Screenwriting as scene-writing Every time we sit down to write a script, we are faced with a scene. This can be a daunting task considering a script may have 60, 75, 90 scenes or more. In a very real way, screenwriting is at its core scene-writing. Therefore it is essential for you
Reader Question: Is Hollywood really like it’s portrayed in movies and TV? From Lence1818: Is Hollywood really like it’s portrayed in movies and tv shows or is it exaggerated? If it really is full of drama and amusement have you ever witnessed anything crazy? You mean like this? Someone once said that Hollywood is a parody of itself. You can read
Dispatch from The Quest: Emma Millions Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the third week of Prep. Today’s dispatch: Emma Millions extols the virtue of reading scripts and watching movies: This week I have been on a lot of trains. In the UK being on a lot of
Go On Your Own Quest, Week 12: Prep “The Quest” has entered Week 12! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s
Movie Trailer: “Silver Linings Playbook” After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own. David O. Russell (screenplay), Matthew Quick (novel) IMDB site
The Bitter Script Reader interviews TV writer Liz Tigelaar On January 29, 2009, The Bitter Script Reader went live with his first blog post. By July 13, 2009, I was promoting TBSR with this post. Over the years, I have been happy to call Bitter a good friend of this blog and a valuable asset to the online screenwriting
Daily Dialogue — October 1, 2012 VADER: There is no escape. Don’t make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover you power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.
Dialogue Death Match: Sorkin vs. Tarantino In the current Dialogue class I’m teaching, we came up with a terrific idea: A Death Match between two screenwriters noted for their dialogue: Aaron Sorkin vs. Quentin Tarantino. Here’s how we can do this. Go to IMDB, look up your favorite Sorkin and Tarantino movies, scroll down
Dispatches from The Quest: Prep [Week 10] In Week 10, the Questers reflected on the second stage of Prep. Brandon Cohen Jordan Earls Emma Millions Ben Odgren Rob Pilkington Scott Reynolds
Go On Your Own Quest, Week 11: Prep Several readers emailed me about aggregating the entire series of posts we have been running in association with the Go On Your Own Quest initiative. Here is Week 11: Prep. Do you know how your story begins? Do you know your story’s end of Act One? Do you know
Screenwriting News (September 24–30, 2012) J.I. Baker adapting his drama thriller novel “The Empty Glass” for Winkler Films. Frank Cottrell Boyce writing sports drama “The Homeless World Cup” for Blueprint Pictures. Scott Z. Burns writing drama “Deep Water” for Blueprint Pictures. Matt Cook’s 2009 Black List action mystery script “By Way of Helena”
Daily Dialogue — September 24, 2012 A beach town. No wall, no sentries, just cottages lining a dozen sand-swept streets. A crowd has gathered to hear The Postman’s daughter, HOPE, mid-thirties, speak. Beside her, a bearded, 52-year-old Ford in his postmaster’s uniform. They stand before a large, tarp-draped statue.
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: All Is Lost After a week’s worth of acceptance speeches [thanks to @TheBrokenCoco for that recommendation], it’s time for a new DDT! Next week’s theme: All Is Lost, suggested by Teddy Pasternak. Typically a major reversal in the Protagonist’s progress, the All Is Lost moment is important on multiple
Dispatch from The Quest: Rob Pilkington Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the second week of Prep. Today’s dispatch: Rob Pilkington waxes profound on Steven Spielberg: Try as I might, I can’t muster a single, useful syllable on prep this week, so if you’ll indulge me,
GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — Tweet-Cast transcript On Wednesday, August 26, we had a live Tweet-Cast of Raiders of the Lost Ark. What’s a Tweet-Cast? At 8PM Pacific, people from around the world pushed Play on an electronic device and watched the movie, then commented on it real-time on Twitter. You may read
Saturday Hot Links Time for another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Dick Van Dyke Show Edition! Has Hollywood murdered the movies? New Yorker: The movie aren’t dying (they’re not even sick). The ultimate sci-fi movie timeline. 27 cowboy slang terms for things you eat and drink. It’s
Written Interview: Paul Thomas Anderson (“The Master”) A recent interview with Paul Thomas Anderson, writer-director of his newest movie The Master. An excerpt: Congratulations on a stunning film. The world was probably expecting something quite different — this is a film about a friendship between two disturbed men. Thank you. Yes. That was what we talked about
Daily Dialogue — September 29, 2012 “Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be. They are your rallying points. They give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the
Wanted: 13 Daily Dialogue themes! It’s interesting how the Daily Dialogue has evolved over time. You can go here and see the very first one, actually the second GITS post dated May 16, 2008. Compare it to today’s post and you will note these differences: * Video clip * Trivia * Dialogue On Dialogue There’s
Dispatch from The Quest: Brandon Cohen Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the second week of Prep. Today’s dispatch: Brandon Cohen with some thoughts writing as work: Writing is work. We do it because we love and enjoy the work, but that doesn’t make it any less
Go On Your Own Quest, Week 11: Prep “The Quest” has entered Week 11! So has Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s a
The Theology of Screenwriting, Part 10: Redemption The Theology of Screenwriting: Redemption A character seeking freedom from bondage to a past event is one of the most common themes in movies. As some of you may know, I have a background in the academic study of theology, a B.A. in religious studies from the University of
Movie Trailer: “Fire With Fire” A fireman takes an unexpected course of action when a man whom he’s been ordered to testify against, after being held up at a local convenience store, threatens him. Screenplay by Tom O’Connor IMDB site Comment Archive
GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — Dialogue This week we are analyzing the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark, the 1981 action-adventure movie [screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, story by George Lucas & Philip Kaufman]. You may download a copy of the script [August 1979] here. Today we discuss the script’s dialogue. An excerpt from
