:: The ever-so unconventional Forrest Gump.
:: With a focus on craft, getting to the point.
:: Unpaid outline? Set your terms.
:: A struggle for screenwriters, the climate of today.
:: You’ve got three pages to wow ’em.
:: Keep your promises, set goals, write pages every day.
:: Structure specific: the romantic comedy.
:: Take the character who’s afraid of nothing and make them afraid.
:: Specs & pilots: belief in self and a burning desire to make it happen.
:: Alfred Hitchcock on the difference between mystery & suspense.
How To Write A Great Script
Everybody always says it. The one surefire way to break into the industry is to write a great script. “All you have to do is write a great script,” they say. “Ohhhh,” you reply, “That’s it? “That’s all I had to do all this time?? Was write a great script? Well why didn’t you say … Read more
Writing Drama (6)
Yves Lavandier’s book Writing Drama currently rates as the absolute favorite of our book reviewer Jack Brislee. To give you the chance to delve into Lavandier’s amazing knowledge and insight, we publish a weekly excerpt from the book. Ineffective Conflict In some cases, forms of conflict drawn from life prove ineffective in dramatic terms. This occurs … Read more
Video: Michael Arndt
Toy Story 3 has been by far the most exquisite screenplay hitting the screens this year. Yes, it was developed over about twenty man years and yes, an army of geniuses contributed to the story. But then writer Michael Arndt stepped in and finished the job.
I haven’t seen or heard many interviews with Arndt and moving images with the man are even rarer. So I wanted to go back to a video of a few years ago in which Arndt speaks about Little Miss Sunshine, his approach to writing and other stuff you’d like to hear.
To see the whole program, you’ll have to click in the bottom right of the video screen once the clip is rolling, otherwise it stops right after the clip from Little Miss Sunshine.
(Thanks to Scott Myers who linked to this a while ago)
Structure: Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is my favorite movie of the year and it will be hard to beat this. Usually when my expectations are high, I end up disappointed. Not here. The movie pays off on every possible level. It’s fun, emotional and has tremendous depth. I have seen it three times, each in a different … Read more