Writer-Director Theresa Bennett Discusses Character, Limited Resources & ‘Social Animals’
…idea later, but her email inbox can then serve as a search engine for future projects. Sometimes, she will even write full scenes in an email and then visit that message later. This is somewhat like her early days of chipping away at scripts in the library in short intervals. “It sounds really weird or not disciplined, but I just start wherever I am to get the ball rolling,” said Bennett about this approach to…
‘Reach’ Screenwriter Trio Talks Process, Democratic Writing, & Cause Films
…number allowed for voting, which meant occasionally losing individual battles, but focusing on the story and the bigger picture, long-term. They even listed the writing credits alphabetically rather than having any petty disagreement. While they’ve also all worked on individual projects, this is their first major project to really work and find it’s way into the mainstream. Fiore had the original idea and a flow to his story, but he’s not the type of person…
How Screenwriters Can Work In The Film Business
…yourself. (I repeat: It’s very hard to be objective about your own writing!) For who to pitch your scripts to, search IMDB pro and the internet for the best companies for your type of stories. Then send them a knockout pitch letter (never the script itself). Be patient in silence, gracious in failure, thankful in success. (You can often find agents online, to get their email addresses, but the best way to get an agent…
Why You Need a Professional Consultant to Give You Screenplay Feedback
…scripts over two or three years and you’re doing relativel y well in contests, but you’re not winning them then you need to find out why ,” he says. Wren adds that, because screenwriting is a solo occupation, receiving feedback will also give you a good sense of just where you’re at in terms of craft and skill . “I t’s not about va lidation but gett ing a feel for your place in [the…
“Let the Sunshine In” is French Romantic Comedy at its Darkest
…Only the French could call such a bleak, black comedy as “Let the Sunshine In” a rom-com. Through the American lens, it more closely resembles a tragedy, or at least a mournful character study. The story of a middle-aged painter named Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) in search of love, or at least intimacy, has very few belly-laughs and a melancholy tone throughout that belies humor. What director Claire Denis and her co-screenwriter Christine Angot clearly…
On-the-Nose Dialogue
James Napoli explains that sometimes it’s OK to use On-the-Nose dialogue.
…succumbing to. But, as screenwriters, and especially screenwriters of drama (comedy has a lot more leeway for the in-your-face approach) we need to have a dialogue about the term “on-the-nose,” and when coming right out and saying it might, actually, be just what a screenplay needs. Bruce Willis as Detective Jack Mosley and Yasiin Bey (as Mos Def) as Eddie Bunker in 16 Blocks We go to movies for heightened emotions. We want the people…
Wes Anderson’s Whimsical “Isle of Dogs” Has Plenty of Bite
…his friends and aids in the search for Spots. The pack consists of a self-described “pack of scary, indestructible alpha dogs” voiced by many of Anderson’s favorite actors. The leader of the pack is Rex (Edward Norton), an earnest, if not befuddled by leadership, hound. His cohorts include Boss (Bill Murray), a former team mascot; King (Bob Balaban), a former dog food commercial star; Duke (Jeff Goldblum), the gossipy busy-body. Chief (Bryan Cranston) is the…
The Modernity in “The Alienist” Made for a Timely Period Piece
…authentic narrative at play here is the one written between the lines. At the beginning of the book, and at the start of each episode, the term alienist gets explained as such: In the 19th Century, persons suffering from mental illness were thought to be alienated from their own true natures. The alienated here are Kreizler’s patients, indeed, and the boy victims as well, but main characters are alienated as well. Including Kreizler. The secret…
The Question of Theme
Art Holcomb discusses the use of theme in story, and provides a step-by-step example of how to build your screenplay around a central theme.
…in the story that I’ll want to make both iconic and dramatic. I’ll use the String of Pearls method to create these moments (you can learn all about this approach here ). Note that we haven’t started scripting yet. Instead of trying to write the script from the very beginning, I’ll explore these moments first, and then later organize them around the story’s natural turning points (or plot points). String of Pearls: An Alternative Way…
The New “TOMB RAIDER” Feels Old but Has a Fresh and Game Lead Lara in Alicia Vikander
…take a page from the successful 2013 relaunch of the Tomb Raider video game which proved that you don’t need to go home again with this character? In that game’s narrative, Lara’s dad is dead. Definitively. And she’s moving on with her life and onto new adventures. So, why not here? Instead, this movie is all about Lara’s search for her dad, similar to the plot of the first Jolie film, and it makes this…
Surprise: The Key to a Great Script
Most screenplays flop because they are too predictable. Sean A. Mulvihill explains how to spice up your story with surprises at every turn.
…attention over the short-term. The way structure hooks us for the long haul is through an emotional investment. The way surprise grabs us in the short term is with emotional jolts. Each kind of surprise has an emotional and physical response attached to it: laughter, tears, screams, goosebumps, confusion, or ah-hahs! Let’s take a look at all six kinds of surprise. Laughter (Jokes and Gags) These are setups and punchlines (jokes) or pratfalls, incogruities,…
The Neuroscience of Writers Block: Why Your Goals Are Hormonally Causing You To Fail
…translation happening between the conscious and unconscious minds. This is causing writers’ hormones to fight against the writing. It is causes them not only to fail to meet their goals but also to strengthen their resistance to writing. UNPACKING THE PROBLEM The conscious brain uses words, sentences, and dialogue to speak to the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind uses pictures to communicate. You can think of this like google image search. You type in “happy…
Create Your Pitch Part II: Sell, Don’t Tell
Lee Nordling on why all writing is selling, the danger of detail, evoking an emotional response, and conceiving your story in broad strokes.
…Harry turns the key in the ignition, and hears the clicking of a battery that’s nearly expired. More sighing. Harry opens his bag, takes out the Crest-encrusted toothbrush, slips it into his shirt pocket, and walks away from his bag, his car, his house, and his life. He’s going to walk the sidewalks of suburbia, like Caine, in search of new failures. Back to the broad-strokes Version #3, which carries us from the inciting incident…
Diane Drake on Screenwriting
Diane Drake offers advice on strengthening loglines, finding seed scenes, and approaching the challenges of act two.
…into action. That’s what movies are really about, by the way: the critical point at which somebody’s life changes and what they do about it. Another thing I mention in my book, in terms of finding and keeping inspiration, are “seed scenes,” a term I recently came across from a writer named Clive Davies-Frayne. These are little snippets of action or bits of dialogue that come to you that become sort of touchstones for the…
Inspired by Sam Elliott: Brett Haley on The Hero
Brett Haley discusses the ideas behind his latest film, the use of dream sequences, and the importance of opening yourself up to criticism.
…In The Hero, Sam Elliot stars as 70s Western actor Lee Hayden, whose best performances are decades behind him. Now he seeks to rebuild his relationship with his estranged daughter, whilst looking for one final role to play. Haley co-wrote the film with Marc Basch, his long-term writing partner. The film also stars Laura Prepon (Orange is the New Black), Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation), and Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones). Creative Screenwriting spoke with…
The Hand of the Princess: Understanding the Romantic Subplot
Michael Welles Schock delves into the cultural origins of the romantic narrative archetype, before exploring its use in film, and its ethics and application in screenwriting.
…were forced to travel to foreign lands in search of their own princesses to marry. Indeed, the king himself was not of royal parentage (at least not of the kingdom he ruled). He earned his throne by way of his marriage to the queen. With kingship granted through marriage rather than bloodline, any man might become king, whether he be a nobleman, a peasant, a foreigner, or a slave. Yet of course, the fate of…
Dos and Don’ts in Screenwriting: The Best of Meet the Reader
Great screenwriting advice from the gatekeepers of Hollywood, as Brianne Hogan looks back over her "Meet the Reader" column.
…again. That’s a nice red flag for writers to look out for. After the story flow, that other elusive and tough-to-pin-down quality: a voice. The voice of a writer is closely allied with tone. If a writer can keep a consistency of tone – oh, tone, there’s another hard-to-pin-down term! – then it’s usually a sign that his or her voice has evolved over the course of their experience as a writer. But I bring…
“Good Screenwriters are Good Filmmakers.” T.S. Nowlin on Phoenix Forgotten
T.S. Nowlin discusses writing found-footage film Phoenix Forgotten, allowing space for improvisation, and the importance for writers of getting into production.
…sense of authenticity that characterized the science fiction movies of their youth. And the real-life story of the Phoenix Lights lent itself perfectly to the type of story they wanted to tell. In Phoenix Forgotten, Nowlin uses the event as a backdrop, against which he weaves a fictitious story of three teenagers who decide to wander out into the desert in search of answers to the lights, never to be seen or heard from again….
Art Holcomb’s The Art of Preparation
…to a Great Script Concept The Emotional Rulebook The String of Pearls Technique Exclusive quotes by some of the best screenwriters in the business Practical exercises And much more! The facts are sobering: 90% of all screenwriters who start a script will never finish. Of those, 90% will never hone and polish their work into a finished draft. And of those, 50% will never submit their work. Make sure you are not among them:…
Meet the Reader: James Napoli
Great advice from James Napoli on the importance of story flow and voice, doing away with “happy endings”, starting slowly, and what writers can learn from silent films.
…flow, that other elusive and tough-to-pin-down quality: a voice. The voice of a writer is closely allied with tone. If a writer can keep a consistency of tone – oh, tone, there’s another hard-to-pin-down term! – then it’s usually a sign that his or her voice has evolved over the course of their experience as a writer. But I bring up these somewhat ethereal terms as another way of saying that I think they are…
Understanding Screenwriting #156
Tom Stempel on Hidden Figures, Fences, Get Out, Eye in the Sky, Deadpool, and Mid-season Television 2016-2017
…have voted for Obama for a third term if he could. When they get there, her father says the same thing, which unnerves Chris and us a little bit, but just a little bit. On the way to the house, their car accidentally hits a deer. It’s a shocking moment, but most horror filmmakers would just leave it at that. With Peele, it comes back in at least two different ways in the course of…
The Umami of Story
Art Holcomb explores how to elevate your writing from the simply competent to the extraordinary with seven questions to ask of your script, and reveals why a script must be a work of art.
…all who read it. That is to say, the agents, producers, actors, cinematographer, and all the other talents who could spend the next year or more dedicated to telling this story. How will these primary customers be inspired and spellbound by this script? That higher goal takes it from the simply competent to the extraordinary. I call this difference the Umami of the Story. So let’s talk about that. The term comes from gastronomy and…
Kaufman’s Folly: Considering the Viewer’s Perspective
Ernest Garrett explores the issue of Kaufman’s Folly: what is it, and what screenwriters can do to avoid it.
…or children’s animation. And these films all tend to rely on the same plot templates. So while the financial success of these films is indisputable, I think most people would agree that there’s comparatively little happening in terms of creativity. Given the fact that the comic book and Star Wars licenses are only held by individual studios (mostly Disney), it’s in everyone else’s interest to use these templates for their own films and franchises. But…
Finding Your Creative Value: Jamal Joseph on Chapter & Verse
Jamal Joseph on writing a film based on your own experience, the importance of comedy in drama, and not waiting for that big studio movie.
…just a movie, it takes the characters and the story and the dialogue, and makes sure they come alive on the page to make the filmmaker’s job easier. Then you can make it come alive on screen. Joe Morton as The Brother in The Brother from Another Planet Can you explain the origin of the title your new film, Chapter & Verse? Chapter & Verse is a biblical kind of term in black communities for…
“Dive Deep and Flush Out Your Craft.” Patrick Massett and John Zinman on Gold
Watching movies with the script in your lap, the rhythm of a scene, and why you should not send out your first script.
…Gold stars Matthew McConaughey as businessman and modern-day prospector Kenny Wells. Eager for his lucky break, Wells will do just about anything to find gold. And after experiencing a “foretelling”, he teams up with a geologist (Édgar Ramírez) to search for gold in the uncharted jungles of Indonesia. Screenwriters Patrick Massett and John Zinman were inspired to write the script after Massett saw the story featured in a light-night documentary, and decided to take…
Shared Inspiration: Claire in Motion
Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell on learning from your actors, a unique way of writing as a duo, and what makes a partnership work.
…returns with their latest film project, Claire In Motion. The film, which premiered last year at SXSW, is about Claire (Betsy Brandt), a college professor whose husband disappears while on a hiking trip. As the police wind down their search, Claire discovers secrets about her husband which makes her question what she knew about his life, as well as her own. Creative Screenwriting spoke with the pair about creating unusual characters, their writing process as…
Fictionalization: How Not To Get Sued
David Albert Pierce, Esq. explores how to use factual events in your screenwriting, and offers advice on best practice for fictionalization.
…and Melinda Tamkin did a Google search of their names and found an episode description of C.S.I. that featured dirty-dealing, S&M-loving real estate agents named Scott and Melinda Tamkin. The couple alleged that a house sale involving the Tamkins and a C.S.I. producer (listed as co-writer of the episode) had fallen apart four years prior. The Tamkins filed a $6 million defamation and invasion of privacy suit against the producer, CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer Television,…
Arenas and Finish Lines in Screenwriting
Michael Hauge explores the concepts of Arenas and Finish Lines, as shown in Avatar and The Hurt Locker.
…Locker is that in Avatar, the hero has a clearly defined outer motivation; the hero of The Hurt Locker does not. Sam Worthington as Jake Sully and Zoe Saldana as Neytiri in Avatar © 2007 Twentieth Century Fox – All Rights Reserved Outer motivation is my term for a character’s visible goal – the finish line the character is determined to cross by the end of the story. Your hero’s outer motivation is the compelling…
Writing a Dramatic Script: Five Key Techniques
Scott McConnell on plot and story, creating a layered central conflict, and the use of disguise, deception and complications.
…can be very dramatic and sometimes they are the only way a specific story, because of its genre and nature, can be told. See for example The Odyssey, High Noon and The Searchers. I believe, however, that plots are generally more dramatic than episodic chronicles. So when starting to develop your new story, one of the most basic choices you will face is: Will I structure my events as a story or as a plot?…
Collateral Beauty: A Holiday Fable
Allan Loeb on the secret to writing a good twist, walking while you write, and the biggest lesson he’s learned from being a writer in Hollywood.
…world, especially the Hollywood eco-system, seep in there and affect your choices. I have to remind myself of this every day. What does ‘collateral beauty’ mean to you? It’s a term that I had read before. I didn’t make it up. I read it in a short story about twelve years ago, and I don’t remember the name of this short story, but it stuck with me. I liked the term, and that’s why I…
“An Authentic and Vibrant Love.” Southside with You
Richard Tanne on connecting to your characters and story, making use of your research, and being inspired by love.
…patterns. How were you able to hone in on that in your writing? If that’s true – I appreciate you saying that – I think from a writing perspective it comes down to feeling very connected to your characters. It’s hard to actively search for a character’s voice. It’s either there or not. I was really fortunate with this movie because the characters are real people and are ubiquitous. I watched interviews and I read…
Lion: A Powerful, Primal Childhood Fable
Luke Davies on bringing scenes to life, symmetry and turning points, and why a script has to be both a technical document and also a work of art.
…obsessive search for home. Dev Patel as Saroo Brierley in Lion © Long Way Home Productions 2015 The second thing is in terms of acting. The order of shooting was that Dev Patel arrived in India and spent a week rehearsing with Garth, while Garth shot the footage with Sunny Pawar (Young Saroo). One of the crazy exercises that Garth likes to do with actors was that he had Dev, Sunny, Priyanka Bose – who…
Meet the Reader: Berkeley Hunt
What readers look for in a script, why reading scripts is good for writers, and what to avoid when writing your screenplay.
…most powerful vampire of all. Two different undead factions are fighting over her. Good, commercial idea. Unfortunately, the authors used this to justify going off on all kinds of tangents. They attempted to channel Anne Rice by flashing back to 18th century France and telling the convoluted story of a couple of tertiary characters, characters who ultimately had little effect on the outcome. What they should have done is focus on the hero, his search…
The Different Faces of Jackie
Noah Oppenheim on writing a multilayered protagonist, the political mythmaking of the Kennedys, and the importance of narrowing the aperture.
…young children. These events are framed by the famous interview that she gave to Life magazine a week after the assassination, in which she compared her husband’s term in office to “the brief, shining moment” of Camelot. The film also touches upon the influence Jackie Kennedy had on American culture as the First Lady and her role in establishing her husband’s legacy. Noah Oppenheim Jackie was written by Noah Oppenheim, who spent much of his…
James L. Brooks and Kelly Fremon Craig on The Edge of Seventeen
The importance of details, building audience trust with the narrator, and the writer’s edge.
…is your screenwriting and directorial debut, what did you learn from the partnership? Kelly: (laughing) Do you have several hours? Man…a lot of things. Number one, I think that the process of making the film is really about a search for the truth. Everything you’re doing is about trying to get closer to whatever the truth is about this particular age and this particular character. A lot of times it’s messy, and it’s a lot…
Indignation: Breaking the Philip Roth Curse
James Schamus on adapting Philip Roth, hinging a movie around an 18 minute conversation, and going against the grain of the dialogue.
…about one pivotal scene, an 18 minute conversation between Marcus and the Dean. Now, after a string of critically acclaimed films including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Ice Storm, it seems that Schamus might have another sleeper hit on his hands with Indignation, as well as a potential contender for awards season. It also appears that he might have, at long last, broken the Roth curse. Creative Screenwriting spoke to Schamus about his writing…
12 Powerful Principles of Story Structure
Michael Hauge discusses superior position, foreshadowing, ticking clocks and other screenwriting techniques, as revealed in James Cameron’s Avatar.
…Reserved 9. Foreshadow your characters’ actions and abilities. Foreshadowing is simply my term for adding credibility to your story by revealing information before it seems important, which prevents your story from seeming contrived or illogical. Very early in Avatar, we see or hear that Jake is a marine with combat experience, that avatars are big, strong, fast and nimble, and that Na’vi warriors are big, strong, smart, courageous, skilled flyers and great hunters. Quaritch’s mercenary…
“There’s both light and dark…There’s a lot of dark!” Black Mirror
Charlie Brooker & Annabel Jones on screenwriting levers, satire, and why checking your phone is like smoking. Plus great practical advice for writers!
…Black Mirror. The term refers to the dark, shadowy image you see of yourself while staring at the unlit screen of a television, phone or computer. It’s literally the reflection of oneself in technology. Charlie Brooker’s anthology series Black Mirror has already found success in the UK on Channel 4, and now Netflix is about to bring the third season to the US and Canada. Each episode stands alone in an eclectic collection reminiscent…
Plot Patterns in Screenwriting
Michael Welles Schock explores plot patterns in films, and explains why the 3 act structure is so successful.
…must be tailored to fit their physical environment. Some forms and structures are far more effective than others. Some methods engage the audience more strongly or communicate more clearly. Indeed, the entire field of screencraft can be considered a search for the best ways to match story material to the cinematic medium. This explains the ever-present support for the tried-and-true 3-Act structure. Thousands of examples have proven this structure to be an effective way to…
Inspired by Salinger: Coming Through the Rye
James Steven Sadwith on what happened when he walked up Salinger’s drive, how is the final rewrite, and the challenges of scripting inner monologue.
…by true events. Can you explain the real-life inspiration behind the film? The movie is about eighty-five percent accurate with what happened up to the moment when I went to search for J.D. Salinger, and from that point it’s about ninety-nine percent accurate. All the dialogue between myself and Salinger, going in his house, and all the people they talk to along the way is all pretty much what happened. That was a seminal event…
What Are Friends For? The Reflection Character
Michael Hauge explores the Reflection Character, as revealed in The King’s Speech.
…to make it credible that your hero can achieve both what he wants and what he or she needs, you want to give him some help in the form of a reflection character. This is my term for the character who is most closely aligned with your hero – the best friend, partner, mentor or spouse whose primary function is to help the hero achieve the outer motivation and to urge them toward transformation. Such…
The Eternal Now: Todd Komarnicki on Sully
Todd Komarnicki discusses the laziness of flashbacks, explores the theory of ‘the eternal now’, and reveals what he learned from Clint Eastwood.
…Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood – is based on Sullenberger’s 2009 memoir Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters. Prior to Sully, Komarnicki wrote several novels and had two screenplays produced as films – 2003’s Resistance (which he directed himself), and 2007’s Perfect Stranger. During the same period, he also produced numerous projects – most notably, the 2003 Christmas classic Elf. Being based in New York, Komarnicki felt a personal connection with the story of…
Chopping in High Cotton: Robert Schenkkan on All the Way and Hacksaw Ridge
Robert Schenkkan discusses the dramatic potential of President Johnson, how to adapt your own play for the cinema, and why the best idea in the room wins.
…director for political dramas, Jay Roach, and produced by Steven Spielberg. Anthony Mackie as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bryan Cranston as Lyndon B. Johnson in All the Way. Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/HBO All the Way focuses on the first year of Johnson’s presidency, when the former Vice President was serving out the final year of President John F. Kennedy’s term after his assassination in November 1963. During that period Johnson dedicated himself to…
Michael Hauge on The Hero’s Two Journeys
Michael Hauge discusses the hero’s internal and external journeys, the crucial elements of character, and the three things a protagonist must possess.
…of standing up for who they are, they might be afraid of getting close to someone and intimacy and commitment, or rejection. Whatever that fear is, then the next question is: what is the hero’s identity? That is just my term for the character’s armour they wear in order to protect themselves. Will Hunting works as a janitor so people don’t get close to him and can see that he really is a genius. Shrek’s…
Carrie Pilby: Inspired by Salinger
Kara Holden on how an original script can be a calling card, why less things are off limits for young adult fiction, and what made her cry.
…that at anytime, but kids are constantly learning. Nathan Lane as Dr. Petrov in Carrie Pilby Let’s go back a little. What was your big break as a screenwriter? I had gone through a painful divorce when I was young. I always loved writing, and then I wrote this script in which I was grappling with love and the term “meant to be” and destiny and what out choices mean. So that ended up being…
“It’s so much easier to choose Netflix over writing.” Max Timm on Screenwriting
Max Timm on the importance of education for writers, destroying self doubt, and common mistakes in screenwriting.
…classes. But being disciplined is essential. Because it’s so much easier to choose Netflix over writing. And then you can make excuses, “Well, I should watch Stranger Things because I am writing a scary Goonies,” and then you call it ‘research.’ Well, you are probably being lazy. [Laughs.] Terry Pratchett. © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons Yes, you need to do research, but you also need to write. If you’re not writing, then you’re not…
Dating Your Character
How “dating” your character informs your screenplay, how to tell when your character is “the one,” and when you should actually dump your character.
…If you’re more of a hobbyist and that timeline has to be stretched out, then it could take you a string of maybe 4 months’ weekend sessions. It all comes down to whether you continue to get something out of your DYC work or whether you feel you have a full enough physical portrait, CV of past triumphs and personal failures, and of course that all important psychological profile to undergird most every thought and…
“No Stories Are Plot Driven!”
Lisa Cron on the dangers of pretty language, foolish outlines and why no stories are plot driven.
…you. That’s why in story you don’t ever have to say “Joe is happy” or “Joe is sad”. All you have to do is show the internal struggle – what the character’s thinking, how they’re making sense of it. And you can get the emotion onto the page or into the scene without ever having to use any big box emotional term. It’s just there in how the character’s making sense of it. Of course…
Imperium: Turning Fact into Fiction
Daniel Ragussis on how to research an extreme subject, parallels in history, and his three top tips for screenwriters.
…experiences of real-life agent Michael German, Ragussis wrote the screenplay with German’s collaboration. An avid lover of history, the project marks the feature film debut for Ragussis and required an extensive amount of research on his part. Creative Screenwriting spoke to him about the film and the sociological fascination that sparked it. Daniel Radcliffe as Nate Foster in Imperium How did you first learn of Michael German’s story? Daniel Ragussis I had done a short…
Julian Fellowes: Looking Back on Downton Abbey
Julian Fellowes on multiple narratives, balancing light and shade, and writing period dialogue.
…suitable for a television narrative not to become too bogged down in one particular story. You don’t allow even the major stories to become too central or too continuous because you interlace them with other stories and other scenes. That keeps everyone on their toes, and so that was how I did it. To answer the practical side of the question, I write the episode on a computer and I will search for Mrs Patmore,…
