Unity of Action (3)

At the end of Act Two of Die Hard, John McClane is effectively faced with his own self (note the shot composition and what he is actually facing) to review his own character and dig deep for a solution to achieve his unconscious goal. By Nir Shelter  At this point the audience wants him to … Read more

Video: John August Talks About Breaking Convention

I’ve become a fan of John August’s SCRIPT NOTES. Admittedly, it’s very much a chat among men-who’ve-made-it but August, like no other pro, is enormously generous with his knowledge about the craft and the industry.
Here he talks solo on camera.


As the screenwriter of some Tim Burton movies, including Big Fish, Alice In Wonderland and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, I’m not particularly a fan of his writing as I find it somewhat too cold and quirky.

The advice he gives here applies to the type of quirkiness that results from breaking convention in essential areas of screenwriting. John can get away with it because he has forty scripts under his belt.
And because he writes for Burton.

 

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Best Of The Web – Now via Twitter

If you were missing our weekly Best o/t Web, I’m afraid in this instance we’ll have to blame Google. We had set up a great workflow that would allow us to sift through 1,000+ blog posts weekly and bring you the top 1 percent… Unfortunately Google decided to change the technology behind their Google Reader, forcing … Read more

Unity of Action (2)

Breaking the principle of unity of action is a directorial decision, not a writer’s one. For one reason or another a director may decide it prudent to break the flow of a story and change the pace. By Nir Shelter Breaking a Unity of Action The writer must provide a consistent flow of action for … Read more