The truth of the screenplay is that it cannot be a piece of art in and of itself. A screenplay is written to be mangled, chewed up and regurgitated into a final film (preferably one that lives up to or
Saving Your Image System
Movie Characters Writers Should Know According to Eric Edson
At California State University, Eric Edson, one of the most informative screenwriting professors presents extensive lectures concerning what he defines as the 14 character types, with a helpful PowerPoint to boot. When we speak of character types here, these are
Casablanca – Masterful Writing on Two Scales
Casablanca is considered, by and large, to be the greatest screenplay ever written. On a superficial level it’s endless quotability may have something to do with the writing community’s preference, but it’s more likely touted as the screenplay because it
The Little Things… Mind Game or Waiting Game
Scripts can take a few days or a decade to write. As you’ll hear again and again… “writing is rewriting”. Whether you’re flying solo or co-writing a screenplay, the beast can become unruly, get away from us and sometimes get
West Side Stories
The recent Academy Award Nominations held a number of surprises, and though the Best Adapted Screenplay category is particularly stacked this year, the lack of love for West Side Story was truly unexpected. Why Academy voters neglected to honour Pulitzer
Irish Kung Fu and Learning from Failure
Accented Cinema is a wonderful YouTube channel, which covers mostly foreign films. The host provides insightful analysis about filmmaking, but what makes the channel somewhat unique is its perspective: that of a Chinese Canadian movie-buff, most popular for his insightful
Kurt Vonnegut Grades his Own Writing
Take a look in Palm Sunday, the “autobiographical collage” of renegade genius Kurt Vonnegut, and you’ll find that the nonconformist writer once engaged in an interesting bit of self-reflection. Thirteen books into his career, Vonnegut decided to grade his own
Paul Thomas Anderson Never Start with Just a Blank Page
The blank page is one of the most common, and one of the most daunting challenges of a writer. Setting out on a new project, with nothing but an empty space and the desire to fill it, can be crushing
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and the Road to Get Out
Sidney Poitier passed away recently. The film world, knowing the insurmountable legacy Poitier left behind, sprang to honour the memory of his immense talent and influence on the betterment of not only Hollywood, but America’s racial dialogue as a whole.
New Year’s Writing Resolutions
As we leave the festivities of New Year’s behind, some people will have already done the same with their New Year’s resolutions. For whatever reason, it can be tough to stick to a responsible plan for self-improvement, let alone in