{"id":39,"date":"2012-07-30T05:07:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-30T10:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/k-tock.com\/?p=39"},"modified":"2012-07-30T05:07:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-30T10:07:00","slug":"learning-from-l-a-confidential-show-and-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/k-tock.com\/?p=39","title":{"rendered":"Learning From L.A. Confidential: Show and Tell"},"content":{"rendered":"

SPOILER ALERT: This series of posts is spoiler-heavy. But, seriously, the movie is from 1997!!! If you haven’t watched it by now…<\/strong> <\/p>\n

This post is a collection of examples of how Helgeland puts into practice the old adage, “Show, don’t tell.” I’ll add more examples to this post over time.<\/p>\n

Ice, Ice, Baby<\/strong>
Starting on page 45, we are introduced to the palatial mansion of one Pierce Morehouse Patchett. Up ’til this point in time, Patchett has been a background player. We know he is significant, but don’t have the details.<\/p>\n

One of the protagonists, Bud White, follows up a lead, arriving at Patchett’s place. Bud, a thuggish cop, does his best to intimidate Patchett.<\/p>\n

Prior to the exchange, Patchett had been practicing his golf chipping, landing his shots in a tight group near a koi pond. The conversation, which goes for a couple of pages, has some real dialogue gems.<\/p>\n

But what was really note-worthy was how Helgeland finishes the scene.<\/p>\n

Bud turns, heads down the walk. Patchett hits his golf ball. It lands just past the koi pond, with the rest. Ice.
L.A. Confidential<\/em> script, page 48<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a neat book-end to the opening of the scene.<\/p>\n

But more than that, it is a fantastic summation of Patchett’s presence and calmness during the exchange. And rather than try and TELL us that Patchett is in control, Helgeland SHOWS us.<\/p>\n

Brilliant.<\/p>\n

Take a Seat<\/strong>
Another example of showing, rather than telling, is found on page 63.<\/p>\n

Another of the protagonists, Edmund Exley, conducts an interrogation. During the course of his questions, he discovers that a girl has been kidnapped.<\/p>\n

Bud, who has a real thing for helping women, and dispatching justice on those who abuse them, watches the interrogation from an observation room.<\/p>\n

We pick it up as Exley questions a youth named Jones.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

We don’t need to be told that Bud is angry. Seeing the effect of his anger is far, far better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SPOILER ALERT: This series of posts is spoiler-heavy. But, seriously, the movie is from 1997!!! If you haven’t watched it by now… This post is a collection of examples of how Helgeland puts into practice the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,56,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-l-a-confidential","category-show","category-visual"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t