Writing & Filmmaking Lessons From DRIVE (2011)
DRIVE Video Essay The crime drama DRIVE, with a screenplay by Hossein Amini adapted from a James Sallis novel, established Ryan Gosling as a bona fide star. Made on an …
Craft
Craft-based articles.
VIDEO ESSAY: Creating the Fascinating Antagonist – Gus Fring
Gus Fring BREAKING BAD, created by Vince Gilligan, introduced us to many great characters. Antihero Walter White (Brian Cranston), the cancer-diagnosed high school teacher who turns to making meth. Jesse …
Writing & Filmmaking Lessons From LA Confidential (1997)
LA CONFIDENTIAL LA CONFIDENTIAL put a modern spin on the hard-boiled noir, reinvigorating the genre and leading to an Oscar win for Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson for Best Adapted …
OPINION: The Thrill of the Real Time Screenplay
Before editing was created and perfected as its own art form, every film was in real time. (Although this isn’t entirely true: before sound, films were shown at whatever speed …
What is “electricity”, in screenwriting terms?
On the Special Edition DVD/Blu-Ray for THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Jodie Foster is interviewed as part of a retrospective. In the interview, Foster explains that a structurally insignificant scene …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Dr. Alan Grant (JURASSIC PARK)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
OPINION: Why Screenwriters Should Use A Point of No Return
What is a Point of No Return? The “point of no return” is essentially when the plot leaves the character with no choice but to go forwards. Perhaps the easiest …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Danny Ocean (OCEAN’S ELEVEN)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
Stop Obsessing About One Script Reader’s Notes
At Industrial Scripts, we hear it all the time. You can almost hear the echoing footsteps of the query, before it arrives: “Can I have the same script reader as …
Why Screenwriters Should Understand Screenplay Atmosphere
Understanding Screenplay Atmosphere Screenplay atmosphere is difficult. At the bottom of the poster for THEY CAME TOGETHER, a spoof of rom-coms, there’s a disclaimer: Please note: New York City plays such …
OPINION: Why Your Second Act Must Have Escalating Stakes
The second act is all about escalating stakes. Absolute urgency. There’s a gap in the classic three act structure as extolled by many screenwriting books and teachers. The problem is …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Elisa (THE SHAPE OF WATER)
2018 was a great and diverse year for cinema. Everything from BLACK PANTHER by Ryan Coogler to Disney’s long anticipated INCREDIBLES 2. In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine …
OPINION: Finding The Perfect Closure
Finding the perfect ending is difficult, even for professional writers and big-budget films. The resolution after the climax provides closure for the audience and characters. Sometimes termed the “denouement,” this scene is …
15 Greta Gerwig Quotes for Writers and Filmmakers
Already one of the key, iconic actresses of the American indie scene, appearing in the likes of FRANCES HA, MISTRESS AMERICA and 20TH CENTURY WOMEN, Greta Gerwig made her solo …
10 Jordan Peele Quotes Writers and Directors Can Learn From
Jordan Peele, one half of the sketch comedy duo KEY & PEELE, burst onto the cinema scene with the highly acclaimed and successful “social thriller” GET OUT, which he wrote …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Bill Tench (MINDHUNTER)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
OPINION: Lessons from Shakespeare For Screenwriters
An odd trend in cinema surfaced in the 1990s and continued into the 2000s. A spate of teen films relocated the plots of William Shakespeare plays to high schools. O …
OPINION: The Key to a Great Genre Hybrid
A genre hybrid, a cross between two or more genres, can be a boon. It’s giving the audience something familiar, tapping into genre conventions, but also fresh. However, it can …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Luke Skywalker (STAR WARS)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
Genius Character Reveal: Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
15 Inspiring Dee Rees Quotes for Writers & Filmmakers
Screenwriter and director Dee Rees’ debut feature film PARIAH was met with positive critical acclaim and since then, her Emmy Award-winning HBO series BESSIE and her feature film MUDBOUND have impressed …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Theo Faron (CHILDREN OF MEN)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
OPINION: Great Dialogue is All in the Subtext
Writing great dialogue is difficult, but one way to get a step closer is through the use of subtext. Subtext, literally what is below the text, is the deeper implication behind …
How To Generate Narrative Momentum in Screenplays
There’s a great quote from F. Hauser and R. Reich that states: “In all the best material, the outcome is inevitable and inherent in the opening moment and every moment …
Why Screenwriters Should Tell Stories about Everyday Heroes
With the dominance of superhero and tentpole films, sometimes it seems like there’s no place in cinema for everyday heroes. Most audiences don’t want their reality simply reflected back to them. However, …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Lou Bloom (NIGHTCRAWLER)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
How to Mine History & the Real World for Your Next TV Script
History is, to gently mutilate a great quote, often stranger than fiction, which is what makes it such a great basis for fiction. Of course, mining history for a solid …
10 Inspired Ways Writers Came Up With Classic Movies
‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ It’s the question that gets a ripple of groans at any Q&A session, and an answer comprising a shrug and escorting the asker …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Hans Landa (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
10 Screenwriting Lessons From DEAD MAN’S SHOES (2004)
DEAD MAN’S SHOES (2004) DEAD MAN’S SHOES follows Richard (Paddy Considine), a soldier who returns to his home town to get revenge on the men who abused his mentally-challenged brother …
The Insider Interviews: Matt Orton
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: MATT ORTON 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 …
OPINION: Screenplays That Send Messages
There’s a famous piece of screenwriting advice that “if you want to send messages, use Western Union.” Now it might go, “if you want to send messages, Tweet about it.” …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Baby (BABY DRIVER)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
10 Cinematic Scenes of People, Arguing and/or Laughing
Cinematic Scenes of People, Arguing and/or Laughing It sounds like a dull writing exercise. Put your characters in a room and see what happens, arguing or laughing. But here are …
31 Writing Lessons From Iconic Author Kurt Vonnegut
31 Writing Lessons From Iconic Author Kurt Vonnegut With his deceptively simple prose style, novelist, playwright and essayist Kurt Vonnegut, jr. (1922 – 2007) bridged sci-fi and literary fiction. Novels like …
Which Species of Screenwriter Are You?
Screenwriter The ‘building-block’ nature of screenwriting is such that any screenwriter needs a selection box of varying skills. As you’d expect then, different screenwriters tend to find themselves drawn to, …
OPINION: The Perks & Pitfalls of Low Stakes Screenplays
Is it possible to have a film that tells a story without conflict? Conventional wisdom would say no. However, this doesn’t mean that every film needs a world-ending threat. Not every film …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Cosmo Lawlor (SING STREET)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen time. This instalment focuses on Conor, a.k.a. …
OPINION: Writing a character sacrifice that works
A character sacrifice is a difficult moment to get right. Audiences today are incredibly cine-literate. They’ve seen it all before, and can tell when a film or TV show has used …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Dale Cooper (TWIN PEAKS)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen time. This month’s instalment focuses on FBI …
OPINION: When Screenwriters Should Unsettle Audiences
There’s an old Hollywood saying to writers that if you want to send a message, use Western Union. The idea is that audiences want films to entertain them, not to …
Character Reveal: Minnie Goetze The Diary of a Teenage Girl
In this series we look at scenes and moments where a film or TV show has revealed a great deal of character information in a short amount of screen time. …
Top 5 Story Questions That Pique Our Interest
Stirring Interest If a story doesn’t pose a dramatic question, you’re probably reading a shopping list. Story questions are the narrative equivalent of a sales pitch, the means by which …
OPINION: Screenwriters Should Consider the Cinema Experience
It’s a cliché, but the entertainment industry is an industry. Show business is a business. It behoves screenwriters to remember this and to consider why write films in the first place. What …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Tom Reagan (MILLER’S CROSSING)
In this series we look at scenes and moments where a film or TV show has revealed a great deal of character information in a short amount of screen time. …
OPINION: Crafting Convincing Teenage Characters
A major problem with crafting convincing children and teenage characters is that as we grow up it’s too easy to forget what it’s like to be young. Whether a project …
OPINION: Flashbacks and the (Rare) Stories that Need Them
One of the major exceptions to the oft-repeated “show, don’t tell” screenwriting rule is the equally common received wisdom that screenplays should avoid using flashbacks. The criticisms are familiar from scores …
Character Reveal: Ricky Baker (Hunt For The Wilderpeople)
In this series we look at scenes and moments where a film or TV show has revealed a great deal of character information in a short amount of screen time. …
The Genius, Multi-Conflict Opening of THE GODFATHER PART 2
There are, broadly speaking, two ways to convey conflict: implicitly and explicitly. The former involves illustrating some kind of dissonance through setting, silence, the way one character looks at another. …
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: John McClane
In this series we look at scenes and moments where a film or TV show has revealed a great deal of character information in a compressed amount of screen time. In …