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Video: The Battle of Long Tan

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It’s Australia Day and I have been working on my favorite project for the moment: the feature screenplay for LONG TAN, the feature based on the eponymous Vietnam battle from 1966. For the occasion I wanted to share something special with you. This week Sam Worthington mentioned our project in an interview to the press … Read more

Interview: Sydney Field (3)

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Syd Field was the first true screenwriting guru and his book Screenplay is still a standard, more than thirty years after its initial publication. During his first visit to the city with his name, we interviewed him about his career and craft. Final Part, continued from Part 2 Interview: Karel Segers, David Trendall and Niels … Read more

Best o/t Web 29 Aug

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:: Character flaws: mistakes must be earned!
:: Polishing your treatment, some advice.
:: The real story on rewriting: get the big picture.
:: James Cameron on the re-release of Avatar.
:: Celtx app on your iPad and iPhone.
:: Writing a romantic comedy? Check out The Apartment.
:: To-do list: working the American film market.
:: When or when not to copyright.
:: Far from Hollywood? Some screenwriting advice.
:: Movies scenes + Cee-Lo’s Fuck You
:: The 101 Definitions of Sci-Fi
:: 5 Reasons why Scott Pilgrim tanked.
:: Twin Peaks revisited

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Best o/t Web 15 Aug

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:: The future of Story in Bollywood.
:: Writing with a partner.
:: “310” the secret to screenwriting success.
:: Screenwriting is like gambling: Spec vs. OWA.
:: Book review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
:: How much money is your script worth?
:: Toy Story 3 is the is top-grossing animated film ever.
:: ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’: The year’s most honest romance?
:: Get to know your character: Writing off the page.
:: James Cameron hints that Avatar 2 may have a mellower ending
:: The secret to humor: make immoral behavior seem harmless.
:: Facebook name trees: handy tool for workable character names.
:: A script is like a patient. Don’t discharge before it’s in perfect health.

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Exposition in Cameron’s The Abyss

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Yesterday I had the enormous privilege and honor of watching James Cameron’s The Abyss on the big screen, sitting next to the movie’s concept designer Ron Cobb. The last time I saw the film in a cinema was at a preview before its release in 1986.

The scene in this clip is a trademark Cameron setup.

Remember the unobtainium – ‘floating rock’ scene in Avatar? That is a case of exposition that some love and others loathe.

This scene from The Abyss sits around about the same time into this movie and sets up an equally important concept, which will be crucial in the movie’s climax.

The scene is in my view one of the most supreme examples of exposition. It combines character and tension with essential story information.

It shows how James Cameron has always been a tremendously gifted screenwriter.

Enjoy!

In fact – and contrary to the unobtainium scene – Ron Cobb confirmed to me that the fluid breathing system is not sci-fi but fact.  Hippy’s rat is submerged in actual fluid breathing system liquid and in this scene it is really breathing underwater. Apparently, Beany the rat survived for quite a while afterwards and died of natural causes.

(On the contrary – as you might have guessed – in the movie’s climax Ed Harris did not breathe liquid. The glass of his suit was tinted amber to suggest it was filled with the liquid.)

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