Cinematic Storytelling (7)

Here’s a scene taken from the completely visual screenplay written by a longtime friend, Bob Thielke. This writer found himself so inspired by Jennifer van Sijll’s book Cinematic Storytelling that he wrote for himself a nearly dialogue-free screenplay. The result is a creative exercise, just to practice the art of telling a story through visuals. The … Read more

Cinematic Storytelling (6)

Here’s a sequence from Robert Towne’s Chinatown, a script that really deserves no introduction. This is my favorite sequence in this script in terms of screenwriting techniques. Reading this for the first time was such a revelation to me. by Mystery Man I love the way Towne uses Secondary Headings to cut back and forth … Read more

Video: JJ Abrams About Myth Making

In this short video, JJ Abrams talks about how to tap into an audience, mixing genres and (without calling it so) myth.

He explains how he doesn’t want to see a movie about war or terrorism but rather something larger than life.

What JJ Abrams means is really how he wants to tell mythological stories and transcend reality while still talking about our reality. He also talks about the influence of  Jaws and Alien on Cloverfield.

With thanks to Louise Lee Mei and Niels Abercrombie.

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