Craft-based articles.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Read moreUnheralded Scene: O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000)
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
Read moreUnheralded Scene: FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998)
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 …
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. …
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. …
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 …
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 …
When I say “screenwriting books you MUST own”, I’ll be honest: the MUST is for effect. You don’t have to do anything, particularly buying screenwriting books in such volume that …
Like it or lump it, the role of the industry script reader is becoming increasingly important in film and TV. With the volume of scripts being written, increasing year-on-year, the …
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 …
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 …
Read moreFive Screenwriting Rules You Can Break and Five You Can’t
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 …
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 …
Read moreWhat I’ve Learnt about Screenwriting: Part I, The Idea
Write What You Know or Just Say No! (and other rhymes) I’m going to give you procrastinating scribblers a little bit of advice today. Yes me, who gets up at the …
Unheralded Scene: RUSHMORE (1998) In our “Unheralded Scene” section, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be …
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 …
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 …
The Screenplay. Like some kind of Mordorian tower it looms over the land. We can barely make out the top of it, so shrouded is it in snow, ice and …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Unheralded Scene: STAND BY ME (1986) In our “Unheralded Scene” section, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. …
Unheralded Scene: HAROLD & MAUDE (1971) 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. …
Akira Kurosawa Probably most famous for his epic, THE SEVEN SAMURAI, Akira Kurosawa was often seen as more popular in the West than in his native Japan. His big breakthrough …
Read more10 Akira Kurosawa Quotes for Screenwriters & Filmmakers
Unheralded Scene: SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) In our “Unheralded Scene” section, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It …
Unheralded Scene: TWIN PEAKS – FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received …
Read moreUnheralded Scene: TWIN PEAKS – FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992)
Unheralded Scene: THE PIANO (1993) 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 …
Unheralded Scene: THE SIXTH SENSE (1999) 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. …
Unheralded Scene: MONEYBALL (2011) In our “Unheralded Scene” section, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might …
Unheralded Scene: COLD SOULS (2009) 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 …
Unheralded Scene: CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR (2007) 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. …
Unheralded Scene: THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (1965) In our “Unheralded Scene” section, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration …
Unheralded Scene: UP IN THE AIR (2009) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it …
Unheralded Scene: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration …
Be in no doubt about it – if you’re going to write for the screen, then you’re going to be writing genre. Thriller, sci-fi, crime, fantasy, comedy, horror and so …
Unheralded Scene: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2010) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration …
How many times have you heard someone describe a film as “it’s something meets something”? Unoriginal, or the keys to producers’ bank vaults? Industrial Scripts examines how to improve …
With the arrival of GODZILLA at your local multiplex you might be thinking it’s time to get writing some monster movies of your own — how hard can it be, …
Read moreWhy The Holy Trinity of Monster Movies are Impossible to Top
A Crazy Script Can Beat The Odds Every screenwriter at one time experiences the look of confusion and ridicule in the face of a friend, producer or agent when they …
Fertile stories and multi-faceted characters will only take a script so far if the writer cannot repeatedly craft memorable and compelling framing scenes. Industrial Scripts looks at Ewan McGregor …
Read moreFraming Scenes for Maximum Impact – Lessons from BEGINNERS
Mastering the basics is an essential step in any screenwriter’s career progression – and yet many aspiring screenwriters forego very simple script choices which would make their projects stand out from the swirling mass of unfilmable spec scripts.
“I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills …