Story. Screenplay. Sale.
The craft of telling a story starts with structure skills.
The finest writing not only reveals true character, but arcs or changes to that inner nature, for better or worse. In 1998 McKee signed my first edition hardback of STORY. He wrote: “To Karel: Tell the TRUTH!” Ironically with the quote at the top of this article, McKee is not telling his own truth.(*) He … Read more
Right after learning the principles of structure, it will be hard to apply them to your own work immediately. Better is to consolidate your understanding by applying it to films you know, by watching them and identifying the key turning points. A breakdown in scenes or plot points is an excellent start. To help you … Read more
Keeping the audience interested throughout the ‘setup’ is a major challenge as professional readers won’t last until the Inciting Incident if the first ten or twelve pages don’t deliver. The ‘setup’ is often a complete sequence in which we see the ‘Ordinary World’, the protagonist’s ‘normal life’, an area of the story that by its … Read more
RATATOUILLE has 1 (one) deleted scene. It is a long, uninterrupted travel from a wide establishing shot of the Paris skyline down to street level, through the Auguste Gusteau restaurant and ending on a medium shot of Remi. The shot could have been spectacular, reminding of the opening shot of TOUCH OF EVIL and its … Read more
If you want to be a professional screenwriter, be open to spoilers. Furthermore, be open to the weaknesses in your favourite films. Most often, it won’t harm your love for the film. Some of the handful of films I re-watch every year, I won’t mention in my seminars because I appreciate them for reasons other … Read more