“What make screenplays difficult are the things that require the most discipline and care and are just not seen by most people. I’m talking about movement — screenwriting is related to math and music, and if you zig here, you know you have to zag there. It’s like the descriptions for a piece of music […]
Once you’re writing with POV, don’t forget to avoid the booby-traps. For instance, directing the script. From Nueromancer: CAMERA BOOMS DOWN onto the spread eagled Case, surrounded by his enemies. He screams as the mycotoxin hits his nervous system like a runaway freight train. His dilated eyes flash open, staring into a hallucinatory hell. BOOM […]
Screen Direction and Dialogue. Less the slugline, that is all there is to a screenplay. While it might be argued that dialogue is far more important, the ability to write clean, crisp screen direction is essential. What is the best way to go about it? Recall the earlier definition: Screen direction is what the camera […]
“I don’t write screenplay character biographies beforehand. I usually go in knowing some sequences: this is where I want to start, this is where I want to end.”— John Sayles “Character arcs always seem to be a big issue with film studio executives . . . so the inevitable questions were posed: What was her […]
“Film to me, in its essence, in its ultimate nature, is silent. Music and dialogue are there to fill what is lacking in the image. But you should be able to tell the story with moving pictures alone.”–Takeshi Kitano “. . . it is true that language and forward movement in the cinema are jolly […]
