Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

DZ-18: Michael Bay - F*ing the Frame and P*ing the Page


Listen Later

Listen to understand how one of the world's highest-grossing directors structures story, makes great villians, controls information flow, and makes visual decisions on the page

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 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.

Oh, and if you have 7 seconds to spare, click here to go to our 2-question Draft Zero listener survey!

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

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

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

    ———

    FILMS

    • THE ROCK (1996) — (w) Douglas S Cook, David Weisberg, Mark Rosner, Jonathan Hensleigh (d) Michael Bay
    • THE ISLAND (2005) — (w) Caspian Tredwell Owen, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Caspian Tredwell Owen (d) Michael Bay
    • PAIN & GAIN (2013) — (w) Christopher Markus, Stephen Mcfeely (d) Michael Bay
    • SCRIPTS

      • Study the script: THE ROCK (1996) — Douglas S Cook, David Weisberg, Mark Rosner, Jonathan Hensleigh
      • LINKS

        • Read: Michael F-ing Bay: The Unheralded Genius in Michael Bay's Films
        • Watch: Every Frame A Painting: What is Bayhem?
        • Watch: Michaelbay.com: Transformers 4: Bay on Action
        • YouTube: Car chase sequence from THE ROCK
        • YouTube: Best of Daniel Lugo from PAIN&GAIN
        • Read: TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION is the most brilliant and subversively political film you'll see all year
        • EPISODES IN THE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT SERIES

          • DZ-18: Michael Bay - F*ing the Frame and P*ing the Page
          • DZ-76: Spotlight on Sofia Coppola
          • DZ-13: True That - Tips from Tarantino
          • ———

            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/2015/dz-18/

            ...more
            View all episodesView all episodes
            Download on the App Store

            Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcastBy Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis

            • 4.8
            • 4.8
            • 4.8
            • 4.8
            • 4.8

            4.8

            114 ratings


            More shows like Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

            View all
            The Business by KCRW

            The Business

            667 Listeners

            Scriptnotes Podcast by John August and Craig Mazin

            Scriptnotes Podcast

            2,434 Listeners

            The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast by Directors Guild of America

            The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

            744 Listeners

            Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Higher Ground

            Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

            1,482 Listeners

            The Watch by The Ringer

            The Watch

            5,408 Listeners

            Blank Check with Griffin & David by Blank Check Productions

            Blank Check with Griffin & David

            6,200 Listeners

            The A24 Podcast by A24

            The A24 Podcast

            1,081 Listeners

            Unspooled by Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson | Realm

            Unspooled

            4,757 Listeners

            The Big Picture by The Ringer

            The Big Picture

            5,712 Listeners

            The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna by Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

            The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

            979 Listeners

            Team Deakins by James Ellis Deakins, Roger Deakins

            Team Deakins

            1,122 Listeners

            SmartLess by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett

            SmartLess

            58,226 Listeners

            The Prestige TV Podcast by The Ringer

            The Prestige TV Podcast

            1,705 Listeners

            The Town with Matthew Belloni by The Ringer

            The Town with Matthew Belloni

            1,115 Listeners

            Good Hang with Amy Poehler by The Ringer

            Good Hang with Amy Poehler

            12,362 Listeners