“I’m a visual thinker. I think totally in pictures. My mind works like Google images.”
Temple Grandin
“HBO’s Temple Grandin: The Best Telemovie in Years.”
TV Critic David Bianculli
About half way through the HBO movie Temple Grandin, Grandin is told by her high school teacher (played by David Strathairn), “Temple, you have a very special mind, do you know that? You see the world in ways that others can’t, and it’s quite an advantage. You know something, if you weren’t such a goof and you developed this talent you could easily go on to college.”
Just finishing high school was a battle because Grandin is autistic. In fact, her mother was told when her daughter was diagnosed at age four that it would be best if Temple was institutionalized. But her Harvard-educated mother worked with her daughter and fought for her to not only to not to be institutionalized, but to attend school.
Grandin not only went to college, but…well, you really should see the movie to see all the things she’s accomplished. The movie really is extraordinary. Kinda of mix between Rain Man, A Beautiful Mind and Erin Brockovich. TV Critic David Bianculli wrote that, “Temple Grandin isn’t just a great telemovie. It’s the best one in years, and a reminder about just how good television can be when all elements of a production are absolutely perfect.” I think it holds its own with any movie made in the last ten years.
It was nominated for 15 Emmy’s earlier this year and won seven including actress Claire Danes as Grandin and Strathairn as her teacher, and Julia Ormond as Temple’s mother. All under the fine direction of Mick Jackson, Temple Grandin won the Emmy for Outstanding Made for TV Movie. Screenwriters Christopher Monger & Merritt Johnson were nominated for their script based in part on the book Emergence by Grandin & Margret Scariano, and Thinking in Pictures; My Life with Autism by Grandin.
On the movie’s DVD commentary there is this exchange between Grandin, the screenwriter and the director;
Temple Grandin:”My science teacher absolutely got me turned around academically…I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a mentor teacher.”
Christopher Monger (screenwriter): “Almost anyone I know whose had any success in life is because there’s been a mentor somewhere along the way.”
Mick Jackson (director): “Some gifted teacher who took the necessary interest in you in just the right way and right time in your life.”
You’re fortunate if you have one or two truly impactful teacher/mentors in your life. And the crazy thing is when never know quite when those people are going to come in our life. For me it was Annye Refoe, who I had a creative writing class with for two years of high school and one year of college. It’s where I wrote my first script and directed my first video.
My entire career is grounded in Annye’s classes. And the foundation of this blog goes all the way back to her encouragement for a young man to think beyond just sports and girls. That and my art teacher mom who first taught me to think in pictures.
For those of you in Iowa, Grandin will be speaking in Des Moines November 19, 2010 for the Iowa Society of Autism.
Great point. I think thats something we miss as we get older. I remember having such great mentors in high school and somewhat through college then it’s sort of down hill from there. The older we get the less mentorship we receive unless we seek it out. I’d love to start such a mentorship program for people.
Omar
http://raverous.com
Thank you for the information provided….
Scott this is kind of a movie/screenwriting question.
I watched Temple Grandin recently and agree that it’s truly a great movie.
My question, when she graduates and she climbs the ladder, and the times she has doors and they open…
Are those directions, situations that have been described in the screenplay..?? or are those situations developed by the director/producer or whomever.?
There were several instances where Temple had other things inserted or overlayed (like the diagrams of the animals moving) that I wondered,,,,,
did the screenwriter have it thought out to that extreme in the screenplay??..if it is the writer is truly a genius..
Thanks for the article.
Joe-
I haven’t tracked down the screenplay yet, but yes those transitions were written into the script. On the commentary, the screenwriter Christopher Monger specifically mentions the ladder scene/open doors/cattle transition.
Sometimes those are happy accidents that you find in editing, but usually the are written in. It’s an age old device that keeps the story moving forward.
Since that shot is Temple high up in a building, the point of view shot (POV) also has to be high up looking down. And cattle processing plants in Texas/Arizona/New Mexico tend not to have lots of tall building around so that’s why you’ll see crane shots in the production still & behind the scene footage.
If it’s not written into the script, sometimes directors put in a match shot between the end of one scene and the beginning of the next to make it work like a puzzle pieces. Sometimes the editors will find something that the writer and editor didn’t intend, but works nonetheless.
But in well crafted films, more often than not the things you notice (match cuts, audio cues, etc.) are there by design versus happy accidents. Though one always has to be careful about overusing any technique. I think on “Temple Grandin” it’s just used a few times.
Now on documentaries it’s usually the editor sifting though the footage looking for specific shots to create a bridge between scenes.
[…] “I’m a visual thinker. I think totally in pictures. My mind works like Google images.” Temple Grandin “HBO’s Temple Grandin: The Best Telemovie in Years.” TV Critic David Bianculli About half way through the HBO movie Temple Grandin, Grandin is told by her high school teacher (played by David Strathairn), ”Temple, you have a very special mind, […] Original Source… […]
I am also a visual thinker. To remember a lot of thinks thinking in picture streets work like a charm.
For example a way you go everyday, every markant point is a placeholder for a related picture or word!
Thanks for the interesting post!
Harry