Qualities Of Better Films #5 of 31: Discipline

DISCIPLINE:
Discipline might well be a measure of the extent to which a film sticks to the rules it has established. Do all the techniques service the theme? Are the performance style, cinematography, editing, design, and music united behind a common voice, one that was selected via the content? Is the narrative told in accordance with the rules of pacing that it established, never staying with a shot or scene too long or not long enough? Are the aesthetic approaches utilized by the different departments working in unison for the intended effect?

Does all of the content further the story or the themes of the film? Unless self-indulgence is part of the concept, have all aspects of such self-indulgence been stripped away? Unless digression is part of the film’s concept or organizing structure, has the film avoided such digression?

Ultimately, to what degree is all of this done?

— Ted Hope

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