2011 Black List
Congratulations to all those who made the 2011 Black List. Chosen from the lists of over 300 film execs (who contribute the names of up to ten of their favorite scripts that were written or “uniquely associated with” and have…
William Robert Rich
William Robert Rich is a story analyst, screenwriter, and co-author of Story Maps: The Films of Christopher Nolan. He's currently based in Austin, Texas.
Drive
Violence drives Drive… Refn creates a fever dream that sucks you in. Or maybe you’ll hate it. Drive is a polarizer. It’s also pure cinema, a grenade of image and sound ready to blow. 1 Travers, Peter. “Drive | Movie…
Good Will Hunting
It’s rare when twenty-something actors write something so well received, let alone so profitable. Orson Welles did it with Citizen Kane. 1 Peter Fonda did it with Easy Rider. 2 Sylvester Stallone did it with Rocky. Matt Damon and Ben…
Cutting Scenes
Cutting scenes from your screenplay can be painful, but sometimes you just gotta do it. Filling a page with needless dialogue and exposition will bore your readers. If you’re not pushing the plot forward, try again. Think about the development…
Die Hard
Yippee ki-yay, motherfucker! Yeah, that’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Die Hard. Well, either that, or a man jumping off an exploding skyscraper roof with a firehouse tied around his waist. Maybe it just depends…
Dialogue
One of the biggest mistakes a screenwriter can make is “on-the-nose” dialogue — telling your audience exactly what’s on your character’s mind without a hint of subtext. In life, people rarely trust enough to reveal their deepest insecurities and desires.…
Coppola’s Godfather Notes
What a wonderful find: Coppola’s notes for the Godfather screenplay, written directly on page 152 of Puzo’s novel. From the restaurant scene where Michael takes out Sollozzo and Capt. McClusksey:
MasterWriter 2.0
I have two screenplay software programs on my laptop: Final Draft and MasterWriter. I don’t use MasterWriter until I have a draft where my story is in good shape. I’ll print up my screenplay and red-pen every description of action…
Film Structure and Emotion
Film is escapism. Once the lights dim, we retreat from our banal lives and enter the world on the screen. The good ones strap our emotions in for a roller coaster ride. They let us experience joy, sadness, fear, anger,…
Kubrick Cinemagraphs
I ran across these Kubrick Cinemagraphs over at FilmmakerIQ.com. For those who are unaware, just like I was ten minutes before I published this post, what a cinemagraph is… Cinemagraphs are still photographs in which a minor and repeated movement…
