If you watch the movie “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” you can see a perfect example of how not to write dialogue. The main problem with the dialogue in this film is that it’s too direct with little sense of subtext. Essentially, characters say exactly what they mean, which destroys all sense of discovery for the audience. […]
Genre defines an audience’s expectations. If you have a horror story, horror fans expect to see people fleeing from a monstrous villain of some kind whether supernatural or not. If you have a romance story, romance fans expect to see two people fall in love. Every story fits into a main genre whether that main […]
There are three types of endings. The most common is the happy ending. Far less common is the tragedy which creates a sad ending. Think “Romeo and Juliet,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” or “The Godfather” where the hero fails. In general, Hollywood likes happy endings because people enjoy movies that make them feel good. Hollywood also […]
The setting of any scene should never be arbitrary. Every scene setting should be chosen to maximize conflict and stress between the characters involved. Rather than put characters in familiar settings, put them in unfamiliar, unique settings. At the simplest level, a setting can be interesting simply because it’s exotic. Most James Bond movies put […]
There’s a huge difference between dedicated screenwriting word processors like Final Draft and Fade In Pro, and organizing tools like Scrivener 3. Dedicated screenwriting word processor are best for writing and formatting your screenplay, or collaborating with others by tracking changes. Organizing tools like Scrivener 3 are best for planning your story. While you can […]
Every story consists of two stories that correspond to the hero’s physical goal and the hero’s emotional dream. The hero’s physical goal is what the story seems to be about. In “Rocky,” the story seems to be about fighting a heavyweight boxing championship, but the real story is about proving to himself and the rest […]
For a limited time until the end of March, you can get my “How to Write a Great Script with Final Draft 10” video course on Udemy for just $10.99. Not everyone finds learning to use a program like Final Draft easy by reading a book so that’s why I created this video course that […]
In every scene, there’s a character arc. That involves three items: Change Goal Conflict Change means that the character’s situation is different at the end than it was in the beginning. This change can be physical or emotional. In the opening scene of “Die Hard,” John McClane arrives in Los Angeles in an airplane. By […]
Every hero typically has a physical goal and an emotional dream. The physical goal is what the hero wants. The emotional dream is what the hero needs. For example, in “Little Miss Sunshine,” the hero is a little girl who wants to compete in a beauty pageant called Little Miss Sunshine. So her physical goal […]