Script Analysis: “Midsommar” — Part 4: Themes Read and analyze the script for the horror mystery which features a breakthrough performance by actress Florence Pugh.
The Business of Screenwriting: “Qualify the customer” Okay, this week’s post is a blast from the past and only comes about due to a recent revelation from a TV producer I know that she has…
I stayed up to Stupid O'Clock and watched the movie. For any of these type of movies, there's always this question: "Why don't you get the fuck away from here?" I had that feeling several…
Debbie, I remember reading an article about writer-director Robert Rodriguez, how he turned his… As writers, we need our left brain, but we also needs our right brain. Think, yes. But also, FEEL!
J, great catch. That line -- "one thing... that's what you've got to figure out" -- that is the essence of the Protagonist's journey. It's *inside*. It's…
An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 3): They diminish the craft of screenwriting “The most important person in the motion picture process is the writer… and we must do everything in our power to prevent them from ever…
Songwriters on Songwriting: Joan Baez “If you want to love your music, and not feel that you have to sell your ass down the river to get something going, you’re probably going…
Script Analysis: “Midsommar” — Part 3: Characters Read and analyze the script for the horror mystery which features a breakthrough performance by actress Florence Pugh.
Great Scene: “No Country For Old Men” “You need to call it. I can’t call it for you. It wouldn’t be fair. It wouldn’t even be right.”
Daily Dialogue — June 3, 2020 “I do have a test today, that wasn’t bullshit. It’s on European socialism. I mean, really, what’s the point? I’m not European. I don’t plan…
Dantuma, you make a good point: After we read a script or watch a movie or TV episode, we can… My concern, after having read quite literally thousands of screenplays, is that there is a kind of surface level understanding of…
Joe, I talked about this in yesterday's post, the distinction between "formula" and "structure." Hence, my comment in today's post: Rather than starting with a pre-fixed idea of the plot per some sort of designed set of story beats, an…
Songwriters On Songwriting: Fiona Apple I wrote my first song when I was 14 years old. Over the years, I’ve composed hundreds of songs. It was that interest — music — that led me…
An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 2): Formulas lead to formulaic writing “If you go in with formula, you come out with formula. The whole thrill of being a writer is to do a prototype every time out.”
Script Analysis: “Midsommar” — Part 2: Plot Read and analyze the script for the horror mystery which features a breakthrough performance by actress Florence Pugh.
Screenwriting 101: Liz W. Garcia “Do not put all your eggs in one basket. A lot of people do this where they’ve got that one script. They keep rewriting it, and they keep…
I have not seen the movie yet, although it's high on my list. Combined with Dani's psychological arc in dealing with (A) her sister and parents' death and (B) the failing nature of her relationship…
An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 1): They are selling you a lie “Instead of thinking about Story as a sort of paint-by-numbers formula, we are best served by starting here: Characters.”
Songwriters on Songwriting: Mose Allison “One of my formulas in life is ‘Ambivalence plus interdependence equals contrariety.’ All day long we’re being pulled in one way and…
Script Analysis: “Midsommar” — Part 1: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Read and analyze the script for the horror mystery which features a breakthrough performance by actress Florence Pugh.
On Writing “A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted; while within the narrative, we have many apparent…
Daily Dialogue — June 1, 2020 Note: The only dialogue is the foreign language of the prison guards, the cries of fear from the prisoners… then their exclamations of…
