In this episode of Required Watching, Tray Epps explores the theme of emotional fluency through cooking in cinema. He discusses three films—'Eat Drink Man Woman', 'Pieces of April', and 'The Farewell'—highlighting how food serves as a medium for expressing complex emotions and familial connections. The conversation delves into how these films illustrate the power of meals in conveying love, grief, and intimacy without the need for words, emphasizing the significance of rituals and the kitchen as a stage for emotional expression.

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

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In this episode of Required Watching, host Tray Epps delves into the emotional depths of family dramas through the lens of three films: 'Kapoor and Sons', 'Painted Skin', and 'The Jacksons'. He discusses how personal stories can resonate universally by focusing on specific emotions and experiences. Epps emphasizes the importance of authenticity in storytelling, the power of silence, and the legacy of trauma that shapes family dynamics. The conversation highlights that the core of compelling narratives lies in the emotional truths they convey, regardless of cultural context.

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You have a great idea for a movie. You have a compelling character, a killer ending, maybe even a few memorable scenes. But how do you get from a jumble of brilliant ideas to a rock-solid, 110-page script with a beginning, a middle, and an end that all connect? You don't just start writing. You build it, one scene at a time.

In this episode of the RW Toolkit, we're getting analog. We're breaking down one of the most powerful, flexible, and time-tested outlining tools used by professional writers: the Scene Card Method. Using simple, cheap index cards, you can build, rearrange, and stress-test your story's architecture before you ever write a single line of dialogue. It’s the secret weapon used by everyone from Aaron Sorkin to the writers at Pixar.

We'll walk you through the entire process, from creating your first card to laying out your entire film on your floor or wall. This is a practical, step-by-step guide to making your story's structure tangible, manageable, and powerful.

Resources Mentioned:

• Our "Canon" video essay on the perfect structure of Chinatown
• 3x5 Index Cards (any brand will do)
• Book: Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder (a beat sheet that works well with this method)
• A great corkboard for your wall

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week:

▶️ Website

▶️ Twitter/X

▶️ Instagram

▶️ Letterboxd

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.