Best of the Web

When we find good stuff for screenwriters, we pass it on. If the news is breaking or time-sensitive we re-publish immediately, otherwise check the weekly digest.

Best o/t Web 11 Apr 10

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:: Keep it clear, clarity in your script.
:: First half, second act, all development.
:: Considering evil: crafting your villain’s motivations.
:: The climate of selling your spec script.
:: The ins and outs of Final Draft 8.
:: Filmfellas define themselves in terms of filmmaking.
:: What a romance. Interview with Nicholas Sparks.
:: Don’t confess, Chess. Character and dialogue in suspense stories.
:: Avoid surface humor, making jokes with your character in mind.
:: Taking notes, keeping cool. Advice for a beginning screenwriter.

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Best o/t Web 4 Apr 10

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:: The art and effect of the extra-long take.
:: Two-in-one: how to show the same actor plays multiple parts.
:: Raising the stakes in story, how to make it happen.
:: The benefits of becoming a script reader.
:: The big up and coming films of 2010.
:: Generating story ideas, the process in one idea.
:: Words with screenwriter-director Shane Salerno.
:: Finding the story within you.
:: The ins and outs of nonprofit film financing.
:: Money matters, a look at film content distribution and the future.
:: Tricky tricky treatment writing.
:: Delving into act two: the elements.

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Best o/t Web 28 Mar

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:: David Mamet’s memo to writers of The Unit. :: Interview with A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Eric Heisserer. :: Put lumps in those throats! Getting your viewers emotionally involved. :: Protocol: how to dump your agent. :: Missing: villain. Writing a story without an antagonist. :: Fight Club’s Jim Uhls on writer’s block. :: A sensitive formula: blending physical and emotional … Read more

Best o/t Web 21 Mar 10

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:: Subtitles don’t fly in America. :: Following up on a script submission, the protocol. :: Cut out the ‘hello how are you,’ caller ID in screenplays. :: Consider your kind of story – now compare with those similar. :: “Speccability”: what to write. :: Based on a true story: the problems you may encounter. :: The golden rule, always be entertaining. … Read more

Best o/t Web 14 Mar 10

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:: Black on action (via Scott Myers).

:: Christopher Nolan on what to expect from Batman 3

:: How to logline a dual plot story? John August helps.

:: Dick happy about Blade Runner (via Kottke).

:: Final word on the Oscars (and Karel agrees)

:: The North By Northwest shooting script for download

:: Charlie (and Donald) Kaufman’s Adaptation script

:: (we keep going…) The Shawshank Redemption script

:: Finally: Basic Instinct (for Forest Gump and MANY others, go to MyPDFscripts.com)

:: Hitchcock on Content vs. Technique (via Bill Martell)

:: To three-act-structure or free-form, that is the question.

:: Cultivating a following- writing for a TV series.

:: Advice: never send out your first screenplay.

:: Own up to your audience: your inciting incident.

:: What really goes on in act one?

:: Satire with a touch of truth: the Super Script

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