Recently, I found myself watching a lot of Coen Brother's movies.
"- You're Mr. Lebowski.
I'm the Dude."
And I started to see a pattern.
It's something I shouldn't have noticed,
but I did.
And it changed the way I watch their movies,
probably forever.
It's their apparent obsession with desks.
♪ ♪
And their obsession got me obsessed.
This Motif is repeated so often,
it makes it difficult to write them off as coincidental.
What exactly is going on with these desks?
"- Have a seat."
♪ Motifs & Motives - Opening ♪
This is Motifs & Motives.
The Coens & Desks.
The desk is a barrier. A hurdle.
And the Coen seemed to go out of their way
to set these scenes at desks.
"- What can I do for you, sir?"
I thought about the Dude
and his meeting with the Big Lebowski.
"- Did I urinate on your rug?
- You mean, did you personally come and pee on my rug?
- Hello. You speak English, sir?"
Or his ill-fated run-in with the Malibu chief of police.
"- Do I make myself clear?
- I'm sorry, I wasn't listening."
I thought about Llewyn Davis
and how he could never catch a break.
"- The new record's doing well?
- Not so hot, I gotta be honest, Ginny!
- You like the record? - Don't know. I didn't get it.
- Well, can you put me on the roster?
- No, I cannot."
I thought about Osborne Cox getting fired from the CIA.
"- We're taking you off the Balkans desk.
- What?"
H. I. and Ed just want a family,
but she is barren
and his criminal record prevents them from adopting.
These are characters who want something.
A new rug.
A gig.
An explanation.
"- No discussion? Just "You're out"?
- Well, we're having the discussion now."
And to get it
they need to ask someone behind a desk.
Except very rarely do the Coens allow these characters
to reach those goals.
"- This is a crucifixion.
This is political."
Okay, so the Coens like to use a man behind a desk
as their go-to gatekeeper.
What about all the Coen characters
who sit behind their own desks?
There's a Eddie Mannix, studio head of Capitol Pictures.
Sheriff Bell is a longtime lawman,
respected in his community.
And Miles is a hotshot divorce attorney
who can win any case.
"- Now, sir.
Tell me your troubles."
These are not characters looking to take control of their lives.
They already have it.
But then circumstances arise
and that sense of control is loosened.
Freddy, one of his studio's leading man has gone missing.
"- What do I tell the director?
- That we're looking for him.
But we don't want it in the gossip columns.
Baird on a bender, in a love nest,
or wherever we end up finding him.
And as far as the set is concerned, it's business as usual."
Sheriff's Bells optimistic world view
seems to be crumbling before our eyes.
"- But it's a mess, ain't it, Sheriff?"
And Miles's perfect record is in jeopardy
when he gets manhandled in his own divorce.
These situations suggest
that the power given to the man behind the desk
is really just for show.
"- I don't know what to do."
An illusion.
"- I'm not arguing here.
I'm cooperating.
And there's... We're doing all we can."
I thought before that the desk might be a barrier
but that doesn't apply to these characters.
So what does this mean?
For the Coens, a desk is neither an obstacle
or a guarantee.
It's an idea.
A symbol.
Desks are so commonplace
that a single usage
might not register.
"- Put your feet up."
But when a symbol is repeated,
it's considered a motif.
And an even greater significance can be attached.
This isn't just a desk, so what is it?
We've encountered something even larger
than anyone symbol or motif.
Now, we're talking about theme.
In this case,
the pursuit of control.
A way to suggest that none of us
are actually in control.
And that any attempt to assume control
is futile.
If we go back,
all of these scenes have one thing in common.
These characters want something.
They either want to take control
or they want to keep control.
We all know how it feels to be here.
Or here.
And it's ultimately relatable.
The Coens have found a way to make this theme
personal to everyone.
With an everyday symbol.
The desk.
But what is all of this add up to?
"- A good question."
I'm not saying the Coens are doing this consciously.
It might just be an intuitive inclination.
This is just what I see.
But the lesson is universal.
You can make anything mean something.
If a desk can represent big ideas,
so can literally every other prop.
Location.
Or piece of furniture.
To pull something like this off,
don't just add a desk randomly
and hope that the same message will come across.
Consider the implications behind these environments
and keep the big picture in mind,
your theme.
Take any scene in your script and ask yourself,
Should this scene take place at a bar?
"- There's a payroll company, you know."
A park?
Or at a desk?
Your characters can discuss their plans for a heist here.
"- The elevator won't move
without authorized fingerprint identification.
- Which we can't fake.
- And vocal confirmation
from both the security system within the Bellagio
and the Vault below. - Which we won't get."
Or they can meet up at the Waffle Hut.
"- Got a bit of a setback on the tunneling front, too,
we've run into a pretty large rock.
- This is a severe setback,
I am distraught, I'm more than distraught,
I am devastated,
I-I'm beside myself, I'm at a positive loss for words."
The same scene set in two very different locations
with two different results.
Once you've identified your theme,
break down your scripts into finer elements
to flesh out the details.
Create a mood board to review the direction with the art department.
Make a storyboard, so that your presentation of these scenes
are in line with your goal.
"- The raw intelligence."
Each Coen Brothers movie is different in plot.
Genre.
Tone.
But this single theme seems to pervade their filmography.
The Coens took a piece of furniture
and made it meaningful.
Challenge yourself to take something
just as mundane and do the same.
"- Would an imbecile come up with this?"
And no matter which side of the desk you're currently on
StudioBinder is here to help.
"- I designed it myself."
I just want to leave you with one question.
What exactly is going on with these phones?
"- Hello.
- Hello. - Hello."
That's it for now.
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See you on the next one.