Best of the Web · 1 min

Best o/t Web 31 Oct

:: Screenplay rejection letter from 1920s movie studio :: A seminar with Billy Wilder :: Stuck as a writer's assistant? :: Are parentheticals overused? :: Why Doc Brown is the real…

Story & Structure · 1 min

Video: The Formula For A Winning Trailer

All trailers look the same. Why? Because great movies have the same story components. [debate follows] Here, in the greatest simplicity, it is shown what to…

MM on Monday · 3 min

Cinematic Storytelling (4)

Below is yet another example of narrative paintings. This one by Wes Christensen and titled “John’s Dilemma.” As strange as I know this will sound, the painting above…

Best of the Web · 1 min

Best o/t Web 24 Oct

:: On Subtext :: Fears and Questions of Science Fiction :: Complications, Reversals, and Roadblocks :: Restoring Chaplin gems :: Movie quotes that had us at hello :: Interview: Michael Arndt and…

Story & Structure · 7 min

How To Make Our Myths

In late 2009 I wrote an essay for Lumina, called Make our Myths. This essay argued that the purpose of Australian feature film production is not…

Story & Structure · 4 min

The Hero Must Change!

Blake Snyder describes it thus: “The Covenant of the Arc is the screenwriting law that says: Every single character in your movie must change in the…

Video · 1 min

Video: How To Train Your Dragon

Now the brilliant animation How To Train Your Dragon is out on DVD, it's a good time for all of you aspiring screenwriters to look at…

MM on Monday · 3 min

Cinematic Storytelling (3)

Two seemingly prosperous young women are seated together in a garden. One is reading a letter. The other just observes and listens. The painting is by Marcus…

Story & Structure · 2 min

How To Write A BlockBuster

I am not an expert by any means. But this I learned behind the scenes: There are seven rules you should muster, for you to write…

Best of the Web · 1 min

Best o/t Web 17 Oct

:: Reviewing Memento (Nolan Theme Week) :: 60 Best blogs for aspiring screenwriters :: 65 nations compete for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars :: Selling…

Story & Structure · 3 min

Introduce the Hero on Page One!

In a new regular series on The Story Department, Jack Brislee will shatter all the screenwriting principles we have so strongly advocated. First he introduces us…

Video · 1 min

Video: Steve Kaplan & RomCom

After attending Steve Kaplan's RomCom seminar in Sydney earlier this year, I became an instant fan. It's my intention to interview him some time over the…

MM on Monday · 3 min

Cinematic Storytelling (2)

Take a close look at the painting below. (Thank you, David Bordwell, for your superb piece on narrative paintings.) This is a special moment, isn’t it? Notice their…

Best of the Web · 1 min

Best o/t Web 10 Oct

:: Michael Mann directs Luck for HBO :: Compete with Hollywood? Yes you can :: Seventy-Five years of development... :: Reviewed: the script that took $1.5m…

Story & Structure · 5 min

Writing With A Purpose (2)

In the long-form drama world of episodic and serialized television it is not the writer-director moniker that holds sway as top dog. It is the Showrunner…