Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Listen to turn narrative uncertainty itself into the engine that keeps viewers compelled.

It’s time. The Epic Deep Dive(TM) into Antagonists has reached its shuddering conclusion. And for this Part V - by choosing films that have no obvious singular antagonist (and in some cases no obvious narrative either) - Stu and Chas realised there was indeed a final category of antagonists: the films themselves. Where the film (and the filmmaker) are engaging directly with the audience. Where the films are... VERSUS AUDIENCE.

The films that led to this “insight” often lie to the audience; talk directly to the audience; misdirect the audience; take the audience on meandering narrative strolls; or make the central character the antagonist to all other characters. Sometimes these techniques power a single scene. Sometimes they take up the whole film. All this to keep the audience compelled in the absence of singular antagonists. And these films are - drum roll, please - OCEAN’S 8, THE SECOND, F FOR FAKE, SANS SOLEIL and FORREST GUMP.

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.

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CHAPTERS

FILMS

SCRIPTS

LINKS

EPISODES IN THE ANTAGONISTS! SERIES

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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/2018/dz-53/

Listen if you want to use how societal, governmental, or environmental forces as villains.

This is Part Four (!!) of our Five Part Epic Exploration into antagonists forces and sources of conflict. In this episode we explore "system/world/society" antagonists. While stereotypically associated with science-fiction, these sources of conflict are found across genres.

To that end, we talk MINORITY REPORT, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, MUDBOUND, and THE LOBSTER - with a special mention of, like, all the high school movies.

We continue refining our tools surrounding antagonists/sources of conflict: obstacles, pressure, enablers, pushers, pullers, education and thwarting. We especially focus on how the pressures of the system/world/society force characters to either submit to the system, overthrow it or escape it; and how framing all of your characters’ journeys in relation to the rules of the world they inhabit can lead to a thematically strong story.

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.

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CHAPTERS

FILMS

SCRIPTS

LINKS

EPISODES IN THE ANTAGONISTS! SERIES

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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/2018/dz-52/

Listen to understand why pressure--not obstacles--is what transforms a protagonist when they face an unstoppable force.

In this Part Three of our Five Part Epic Exploration™ into antagonistic forces (and sources of conflict), Chas & Stu explore “nature” antagonists, including some supernatural ones. What became clear in doing the homework (and recording this episode twice) was that the antagonistic forces - whether natural or supernatural - presented different narrative challenges to the protagonists if (a) they did not seem to make choices and (b) could not be bargained with or defeated.

And so we embarked upon ALL IS LOST, THE GREY and CONTAGION — with special mentions of THE VVITCH, WORLD WAR Z, ZOMBIELAND, ANNIHILATION, ALIEN, ALIENS and probably some others we’ve forgotten.

Stu elaborates on his distinction between obstacles and pressure; Chas riffs on how nature antagonists can mirror the protagonist and reinforce theme; and they both explore the effect on protagonists who are pushed to their limits by antagonists that cannot be reasoned with.

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 ANTAGONISTS! 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/2018/dz-51/

Listen if you want to understand how protagonists can serve as their own antagonist and how antagonistic forces shape a character's journey

In Part Two of our Five Part Epic Exploration™ into antagonists, Chas & Stu take a look at "vs self" stories. Stories where the protagonist (or main character) serves as their own antagonist as well as the antagonist for those around them.

It took us a long time to settle on our homework, but we ended up exploring LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, SHAME, and MONSTER. Our discussion continues in backmatter with MINDHUNTER and STEVE JOBS.

As a result of our exploration, we manage to get a better understanding of our 'thesu' on: internal vs external change; obstacles and pressure; stories without singular antagonists; and how it really is the antagonistic forces that carve out the protagonist’s journey.

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

EPISODES IN THE ANTAGONISTS! SERIES

RELATED EPISODES

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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/2018/dz-50/

Listen if you want to understand how to craft compelling antagonists who oppose your protagonist through direct human conflict

Prompted by a listener (and patron of the podcast) question, Stu and Chas dive into antagonistic forces. And because Draft Zero does not do anything by halves, this is Part One of a Five Part Epic Exploration™ into antagonists; namely: vs humans, vs self, vs nature/supernatural, vs systems and “other”. aka the classic narrative conflicts.

For this “vs humans” part, we chose to look at DIE HARD, MISERY and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE OF EBBING, MISSOURI (with special mentions to THE DARK KNIGHT, LA LA LAND and - of course - STAR WARS). In particular, we look at some classical villains, internal vs external antagonists, and how antagonists and protagonists can swap roles over a scene or a sequence.

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 ANTAGONISTS! 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/2018/dz-49/

Listen to discover how characters can be dramatised through binary choices (and understand the difference between choice and agency).

To kick off 2018, Chas and Stu take a deep dive into one of their favourite movies of 2017: Blade Runner 2049. However, they abstained from “Fox News-ing this shit” by being joined by the most accomplished screenwriter they know, C.S. McMullen (Blood List 2017, Black List 2017, also a lover of Blade Runner 2049).

For a film that is thematically about choice, Stu and Chas thought this would be an excellent opportunity to explore how characters can be dramatised through binary choices. And yet, CS opened their eyes to the idea that characters can still be given choices without having agency. Without having choice in their choices. Not having choices that lead to different outcomes.

It is perhaps the lack of agency (rather than the lack of choice) that lead to some of the troubling depiction of women and minorities in Blade Runner 2049, which our intrepid hosts explore in detail.

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

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/2018/dz-48/

Listen to understand how consequences (not intentions) impact whether an audience roots for or against your protagonist.

Following our annual wrap up in 2017, we’ve decided to once again explore what craft issues/lessons we can garner from the latest Stars, namely Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, focusing on how consequences of character actions can do a lot of heavy lifting as to how the audience perceives that character (as well as looking at worldview and overall story structure).

We also discuss how the sexual assault allegations in our industry can impact on what work we choose to analyse as well as dive into a bunch of listener questions.

We end on whether - if our space pirates project gets off the ground - Chas should come on set, whether Stu will have him and whether it would do anyone any good.

Thanks to Khrob, Joakim and Christopher for being early patrons. They're good people. Sorry Christopher that you didn't get a shout-out in the episode but hopefully this note immortalised in the very bottom of the show notes demonstrates how much we appreciate ja!

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

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Joakim and Christopher.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

LINKS

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/2018/dz-47/

What questions do you want your audience asking at any given time?

Waaaaaaaaaay back in DZ-05, Stu and Chas examined how shifting narrative point of view (i.e. what the audience knows in relation to the characters on screen) heightens emotions in any given scene. We've now taken that micro idea and applied it to the macro: how can deciding what the audience knows and when in relation to the characters organise your story? Are whole sequences or even acts driven by the audience following a character, feeling concerned about a character, empathising with a character or being absorbed in the irony of knowing more than all the characters interacting on screen.

To tackle this topic, Stu and Chas dive in to films that make very conscious structural choices in relation to narrative POV, namely: GET OUT, DUNKIRK and the underrated German film THE LIVES OF OTHERS (with honourable mentions to LA CONFIDENTIAL and MANCHESTER BY THE SEA).

Wait till the end to hear poor Stu's mind absolutely blown in relation to the Kuleshov effect.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND

Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter markers included in the mp3.

Special thanks to our Patreon supporters. If you would like more Draft Zero episodes more often, click here!

EPISODE LINKS

• DRAFT ZERO Related Episodes
  • DZ-05: Shifting audience point of view and heightened emotions
  • DZ-10: Midpoint Reversals and The Ride
  • DZ-21: Scene Transitions and the Hook
• INTRODUCTION
  • LA Confidential [@ 6m 21s]
  • Manchester by the Sea [@ 10m 57s]
• GET OUT written & directed by Jordan Peele [@ 19m 57s]
  • Vimeo: Get Out - Alternate Ending
  • Jordan Peele on the Nerdist Podcast and on The Movie Crypt podcast
  • Jason Blum on the Nerdist Podcast
  • Find it on Just Watch
• DUNKIRK written & directed by by Christopher Nolan [@ 50m 15s]
  • Vox: The sound illusion that makes Dunkirk so intense
  • Find it on Just Watch
• THE LIVES OF OTHERS written & directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmark [@ 1hr 31m 00s]
  • Find it on Just Watch
• WRAP UP [@ 2hr 11m 32s]
  • The Kuleshov effect

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 or subscribing to us on Apple Podcast! or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

Thanks to Khrob and Joakim for being patrons. They're good people.

Listen if you want to understand how narrative point of view can organise your entire story structure

Waaaaaaaaaay back in DZ-5, Stu and Chas examined how shifting narrative point of view (i.e. what the audience knows in relation to the characters on screen) heightens emotions in any given scene. We've now taken that micro idea and applied it to the macro: how can deciding what the audience knows and when in relation to the characters organise your story? Are whole sequences or even acts driven by the audience following a character, feeling concerned about a character, empathising with a character or being absorbed in the irony of knowing more than all the characters interacting on screen.

To tackle this topic, Stu and Chas dive in to films that make very conscious structural choices in relation to narrative POV, namely: GET OUT, DUNKIRK and the underrated German film THE LIVES OF OTHERS (with honourable mentions to LA CONFIDENTIAL and MANCHESTER BY THE SEA).

Wait till the end to hear poor Stu's mind absolutely blown in relation to the Kuleshov effect.

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

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob and Joakim.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

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/2017/dz-46/

Listen to discover how a character's worldview becomes the engine of conflict inside a single scene.

As part of their ongoing exploration of scene-work, Stu and Chas apply their earlier thinking on theme and character worldview to individual scenes. Can examining a scene from a thematic perspective impact the drama, conflict or stakes of the scene? How does your character’s conscious and subconscious world views dramatise the overall theme of the work? How can an individual scene reflect the larger themes of the overall story? Do any of these questions or approaches lead to writing better scenes?

To this end, Stu and Chas examine particular scenes from works that have particularly apparent, strong and consistent themes; namely: FINDING NEMO, EX MACHINA, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA and the Netflix TV series GLOW.

Special thanks to our Patreon supporters. If you would like more Draft Zero episodes more often, click here!

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

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob and Nick.

———

CHAPTERS

FILMS

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/2017/dz-45/