Writing a screenplay is hard because there are so many different elements to juggle and intertwine. To avoid overwhelming yourself, just look at three basic elements: your villain, your hero, and your supporting characters. Your villain starts your story off, even if you never see it occurring. In “Die Hard,” we didn’t need to see […]
‘In America when we give a date, it appears to have no logic behind it. First, we state the month, then the day, and finally the year. In other parts of the world, stating the date is more structured. First give the day, then the month, then the year so you’re listing the date from […]
Before you start writing your screenplay, think of who your market is. It’s not the movie-going public, but the producers, studios, and actors who can all decide if they think your screenplay will help them out. After James Cameron came out with “Avatar,” there were no undoubtedly hundreds of scripts with similar ideas and themes […]
Many people watch movies to study the craft of screenwriting, but don’t forget the really old movies too like all those silent black and white films that can teach you the value of dialogue. One of the most common types of mistakes for screenwriters is the way they handle dialogue. One common problem is that […]
It’s easy to create a story. The hard part is making your story last for 90 – 120 minutes. The secret isn’t to stretch a single story out but to mix and match multiple stories. Many screenwriting books tell you that you need to define your hero’s goal to plot your story. That’s fine, but […]
Some superhero movies can be surprisingly good (“The Dark Knight”) while others are astoundingly bad (“Elektra”). When a superhero movies does well, watch out for the sequel though because they tend to pile on the heroes and villains as if more were better when it turns out that more is actually less. A movie like […]