How does a shift in status or power reveal character?

Stu and Chas explore an idea they both came across studying theatre: status and by extension (or juxtaposition) power. Is a story where a character changes status or experiences loss (or gains) in power more compelling?

In order to explore this source of drama, Stu and Chas limit themselves to scenes where the status or power of a character shifts without the writer resorting to violence or revelation or plot.

LINKS

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What can be gleamed from the substantial rewrite of a famed spec?

Stu and Chas look at AMERICAN BULLSH*T (the 2010 Black List spec script by Eric Warren Singer) and the film it became… AMERICAN HUSTLE (co-written and directed by David O'Russell), which garnered 10 Oscar nominations in 2014.

With both Singer and O'Russell credited on HUSTLE, Stu and Chas explore what O'Russell changed and what stayed the same in BULLSH*T. By comparing the spec with the eventual on-screen product, Stu and Chas gain valuable insights into the re-writing process: character, theme, voice over, back story and more.

LINKS

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Can one scene be the key to unlocking the whole story?

Stu and Chas are joined once again by the inestimable Stephen Cleary to explore his idea of 'key scenes'. Scenes like the diner scene in HEAT. Or the boardroom showdown in MARGIN CALL. These scenes are not only key to a film, they can also be key to developing a story. Why? Stephen's observation is that if you put your protagonist and antagonist in a scene together for a period of time and they will instinctively play out the beats of your whole story... if you have the characters figured out.

An interesting theory and one we put to the test. In addition to HEAT and MARGIN CALL, we look at scenes and sequences from THE GODFATHER, NOTTING HILL, THE DARK KNIGHT, THE RAID 2: BERANDAL and Stu avoids mentioning STAR WARS by working in EMPIRE STRIKES BACK instead.

LINKS

• SHORT TERM 12 by Destin Daniel Cretton - (Pages 42 - 48)
• Mike Jones: "Mythology of Horror: The Story That Won't Go Away" - www.mikejones.tv
• Stephen Cleary's Website: http://www.stephenclearyfilm.com
• THE DARK KNIGHT by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan (Pages 101-106)
  • The Dark Knight - "Interrogation Scene" (YouTube)
  • Hero Complex: "Christopher Nolan revisits his favourite scene in 'Dark Knight'"
• The Godfather Part II - "Corleone Family Flashback" (YouTube)
• HEAT by Michael Mann (Pages 84 - 88)
  • Heat - "The Diner Scene" (YouTube)
  • Den Of Geek: "Michael Mann's Heat: how research created a classic thriller"
  • Mann Made: From LA Takedown to Heat Part 1 (YouTube)
• MARGIN CALL by J. C. Chandor (Pages 47 - 58)
  • Margin Call - "The Music Stops" (Youtube)
  • Margin Call - "Be First, Be Smarter or Cheat" (YouTube)
• The Empire Strikes Back - "Tested on Dagobah" (YouTube)
• The Decalogue: I Am Lord Thy God  - "Catharsis" (YouTube)
• The Raid 2: Berandal - Trailer (YouTube)
• Jane Espenson: "Hot Cold Openings"

Can forcing your audience to ask questions - and then answering them - trigger an emotional response?

Stu and Chas delve into audience point of view - not character point of view! Does your audience know more, less or the same as your characters? And does changing this within a scene trigger or heighten the desired emotional response?

To test this theory, we look to the genre that changes the audience's point of view the most: thrillers. So we analyse scenes and sequences from THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, ZERO DARK THIRTY and ARGO. As usual though, we can't help ourselves and also consider scenes from GROUNDHOG DAY, PHILOMENA and - of course - Stu refers to STAR WARS.

LINKS

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How does the end of certain films make your soul shudder?

Stu and Chas are joined by their first guest – illustrious script developer and producer Stephen Cleary – to explore how certain films can trigger an outpouring of emotion from the audience. Turns out that Aristotle may have figured it out a few thousand years ago and called it Catharsis.

To examine how Catharsis can be triggered by a sequence of fixed beats, Stu, Chas and Stephen zone in on the last few pages of FIELD OF DREAMS, TOY STORY 3 and SE7EN. And Stu brings up FROZEN. Again.

LINKS

• Stephen Cleary's Website: http://www.stephenclearyfilm.com
• Stephen Cleary's Lecture on Catharsis and Aristotle for Screenwriters
• SAFC Filmlab on Low Budget Filmmaking
• FIELD OF DREAMS by Phil Alden Robinson -- Last 5 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • Field of Dreams -- “You’re not invited” (Youtube)
  • Field of Dreams -- “Ray meets his father” (Youtube)
• TOY STORY 3 by Michael Arndt -- Last 11 pages. For educational purposes only.
• SE7EN by Andrew Kevin Walker -- Last 18 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • Se7en – “The Box” (Youtube)
• FROZEN by Jennifer Lee – Last 10 pages. For educational purposes only.
• Stereofilm: "Defining TV Comedy One Word at a Time" blog by Leo Astudillo on Greg Daniels, writer on THE SIMPSONS and creator of the US version of THE OFFICE.
• Diary of a Screenwriter: Paul Schrader on the American existentialist protagonist
  
• #Scriptchat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23scriptchat
• #Scriptchat Archives: http://scriptchat.blogspot.com
• Done Deal Pro: http://www.donedealpro.com/
• The Blackboard: http://theblackboard.blcklst.com
• Reddit /r/Screenwriting Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/
• Line by Line Melbourne: http://linebyline-melbourne.blogspot.com.au

Thanks to Noisepig Productions for location recording and producing this episode.

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Stu and Chas delve into unlikable protagonists in comedy. How do filmmakers keep us watching characters who should alienate us? To answer this question, Stu and Chas look at the first 20 pages of HOT FUZZ, AS GOOD AS IT GETS and - of course - GROUNDHOG DAY.

PS: In ANCHORMAN (which we also talk about)... um... they renamed the character of Alicia Corningstone to Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) in the shooting script. We keep on referring to her as Alicia as that is what she is referred to in the screenplay. Wups.

LINKS

• Steve Kaplan and his Definition of Comedy (plus Epiphany International Artists)
• Mentorless: Steven Soderbergh on the Best Way to Learn to Make Films
• HOT FUZZ by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright - First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • Hot Fuzz - Opening Montage - Angel is Awesome! (YouTube)
  • Hot Fuzz - Angel is promoted to the country (YouTube)
  • Hot Fuzz - Janine tells Angel his flaw (YouTube)
• AS GOOD AS IT GETS by Mark Aldrus and James L. Brooks - First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • As Good As It Gets - "We're All Going to Die Soon" (YouTube)
  • As Good As It Gets - "Never, never, interrupt me, okay?" (YouTube)
• GROUNDHOG DAY by Danny Rubin, 2nd Revisions by Harold Ramis - First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
• GROUNDHOG DAY by Danny Rubin, 3rd Revisions by Harold Ramis - First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • Harold Ramis on the Metaphor of Groudhog Day
  • Jason Reitman's Live Reading of Groundhog Day: "Reitman said the script was full of deleted scenes."
  • Groundhog Day - Re-shot Opening (YouTube)
  • Groundhog Day - "Any Chance of an Espresso or Cappuccino?" (YouTube)
  • FilmSchoolRejects: 27 Things We Learned from Harold Ramis' Groundhog Day Commentary
  • Scriptnotes: Podcast on Groundhog Day
  • Filmspotting #480: Top 5 Harold Ramis Moments
• ANCHORMAN by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay - First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • Anchorman - Ron Hits on Veronica (YouTube)

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After analysing awards-nominated screenplays, Stu and Chas turn to the original screenplays that struck it biggest at the box office in 2013: GRAVITY and FROZEN. Do bigger films stick more closely to the archetypal story structures espoused by Vogler and Snyder?

We start discussing GRAVITY at around 7'33" and FROZEN at 54'40", although discussion does skip back-and-forth at times.

LINKS:

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Do Oscar-Nominated screenwriters follow the structural formulas prescribed by the 'gurus' and books?

Stu and Chas analyse two screenplays nominated for Academy Awards in 2014 – PHILOMENA and DALLAS BUYERS CLUB – to see whether they follow the structural theories espoused by Blake Snyder, Michael Hauge and Christopher Vogler.

LINKS:

• PHILOMENA Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
• The Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith – Philomena
• DALLAS BUYERS CLUB screenplay by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack
• The Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith – Dallas Buyers Club
• THE FIVE KEY TURNING POINTS OF ALL SUCCESSFUL SCRIPTS by Michael Hauge
• Michael Hauge on the High Concept Movie (YouTube)
• SAVE THE CAT BEATSHEET by Blake Snyder
• THE WRITER'S JOURNEY STRUCTURE by Christopher Vogler
• Ingrid's Notes on THE WRITER'S JOURNEY
• SM Worth links to a few different Scrivener Templates including one for the Hero's Journey.
• John Castle writes about using Scrivener and Save The Cat; and even offers his Save The Cat template for download.
• We should probably link to Scrivener as well then.

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What, exactly, is Draft Zero?

Welcome to Draft Zero. A message from 2019 to those starting with our first episodes dating from 2014. We’ve learned a lot in five years. So where do you begin?

Read: The Beginner’s Guide to Draft Zero: http://draft-zero.com/beginners-guide/

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