The character is in jeopardy/things are turned around… the antagonist almost wins/the antagonist loses the occasion because the protagonist is too smart… put the character in a corner/make them do a somersault. This is the…
Summer, 1987. Screenwriter Ronald Bass, Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman, and Tom Cruise. They’re seaside, in Spielberg’s house, Broad Beach Road, developing the script for Rain Man. Bass recalls the gathering in a must-listen-to episode of…
Room, Jackie, Brooklyn, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Crown… So many stories recently with female protagonists. Now the question becomes: Is there a specific structure for films or TV series featuring not…
Sometimes one beat makes all the difference. There are scenes in which the smallest unit of action or dialogue changes everything. Take out the particular brushstroke and the picture is no longer the same. This…
Show, don’t tell; make the invisible ― a character’s thoughts ― visible through action; push conflict and high stakes to the fore; less dialogue; more subtext; terseness; economy in the number of characters and storylines……