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…
Screenplay Blog
Visit our screenplay blog for the latest script-related news, tips, tricks and advice.
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…
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…
David Mamet Memo
When someone types in all caps, I hear the words as if they were being screamed. Perhaps that was the intent here. From the CBS series The Unit, comes a 2005 memo from David Mamet, co-creator of the show. In…
Robert Towne on Chinatown
I don’t have a favorite film. I have favorites and Chinatown is one of them. My two cents: it’s about as perfect as a screenplay can get. The structure, theme, and dialogue fires on all cylinders. Everyone — Towne, Polanski,…
