Recent Posts Tagged With 'screenwriting'

• "My script is crap! - A weekend with Robert McKee

  Posted on Thursday July 2nd, 2009 at 06:42 in story, screenwriting, robert mckee, writing for film

  Anticipation was huge for this three day seminar series so it was no surprise the queue snaked around the block and competition for the best seats was strong. For anyone who has seen Brian Cox's portrayal of Robert McKee in the film Adaptation, you ...

• Countdown to Robert McKee in Australia

  Posted on Thursday June 18th, 2009 at 05:30 in story, screenwriting, robert mckee, writing for film

  This week sees Robert McKee deliver his brilliant Story seminar series in Melbourne before bringing the three day screenwriting-fest to Sydney for what is apparently his last visit to Australia. If you are a screenwriter - amateur or otherwise - you ...

• Writing exposition: conflict in The West Wing

  Posted on Sunday June 7th, 2009 at 05:28 in television, screenwriting, west wing, aaron sorkin, exposition, writing for film

  If you're telling a story, there comes a time when you have to explain to the audience what's going on. Exposition is unavoidable, but if your characters merely start telling the story to each other, the script will feel false. People just don't talk...

• The curse of the screenwriter

  Posted on Monday May 18th, 2009 at 02:11 in story, screenwriting, robert mckee, writing for film

  I am completely incapable of watching a movie like a normal person. Years of learning structure and writing scripts in the hope of becoming the next William Goldman have distorted my brain into an analytical, critical mess, completely unable to switc...

• Writing killer dialogue - The Assassination of Jesse James

  Posted on Sunday April 26th, 2009 at 05:35 in screenwriting, dialogue, the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford, andrew dominik, writing for film

  Ever say one thing and mean something else? Of course you have. In fact, virtually every word that leaves your, or my, mouth is weighted with innuendo, context, subtext and various other hidden meanings. When saying "yes" to a cup of tea, is that wor...

• Finding creative freedom by adding limitations

  Posted on Friday April 3rd, 2009 at 16:58 in writing, copywriting, story, screenwriting, structure, robert mckee, general writing, writing for film

  I've known for sometime that sometimes the more constrained you are, the more creative you are forced to become. In writing, this can only be a good thing. Give me a deadline, give me a strict set of guidelines, give me an inflexible word count and t...

• Why story structure is inescapable

  Posted on Friday March 27th, 2009 at 22:54 in story, screenwriting, structure, writing for film

  Discussions about structure in screenwriting (or any writing for that matter) always divide writers into two camps. In one corner are those that swear by the three act structure, midpoint reversals and scenes noted on index cards, while on the opposi...

• Hollywood - Act Your Age!

  Posted on Thursday March 12th, 2009 at 21:49 in Film, movies, hollywood, screenwriting, writing for film

  There are certain stories that just crop up over and over and over. 17 Again is a new film starring Zac Efron - he of the screaming girls, photoshopped smile and unlikely High School career. I'm sure I don't need to spell out the plot; I was able to...

• Robert McKee: 'Story' Comes to Australia

  Posted on Thursday March 12th, 2009 at 01:40 in story, screenwriting, robert mckee, writing for film

  Love him or loath him, Robert McKee is unavoidable in any discussion of screenwriting structure. His book Story is the oft-quoted bible of so many amateur and professional screenwriters as we all fight with our scene breakdowns and character arcs. T...

• Watching the Watchmen

  Posted on Monday March 2nd, 2009 at 05:04 in screenwriting, adaptation, watchmen, alan moore, writing for comics, writing for film

  It took twenty years, but this week finally sees Watchmen adapted for the big screen. To most of you reading this, it might not be a big deal – yet another big-budget superhero film cashing in on old properties instead of creating new stories. Well...

• Coping With Criticism

  Posted on Friday March 28th, 2008 at 22:43 in critic, screenwriting, criticism, general writing, screenwriting - technique

  I love it when a new set of eyeballs reads my script. But, like anyone, when that person offers criticism the ego takes a knock. After all, what do they know? They didn’t stay up all hours writing the damn thing! Criticism is an essential part of...

• Inspiration for the Screenplay Rewrite

  Posted on Monday March 17th, 2008 at 23:57 in screenwriting, scriptwriting, rewrite

  I’m currently in the planning stages of launching into another draft of my vampire script, ‘Nightfall’. With a strong performance in both years of the Project Greenlight Australia competition, and plenty of positive and constructive feedback, ...

• Logline Therapy: How to Make Your Logline Razor Sharp!

  Posted on Sunday March 9th, 2008 at 23:00 in screenwriting, scriptwriting, copyediting, logline, loglines

  Most screenwriters hate producing the logline. Sometimes, trying to sum up one hundred pages plus of your magnum opus into a few words is like squeezing an elephant into an eggcup. But the reality is that loglines are essential to cut through the sw...

• Sex, Blogs and Screenwriting

  Posted on Tuesday March 4th, 2008 at 19:14 in blog writing, screenwriting, scriptwriting, diablo cody, general writing

  Recently, I read a blog post on Piggybankpie.com about the use of humour in blogs, that contained the following example of a witty misquote. “Show me a successful blogger and I’ll show you an unsuccessful writer.” This got me to thinkin...