One of the things you do with dialogue is keep the major parts of it unspoken. Gil Dennis (via theloverboi) God, yes. Please.
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: Well, Obviously
nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. The post “Writing Advice So Obvious It Gets Overlooked“ covers the most fundamental of all story fundamentals (thanks to the marvelous writerlyn at Musings from a Young Hollywood Professional for reblogging this brilliance). It is advice that deserves a thorough looking over. Whose story is it? Very obvious,…
Read moreTHE THIRD PAGE OF A TALKING SCENE
GO AHEAD, BE A BITCH
Telling the truth includes revealing the less savory aspects of your characters. Good characters, interesting characters, have depths and shadows. They don’t have to be serial killers, but they don’t have to melt down with guilt when they march seventeen items through the express lane, either. This is most often a symptom of spec scripts…
Read moreTONE DEAF
In a comedy, stuff like sex and violence and drugs and kink and crime are tolerated at different levels than they are in dramas and genre. That’s tone. Messing with tone is a lot of fun, you can mash up horror and comedy and get something fun or bitingly dark or satiric, depending on where…
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: Bad Contractors Build Great Characters
nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. Like badly built houses, when your characters suffer from faults in their very foundation they can get by just fine with good weather. But when conditions turn ugly, their weaknesses begin to show and the drama starts to happen. To make a really great character, think like a…
Read moreScreenwriters shouldn’t direct on the page? […] Screw that. We’re building a movie on paper. We should use all tools available both to make the reader see the film and our fellow filmmakers understand our intentions. Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 4, The Hangover Part II, Identity Thief) Craig has a big personality and is wonderfully generous…
Read moreCONFLICT: CATS EDITION
LOW CONFLICT BETTER CONFLICT ACTUAL CONFLICT
Read moreHOW TO CONFLICT
Never AND. Always OR. Real dramatic conflict gives the protag a choice. This OR That. Success OR Failure. Save the mother OR the child. Capitulate to the antagonist OR get shot. Conflict that has a lot of options is not real conflict. The protagonist is free to save the mother AND the child only after…
Read moreSTRONG EMOTIONS MAKE STRONG SCRIPTS
When you conceive your story, don’t forget to build in emotion. People watch movies to feel things. It gets no simpler than that. That begins with the writer. We can talk all day about structure and beats and plot points, but if nobody in the script has their heart on the line, then it all…
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