list

[@imaginationworkshopstudio]

#MasterofCinema

[@pinakichakraborty8759]

❤❤❤

[@EL-ub2df]

6:00

[@user-se5mz0fi3l]

0:02

[@TinyDancer250]

Heather O'Rourke.

[@marcellbakos3083]

15 is missed

[@looneygardener]

I met him. I saw him walk past my market stall. He stood at the edge of the market, with his wife Kate, and I couldn't really believe my eyes. I decided I would go up to him and tell him how much he looked like Steven Spielberg. His wife gave a look, but I clung to the pretense that allowed me to approach him. It was quite a moment. I would have told him I've seen The Color Purple around 50 times.

[@waynemcauliffe2362]

Tip to you mate.Use subtitles in your films ha ha

[@AsylumLunatic-ig5jh]

Indiana Jones 4 great movie.

[@yanndick]

I still don't understand why Spielberg refuses to make audio commentaries for his movies on video.

[@baldaxx]

Because they distract from watching the movie, which for him is the most important thing in the world.

[@yanndick]

@@baldaxx Who watch a movie with a commentary without watching the movie without it first ? From an interview several years ago, it seems Spielberg kept hard feelings about the way Hitchcock had him get out of his set at Universal Studios (I think it was during the FAMILY PLOT filming but not sure about this). Spielberg should realize refusing fans and filmmakers apprentice to know more about his movies is kind of worse than what Hitch did to him.

[@baldaxx]

@@yanndick Spielberg has participated in dozens of documentaries, "making of" featurettes and interviews in which he explained everything about his films. BTW, the movie was TORN CURTAIN.

[@yanndick]

@@baldaxx Thanks for the info about the movie's title, For a reason, I was not sure of the one I mentionned. Now, featurettes and interviews, as interesting as they can be - sometimes - are not the same than learning about choices or anecdotes while watching a movie. The most interesting documentary I saw about Spielberg and the way he works is the one about the production of EMPIRE OIF THE SUN. Since then none other ever gave me again the same feeling of witnessing a lot about how Spielberg directs.

[@Mike-nq3lq]

Anyone see the guy in the crowd picking his nose?

[@RossHMartin]

3 minutes in Spielberg repeats himself. Who’s editing this?

[@derricksilverthorn5815]

Skull&bones matety s💀

[@doylepwilliams6599]

Scribe on 🥃

[@user-pg8gg6zs4m]

Are we going to pretend that that one guy wasn't digging deep in his nose for gold nuggets?

[@MikelGCinema]

He learned everything that he knows from European directors.

[@chyke6272]

Oh please. Why don't the European directors have massive blockbusters like he does. Everyone know him all over the world, but no one knows your European directors.

[@petekdemircioglu]

Ahahaha

[@geraldobrien7323]

Here’s a marketing tip for you, Steve: Don’t wag your finger at 90 percent of the country and say they should know how to speak Spanish. Doing that will cause your movie to flop.

[@jotham777]

Spielberg is brilliant, but he fell on his face with that Woke position of not including subtitles in Romeo and Juliet, as common sense required.

[@G-0]

Funny considering Saving Private Ryan also doesn't have subtitles and that came out 24 years ago

[@yorickmoran4823]

He's done this before in Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List as well. Idk how is it woke if he's done it in the past.

[@G-0]

@@yorickmoran4823 Exactly

[@idaf3028]

It was actually better that way. Maybe on streaming sights wss would have needed subtitles but in the theatre it’s better to just let them speak Spanish without needing to translate it

[@gpapa31]

West Side Story was an absolute remarkable film, and just as good as the 1961 Wise version.

[@TheNimdude]

so much more disingenuous than other filmmakers. Kinda obvious that he's basically a corporation at this point.

[@sensitivedogs]

You think he's not sincere?

[@TheNimdude]

@@sensitivedogs wont go that far. Definitely doesnt sound genuine.

[@sensitivedogs]

@@TheNimdude I find he still has passion and is open to different genres. He knows his craft and has confidence.

[@jodeemaybe1112]

What is he talking about ? His films are terribly written and edited. Himself needs to go back to cinema school to get some tips from young talents.

[@yorickmoran4823]

Bro! You're crazy in thinking his films are terribly edited! Look at the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan or even the race scene in Ready Player One. His films are much better edited than most modern blockbuster releasing right now.

[@leahdoc19]

Did you watch Schindler’s List? I think it has beautiful editing and especially writing. Just curious, who would you say is better than him?

[@uhhwhateverdude9463]

You’re one to talk! You gotta a more outstanding portfolio than Steven Spielberg?! 😂

[@gpapa31]

Criticising Spielberg on story telling, is like criticising Michael Jordan one his skills while you have no clue how basketball is played.

[@jonasmeier417]

Please name the Spielberg movies and scenes that you mean.

[@my2cents198]

Schinders list is the greatest film ever made