Listen if you're writing a genre film but sense your story wants to become something else entirely.

Stu and Chas reunite with TV writer & director Kodie Bedford to look at how some films start out as genre but gradually become character dramas. Or, as Stu never said on the episode "Genre in the streets, Drama in the sheets".

Together, they break down HUSTLERS, PIG and POWER OF THE DOG, to see how these films use their genre trappings to hook their audience while ultimately delivering something else entirely. We discuss chapter breaks, inciting incidents, character questions, theme and MORE.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

SCRIPTS

LINKS

EPISODES IN THE TWISTING GENRE SERIES

RELATED EPISODES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2022/dz-88/

Listen when you're writing within a genre but terrified you'll deliver something your audience has already seen.

In tackling this enormous topic, Stu and Chads enlist professional TV writer and director Kodie Bedford, someone who has somehow managed to defy genre pigeon-holing by writing mystery, comedy and vampire shows.

The three of them look at GET OUT, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN and THE INVISIBLE MAN (with reference to PARASITE, JOHN WICK, TAKEN, KNIVES OUT and more) to see what tools the writers have used to deliver on the expectations of a genre while moving that genre on, without writing something stale.

Thanks to Chris for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

SCRIPTS

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

LINKS

EPISODES IN THE TWISTING GENRE SERIES

RELATED EPISODES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2022/dz-87/

Listen for screenwriting lessons from 2021, strategies for pitching projects, and insights on running a writers workshop

In their annual full backwater episode, Stu and Chas let out their pandemic hair, drop the ruse of objectivity, and allow themselves to have even more options about writing and the business of writing.

In this Backmatter entry, they go deep on: future episode topics; their screenwriting lessons from 2021 (especially on control); pitching projects; the minimum viable product & minimum loveable thing; and share their exper iences with running a writers workshop/group.

There are no Star Wars references in this episode, but there are plenty of Die Hard ones. Die Hard is the new Star Wars. Get over it.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

SCRIPTS

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

EPISODES IN THE BACKMATTER SERIES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2022/dz-86/

Listen when you want to show a character refusing to change despite every opportunity to do so.

In our second part of our “series” on Choices & Decisions, we take a deep dive into THE FAREWELL and WRATH OF MAN, with a sidebar on NOMADLAND.

In THE FAREWELL, we consider how the choice/decision to lie underpins every sene of the film (to great effect).

In NOMADLAND, we consider how using choice and decision is a great way to show how a character doesn’t change.

And in WRATH OF MAN, we look at how non-linear narrative - and its decoupling of choice, decisions and consequence (wouldn’t that be a detripling???) impacts the audience experience, especially how we feel about characters.

The terminology we settled on in Part 1 was:

Thanks to Chris for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Thomas, Garrett, Bjorn, Randy, Jesse, Theis, Sandra and Khrob.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

SCRIPTS

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

LINKS

EPISODES IN THE CHOICES AND DECISIONS SERIES

RELATED EPISODES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2021/dz-85/

Listen how the separation of choice, decision, and consequence (for a character) creates emotional impact.

In order to better understand dramatising of character, Chas and Stu take a very draft zero look at very specific tool: choices and decisions. We analyse three films through the decisions made by their characters. In particular, how the audience understanding of: the choice available, the considered decision itself, and the consequence changes how we feel about these characters. And how separating those three things can create different emotional effects on your audience.

We debate this in the episode, but this is the terminology we settle on:

Part 1 (this part) establishes what we mean by choice and decision, and then takes a deep dive into BOOKSMART, directed by Olivia Wilde, and written by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins and Susanna Fogel. We all discuss FLEABAG, SEVEN, and old favourite, Star Wars.

Part 2 will turn our analytical eye on THE FAREWELL and WRATH OF MAN.

Thanks to Chris for editing this episodes.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Thomas, Garrett, Bjorn, Randy, Jesse, Theis, Sandra and Khrob.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

SHOWS

SCRIPTS

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

EPISODES IN THE CHOICES AND DECISIONS SERIES

RELATED EPISODES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2021/dz-84/

Listen if you want to understand how stand-up comedians grip audiences and build emotional arcs (and what narrative tools screenwriters can borrow from comedy)!

Standup comedians can keep audiences gripped to their every word for over an hour, and often bring them to emotional climaxes by the end. So how do they do it and what tools can apply to scripted narratives?

For this deep dive into standup, Stu and Chas are joined by the super-talented comic and podcaster Alice Fraser. Which is rather fortuitous. Because not only are we schooled on comedy techniques, but because Alice also has a Masters in Narrative Rhetoric.

So as we dive in to NANETTE by Hannah Gadsby, BABY COBRA by Ali Wong and IT’S THE FIREWORKS TALKING by Daniel Kitson (with more than a passing reference to Alice’s own show SAVAGE and INSIDE by Bo Burnham), we analyse narrative structure, transitions, set-ups and pay-offs used by stand-ups…

But we end up focusing on exploring thematic tools - particularly the Aristotelean concepts of the rhetorical triangle:

- logos (how the story is told); - ethos (who the storyteller is); and - pathos (how the audience emotionally engages).

With these powers combined, storytellers of all kinds can produce work of thematic power and resonance. Or just funny.

And in backmatter, we discuss adapting Savage for the recorded stage with Alice!

This episode brought to you by ScriptUp – https://www.scriptupstudio.com – use promo code DZ10 to get 10% off.

Enjoy!

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Thomas, Garrett, Bjorn, Randy, Jesse, Theis, Sandra and Khrob.

→ Read the transcript for this episode.

———

"If you introduce this idea in a harmless form, then they're willing to swallow it later. When, if you presented it raw out front, they would recoil." — Alice Fraser @ 00:11:22

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

LINKS

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2021/dz-83/

Listen if you're drowning your readers in world-building and can't figure out how to make it awesome!

In this final podcast release of last year’s run of LiveSoLation episodes, Chas and Stu are joined by Uber-geek Mel Killingsworth (who else?) in an epic exploration of how Dave Gibbons’ and Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel WATCHMEN is adapted differently in Zack Snyder’s 2009 film and Damon Lindelof’s 2019 HBO television show.

For this podcast release, we focus on a single craft tool: GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES. Traditionally an acting tool, we look at how it is also a useful writing tool: how is your story world different to your audience’s lived world and how best to communicate that?

In terms of WATCHMEN (as you will hear), there is so much given circumstances to convey — in terms of alternate history, superhero rules, political rules, character backstory, character worldview — that is done excellently in both the movie and the TV show that this becomes a masterclass in exposition.

We also touch on narrative structure and tone: how presenting the exact same information in a different order or through a different tonal lens can change how it lands for an audience. But this is explored much more fully in the very-visual companion YouTube videos.

While this episode may not be for the feint of heart, we feel it is one of our best. Hope you do too. Quantity has a quality of its very own.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Thomas, Garrett, Bjorn, Randy, Jesse, Theis, Sandra and Khrob.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

SHOWS

SCRIPTS

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

LINKS

RELATED EPISODES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2021/dz-82/

Listen if you're preparing to pitch a project and want to understand how to create compelling visual materials

Chas and Stu are joined by writer/director/producer/multi-hyphenate Marc Furmie of Rezistor Studios to talk all things pitch decks and look books. Coming from an advertising and music video background, Marc shares his experience in putting together visual materials to pitch a project. We discuss the difference between pitch decks and lookbooks, how they help you sell your projects, what buyers are looking for, television vs features, and how do we make yours better?

This is a podcast cutdown of the live stream that was done with Marc. So if you'd like to see what we are discussing (including a critique of a listener's pitch deck) then check out our YouTube recording: https://youtu.be/T5u1uzKNVQs.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

———

LINKS

EPISODES IN THE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS SERIES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2021/dz-81/

Listen to explore non-chronological structures can make work thematically resonant.

In our final part, part 3, of our Interweaving Timelines series, we — Chas, Stu & Mel — take a deep dive into Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women. In her adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's iconic novels, Greta chose to interweave the seperate timelines of Little Women and it's sequel, Good Wives, to create a thematically and emotionally potent work. This differs from all the other adaptations, which have chosen to keep the chronological storytelling of the source material.

We compare Gerwig's choices and their resulting effects with Gilliam Armstrong & Robin Swicord's more faithful (and chronological) 1994 version. It's almost like a scientific experiment!

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Randy, Garrett, Bjorn, Jessie, Khrob and Sandra.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

SCRIPTS

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

LINKS

EPISODES IN THE INTERWEAVING TIMELINES SERIES

RELATED EPISODES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2021/dz-80/

Listen to understand how manage stakes when you're using flashforwards.

In this Part 2 of Interweaving Timelines (aka The Stu Monologue Episode), Mel, Chas and Stu tackle Sorkin/Fincher's The Social Network. As you’ll hear, it is clearly Stu’s favourite of the examples we cover and, ah, not Mel’s favourite. While all three bring their own biases and opinions on the reality of Facebook as it has become, we do manage to put the destruction of democracy to one side to actually analyse the meticulous craft that this film displays.

We analyse Sorkin’s on-the-page skill with time jumps, managing intercutting and introducing characters - as well as explore how the flash-forward technique manages the absence of stakes (i.e. we know Facebook exists) and creates a different emotional experience to the flashbacks of Destroyer. Finally, and most importantly, we look at how the interweaving timelines change how the audience feel about Mark Zuckerberg (as portrayed in this film).

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Randy, Garrett, Bjorn, Joakim, Khrob and Sandra.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

SCRIPTS

EPISODES IN THE INTERWEAVING TIMELINES SERIES

RELATED EPISODES

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2021/dz-79/