Story. Screenplay. Sale.
Until Mystery Man disappeared in 2010, he was a regular contributor to The Story Department. His very last public article was published here and it is still ranking as the most popular post on the site.
To conclude our series on Cinematic Storytelling, last week Mystery Man examined the origins of and opinions about close-ups. Today, in the 10th and final episode, we look at 23 visual examples and their dramatic reason. To examine beauty / ugliness: To illuminate a glance we would not have seen (as in Lady Snowblood): To … Read more
Sheila O’Malley’s post on a close-up of Bud White in L.A. Confidential reminded us that characters with dimensions, with varying inner conflicts and emotions – a.k.a. depth – foster the right circumstances for great acting through close-ups. CLOSE-UPS, BABY! Of a moment in which we watch Bud, Sheila writes: “He is totally still. He doesn’t blink. He just stares. … Read more
Here’s a scene from a script by our good friend Pat who participated in almost every study on our blog. When I posted Write the Shots, Pat shared a scene from her script and I just loved it. This captures exactly what we mean by writing the shots. Good job, Pat. INT. CELLAR -- NIGHT It’s … Read more
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
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