Scott Myers

On Writing

“There two kinds of people: Those who write, and those who don’t.”  — Soren Kierkegaard Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — April 19, 2010

“Awright you primitive screwheads, listen up. See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! It’s a twelve-gauge, double-barrel Remington. S-Mart’s top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That’s right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for

Reader Question: What about introducing the ‘hero’?

How important is it to introduce the story’s Protagonist in an active memorable way? A question via email from Jeff Wild: Have you already done a topic/thread on the Hero’s Entrance? I feel like in a lot of movies, the hero isn’t introduced doing or saying

Movies You Made: “Expiration Date”

Received an email from GITS reader Noah Puhl telling me about his short film “Expiration Date” which will be in competition at the upcoming LA United Film Festival: Hey Scott —   Thanks so much, I appreciate it. I’m excited about the LA United Film Festival — it’s been voted one

“The Infidel”

H/T to @trackboardcom for the heads-up on this movie: The Infidel. Here’s the trailer: Simple high concept: What if a Muslim discovered he had been adopted and that his birth parents were Jewish? Go here to the movie’s website. The Guardian film review here: The comedy

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 18

Today I hand over a story to the GITS community that I have actually thought about writing several times. It’s based an obituary I read back in 2000: Ivan Hirst, British Office Who Revived VW, Is Dead at 84: Maj. Ivan Hirst, the British Army officer responsible for getting

Video Interview: William Goldman, Robert Towne, and Richard LaGravenese

UPDATE: Well, it appears the video is not available. So here are some individual interviews with Towne and Goldman. Robert Towne, Part 1 Robert Towne, Part 2 William Goldman interviewed by John Cleese, BBC Radio, Part 1 William Goldman interviewed by John Cleese, BBC Radio, Part 2 William Goldman interviewed

Daily Dialogue — April 18, 2010

“My name is Bond. James Bond.”  — James Bond (Sean Connery), Dr. No (1962), screenplay by Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood & Berkely Mather, based on the novel by Ian Fleming The Daily Dialogue theme of the week is notable character introductions, suggested by Ryan Mullaney, who also suggested Dr. No.

Reader Question: Is it possible to develop a story from a scene?

Open forum question via comments from Rob Fuller: Is it possible to develop a scene or scenes into a coherent story. And what sort of questions should you ask yourself to develop the scene into something bigger. Rob, it’s not only possible, some of the greatest movies of all

Scripts for District 9 or Iron Man?

Got an email from writer John Robert Marlow: Hey Scott, Can’t find this through the usual online sources. (Like the final Iron Man, it just doesn’t seem to be “out there.”) Wouldn’t happen to know where I can find it/them, would you? I have looked for

“8 Awesomely Stupid Movie Fight Scenes”

On the whole, I think that nobody does more or better ‘movie lists’ than totalfilm.com. And here is yet another one: 8 Awesomely Stupid Movie Fight Scenes: Like most kids of the ’80s, totalfilm.com was raised on a strict diet of rubbish ninja flicks. And nearly all of

Two possible Daily Dialogue themes for next week

Okay, we’ve got two strong possibilities for next week. Per comments on this post, we have: Peter Dwight said… This is my Boomstick! (can’t remember if we’ve done this theme) Characters talking about their guns. Army of Darkness “This is my boomstick…” http://www.youtube.com/watch?

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 17

How about a quirky ‘foreign’ film: Seoul Police Link 17,000 Shoes to 2 Feet: In South Korea, where people often remove their shoes before entering homes, restaurants or funeral parlors, it is a nagging problem: people walking off with others’ shoes, either by mistake or, sometimes, intentionally. Still, Detective

Written Interview: Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last month or so, you know that this weekend marks the premiere of Kick-Ass. The movie is directed and co-written by Matthew Vaughn, who also wrote and directed Stardust (2007) and wrote The Debt (2010). He also directed

Daily Dialogue — April 17, 2010

“On November 1st, 1959, the population of New York City was 8,042,783. If you laid all these people end to end, figuring an average height of five feet six and a half inches, they would reach from Times Square to the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan. I know facts

“Kick-Ass”

Okay, people. Everybody’s talking about Kick-Ass on Twitter. And the mainstream press: A.O. Scott What Hit-Girl does is attack her enemies with all kinds of weaponry: ultra-sharp blades; high-caliber firearms; her own fleet and tiny fists. The results, while hardly realistic, are full of

Reader Question: What about a flashback as a ‘flashpresent’?

An open forum question via email from Raag Harshavat: Thanks for the blog, it has been helping a lot. I have a question if you are able to get to it. I am writing a script now and I have an flashback sequence to the characters experience in the war

“1913 Abraham Lincoln film found in NH barn cleanup”

And straight from the Holy Crap! files, “1913 Abraham Lincoln film found in NH barn cleanup”: CONCORD, N.H. — In a tale celebrating the romance of movies, a contractor cleaning out an old New Hampshire barn destined for demolition found seven reels of nitrate film inside, including the only known

Rob’s Finds

Back with wired world of “Rob’s Finds.” Today we start with an interesting piece from io9.com: 8 upcoming science fiction movies that could be the next District 9: Last year, thought-provoking independent film District 9 swept the box office and blasted its way into the Oscars. Was

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 16

Okay, this seems like an easy one for a rom-com: “On Top of the Happiness Racket”: HERE we are, already at the end of February. It’s been weeks since our scant New Year’s resolutions fell under the bed, joining the resolution dust bunnies of yesteryear. Not so

Great Scene: “The Shawshank Redemption”

Yesterday’s Scene Description Spotlight featured the opening scene from The Shawshank Redemption. But as I noted at the end of the post: Those of you who remember the movie will note that this scene is cut differently than in the script. For tomorrow’s Great Scene post, we’ll

Daily Dialogue — April 16, 2010

“My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood. This is my street. This…is my life. I’m forty-two years old. In less than a year, I’ll be dead.”  — Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), American Beauty (1999), written by Alan Ball The Daily Dialogue theme of the week

Reader Question: What about using a flashback / flashforward as prologue?

Open forum question via comments from Neil: I wondered what your take was on the use of the prologue at the moment? What I mean by that is literally opening with a ‘flashback’ of our characters (but not a flashback in the strictest sense because there’s nowhere to flashback

Spec Script Sale: “Patriot Down”

Remember this post as part of “A Story Idea Each Day for a Month” series: This is a sad ending to a story that gripped the Middle East as Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahayan had gone missing for several weeks. But what if one of someone like the Sheikh

The Onion: “Sad Sack Purchases Screenwriting Software”

It’s official! Screenwriting has made the Big Times as The Onion satirizes the craft: “Sad Sack Purchases Screenwriting Software”: AKRON, OH — Saying that he’s had a few movie ideas kicking around for a while now, local resident and very depressing man Scott Norgren purchased screenwriting software Tuesday. “I’