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Empire Magazine has been a staple in the film industry for many years. The magazine, and now the website, is seen as one of the world’s leading authorities on film-related content and news. Here at Industrial Scripts we’ve trawled through the impressive back-catalogue of Empire Magazine Articles to bring you ten
In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces. It might be a deleted
The key is writing characters that – crucially – fascinate… Writing great, multi-dimensional characters is one of the hardest – and most important – facets to successful screenwriting. The Holy Grail of characterization – beyond writing empathetic characters, or entertaining characters, or even original characters – is writing fascinating
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: BRADLEY QUIRK The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, the Oscar-nominated writer of DRIVE and THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY. You can watch these here. The Insider Interviews now exist as live monthly
Putting A Film or TV Treatment on the Couch Treatments are misunderstood and undervalued. It’s time to investigate why they’re an invaluable tool in the screenwriter’s toolbox. Imagination can be the writer’s worst enemy. Imagining your story in too many genres rather than choosing one (or maybe two) and consequently
Focus On: THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012) As a direct contrast to last month’s Unheralded Scene from FALLEN, this month we look at a scene that’s completely without on-screen dialogue. The opening scene of Jane Goldman’s 2012 adaptation of THE WOMAN IN BLACK is an object lesson in creating both an
About THE INBETWEENERS script Before we get into the cases “for” and “against” both the script reader and their report on THE INBETWEENERS script, let’s just remind ourselves what he/she was reporting on! If you’ve never heard of British TV comedy THE INBETWEENERS, you’re probably either not based in
The critical acclaim, awards nominations and profoundly-felt audience reaction to ROOM highlight one of the most powerful tools in the screenwriter’s armoury – your choice of protagonist. Whether you’re writing a feature script or TV pitch or pilot, if you’ve already decided on a protagonist it’s still worth asking yourself:
In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces. It might be a deleted
How to Create Intrigue – The Screenwriter’s “Golden Goose” To create intrigue is one of the greatest things a screenwriter can achieve. Be it via an urban rom-com, a micro-budget horror, or an $100m dollar action film, if you can create a sense of intrigue, and get that executive wanting to
Writing Science Fiction Screenplays Sci-Fi is one of those odd genres – like the Western – that among script theorists often stimulates more argument about ‘defining your terms’ than it does about structure, plot or theme. It is helpful first to qualify the term ‘genre’, as film theorists and script
Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Teen Horror From 1974’s BLACK CHRISTMAS – rightly credited with being the god-monster of the modern mainstream genre – through to every postmodern twist on the ‘final girl’ archetype, Teen Horror is now a mainstay of popular cinema. It was a cornerstone of the
Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Occult Horror Occult literally means ‘hidden’ so all Horror could be described as occult in the sense that all Horror deals with things that are suppressed, repressed, traditionally denied or habitually ignored. The Occult Horror sub-genre, however, specifically deals with the esoteric and magickal (as
Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Supernatural Horror Supernatural Horror is perhaps the most writer-friendly of all Horror sub-genres because its effectiveness really does live on the page, rather than being hostage to practical or CGI effects (even though we should love those too!). Unlike other Horror sub-genres (Slasher, Urbanoia, Body Horror, Cannibal) Supernatural Horror
In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces. It might be a deleted
Using Voice-Over At the beginning of a screenwriter’s career, it is likely they will be hit by a deluge of information pertaining to offer the rules of how to write a script. Not just that – a script that sells. It is this caveat and the hope for a not-too-distant windfall that forces
Writing the Stalker Film Screenplay Stalking is an inherently cinematic activity and it crops up everywhere, in every kind of story. Following people around (with a camera) is what film-makers do, and as soon as the camera becomes a character, it’s a stalker. Whether it’s the cop watching the villain on
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: ED CLARKE The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, the Oscar-nominated writer of DRIVE and THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY. You can watch these
In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces. It might be a deleted
Importance of Beginning With A Bang One of the most over-stated maxims when it comes to screenplays and screenwriting lies in the importance of the first ten pages. Not only is this a point that is pressed constantly home by writers, producers, consultants and anyone else who has an interest
In a giant sea of screenwriting tips and advice, where does one begin? It’s almost as bad as dieting these days. Cranberries are bad for you. No, scrap that, we’ve now decided they’re good for you. Your protagonist should dominate most scenes. It’s fine for your protagonist to drift in
Hoss Amini Interview Industrial Scripts is pleased to announce the release of our first “Reflection Series” mini-courses, with a unique Hoss Amini interview. These email sequences consist of a weekly drip containing exclusive interview content from high-end filmmakers and screenwriters. First Reflection Series Our first Reflection Series is with
What hasn’t been written about Hitchcock already? From Francois Truffaut and Raymond Durgnat, to every casual message board user on IMDb, great swathes of humankind have discussed at length the directorial techniques of The Master of Suspense; the long take, use of POV, montage with a focus on hands, off-screen
Way back when… For much of the 80’s and into the 90’s, “Schwarzenegger” was a byword for a movie with a high body count. The box office was peppered with movies such as COMMANDO, TOTAL RECALL and TRUE LIES, which would draw as much attention for the dozens of onscreen
You’re no stranger to getting advice if you’re a writer. Thousands of books, hundreds of films, and even entire college majors have been dedicated to the art of honing the English language. As a result, there are bound to be some bits of writing advice that come into debate. While
What is Script Coverage? Whether you’re a screenwriter or a director, a producer or a distributor, a financier or a development executive, script coverage is something that the lion’s share of film & TV professionals come into contact with on a regular basis. Script coverage essentially sprung out of a
Unheralded Scene: WEST OF MEMPHIS (2012) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes
Unheralded Scene: TOGETHERNESS (2015) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces. It
Unheralded Scene: DECONSTRUCTING HARRY (1997) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces.
Unheralded Scene: THE FISHER KING (1991) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes
Unheralded Scene: NOTES ON A SCANDAL (2006) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy”
Unheralded Scene: PI (1998) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces. It
Unheralded Scene: RUNNING ON EMPTY (1988) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces.
Unheralded Scene: O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy”
Unheralded Scene: THE MACHINE (2013) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces.
Unheralded Scene: GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes
Unheralded Scene: BOILER ROOM (2000) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and
Unheralded Scene: THE GODFATHER (1972) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces.
Unheralded Scene: FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy”
Unheralded Scene: GATTACA (1997) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and set-pieces. It
Unheralded Scene: THE WILD BUNCH (1969) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and
Unheralded Scene: LORD OF WAR (2005) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other, more “showy” scenes and
12 Things Screenwriters Can Learn from Musicals I recently ventured from my comfortable world of screenwriting into completely new territory. No, I’m not acting– I’m working on a stage musical. The process has involved late nights, rewrites, and brainstorming until I think I’ll explode. Yet despite the artistic suffering, writing a musical has taught
Scorsese and Storytelling Martin Scorsese needs little introduction. The visionary director behind a lengthy list of iconic films from Taxi Driver to Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and through to The Wolf of Wall Street has inspired generations of movie-goers and filmmakers. In addition, Scorsese is a prominent film historian. He founded a nonprofit dedicated to film preservation, started the
The MUST is for effect. You don’t have to do anything, particularly buying screenwriting books in such volume that the Amazon driver knows you by name . But you’re a writer, you already know that. A more accurate title for this article would be “Books THIS Screenwriter Owns And Which
Like it or lump it, the role of the industry script is becoming increasingly important in film and TV. With the volume of scripts being written, increasing year-on-year, the challenge for those in power becomes one of filtration – everybody wants great writers and everyone wants hits, right? But hardly anyone
How to Write a Screenplay: Your 30-Step Guide. So – you want to learn how to write a screenplay. You think about it constantly. Whenever you watch a movie you annoy your friends, going on about how you could have written a better script. You daydream about Jimmy Kimmel
Even the notion of screenwriting rules gets some people into a serious tizz, and it’s this controversial topic I want to explore this week. I’ve spent the last three weeks watching my new film Kajaki (out on Friday in the UK at all Vue Cinemas) over and over again, either
In Screenwriting, the truth matters… Today we’re going to talk about The Truth. Not this sort of truth. Or this. Or even this. We’re going to talk about the kind of screenwriting truth that connected six out of the nine Best Picture nominees in the 2014 Oscars. The kind that
What I’ve Learnt about Screenwriting: Part 1, The Idea So I’ve been doing this for a while now, and for some reason I feel a powerful, hubristic, intimations-of-mortality urge to communicate nuggets of web-friendly wisdom to all you aspiring screenwriters out there, who will no doubt be stealing jobs from me this
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