Research is a compulsion for me as a writer; I feel like I have to do it. Sometimes it’s paralyzing: I’ll convince myself I can’t write until I’ve read certain books or watched certain movies. Sometimes it can dilute what I’m trying to do because I become convinced that I have to include everything, and I start going off on tangents.
And sometimes…it adds color to my writing. Sometimes it inspires new ideas. Research is a tool, one of many in a writer’s toolbox. Like a knife. Effective when handled properly.
One aspect of the research I’m doing for The Shadow is watching movies from the 30s and 40s, when The Shadow was in print and on the radio. Not for historical accuracy–we can’t count on movies for facts–but for the vibes of that time period. What movies would my main characters go to the theatres to see? What movies have the same feel?
I hesitate to say, ‘What would it be like if I made this movie back then?’ because I have the knowledge of what happened in the decades that followed, and because I have the freedom to tell certain stories, depict certain characters, and approach certain topics that the studio system and the Hays Code wouldn’t have allowed.
Well, maybe pre-code I could have made my version of The Shadow.
In the ‘Shadows of Hollywood Cinema’ series, I’ll talk about the movies I’m watching for research, their effect on me as a filmmaker, and ultimately how they’ll influence the making of The Shadow.
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