All of Hollywood seems to be drifting into some bad habits. Loose narrative structure, logic within the context of the fictional verse, pacing, dumbing down, fewer concerns for the potential of the English language…
I suspect the new digital recording is contributing to this. Back in the day, filmmakers knew they couldn’t shoot 10 million feet of film. This generated a greater discipline and determination to get all their ducks in a row during prepro.
The only solution I can think of is to place those electric dog collars on the necks of screenwriters and directors and ZAP them very, very, VERY HARD the moment they seem to stop regarding every minute of shoot time as if it is worth 10 million dollars.
I suspect the greatest problem is the desire to pander to the expanding international audience. The fear that non-Anglophones(N-AP) won’t understand the nuances of the English language or appreciate Western methods and so they dumb down and speed up everything to carry people along with visuals.
Hollywood is embedded in the Western, Judeo-Christian, Anglophone world. It is what it is. It shouldn’t try to be part of some amorphous LCD globalist borg-blob. Half it’s audience is in the Major AngloPhone Nations(MAPN).
Solution? Make two cuts for every major production. The MAPN cut and the N-AP cut. Every Hollywood production should, IN EVERY WAY, be crafted EXCLUSIVELY for the MAPNs. As far as the screenwriters and directors and editors are concerned, N-APs DO NOT EXIST. They must use the subtleties of language and idiom and cultural traditions to full effect for their ONLY audience. The only exceptions would be to bring special international-market script doctors and assistant directors and assistant editors to add simple humor or shots, alter pace or cut what they believe wouldn’t work. The studio suits could scratch their “gotta make it work for the non-English crowd!” itch. They could play both cuts for foreign test-audiences. If the focus groups prefer the N-AP cut, they release two cuts. If not, MAPN cut all the way.