How do you keep contained movies engaging?

Contained Thrillers seem to be a genre that never goes out of fashion. But being contained is not just limited to thrillers. It's a way of telling stories on a lower budget, regardless of genre. So - while allegedly easier to make / get made - limiting a story to a single location also limits the tools that maintain an audience's interest. Changing audience or character point of view, intercutting between locations or characters are all much harder (if not impossible) in contained films. So how do good contained films hook their audience and keep them?

In unravelling this locked room mystery, Stu & Chas look at three scripts form different genres: LOCKE - a drama; THE ONE I LOVE - a romcom or psychological thriller depending if you're Chas or Stu; and EVERLY - an exploitation action movie. They also discuss films including BURIED, PHONE BOOTH, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED, CUBE & CUBE 2, INFINITE MAN and BOXING DAY.

EPISODE LINKS

• Locke by Steven Knight (Script)
  • YouTube: Locke - Trailer
  • The Q&A Podcast: Steven Knight - Pawn Sacrifice Q&A
• The One I Love by Justin Lader (IMDB)
  • Watch on Netflix (US) and on Stan (Australia)
• Everly screenplay by Yalo Hannon, story by Joe Lynch & Yale Hannon (IMDB)
  • YouTube: Everly - Official Trailer #1
  • The Movie Crypt with Adam Green & Joe Lynch
  • Chicks Who Script: Ep 25 - Brett Hedblom and the Skinny on Producing
• Boxing Day (IMDB)
  • YouTube: Boxing Day - Trailer
  • Boxing Day - Watch on iTunes
• The Infinte Man (IMDB)
  • YouTube: The Infinite Man - Trailer
  • The Infinite Man - Watch on iTunes
• YouTube: Buried - Trailer
• YouTube: Phone Booth - Trailer
• YouTube: the Disappearance of Alice Creed - Trailer
• YouTube: Cube - Trailer & Cube 2: Hypercube - Trailer
• ScriptShadow - GSU!!! (Goal, Stakes, Ugency)
• Wikipedia: Pathetic Fallacy & LiteraryDevices.Net: Pathetic Fallacy
• The Guardian: Covenhithe (short story) by China Miéville
• Draft Zero: DZ-05: Shifting audience point of view and heightened emotions

BACKMATTER

• Grant Nebel on Story Intensity Over Time & Forms of Storytelling on Television
• Pete's Blog: A Thousand Men : TV for Writers
• The Screen Director Podcast produced by Ben Mizzi
  • Writing Predestination - The Spierig Brothers
  • Corrie Chen on Bloomers
  • Julietta Boscolo on Love Child
  • Tommy Schlamme (The West Wing, Manhattan) interviewed by DZ's very own Stu Willis
• Patreon.com : Recurring funding for artists and creators

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter.

Please considering rating us on iTunes! or sharing us on the Social Medias!

Can screenplay competitions be worth it?

After being repeatedly asked by listeners for thoughts on screenplay competitions, Stu and Chas go full back matter for this special episode. They tackle the question - do comps just feeding the hope machine or are they a valid investment? - in their typical detailed (i.e. long) style. With their differing perspectives, Stu (a director looking for material) and Chas (a writer keen for exposure), talk to an impressive roster of guests. We start with Gordy Hoffman, founder and judge of the Bluecat Screenplay Competition; repeat Austin Film Festival attendees - first for the screenplay and now for the finished web series of EX BEST - Diana Gettinger & Monica Hewes; Launchpad 2014 finalist Tony Pitman; and Insite Competition winner Blake Ashford, whose winning script CUT SNAKE hit cinemas in 2015... ten years after winning the competition.

These short descriptions in no way do justice to these eclectic and talented writers so - if you want to find out more - head to the links below.

Our apologies in advance for the inconsistent sound quality in these interviews. Sadly, that's the nature of pulling together four different interviews across states, countries, times zones and technological barriers.

LINKS

• Gordy Hoffman, Founder of the Bluecat Screenplay Competition
  • DOG BOWL by Gordy Hoffman
• EX-BEST by Diana Gettinger & Monica Hewes
• 2014 Finalists for Tracking Board Launch Pad Competition including THE SINGULARITY by Tony Pitman
  • Tony Pitman's skeptic podcast REALITY CHECK
• IMDB: CUT SNAKE directed by Tony Ayres, written by Blake Ayshford
  • YouTube: CUT SNAKE Trailer
  • Find Blake Ayshford on Twitter: @episode2480
  • AWG: Australian Writers Guild Competitions

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter.

Please considering rating us on iTunes! or sharing us on the Social Medias!

How does a screenwriter collaborate with a director on an existing property? In this halloween special, Chas (sans Stu) is joined by a very special guest... Aaron Sterns the co-writer of WOLF CREEK 2 -- the big budget sequel to the infamous WOLF CREEK, also directed by Greg McLean. Chas and Aaron talk horror, anti-horror, collaboration, novels and how a screenwriter works within an existing franchise. In backmatter, Stu & Chas talk about their experiences and methods for collaborating with other writers & directors. EPISODE LINKS

• You can find Aaron Sterns at:
  • Web: http://aaronsterns.com
  • Twitter: @AaronSterns
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aaronsternsauthor
• GoodReads: Wolf Creek Origin by Greg McLean & Aaron Sterns
• YouTube: Wolf Creek 2 Trailer
• YouTube: Wolf Creek 2 Clip - the infamous 'kangaroo' scene
• IMDB: Wolf Creek 2
  • For Australian listeners it is on Stan.
  • For US listeners it is on Netflix
• Inside Film: Wolf Creek Series Starts Shooting

BACKMATTER LINKS

• Movie Crypt - Ep 124: Greg McLean: http://geeknation.com/podcasts/the-movie-crypt-ep-124-greg-mclean/
• WriterDuet - Real-time collaborative screenwriting software
• Fountain - Fountain is a plain text markup language for screenwriting.
• Fountain Tools for Google Docs
• Literature & Latte: Scrivener

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter.

Please considering rating us on iTunes! or sharing us on the Social Medias!

How do screenwriters get away with using coincidences in their stories?

Remember that time in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS when Bruce suddenly - magically - returned to Gotham, and you were like "WTF?!"  Well, it turns out that many of the best films have moments that are just as coincidental or contrived (or a flock of Giant Eagles) and yet get away with it. Does Pixar's "rule" that it is 'cheating to use coincidences to get your characters out of trouble', always apply?

In exploring how to get the audience to buy into these moments where the writer needs story to intrude over character or even logic, Stu and Chas dive into FINDING NEMO, MICHAEL CLAYTON and PULP FICTION (as well as honourably mentioning THOR II, OUT OF SIGHT, MAD MAX FURY ROAD, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, INDEPENDENCE DAY and those bloody Giant Eagles in both RETURN OF THE KING and THE HOBBIT).

In back matter, we talk about moving forward vs working backwards when developing screenwriting skills.

EPISODE LINKS

BACK MATTER LINKS

Are your story rules in your pilot strong enough to play out over the life of your show?

Stu and Chas move away from the world of features and dive into the Pilot Episodes of some (New) Golden Age Television: THE SHIELD, THE WIRE, BREAKING BAD, and MAD MEN. And we sneak in some discussion about ANGEL, THE SOPRANOS and GAME OF THRONES.

Our spiritual guide on this tele-vision quest is Wallflower (aka Grant Nebel), writer at The Solute and formerly of The Dissolve and the AV Club.

Together, they examine how the final acts of these pilot episodes - and the Dramatic, Literary and Cinematic rules established therein - will set the scene for the entire life of these seminal shows, right up to their end. Obviously,  abound.

This was one of our favourite episodes to record and - given that both Chas and Stu are casting seductive glances at writing television - hopefully one of our most useful too.

LINKS

• The-Solute.com: Wallflower (Grant Nebel)
  • Grant Nebel: Collected writing on THE SHIELD
  • Soundtracking: Grant's Podcast on Movie Soundtracks
• THE SHIELD pilot by Shawn Ryan [@ 5m 02s]
• THE WIRE - Episode 101 "THE TARGET" teleplay by David Simon, Story by David Simon and Edward Burns [@ 35m 03s]
• BREAKING BAD pilot by Vince Gilligan [@ 48m 29s]
• MAD MEN - "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" by Matthew Weiner [@ 1hr 9m 45s]
  • Vulture.com: Man Men Pilot Predicts the Final Episodes
• Draft Zero: DZ-04: Catharsis and the Post-Coital Cigarette
• Draft Zero: DZ-09: Characterising Introductions
• Draft Zero: DZ-06: Key Scenes and Unlocking the Story
• StyleCaster: ‘Breaking Bad’ and Colors: A Comprehensive Guide to the Theories, Costumes
• The Disenchanted Costumier: Breaking Bad Costumes
• Director's Guild of America: Elia Kazan - On What Makes a Director (pdf)
• ActionCutPrint: Elia Kazan - On What Makes a Director (excerpted)
• Every Frame A Painting: David Fincher - And the Other Way is Wrong (Vimeo)

BACK MATTER (BACKDRAFT?) [@ 1hr 32m 56s]

• Bob Saenz: The Mean Old Writer
• Genre Hacks: What is the Most Important Screenwriting Tool: The Rewriting Cycle
• Wired: Harnessing the Power of Feedback Loops
• GoodReader - PDF Reader (PDF Annotation)
• Readdle: Documents & PDF Expert (PDF Annotation)
• Literature & Latte: Scapple ("Flowcharting" for Scrivener)

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero  We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter. 

Please considering rating us on iTunes! or sharing us on the Social Medias!

Are you a filmmaker but not sure how to start your career?

Draft Zero was invited to moderate a panel as part of the 2015 St Kilda Film Festival. In our very first live episode, we are joined by TV Writer Mithila Gupta (Winners and Losers), Director Corrie Chen (Reg Makes Contact) and Producer/Executive Simon de Bruyn (Acquisitions Executive, XYZ Films and Producer) to talk about 'breaking in', how it has changed, the different approaches, opportunities and challenges. They share their tips on networking effectively, setting up an online presence, persevering through doubt and getting relevant experience.

It's pretty out-of-format for us, but it's an informative and fun discussion.

We continue the discussion into BACKMATTER where we focus on emerging writers approaching directors to get stuff made.

EPISODE LINKS

BACKMATTER

How can studying RomCom clichés teach us to subvert them?

With Stu busy working on Hollywood blockbusters, Chas is joined by Alli Parker (script department on Aussie TV series and former co-ordinator of European #scriptchat) to unpick successful romcoms to see if they can illuminate a path for writers working in this struggling genre. Cheap to produce and potentially highly lucrative, Chas and Alli look at romcom's conventions to see what it may take to reinvigorate this genre.

To that end, they look at *deep breath* WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, WHAT IF, THE PROPOSAL, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, NOTTING HILL, FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS as well as special mentions to GOING THE DISTANCE, SEAN OF THE DEAD and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND.

EPISODE LINKS

BACKMATTER LINKS

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero  We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter.

Please considering rating us on iTunes! or sharing us on the Social Medias!

How can scene transitions do more than just move from one location to another?

Stu and Chas look at one of the basic building blocks of a script: scene transitions. Transitions don't just move you from one scene to another in a slick way, they can help you compress time, enhance thematic connections, unify different story threads, orient (or disorient) your reader... and just make your script feel more like a movie.

To help us see how scenes connect & collide in interesting ways, we take a close look at scripts of films with great transitions to see how much of the work was done by the writer (as opposed to the director or editor): SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, HIGHLANDER, AMERICAN SPLENDOR and BOYHOOD.

And then, in backmatter we take a self-reflective look at TIME MANAGEMENT (and naps).

Oh, we are also holding a LIVE EPISODE of Draft Zero at the 2015 St Kilda Film Festival. May 25, 8pm. More details shortly!

EPISODE LINKS

• David Bordwell: http://www.davidbordwell.net
  • The Hook: Scene Transitions in Classical Cinema
  • There Will Be Blood - Hands and Faces Across the Table
  • Watching You Watch There Will Be Blood
  • Vimeo: There Will Be Blood with gaze locations of 11 viewers
• Scriptnotes: Ep89 - Writing effective transitions
• The Writer's Binder: 8 Ways to Hook The Reader by Karl Iglesias
• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY by Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clarke
  • YouTube: 2001 -From Bone to Satellite (1968) HD 
• SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD by Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall
  • YouTube: Scott Pilgrim Transitions
  • Every Frame a Painting: Edgar Wright - How to do Visual Comedy
• HIGHLANDER Screenplay by Peter Bellwood & Larry Ferguson and Gregory Widen, Story by Gregory Widen
  • YouTube: Highlander (1986) - Trailer
• AMERICAN SPLENDOR by Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman
  • YouTube: American Splendor - What's In A Name
  • YouTube: American Splendor - Supermark
• BOYHOOD by RICHARD LINKLATER
  • Kevin B. Lee : Who Deserves the 2015 Oscar for Best Director?
• Zak Forsman: Are You Thinking About Your Transitions?
• Screenwriting.io: What is a pre-lap?

BACKMATTER LINKS

• The Next Web: The Secret To Insane Productivity? Will Power
• Go Into the Story: Twitter Rant: Eric Heisserer on Procrastination, Precrastination and Productivity in Writing
• The Write Practice: 23 Essential Quotes from Ernest Hemingway About Writing
• Brain Pickings: The Daily Routines of Great Writers
• The Guardian: Rise and shine: the daily routines of history's most creative minds
• Paul Graham: How To Do What You Love
• Fast Company: How To Be Prolific: Guidelines for Getting it Done by Joss Whedon
  • Have Desert First - Joss Whedon
• iView: Redesign my Brain with Todd Sampson
• YouTube: Redesign my Brain - Series Trailer
• Denvog: Index Card for iPhone and Index Card for iPad
• Short of the Week: Deeper than Yesterday
• Pozible: Real Lust, Inc
• Phil Lemon: One Little Goat
• St Kilda Film Festival - Forums Throughout the Week

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero  We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter.

Please considering rating us on iTunes! or sharing us on the Social Medias!

How can the Trinity Syndrome help you write better secondary characters?

Chas & Stu are joined by Bamboo Killer (aka Emily Blake) - one of the co-hosts of the Chicks Who Script podcast. They take a critical look at secondary female characters in mainstream movies through the lens of the oft-cited Bechdel test and the new, less-cited, Trinity Syndrome. The Trinity Syndrome berates movies for creating a "Strong Female Character With Nothing To Do" (like Trinity in the Matrix sequels) and raises a list of questions for filmmakers to ask themselves about their (female) characters.

Chas, Stu & Emily take these questions and use them to analyse the use of female characters in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL, EDGE OF TOMORROW, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and HOW TO TRAIN YOU DRAGON 2. They also cover the awesomeness of the awesomeness that is Rose Tyler (Doctor Who), Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games), and Kira Nerys (Deep Space Nine).

Funnily enough, turns out writing better female characters is really about writing better characters... who happen to be female.

EPISODE LINKS

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero  We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter.

Please considering rating us on iTunes! or sharing us on the Social Medias!

How do you make unlikeable characters compelling to watch... in drama?

Stu and Chas revisit a topic from a year ago: how do screenwriters make unlikeable characters compelling? This time, we turn our focus to dramas and analyse how AMERICAN HISTORY X, YOUNG ADULT, NIGHTCRAWLER all make their a**hole protagonists compelling to watch. We expand our original list of five writer's tools to include a few more for your tool belt.

In response to our audience survey, we also introduce our first episode of backmatter.

EPISODE LINKS

BACKMATTER LINKS

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero  We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter.

Please considering rating us on iTunes! or sharing us on the Social Medias!