act three

Best of the Web 1 Feb

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Script Perfection :: 42 Essential 3rd Act Twists: :: Justice League Movie: Script Ready But Too Complicated :: Seth Grahame-Smith Makes Everyone Look Lazy Best of the Rest :: Star Wars Stand-Alone Film Selects Weitz As Screenwriter :: Edgar Wright Pens Oliver Twist Sequel Screenplay :: Jurassic Park Was “By No Means a Sure Thing” … Read more

Three or Four?

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A properly structured screenplay must have three acts… Or four? I have said before that the model you use to improve your screenwriting is your own choice. At the end of the day it is all academic. Whatever works for you. The Dept Revisited – A rerun of the best of the Story Dept. A … Read more

Best o/t Web 22 Aug

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:: Joss Whedon discusses Captain America
:: Facebook meddles with Social Network script
:: In praise of Toy Story 3 (and Pixar as a whole)
:: Francois Truffaut’s last interview
:: Check the Box Office prediction model before you start
:: Best comic book adaptation: Road to Perdition
:: The Zombie version of Assault On Precinct 13
:: Chinese remake Coen’s Blood Simple
:: Fighting leaks: Watermarking for script security.
:: Act three and the art of the universal ending.
:: Justin Adler’s The Escort ranks impressive.
:: Screenwriter Walter Hill on writing movies.
:: Angelina Jolie & George Clooney set for Marilyn Monroe film.
:: The cliche conundrum, can you make it work?
:: A look at 10 past scripts and their box office results.

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Two Journeys of Change

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A day in Michael Hauge’s romcom seminar inspired me to republish this brief article I wrote about a year and a half ago. Hauge claims the Inner and Outer Journey run in parallel. I think he’s right, with one small caveat. A gorgeous Sunday morning in a Manly cafe with a view on the ocean. … Read more

Structure: The Untouchables

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David Mamet has never equaled the tremendous power of his eighties screenplays. The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, The Untouchables and even his own directorial debut House of Games, starring his then wife Lindsay Crouse.

The Untouchables has always been my favorite. De Palma turned the script into the most cinematic of Mamet’s writing.

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