Are there screenwriting lessons to be taken from analysing the work of Michael f-ing Bay?

Of course there are. How could there not be? After all, Michael Bay is the 3rd highest grossing director at the worldwide box office... of all time. Behind, y'know, Spielberg and stuff. How could a man of such credentials not know story? Or, so argues this week's guest: the author of MICHAEL F-ING BAY: THE UNHERALDED GENIUS IN MICHAEL BAY'S FILMS... [drumroll]... the Bitter Script Reader!

For those unfamiliar with the Bitter Script Reader and his puppet avatar, he is one of the internet's greatest free writing resources for emerging screenwriters. A man who shares his experiences of being a Hollywood gatekeeper for nothing because he's "sick of reading bad scripts".

Together, Stu, Chas and Bitter come through with their long-threatened episode to see what - if anything - screenwriters can learn from analysing the work of one of the most successful filmmakers all time, Michael Bay. We look at THE ROCK, THE ISLAND, and PAIN & GAIN, and cover writing great villains, controlling the flow of information to the audience (via car chases, of course) and creating visual decisions on the page.

So sit back and relax while Stu, Chas and the Bitter Script Reader learn how you can f@*k the page and not just the frame.

LINKS

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

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When you're an emerging filmmaker, what are different ways to tackle a "career"?

It's our Holiday Special! In this episode (recorded December 2014), Chas and Stu break all the rules. No homework. No pages. No empirical analysis. They reluctantly but boldly reflect over the first year of Draft Zero and how it has influenced their 'careers' (such as they are). They also engage in a heated debate on whether a short film, a micro-budget feature or web-based content is the best way to go in terms of pushing a filmmaking career forward.

As the 2014 "season" comes to a close, Chas and Stu hold two polls for the listeners:

Click here to go to our 2 question/7 second Draft Zero listener survey!

May 2015 be great for all our listeners and may Chas and Stu finally open a door to find a gold-plated ensuite.

LINKS:

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

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

Does manipulating time on the page make your script feel more cinematic?

Chas and Stu are joined by Khrob Edmonds - an award-winning filmmaker and founder of TangoEDIT - to discuss manipulation of time...

... on the page!

Cinema is a time-based art, and one of the primary tools in film editing is manipulation of time. A closer look at sequences in the scripts of PULP FICTION, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, WOMAN IN BLACK, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, UP, WHIPLASH, and THE UNTOUCHABLES reveals how master screenwriters use the same time-controlling techniques on the page. The closer a writer can recreate cinema's use of time on the page, the more of an "I'm watching a movie" feeling you can generate for the reader. Or, as Chas puts it, writing like you'd edit. We discuss use of white space, super-present tense, decompression & compression, Soviet Montage Theory, the Kuleshov effect and just a tiny amount of grammar.

NB: Stu refers to '-ing' words as 'present participles', John August (cited below) refers to 'present progressive'. Turns out there's a subtle difference between the two - see What Is the Difference between Present Participle and Present Progressive. Grammar esoterica FTW.

LINKS

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or RSS.

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com or via our web form or @draft_zero on twitter.

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How does setting up rules help you build a world?

In our most epic/longest episode yet, Chas and Stu tackle world building in films. Specifically, how the rules make something a world and not just a setting. Starting with world-centric genres like sci-fi and fantasy, we also cover horror, crime drama and - er - "other". We discuss a variety of techniques for setting up the rules of the world, including cold opens, voiceover, title cards and outsider characters! We've limited ourselves to the opening 3-5 pages... mostly... because (so the theory goes) they're the pages that teach the audience how to read/watch your story/film.

Like with the character introductions episode, we cover a lot of scripts. In no particular order... [deep breath]... THE MATRIX, THE MATRIX RELOADED, MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, INCEPTION, GRAVITY, MINORITY REPORT, MOON, LOOPER, ELYSIUM, JURASSIC PARK, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, MADAGASCAR, FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, PAN'S LABYRINTH, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, NIGHT WATCH, VAN HELSING, THE ONE I LOVE, 28 WEEKS LATER, WORLD WAR Z, DAWN OF THE DEAD, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, ZOMBIELAND, WOMAN IN BLACK, BRICK, ANIMAL KINGDOM, DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, THE UNTOUCHABLES, GOODFELLAS, SHORT TERM 12, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, MOONRISE KINGDOM,THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, and FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL.

Damn that was a lot! And we've probably missed some, too. So have a listen and please let us know!

LINKS

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or RSS.

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com or via our web form or @draft_zero on twitter. 

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

How can we make our screenwriting more appealing to Actors?

In this episode, Chas and Stu are joined by a very special guest, SARAH SNOOK - star of Succession, Predestination, Jessabelle, and Oddball, amongst many others - to discuss ACTING and it's relationship with WRITING.

We focus our analysis on two scenes from AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, a screenplay that started life as a Pulitzer Prize winning play, and whose writer - Tracy Letts - is a successful actor in his own right. But, as usual, we ice-skate between a whole range of topics,  including what attracts actors to a script, writing realistic characters, how actors analyse scenes, character spines & objectives, and the importance of hugs.

LINKS

• AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY by Tracy Letts (we analyse pp 27-35)
• IMDB: Sarah Snook
• IMDB: PREDESTINATION
• USC School of Cinematic Arts: James L. Brooks and Larry Moss at USC (YouTube)
• Eric Sean McGiven: List of Intentions
• ActorsHub: Objectives & SuperObjectives: An Acting Approach
• Wordplayer: The Task
• Wikipedia: Practical Aesthetics
• Wikipedia: The GOTE Method
• Goodreads: Directing Actors by Judith Weston
• Goodreads: The Film Director's Intuition: Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques by Judith Weston
• Goodreads: ACTIONS: The Actors Thesaurus by Marina Caldarone & Maggie Lloyd-Williams
• ScriptNotes: Ep 134 So Many Questions & transcript (discussed John Ridley & 12 Years A Slave)
• Nerdist Podcast: Michael Sheen

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What is it about Tarantino's writing that elevates his work?

Chapter 1: Of Milk and Men

Tarantino is widely heralded as one of the great writer/directors. Yet new writers are advised to avoid emulating Tarantino because his voice is so strong. Only Tarantino can get away with being Tarantino. Or so the theory goes.

But if Tarantino is that good, why shouldn't we look under the hood and analyse his screenwriting? You don't have to want to emulate his voice to want to understand why his craft is so good.

Chapter 2: The Bloodied Purpose

To that bloodied end, Chas and Stu look at three scripts from distinct phases of QT's career: TRUE ROMANCE, KILL BILL (Volume 1), and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. Stu and Chas break down QT's use of structure, detail and - in particular - dramatic irony in an attempt to understand how Tarantino's films are that good.

 Chapter 3: Epilogue, or, Links To Things We Talk About

• USC School of Cinematic Arts: James L. Brooks and Larry Moss at USC (YouTube)
• Eric Sean McGiven: List of Intentions
• Wordplayer: The Task
• TRUE ROMANCE by Quentin Tarantino
• KILL BILL by Quentin Tarantino
• INGLORIOUS BASTERDS by Quentin Tarantino
• The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith: Writing for Tony Scott: A Quentin Tarantino & Richard Kelly Q&A 
• Chicks Who Script Podcast: Lexi Alexander And The Power Of Determination
• Draft Zero: DZ-05: Shifting audience point of view and heightened emotions
• Draft Zero: DZ-08: Status Transactions and the Power of Washing Machines
• BoardGameGeek: Dominion
  • The Dice Tower: Dominion Review (YouTube)
  • The Dice Tower: Dominion Intrigue Review (YouTube)

It's the The Podcast You Used To Know…. After a short hiatus, DRAFT ZERO is back!

Well, half of us is...

Chas (sans Stu) is joined by a very special guest - Natasha Pincus. As a screenwriter, Tash's feature CLIVE was on the 2012 Black List. As a director, her music video for Goyte's Someone I Used To Know was nominated for an MTV Music Video Award. And at the time of this recording, her debut feature as a screenwriter FELL was weeks away from opening night.

In other words, Tash has great experience behind the keyboard, behind the camera, and - as it turns out - in front of the camera. Experience that she is only happy to share with Chas as they discuss career, craft and process.

Stu wasn't around to bring up STAR WARS but he feels that linking to The Star Wars I Used To Know parody video will suffice.

LINKS

Is the MacGuffin truly interchangable, and how does it impact on your character writing?

Stu and Chas are joined by a special guest - Scriptmag contributor Brad Johnson - to discuss how the choice of the MacGuffin can impact on the quality of an action/adventure film. To test this thesis, our heroes compare the auspicious originals of two iconic franchise with their, um, less-than-auspicious 4th instalments (in other words we compare RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK with KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL and THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL with ON STRANGER TIDES) as well as look at two recent & original entries into the genre, namely NATIONAL TREASURE and PRINCE OF PERSIA.

Our heroes uncover how key the relationship between the protagonist and the MacGuffin is and how this can impact on writing in any genre, not just action/adventure. Suprisingly, Brad brings up STAR WARS before Stu does...

LINKS

• You can find Brad Johnson on Twitter or at www.ReadWatchWrite.com
• Scriptmag: Specs & The City: MacGuffins and ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ by Brad Johnson pecs & The City: MacGuffins and ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ - See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/specs-the-city-macguffins-and-raiders-of-the-lost-ark#sthash.zlc7sxQo.dpuf
• The Blackboard forum: What is a MacGuffin? citing TVTropes.org and Alfred Hitchcock
• Youtube: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - The Greek Chorus/Exposition Scene
• Youtube: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - Showing protagonist's desire for the MacGuffin
• The Complete Making of Indiana Jones by Rinzler and Bouzereau
• Youtube: How Indy 4 should have ended
• Youtube: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL - Visualising and explaining the MacGuffin
• Youtube: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES - Where the protagonist says that they do not want the MacGuffin in the middle of the film
• Youtube: NATIONAL TREASURE - Where the MacGuffin itself actually tells the protagonist to take action
• Youtube: PRINCE OF PERSIA - The only point where the MacGuffin actually affects the plot

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Remastered July, 2020

How can the middle of your film pivot so much that it pulls the rug out of your audience?

Stu and Chas embark on the first of a series of explorations into the dreaded Second Act. Their first stop is midpoint reversals or shifts, a plot point bang in the middle of ACT II that changes the protagonist's goal, raises the stakes and potentially leaves your audience leaning forward and asking "How the hell is this going to end?".

To get to the bottom of what makes a good midpoint shift (and whether your story needs one or not), Stu and Chas ride through DEATH AT A FUNERAL, PRISONERS, SHORT TERM 12, ALIEN, ALIENS and UP. We also drift across FULL METAL JACKET, PHILOMENA, HOW I LIVE NOW, ELYSIUM, DIE HARD and STAR WARS. Of course. Stu couldn't resist. It's not even funny anymore, is it?

LINKS

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Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com. Please considering rating us on iTunes!

Can the introduction of a character be so good that the character doesn't need describing?

Stu and Chas argue about different techniques for introducing characters and whether character descriptions are even necessary. This is important for writers, as we only have words to compensate for the whole range of cinematic expression. And so Chas and Stu explore techniques like introducing characters through action, having other people discuss the character first, ensuring the introduction represents the character's goal/flaw/theme, and many more.

The scripts Stu and Chas tackle are... [takes a deep breath]... PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, BLADE, THE DARK KNIGHT, the BREAKING BAD pilot, GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, BLADE RUNNER, CHILDREN OF MEN, THE WRESTLER, THE SIXTH SENSE, MISS CONGENIALITY, LOCK STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS, AMELIE, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, FIGHT CLUB, ROCKY, JAWS, CABIN IN THE WOODS, and [mutters under breath] STAR WARS.

Is that it? Probably missed some. Bugger. Oh well. Have a listen and let us know.

LINKS

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or RSS.

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com. Please considering rating us on iTunes!