Story. Screenplay. Sale.
The first step for many aspiring screenwriters is to purchase a piece of pricey screenwriting software. Some call it retail therapy. You are not a screenwriter until you have made that sacrifice, until you have invested money in your career, right? I call it a waste of $250. Your first draft should be a quick … Read more
A loyal agent for the Stasi spies on a playwright and his actress girlfriend. Intent on revealing their disloyalty to the GDR, the agent becomes involved in – and transformed by – their lives. The Lives of Others (Das leben der anderen) (Germany, 2006) Written and Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck -by Stuart Voytilla … Read more
Your primary focus is on story and less on writing scenes, sharp dialogue or gripping action. Inevitably, though, once figured out your characters and their journeys, you are down to the daunting task of writing that next draft. You will be writing at the scene level, and a slightly different set of rules comes into … Read more
When talking about story structure, many people talk about where exactly in the story the structural element needs to happen. Often this is expressed in terms of a page number, or even a percentage of the film’s total duration. I would prefer to leave such quantification aside for a moment and rather look into what … Read more
Inciting Incident, Catalyst, Call to Adventure, Disturbance. All terms referring to the first crucial moment: the point where your story kicks off. Michael Hauge closes the first of his six story stages with it, at the 10% point of the story (10mins in a 100mins movie). Paul Gulino sees it as the end of the … Read more