Writing Drama (6)

Yves Lavandier’s book Writing Drama currently rates as the absolute favorite of our book reviewer Jack Brislee. To give you the chance to delve into Lavandier’s amazing knowledge and insight, we publish a weekly excerpt from the book. Ineffective Conflict In some cases, forms of conflict drawn from life prove ineffective in dramatic terms. This occurs … Read more

Video: Michael Arndt

Toy Story 3 has been by far the most exquisite screenplay hitting the screens this year. Yes, it was developed over about twenty man years and yes, an army of geniuses contributed to the story. But then writer Michael Arndt stepped in and finished the job.

I haven’t seen or heard many interviews with Arndt and moving images with the man are even rarer. So I wanted to go back to a video of a few years ago in which Arndt speaks about Little Miss Sunshine, his approach to writing and other stuff you’d like to hear.

To see the whole program, you’ll have to click in the bottom right of the video screen once the clip is rolling, otherwise it stops right after the clip from Little Miss Sunshine.

(Thanks to Scott Myers who linked to this a while ago)

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Structure: Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 is my favorite movie of the year and it will be hard to beat this. Usually when my expectations are high, I end up disappointed. Not here. The movie pays off on every possible level. It’s fun, emotional and has tremendous depth. I have seen it three times, each in a different … Read more

Best o/t Web 4 Jul

:: Toy Story 3’s Michael Arndt on Unkrich original project
:: How to become … Michael Arndt (or similar)
:: Interview with Lee Unkrich and Darla Anderson
:: Where the Toy Story 3 trash bag idea originated
:: Toy Story: “The overarching story is about change”
:: How Pixar built Toy Story 3
:: The development of the Toy Story saga

In other news:
:: Even when there’s no way, you believe.
:: Writing a script, first draft.
:: Should you pay for notes?
:: The unconventional Shawshank Redemption.
:: Five ways your writing ends up on the screen.
:: Script in a minute.
:: Showbiz terminology, a cheat sheet.
:: Story for free!
:: Vince Gilligan at BANFF.
:: M. Night, gossip fills seats.
:: Elements of act two: the midpoint.

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