Present progressive. Passive voice. It describes things that convey no story meaning. The sluglines are complex. The dialogue is all exposition. The prose style is literal and impersonal. No original images or details. Research errors. Bad grammar, usage and spelling. Improper format. Nothing happens. First pages are your resume. They show that you know what…
Read morethe-average-gatsby: (x) Stand-up is one great way to think about screenwriting. It’s an idea that’s written down in a specific format that requires the audience’s emotional participation. You know, storytelling. Comedians make a point in a specific, personal way, with jokes. If they weren’t jokes, this would be a lecture. Or a speech. Donald Glover…
Read morekosdetermination: Edgar Wright – How to Do Visual Comedy from Tony Zhou on Vimeo. If you love visual comedy, you gotta love Edgar Wright, one of the few filmmakers who is consistently finding humor through framing, camera movement, editing, goofy sound effects and music. This is an analysis and an appreciation of a director so…
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: The Bad Blind Date
nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. You have a blind date. Nothing to go on, just a name. You smile, you shake hands, and then without preamble, your date sits down and launches into a monologue of therapy-grade personal disclosure. They tell you what the weather was like and what they were wearing during…
Read morebluestockingfilmseries: This is what a complex female protagonist looks like. With attitude. This awesome shirt is awesome. You can get one here.
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: Unpackable Hooks
nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. Writer and director Timothy Cooper, an enthusiastically pragmatic teacher of professional screenwriting and past WIFTI Summit panelist, talks about the value of unpackable story concepts, which he defines as “rife with potential to anyone who hears it.” Perfect example: Inception. A team illegally breaks into a sleeper’s dreams…
Read moreAll you need to know about screenwriting.
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: The Same but What Now?
nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. “The same but different” is the magic formula for a winning script. Does it mean anything or is it double speak for “I know it when I see it?” Patterns not formulas: Create familiar emotional patterns in new situations. The same is a recognizable tone with a recognizable build…
Read morePRO TIPS: THE REAL TIMOTHY COOPER
Timothy Cooper is one of the good guys, a writer/director who loves writers and stories and applying one to the other until a great screenplay pops out. Once a philosophy student at Yale, he went on to the Upright Citizen’s Brigade and developed his web series Concierge there while waiting for his feature script, Away…
Read morePRO TIPS: THE REAL TIMOTHY COOPER
Timothy Cooper is one of the good guys, a writer/director who loves writers and stories and applying one to the other until a great screenplay pops out. Once a philosophy student at Yale, he went on to the Upright Citizen’s Brigade and developed his web series Concierge there while waiting for his feature script, Away…
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