writerlyn: Not gonna lie, I lurk on John August’s blog a lot more than is probably healthy. Man is a genius. John August’s experience of walking through a crowd of screenwriters is: Everyone turns to the person next to them and very loudly whispers “John August is right THERE .”
Read moreHow does the Bechdel Test do at the Box Office? | VITAMIN W
How does the Bechdel Test do at the Box Office? | VITAMIN W How those top 50 movies of 2013 broke down into passing the Bechdel test and making $1.56B more than the ones that failed. You will notice that they don’t all stand out as incredible, groundbreaking feminist films. Fast and Furious 6 passes….
Read moreScripts are just always a pain, I think. They’re never right, they’re never finished, you’re always doing another draft. Peter Weir (director – Annual David Lean Lecture) Testify.
Read moreLet’s go to the movies!
misterdelfuego: Movies set in the future: Everybody is white. Movies set in the past: Everybody is white. Movies set on other planets: Everybody is white. Movies set in virtual worlds: Everybody is white. Movies set in mythical worlds: Everybody is white Movies full of mythical creatures: Everybody is white True. Could also read white men….
Read moreThe job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. Francis Bacon (via wanduring) FRANCIS BACON said this. In the 16th century. And he was a scientist and a lawyer, too. Bacon was so good Mark Twain was pretty sure he was Shakespeare. Take it right from Francis Bacon. Your exposition is a terrible,…
Read moreUseful Confessions #4
I get lots of half-ideas that seem like whole ideas. I used to sit right down and start writing them. Now I spend that time looking for the other half of the idea.
Read moreBASIC PHYSICS AND YOUR SCREENPLAY: PART ONE
Mass x Acceleration = Force Knock the readers on their asses.
Read moreBLIND SPOTS
Your screenplay is weak in those places where it intersects with what you don’t really know about yourself. Not that you’re a great tangled mystery, but you take most of your own personality for granted and don’t notice it until someone yells at you about it. Politics and religion and -isms are great examples of…
Read moreBLAH BLAH BLAH
Writers are verbal people. We make everything into words. EVERYTHING. When you write your script, you have to turn that off and think in images. How can you communicate a character trait? Put them in a situation they have to react to, then we see who they are. End blaaaaaaah blaaaah now. Conversations are for…
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: The Wonkavator
Notes from a Screenreader: The Wonkavator nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. Willy Wonka: No, it’s a Wonkavator. An elevator can only go up and down, but the Wonkavator can go sideways, and slantways, and longways, and backways… A screenplay should not be a Wonkavator, even if it isn’t linear. What you want in…
Read more