The Power of Next

THE POWER OF NOW has brought a bit of Zen to the masses. Author Tolle is touring the world to spread the word and save our spiritual lives. Zen may be the key to your well-being; it is the enemy of cinema. Get your audience into the ‘now’ and your movie is dead. Storytelling for … Read more

Exciting Coincidence?

“A strong inciting incident is an event that happens to the protagonist, never an action by the protagonist“, I said. Then I asked you for exceptions, i.e. strong Inciting Incidents that are actions by the protagonist. Now have a look at the first three responses I received: 1.) THELMA & LOUISE, 2.) PULP FICTION and … Read more

Selected Bibliography

This bibliography I often include in my course notes. It contains publications that I regularly consult or quote from. Aronson, Linda: Scriptwriting Updated, Allen & Unwin Field, Syd: Screenplay, Dell Publishing Gulino, Paul: Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach, Continuum Hauge, Michael: Writing Screenplays That Sell, Harper Resource Howard, David & Edward Mabley: The Tools of Screenwriting, … Read more

Bringing Up Baby

I was surprised to read the following quote from respected Australian screenwriter Keith Thompson: “an overt focus on structure may be to the detriment of the script overall. He prefers to discuss scripts using more generic terms such as beginning, middle and end. The hero’s journey (a la Campbell and Vogler) should be approached warily.” … Read more

Elephant in the Room

“Babies don’t come from babies”, Keith Jarrett said when he meant that great art isn’t inspired by other art but by life itself. This quote shot through my mind tonight while watching the Australian film 2:37 by Murali Thalluri. I had ordered 2:37 from Quickflix, as reference material for a feature film in post-production I … Read more