Searching - Reformatting a Thriller
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2019
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From the first frame of Searching to the last, everything the audience sees happens on a computer or phone screen. While the plot of Searching is fairly conventional, this storytelling approach is used to enhance the mystery and elevates the film to a nail-biting thriller. This video dissects how the screenwriters made the film emotionally compelling by ensuring the designing principle, theme, and story were perfectly in sync. It investigates how they adjusted traditional screenplay format to convey a plot that takes place entirely on screens. And explores how they took something as simple as typing a text message and used it to reveal character.
Written and Produced by: Michael Tucker ( / michaeltuckerla )
Edited by: Alex Calleros ( / alex_calleros )
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I'm surprised this movie didn't blow up so much. This had the perfect usage of social media as a suspense tool without making it seem boring or dragging.
It was amazing.
Yeah!!
in my opinion the idea was great - the execution poor
@@wasowskipicture8340 agree. the end was not great.
@@liwzie I personally loved the ending!
Prob because it had an Asian lead
This movie was top to bottom terrific. It goes all-in with its gimmick and pays off very well. John Cho has great dramatic chops. Also, isn't it cool that we get a movie about technology that's actually pro-technology and shows the benefits off it to either bring people together or create meaningful memories/relationships as opposed to some cautionary tale about how we spend too much time looking at screens or something? I haven't seen a movie that capture the "language" and emotions of online communication quite as good as this.
Agreed-the language of screen communication is spot-on.
Hey thanks!
Yes! That's one of the primary aspects I loved about this film. A recording of a birthday could bring absolute joy to a person one day, but can bring them to complete sadness years later. This film explored the depth of technology that no one has really before. There's a lot to be cynical about when it comes to technology, but Searching was able to explore a wide spectrum of the benefits and disadvantages.
Loved this movie. Not sure if anyone noticed but fairly early into the film we see David casually browsing through news articles when he has some idle time. The first headline he sees says trapped hiker survives a week somewhere. Its super in your face but it happens so early in the movie that you dismiss it. This was a brilliant use of foreshadowing.
Loved when characters wrote something out only to delete it, as well! Only through text can you achieve that feeling of almost saying something to say something else. I can imagine a lot of stuttering if you applied that outside of text.
It's like an actual window inside the character's head.
I really thought it was the brother ot uncle or whatever
To be fair, voice overs to convey thoughts as done with Dexter was a splendid way too, conveying both comedy and chill factor as needed
That's a good example of how they used the strengths of their format instead of being held back by its limitations. "The absence of obstacles is the enemy of art".
Hidden gem of 2018
stole the idea from 1 episode of modern family tv serie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Lost
Apparently the budget for this movie was 1 million... That's insanely low!
Yeah! Micro-budget for sure.
nope 880 000 USD
I simply ADORED "Searching"! This movie was very original and full with love - you could see from the beginning (the amazing soundtrack got me teary-eyed) to the end that everyone involved liked the project. For me, "Searching" was the best movie of 2018 and unfortunately very overlooked. Thank you for this great video about this great movie! Love from Brazil!
It's probably clever. Not sure I could watch a screen film tho. Maybe if it comes on tv and I am eating dinner.
@@ClintLoweTube When I saw it in the cinema I didn't know it was like this. The first few minutes felt a bit odd, but I think that was because I wasn't used to something like that. After that the odd feeling went to the background when the story and the great implementation of technology took over.
It was one of my favorites as well! So many big films came out last year that I think this one got overlooked. I didn't help that a film giant like Crazy Rich Asians was released only a week earlier. I loved that movie as well, but it eclipsed a lot of the smaller films that had a theatrical release at the time.
Same! It was my favorite too.
It's my favorite of 2018 too!
No hyperbole this time, I love this channel. It's of the only channels I have on notifications. You and other channels have pioneered in cementing a new genre in RUclips videos. These smart, well written, well thought out, provocative video essays are single handedly responsible for awakening my new found appreciation for good storytelling. Something we all witness almsot daily and all take for granted.
I thoroughly enjoy learning from you and Ive been quietly watching since your channel had like 3 videos. Thank you for these videos and never lose the level of quality these videos never fail to meet
Thank you! It really means a lot to see comments like this. Even if they aren't coming from a real person :P
If you haven't you should really checkout movies with mikey on the film joy channel. truly one of my favorite essayists. If you enjoy stuff as well written and done as this. It's a bit of a different format but just as excellent. Lessons and that one are definitely some of my favorite channels.
@@mARTYR2010 Will do
Loved this movie! I saw it at a festival and it played very well with the crowd 👍 Good luck on the new podcast!
This was one of my favorite films of the last few years.
This movie was such a great surprise and John Cho's performance felt like a constant gut punch. I adored it and, since i work at a movie theater, im glad so many people came to watch it. Great film.
By far one of the most underrated movies of 2018 that should've received more recognition by HFPA and SAG for not only being an unconventional film with (literally) edge-of-your-seat thrills and suspense but also for featuring an Asian protagonist. John Cho is absolutely amazing in the movie with a performance that's (and this is gonna sound totally cliche) gripping, tense, and commanding but also extremely vulnerable.
I also think this is a movie every parent and child should watch together to help them understand the trappings of internet relationships and not keeping (too many) secrets from your parents.
Oh yeah, great video as always! I love this channel.
Cheers!
Mark Langston it should have because they proved this genre CAN work really well..everything-was done with so much detail...even for visual fx it should have been nominated. it was robbed
Yes! I'm so glad you made a video about Searching, it was such a great movie, one of my favorites of 2018!
It did a really great job of not only taking a concept that could easily have come off as gimmicky and making it seem authentic, but incorporating it so well into the story that, while it was in the back of my head while watching it that it must have taken a lot of effort, the "entirely on screens" thing never detracted from the experience of just watching a movie. By which I mean, I wasn't thinking about the screen thing the whole time the movie was on; I was mostly concentrating on the story.
*edit* I also loved how personal and real the relationships felt. I lost a parent to cancer when I was about the same age Margot was, and they nailed what that was like.
Searching was one of my favorite movies of last year.
The comparison of the ending with the beginning really hugged my heart too, when he decides to send that "Mom would be too", when Kim texted him first and when she changed her background signifying that she's finally moved on and reconnected with her dad - ugh it just really gets me
LFTS is launching a podcast! Listen to the first three episodes of “Beyond the Screenplay”
iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-screenplay/id1451724425
Listen on Anchor: anchor.fm/beyondthescreenplay
Lessons from the Screenplay podcast gang!
See if you can do Her (2013) or any Tarantino scripts anytime soon.
Yesssss another podcast to enrich my life
SHAUN OF THE DEAD? Thank you Michael for this blessing
the Google Podcast link in the anchor.fm link seems to be broken.
Perfect timing!
I just saw this movie today and it was incredible.
Excellent :)
This movie is so underrated, such good writing with twist and it’s scary without being a horror like wow I was speechless about this movie.
Yeah! The writing ensures it's not just a gimmick but actually tells a compelling character story.
Oh yes a LFTS podcast is what I need in my life
Chris Giannopoulos absolutely
Great analysis, LFTS. And to Sev and Anish if you're reading comments, your film was a fantastic achievement. My wife and I really enjoyed the tension and the amazing way you were able to show the disconnected relationship between a father and daughter. Thanks!
Thank you!
Damn. They're reading the comments like they did on Reddit. Excellent job, guys!
I think Searching gets a bad reputation from other screen movies like Unfriended
Henning Gu which is so sad. It’s like that movie ruined this amazing and unique storytelling style
This is fabulous! A great companion piece to this is "This Guy Edits," where he talks to the editors of "Searching" about putting together the actual screens. They had to reconstruct every single element (including all the characters that are "typed") in Illustrator so it could be blown up enough to actually film. Fabulous stuff. Going to download the podcast now!
Yeah! The post-production on this film was insane. And then they had to translate all of that text to different languages for different markets. I think you'll enjoy our conversation with Aneesh and Sev :)
also the video by "the AtZ Show" is great, where he also talks to one of the producers/screenwriters
Love the why how they recognised that our personal laptop or phone screens could depict who we are and what we think. Screens have become such a personal thing, only for the fact that most of the interaction done with the phone is done in private. It really reflects our personality. The director caught that and made a movie. Got to respect him for the perfect creativity for this generation
It really was filmed and adapted to screentime effectively. It highlighted all the nuances of using our devices from second guessing what message to send to lurking on profiles. Humanity! 👌
It's always a great feeling when I see I have a new video alert from LFTS.
2 updates in a week?! And it's one of my favorite movies of 2018! Thank you so much for analyzing it, Michael.
I loved that the *way* that the computer and sites were used were so important to what character was using it as well. like when the father (spoiler) was trying to look for the photo of Hannah to compare with the one from MemorialOne, he kind of sifted thru different places first before finding YourCast (which the audience probably already figured out by then) to show that it was a *father* trying to remember where it was.
Or when it showed the audience the full length of trying to hack into her facebook (going thru other accounts for the password).
Just little details like this really made the movie.
The more I think about this movie, the more I love it. This deserved a best director nom at the oscars.
Oiiiii, that audio indicator next to a portrait thing is a BRILLIANT way to differentiate who is speaking in a podcast. Nicely done!
Wildly under-appreciated film. It'll ripen like fine wine.
Just got around to watching this movie with my boyfriend (who's not hugely into thrillers) and we both loved it! So clever. I never felt as if my understanding of the internet as a digital native viewer was being dismissed or downplayed to cut corners. The attention to detail really shows. I honestly want to watch more thrillers (really feeling the genre at the moment) but this one will be hard to top. Your video made me appreciate it that much more. Thank you!
This film is everything!! Experimental, great acting, great screenplay, and I also love how the characters aren’t stereotyped. Most films and dramas stereotype their Asian or colored characters. Whereas in this film, the characters are portrayed as a normal father and daughter. A normal father wanting to find his daughter. And the editing made me speechless. One the best films of 2018.
I don't know what I love more. Michael's videos or John Cho. Woe is me!
I never heard of this film. Thank you for talking about it. The idea, the unique screenwriting format they needed to tell this story and convey the idea, all so brilliant. I would've never thought of this in a million years. Originality still lives on. I look froward to seeing it.
I am SO EXCITED about your podcast!! You are the most insightful, well thought-out RUclips channel I've ever seen for writing. I've learned more about writing from you than anywhere else. So, the idea of you having a conversation with other professionals about writing is beyond exciting for me! Thank you!!
*Congratulations on a million subscribers* I've been watching since you had a couple thousand so I'm really glad so many people want to learn more about film & you're an excellent teacher
Searching was one of my favorite movies of last year. It was incredibly unique and did so very much with the unique format.
I'm really excited to see what Aneesh Chaganty does next.
Cried at the movies and almost cried again with your video. I love this movie so much!
I couldn’t be happier you have a podcast. Love hearing your insights!
My husband and I watched this in the theater. We love thrillers, and we were searching (pun intended) for a really good one. It didn't disappoint!
The first time, I saw this format was from a Modern Family episode. The entire episode was told through Apple products. I was in love with the idea!
I work as a copywriter and have always loved films. I fancied writing fiction, but I never took action. That changed in 2020. I wrote a pilot script for a Coursera course. I guess, there's not much to do during a lockdown. :)
I was possessed by the idea of writing a short film that's told through Zoom meetings. It was difficult to find the correct formatting! Thank you so much for this video and for showing the actual script! Now, I have a lot of editing to do. I just subscribed to the podcast.
I had no idea this film was out there and it's usually the stuff I skip. Now I'm really interested to see it. Thanks Micheal
Always happy when you upload! Probably my favorite videos about movies
This movie was phenomenal! Extremely well done. By showing everything through the computer, it made the thriller more original. Especially since it showed how people reacted to it by accusing the dad and the kids from Margot's school who barely knew her, but pretended to be her friends in videos after her disappearance became popular. Brilliant and relative commentary on our society today. You'd think it would be hard to make characters real by showing the whole story through a computer, but the characters were super real and I cared about the characters easily. I was also genuinely surprised by the twist with Debra Messing's character and by the truth of what happened to Margot. Brilliant. I cried at the end of the movie.
If you liked this, you should check out the podcast Beyond the Screenplay, where the writer and director are interviewed. If you haven't already:). It is very interesting commentary.
This is one of my favorite movies ever. From the way it’s made, to the characters and plot, to that ending that blew me away the first time. It’s masterpiece cinema
I watched this on DVD with my mom and we were both at the edge of our seats! I'm glad I got a little sneak peek into the script because I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot more projects using this format during quarantine.
One of my favorite movies from last year. I subscribed to the podcast. Can't wait to listen to it.
Not enough people talked about this movie last year. Am so so glad and thankful that Michael made this video to highlight the amazingly talented production team. Such an inspiration. Thanks to all of you guys.
Muchas gracias por compartir este análisis sobre la película "Searching". Cuando la vi creí que iba a ser una película similar a "Unfriended", con la excusa de hacer las tomas con la webcam para atraer a los jóvenes. Pero me encantó. Y también quiero agradecer a quien creó los subtítulos en Español. Muchas gracias por crear los subtítulos y permitirnos a quien no entendemos inglés poder apreciar de este contenido. 😍❤️👏👍 Saludos. 😉
it's written so well. This video essay as well.
I am almost always watching your videos instead of doing homework and now you have a podcast! I am so happy! Thank you so much for making these great videos!
Thank you for existing and creating this kind of content. Your channel is brilliant - informative and compelling. Absolutely love it. And love this video.
I was nervous about the concept but holy shit they killed it with their Adobe Illustrator powers. Everything felt kinetic. The mouse moments that showed hesitation...foreshadowing through ads and documents...imitating wide shots with having the actor walk further back. Just cool stuff.
Been checking if you guys had a podcast for the past weeks. So excited to hear that now you do! ❤
i never miss any videos from this channel, i saw the notification for the video, then watched the movie, and came back to the channel to watch this video. :D
This was easily the most innovative film I saw last year. PS I would love to see you on Hot Ones!
Sean. Please see this comment
Congratulations and best luck on your new podcast! Looking forward to it! Great work and love your cinematic analyses!
I loved this movie a lot - and I was surprised to find that it was the score that made it for me. It really connected all of it, made the gimmick feel not like a gimmick but just the format, and amplified the tension in a way no computer screen recording could.
Have been wanting to watch this movie forever! Now that LFTS has done a vid on it I gotta watch it this weekend
In general I find it great how filmmakers start to think about the Internet and the impact it has on our everyday lives. Also movies like Eigth Grade or Assassination Nation, or even a vlogging mom in A Simple Favor (that wasn't cringey apart from the fact that it was a vlogging mom) show that there is an increasing understanding of internet culture and how it has changed society, for the better and the worse ...
Fantastic video once again! Thank you for your time and hard work!
I didn't have high hopes for this film. I thought "Oh, just another lackluster film told completely through computer screens and webcams-- mehhh." But I was pleasantly surprised! This film was so well executed. It was riveting, engaging, and very well thought out conceptually. Other films that use this format( *cough cough* Unfriended) should definitely take note. Great video. 👍👏
Love your channel! Saw this movie with my gf and loved it so glad to hear you talk about it.
Thank you for introducing me to this movie Michael, it's great! Always appreciate your work!
*INTERNALLY SCREAMING ABOUT THE PODCAST* THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE
Another video? This is EPIC
glued to my seat from start to finish! What a great movie.
Was a super cool way of presenting a movie!
Excited to go listen to the podcast now.
One of my favourite movies of 2018. So glad you made a screenplay analysis on it. Thanks and keep up the good work on both your RUclips channel and podcast!
Thank you!
This movie is now in my list of all time favorites. It’s a thriller that is so emotionally charged and full of hope despite being on screens. John Cho’s acting is incredible. It’s unique like District 9. The filmmakers did a masterpiece.
Thank you. Such a underrated classic
Finished the last posted episode of your podcast today - it’s amazing!Looking forward to all the walks I get to take with my dog while listening to it! 🤗
YES! So excited for the podcast!!
Thank you for giving Searching the attention it deserves!
The twists were well placed.
Really excited about the Podcast!
Wow! 2 videos in 1 week! I must be in heaven!
Can't wait to hear the podcast!
The thing that interests me is the graphic design decisions they made about the 'world' of the screens. All the videos shot on phones and laptop cameras are impossibly clear and sharp, as though we're seeing the *actual* video that we'd usually only see a *representation* of. All the icons and text are shown in this perfect, smooth way, as though, in our actual lives, the pixels on screens imperfectly represent some *actual world* of the inside of the computer, where things aren't made of pixels at all. This must have sometimes meant guessing - some icons are actually authored with pixels, so the animators would have to have interpreted what they think those pixels are trying to represent, and used that.
BUT in the old stuff, the parts that are in Windows XP, they don't do that, because we remember what those little popup bubbles etc looked like, with the pixels, so replacing it with a perfect smooth version would look off. It's like, at some point we passed a threshold where the pixels became small enough that people's minds stopped registering them. But even when the film shows pixels it's still not actual pixels we'd see, but the idealised 'squares of color' idea of a pixel. It still doesn't look like looking at a real screen close up.
Like, look at 2:57. The popup bubble and text and the time are in 'pixels', but the icon next to the text, the Norton logo, and the arrow are all smooth. That looks totally natural and familiar to anyone who used that OS, but nobody ever actually saw that in real life. It's very well done.
I'd love to see some 'making of' for this film.
You should definitely listen to the LFTS podcast where the director and producer talk a lot about how the movie was made.
Arguably the most well played podcast plug of all time
Congrats on starting the podcast, I cant wait to start listening.
Its screenplays like this that should get Oscar consideration for Best Original Screenplay, not derivative dribble like Get Out. That still baffles me. Yes, I know I'm going to get hear for this.
I'm so glad you're talking about this movie! I loved it when I saw it.
That writing and deleting text is pretty visionary. Not necessarily the first time it’s ever been used but clearly a brilliant and unique take and use of the storytelling practice.
Excellent video, as always :-)
This was my favorite movie of 2018, and it damn well may be my favorite thriller of all time. It’s very clever and I can’t wait to see Run later this year
Podcast of LFTS will be awesome.... Love your work!
LOVED this film. Very excited to hear the filmmakers talk about it on the podcast!
At first, I thought the movie was boring but it suprised me and got me hooked later on. Well done!
OH BOY YEAH! I'm pumped for the podcast.
thank you for captioning this video!
already subscribed to podcast, can't wait!!!
Awesome!
Finally! A podcast I was waiting for!
Never thought the movie would go the way it did. That’s how you do a plot twist.
WOW! LESSONS FROM THE SCREENPLAY PODCAST!
Thanks for doing the AMA! The video is great and I'm adding the podcast to my app :D I hope you got some sleep after all that! I really appreciate all the work you put in to these
I’m loving the podcast keep it up!!!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Followed the podcast, looking forward to it on the drive to work!
I am so glad you made a video about that movie. I love it so much for the way the story was conveyed but I felt it was overlooked :(
Welcome back. We missed you.
This movie is so good, well made and fresh but still kinda Underrated,
Thanks for making this video on it.
This is both genius and informative, just like the film. Great work as always! 🙌🏽
yass! I love your channel and I sure will love the podcast, too!