Millions of people are trying to get their foot into the story-/movie- making world – which is an incredible movement.
Many buy a myriad of books trying to learn the craft. Getting one’s head around them is hardly an easy task.
There is a mind-blowing number of people who research not one, not ten, but dozens, even hundreds of educational resources, learning “everything there is” about “how to …” (write a novel, genres, techniques, get in the industry, …). They try, and they do not always succeed.
The reason for that is that it is not an easy craft. It can be taught, it can be learned, but it requires much more than time – it requires practice. The point here is:
When people buy a book, and the book is good, the person understands the book contents. But. There is a gap between understanding it (or thinking that one understands it) and really knowing it. Like in languages, or any difficult enough craft, it takes practice.
Practice shows what you know and what you thought you knew but don’t really know yet. Practice makes you take an extra step, so that you finally grasp that subtle detail you didn’t get while only studying. You cannot cheat yourself when you practice. It shows. You know it, or you don’t know it yet.
Notes On A Scene has a role in this: in the “it takes practice” point. When a teacher explains, the student understands. When the student practices, the first thing that happens is that, although he may understand, he may realize he does not know. He does not know what technique to use here from all the techniques he has learned, how to use this technique here, why use this technique and not that other one, why use this in this way and not (please not) in this other way. The craft.
It helps cross that bridge, that gap, between understanding (learning) and knowing (mastering). It helps to “see it”, grasp it, in its use, in context. It helps the student in opening his eyes in awe and say “Ahá!”. That eureka moment that happens when the teacher points and says: “here, now”. This is what Notes On A Scene is offering.
To put it bluntly, the problem Notes On A Scene tries to solve is that feeling of frustration after having supposedly learned something, but still being unable to use it properly. It helps cover that gap between thinking that you know, and really owning it, getting it, getting the what, when, what for, why, and how to use it.