Real Life, Real Stories: Crafting Genuine Narratives

Have you ever wondered how personal experiences can shape compelling narratives? Join us as we sit down with the insightful Yaro and Zina Wild to unpack the age-old advice of "writing what you know." Our discussion delves into the richness that personal life stories bring to storytelling, making your narratives feel authentic and deeply relatable. We'll also explore the emotional challenges that come with this method, especially when dealing with painful or traumatic events, and offer strategies for achieving the necessary emotional detachment to handle such material effectively. 

In another thought-provoking segment, we confront the complexities of conveying genuine human experiences, particularly in the context of sensitive subjects like war. Yaro and Zina illuminate the importance of drawing from authentic emotions rather than relying solely on secondhand knowledge or societal expectations. We also explore the fascinating technique of writing or acting in opposition to one's current emotional state, revealing how this can elevate the depth and relatability of your work. Don't miss Yaro's personal tips on managing focus and productivity, ensuring a healthy balance between creative endeavors and personal well-being. Tune in for a blend of wisdom and practical advice that promises to enrich your creative journey.

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A Podcast for Indie Filmmakers

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YT: Cinematography for Actors

In the world of social media, and fast-paced journalism, knowledge is abound. But with all the noise, finding the right information is near impossible. Especially if you’re a creative working in independent film.

Produced by Cinematography For Actors, the Indiewood podcast aims to fix that. This is a podcast about indie filmmakers and the many hats we wear in order to solve problems before, during, and after production.

Every month, award-winning Writer/Director Yaroslav Altunin is joined by a different guest co-host to swap hats, learn about the different aspects of the film industry, and how to implement all you learn into your work.

"We learn from indie filmmakers so we can become better filmmakers. Because we all want to be Hollywood, but first we have to be Indiewood."

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:30

welcome back to the indie wood podcast. I am yarrow, I am a director writer. With me I have, uh, cena wild actor, producer, writer. So we talked about, uh, crafting material for ourselves or our own material, our own short stories, our own features. And you mentioned something about writing.

Speaker 1: 0:49

But you know, and for me I've always heard people jumping into to writing. They were like, oh, write what I know. But I don't know anything and I'm like, well, it's oh, you're a firefighter, so you write about firefighters. Yeah, that's a small part of writing what you know, but for me it's it's bringing life experiences into into your stories, to to bring in, you know, like, for me, I have a very unique experience, uh, with with my family and I utilize that to craft my stories.

Speaker 1: 1:23

I think I use, not it literally, not the oh. You know, I had an argument with my folks and now it's a story. It's more about kind of the relationship, interactions and those they bring into certain moments and scenes. It doesn't necessarily have to be the full story but it's. You know, I'm relying on the experiences of my life to make a world feel lived in. But then you mentioned something that was kind of interesting is sometimes we write because we need to take something dramatic, maybe, or something uncomfortable, and we put it into script and film in order to be rid of it. So it's not weighing us down, but then, if it's successful, it's there and you're living with it for a while, especially because films take a long time to do and sometimes you're with even a short film. You're with a short film for years. How do you feel about this idea of writing something to get it out of your insides but then having to live with it for a long time? And how do you manage it?

Speaker 2: 2:21

I think it's a really interesting topic and I think that, going back to the writing, what you know, in a way you can only write what you know because you're seeing it from your point of view, from your perspective this is, I mean, every writer that's ever written anything. It's from their experience, it's from their point of view, it's from their, and that's why it's good, unless if you're writing something that you're detached from it. I think that there is usually an issue like other people can't really. It's like the whole idea. The more personal you make it, the more, the more general it becomes. So making it really personal will touch more people, because we're all human. We pretty much all go through the same stuff. The how is what's interesting, but that's why, when you're really going through it, you will know the how of it as well. So when something is really hard, I mean, one thing that they used to tell us in drama school too, was like put your heartbreak into your art, put it there and then heal your heart by that.

Speaker 1: 3:36

Therapy without the life.

Speaker 2: 3:38

Exactly which. In a way, I love that, but there is that part that's like it can be dangerous. Yes, because it's also like, well, I want to live a happy life, I don't want to keep on Thinking about this traumatic moment that is terrible, and reliving it and never letting it go. Because how do you let it go if you're working on it all the time, working on it all the time? So my approach to this is a little bit somewhere in the middle, because, also, I think that, in order for the piece to be served the best, you have to have a little bit of detachment, of growing to. If, let's say, you're walking down a line, you're not in the beginning of the line, you're somewhere in the middle, closer to the end, when you're writing about it, so you've had some resolve on it, on the subject, so you're able to see it from. Oh right, I was there. Now I'm here.

Speaker 1: 4:35

Liz, yeah, you've emotionally progressed. You're utilizing it after you've healed.

Speaker 2: 4:40

Yes, I think so. I think that that's important. And if you're not, if you're doing it after you've healed yes, I think so. I think that that's important. And if you're not, if you're doing it while you're doing it and while you're healing.

Speaker 2: 4:50

While you're healing and while you're in pain and it makes you feel better, that's great too, because that's healing and that's more important than anything. No-transcript. I think it's important to do something else at the same time that takes you out of it, that reminds you that, all right, I can do this, that makes me feel good, that reminds me that there's more to my life than this event. There's more to me than this situation, because I don't think it's very healthy to get so wrapped up and 24-7 in that perspective, because it completely envelops you when I write sometimes.

Speaker 1: 6:05

I've never been diagnosed with ADD or anything like that, but I feel like there must be something in that realm, because I either have a hard time focusing on doing something that's important to me greenwriting or I hyper-focus and the days just go on. Important to me, green writing or a hyper focus and like, uh, the day's just gone, sure, and so my, my, my current project of myself, um, is to find a way to trigger this, this ability to hyper focus, and then pull out of it after like an hour or two, and I'm trying to make it a superpower instead of like a not yes and um. To add to what you were saying about kind of, you know, write something traumatic in order to, kind of, you know, maybe heal from it. Or maybe, you know, you're kind of grown away from it.

Speaker 1: 6:55

I had a moment in my life where I had, uh, there's something traumatic, but something that bummed me out, sure, you, you know, and I wrote a movie about it, yeah, but it wasn't necessarily a movie about that literal event. I had a feeling of wanting to run away, and I remembered that line from Futurama where he goes I don't want to be on this planet anymore, and so I wrote a movie about going to Mars and it became something more, I think, from that. But I really tried to condense the feeling of my experience and then make a movie about that.

Speaker 2: 7:32

Totally.

Speaker 1: 7:33

The literal story makes it's completely unrelated, but that feeling was the same and I think maybe you know that's another way to look at right. What you know is I wanted someone else to have that feeling absolutely.

Speaker 2: 7:44

You know, like I completely agree with what you're saying, because the short that I that I just finished is about, I thought that I was dying. I felt like I was dying from the heartbreak and I was like I think, and then that's how it started.

Speaker 1: 8:01

It's not literally the same thing it's about for people who didn't listen to the last episode it's a movie about everyone having an app a mandatory app on their phone that tells you when you're going to die yeah, and you get a courtesy call 24 hours before. And it's a movie about a woman played by you.

Speaker 2: 8:21

Um, getting that courtesy call, yeah and I, I it goes exactly with what you're saying, that it doesn't have to be a literal thing, but it's just like listen to the feeling, because the feeling will also tell you creatively. Because sometimes people are like but I don't know how to write and I don't know how to get ideas, and it's like just sit with every. I really truly believe that, especially actors, because they they reach so many scrims that it just exercises that part of your brain that you're like how the stories are the same, they're all like there's no virgin idea anymore and it's not about that. So so it's like yeah, sure, people will be like, oh, yeah, I've heard that before. And so who cares? It's like but that's your version of it and I think it's so important and yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:17

Another thing I want to kind of unpack is, you know, sometimes maybe what I quote, unquote, write what I know is a little more literal. You know, I have a really strong relationship with my mom and so a lot of my stories are about women and I feel like it's it's me trying to unpack what my mom did for me, like in a good way you know how much she gave me and then how much growth I had because of her but also, like you know, trying to understand the female perspective, because I'm like a dude, you know, straight cis man, yeah, and sometimes it's hard to to be like can I write a story about a woman? But I'm not really writing a story about a woman. I'm writing about, sure, you know, and, and, uh, or even that feeling of like parent to child. I don't necessarily write like, oh, I can write women better, like, no, no, it's not about that. It's about me unpacking, like, what it feels like to be a mother, what it feels like to be a parent, what it feels like to be a son, you know, and so those are all different movies and all different stories.

Speaker 1: 10:19

I write stories not necessarily about a mother or about what it feels like to be a mother or a woman.

Speaker 1: 10:25

But that feeling, sure, you know, like I wrote a movie about, uh, a mother going after a superhero because he accidentally killed her daughter and when he was finding his nemesis and you know I wrote that about like, kind of, from this feeling that I got from my mom is, is what does it feel like?

Speaker 1: 10:44

To be so overprotective or to even, you know, lose something like that because of the relationship we have. It's a little unique, you know, not to kind of you know air my laundry to everybody on pod, but like it is a unique relationship that's different from any other relationship I've seen people have with their monsters. And so I wrote this story and it feels lived in and it feels alive and the character feels alive because it's like I'm refracting it through the prism of my own craft. Yeah, and it's sometimes hard because there's a lot of baggage there to unpack, sure, but it doesn't necessarily have to feel like that experience. Like you said, it can be a feeling, absolutely, you know, and when we explore stories that are difficult for us, the thing that we have to relive, but that feeling can be transformed into a story.

Speaker 2: 11:36

Yeah, and I think it can be an amazing way to heal, for sure, and that's great, because if that's the purpose, then that's perfect.

Speaker 1: 11:49

but it can also be a little dangerous to get stuck in it yeah so I think it's important to take score a little bit of that to add to that and kind of piggybacking off of the previous episode. It doesn't have to go anywhere, you can just be done with it and it disappears into the, totally, the balcony, the shelf of your creative world life. Yeah, and it's gone. And and uh, it doesn't necessarily necessarily have to be a movie. Uh, in college I was a singer-songwriter and, like, I played over mics, I did shows, but I wrote music. I think I wrote like I don't know 50 songs, oh wow, over the course of a couple of years, all because it was just therapy. I was like I need to get this out. I had all these things to say and I did it and then when I was done, I put my guitar down and I didn't play ever. I still tinker every now and then, but I don't have this incessant pull to like it doesn't need to come out.

Speaker 2: 12:46

Yeah, wow.

Speaker 1: 12:47

And with screenwriting it does. I think I've transferred this output into screenwriting. That's amazing, yeah, and I think this is something kind of similar. You know, that's happening with you is are an actor, it's okay, and you had a really robust career. And then, you know, in episode two you were talking about how people were like write it, you write it.

Speaker 2: 13:13

Yeah, I mean it was. I really was like I don't know where to start. I have no idea.

Speaker 1: 13:18

How did, how did you come to this concept of write what you?

Speaker 2: 13:22

know, because it was honestly in the frontal part of my brain and I couldn't. I think that I'm a little OCD, so I can't stop obsessive thoughts sometimes and it was a part to get it out of the head and that was, I think, one reason why yeah, because if you have something that's important in your life, or difficult, yeah, you think about it all the time and then you have to put it on paper and you know, when I think of any writer that I love screenwriter, novelist, whatever they do write about their experience, so it's that's what I'm drawn to.

Speaker 2: 14:07

So, like I think my favorite writer is Henry Miller, so, and he so writes what he's going like, it's autobiographical. So it's to me, and the way that he writes it is because that's how he experiences it, that's how he the eyes that he sees through it. So to me I'm like that's great. And in a way it's almost like people can be like oh, that's so self-involved or this or that, and it's like, well, how are you going to? If you try to do something? Maybe someone that's really skilled and has incredible imagination they can do that, but for me I don't know how to do that. I just don't. I just write what I know and what I feel, like it's taking over my life in said moment in time.

Speaker 1: 14:54

Yeah, I do want to mention something about writing what you know, because I've seen a couple of movies in the last couple of years, one recently that came out about a civil war, wink, wink. And there are these creatives who have really strong opinions. I don't necessarily think that maybe that statement is quote, unquote, in touch, and I don't want to say these people are out of touch and some that's not what I'm saying, but but they're, they're really kind of clear, distinct opinions about issues that are very complicated. Sure, and it's not just you know civil war.

Speaker 1: 15:36

Now, alex Garland, cause you know from what he made was, from what I've heard, I haven't seen the film yet, alex Garland, because you know from what he made was, from what I've heard, I haven't seen the film yet, but you know I haven't seen the film yet because it's a difficult thing for me to watch due to, you know, the war in Ukraine and me having family in Russia and Ukraine. I just didn't want to see it yet. And so he made a statement. From everything that I've kind of heard about you know war and for me, having experienced it was, it was like I disagree with that and I still have to see it to really kind of you know, understand where he was coming from, um, but I sometimes think that, you know, there are things that are off limits.

Speaker 1: 16:14

Oh yeah, you know when you are like I have an opinion, I'm smart, I make movies. I'm sorry, I don't. I don't feel like I'm. I don't want to feel like I'm talking crap about Alex Garland. He's a great filmmaker, but you know, there is, I think, a limit where people think that, oh, I know, I'm going to write what I know, but then I don't think that there's this depth of feeling and knowledge and experience to really make it feel black, you know and it's true, and then sometimes, when it's not complex, it doesn't register, feels out of touch, yeah, so that can happen, for sure.

Speaker 2: 16:48

And I mean, I think that there is also something to be said about the world we live in right now. People are so careful about saying anything that they're not saying anything. So it's like I will do 35 focus groups so that no one's offended, yeah, but then nothing is said because no one's offended, and that's something too, and it's like okay. So we are in a very sensitive era right now that, um, it, there's the good side of it, there's the good side of it, there is the bad side of it there's.

Speaker 2: 17:24

With these big subjects, I think that it becomes more complicated, but for something that I feel like it, personal, personal, yeah, my personal thought is that people are becoming a little scared to be personal, yeah, and that's where it's a problem, like it's like I'd rather talk about the big things that are out there instead of what's going on here, which is really what you're going through and what everyone, what all of us, is the human experience, and I think that that is I don't really get. I don't. I lose interest in the things that aren't personal these days, because everyone is so afraid to be personal.

Speaker 1: 18:03

I want to say that maybe you know it's firstly, it's a complicated issue that takes. It's going to take a lot longer to unpack than the time we have left for this episode. But you're right, I think you know there's maybe a social need to have an opinion or to you know back a certain take. And then maybe you know, because we're so informed now there's so much information and misinformation out there. You know, how do you stay informed and then have a experience about it and then write about it. Yeah, it's like, well, I think maybe that's not necessarily the process. It's not about like, oh, I have an experience about you know American politics, so let me write about it. Like, no, no, how do you feel? Yeah, do you feel scared, you know? Do you feel, you know, happy? Do you feel like what is your personal experience? And that's Totally Like.

Speaker 2: 18:59

how does it influence you on your daily life? How do you? How does it influence you on your daily life? How do you? How does it make you drink your tea?

Speaker 2: 19:05

like you know, like how does it all like? It's just I think that that's the actor in me that becomes like how you see this thing is how? Because it's true, if you're depressed, how are you gonna drink your teas different than if you're really joyful? Yeah, it's, and that's the art in it. Like, what kind of color are you going to use? It's not just green. What kind of green? Like what kind of whatever? So it's the details.

Speaker 1: 19:37

Yeah, you know, yeah, I like that, you know it's. It's kind of silly to think like, oh, how do, oh, how do you have breakfast in the morning if you're happy and you're sad. But when it comes to writing screenplays, that's an important perspective to have that can be reflected onto your story. It doesn't necessarily have to be literal.

Speaker 2: 20:03

No.

Speaker 1: 20:04

But you know it can color a moment, it can color a scene, it can color a whole story arc and I think you know when we want to break it down. It's a more complicated issue. You know it's not just like, oh, you know how to be sad, Write that Right, right, right. You know what it feels like to be a man or a woman or a person of color or, you know, an immigrant. Uh, you know it. It's right that it's.

Speaker 2: 20:28

It's more feeling it's, it's more, and there's something also to be said. What's really cool is writing the opposite. So when you're feeling a certain way to just do it, because it's almost like when, when, on camera, as an actor, you're supposed to like, you know you're talking about something sad and instead of trying to make yourself cry, it's trying to make yourself not cry. Interesting. So that is the most interesting. Uh, way can you?

Speaker 1: 21:00

unpack that a bit more, like so, when you're either acting on a scene that's supposed to be a sad moment or writing uh, a scene that's supposed to be a sad moment. When you do the opposite, what does that mean, can you?

Speaker 2: 21:11

it means that it's the survivor in you, because we do this in life every, every day. If, if you something is really bad, like you're feeling bad or you're ashamed or you're trying to overcome it, you're not trying to stay in it. So the more you act from that perspective, the better it becomes, because it's so active in you that it's going to come out anyway.

Speaker 1: 21:33

In a certain way, you're not suppressing it, but you're kind of suppressing it.

Speaker 2: 21:38

You're trying to overcome it, suppressing it. You're trying to overcome it, you're, you're like actually, if, if you're, if you are about to cry, and what do you do is try to hold the tears.

Speaker 1: 21:48

It's way more interesting to watch that's interesting, and so trying to kind of shift that over to screenwriting. I think that makes for more dynamic characters too, because you have a sad character like oh, I'm going to cry now, but then they're like no, no, let's hold back this moment. Yes, how does the character explode or not explode, or how do they simmer? I think that's really cool.

Speaker 2: 22:11

It's so much more interesting to watch and it's like we literally do this in life every day. Let's say, someone is loving their job and they get fired In the moment, in real life, they're not going to start crying and start begging that's going to. Some people do. But yeah, but you're right, it is more interesting. But it's way more interesting to see that person be in this moment of like, heartbreak and like I, I need to. I can't show this right now.

Speaker 1: 22:37

I'm going to save it for when I go home and I'm going gonna cry my eyes out or even like, how does it me holding it in the general, me holding it in, affect my part? Yeah, or yeah, I think that's really cool. Yeah, yeah, really cool thing to. I'm gonna use that yeah I didn't, I didn't, I didn't ever think about that.

Speaker 2: 22:55

That's really cool it's uh, to me it's my favorite thing, because the last thing you want to see is a person. I mean, you want to see them, but only the very end, like you want that moment, but it can't start there.

Speaker 1: 23:09

Well, I hope that people are going to explore more about writing what they know. We kind of dove into a couple of concepts and things that maybe you should avoid, or don't. I mean, do whatever you want, it's, it's art, it's. You know, you're gonna piss people off. You're gonna make people happy, you're gonna make people disinterested. Um, right, what you know? Right, happy stuff, sad stuff. Xena, thank you. Thank you for having me. Yeah, we'll, uh, we'll see you next week. Yeah, all right, take care everyone. Thank you bye. Thank you for listening to the anywood podcast. You can find us on anywhere you find your podcasts and on instagram at anywood pod. See you next time from the cfa network.

Speaker 3: 23:49

Cinematography for actors is bridging the gap through education and community building. Find out about us and listen to our other podcast at cinematographyforactorscom. Cinematography for actors institute is a 501c3 non-profit. For more information on fiscal sponsorship donations because we're tax exempt now, so it's a tax write-off and upcoming education you can email us at contact at cinematographyforactorscom. Thanks.