rostheriveter: “we’ll talk when I get back” is the fictional equivalent of saying “I’m about to die with all information relevant to your plotline” As is: I don’t want to talk about it over the phone and/or I will meet you at seven at the Tick Tock Diner.
Read moreScriptwriting is the toughest part of the whole racket, the least understood and the least noticed. Frank Capra (via thescriptlab ) If you’re struggling, here is Frank Capra to let you know that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Read moreExample: Emotional prose in your script. Quick, compact, visual. The voice is exciting (Whiplash was written/directed by Damien Chazelle). Pro tip: Don’t use your prose to focus on the static, meaningless things in your scene.
Read moreHere is that awesome plot you were looking for.
Read moreUseful Confessions #8
Writing for competitions – you have to make something new and interesting happen immediately. Not difficult with this one crazy trick. Make sameness WORK FOR YOU. Take that opening scene that’s so common and obvious and overused and MAKE IT END IN A COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED WAY. Instead of killing that pretty young woman, chase her…
Read moreaspiringtvwriter: aspiringtvwriter: Page five is far too early to judge right? No it was not.
Read moreThere are two kinds of stories. Kind one is REASSURANCE. The world we live in will reward us with happiness if we respect its rules. Kind two is DISSONANCE. All rules exist to protect a privileged few, and resistance is annihilation. Most stories are of REASSURANCE, because they comfort. Stories of DISSONANCE insist that comfort…
Read moreDoes anyone really think Amelia Warner won’t “let” Jamie Dornan do a sequel? And good Sam T-J is out, too. Forget that the source material is just plain bad writing, the takeaway from all this wrongness is that you can’t make a decent script out of cardboard characters who don’t do anything interesting.
Read moreA pretty good rule for filmmaking is that if the biggest threat in your movie is the runtime, then the drama isn’t really working J.F. Sargent
Read moreThings to think about while developing motivations for your characters.
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