Go Into The Story (Page 291)

Go Into The Story

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Page One: “Midnight Run” (1988)

Page One: “Midnight Run” (1988)

Written by George Gallo

In Part 4, I noted how I perceive two key themes in the story: Choice and Power.

CASSIUS (CONT'D)

To me, there are two key themes and one existential question in play in this story.

Choice: Each of the four primary characters is confronted by a significant life choice.

Go Into The Story Resource: 30 Things About Screenwriting

Go Into The Story Resource: 30 Things About Screenwriting

Reflections on and basic tenets about the craft. They represent my take. If any of them resonate with you, great. If not, feel free to…

Script Analysis: “One Night in Miami” — Part 5: Dialogue

Script Analysis: “One Night in Miami” — Part 5: Dialogue

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-nominated screenplay. Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday:

Great Scene: “The Big Lebowski”

Great Scene: “The Big Lebowski”

“Donny was a good bowler, and a good man. He was one of us.”

Writing and the Creative Life: Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling

Writing and the Creative Life: Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling

Part 5: “We like to be engaged and entertained by what transpires in the plot, but more important we want to find meaning in the…

Page One: “Midnight Cowboy” (1969)

Page One: “Midnight Cowboy” (1969)

Screenplay by Waldo Salt, novel by James Leo Herlihy

Two observations about the four main characters in One Night in Miami:

We can look at Cassius Clay, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X as being Protagonists. Each has an arc. Each has an subplot storyline. At…

Go Into The Story Resource: Sixty Second Screenwriter

Go Into The Story Resource: Sixty Second Screenwriter

A video series addressing key screenwriting concerns in one minute.

Script Analysis: “One Night in Miami” — Part 4: Themes

Script Analysis: “One Night in Miami” — Part 4: Themes

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-nominated screenplay. Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday:

Is My Screenplay Big Enough to Be a Movie?

Is My Screenplay Big Enough to Be a Movie?

This is a fundamental question screenwriters must ask themselves at all stages of a screenplay’s development and writing. Why? Because it’s…

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs

Part 7: Attaching producers.

Page One: “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” (1971)

Page One: “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” (1971)

Novel by Edmund Naughton, screenplay by Robert Altman and Brian McKay

I watched the movie and read the script at the same time (this is a great exercise, one I heartily…

I have three observations about the plot:

Hollywood has a long history of movie adaptations of stage plays.

On Day 3 of this series in which we focus on Characters, there is a video interview with Powers and the film's director Regina King in…

Script Analysis: “One Night in Miami” — Part 3: Characters

Script Analysis: “One Night in Miami” — Part 3: Characters

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-nominated screenplay. Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday:

Go Into The Story Resource: Screenwriting Advice From The Past

Go Into The Story Resource: Screenwriting Advice From The Past

A series analyzing screenwriting advice from the book “How to Write Photoplays” written in 1920 by Anita Loos and her husband John Emerson.

Scene Description Spotlight: “Titanic”

Scene Description Spotlight: “Titanic”

Before Avatar went on to gross $2.72B worldwide, writer-director James Cameron created another movie phenomenon called Titanic (1997) which…

How They Write A Script: Paul Schrader

How They Write A Script: Paul Schrader

In a previous post, I noted two radically different approaches to writing as represented by Neil Simon, who doesn’t “make outlines at all”…

Page One: “The Mask of Zorro” (1998)

Page One: “The Mask of Zorro” (1998)

Screenplay by John Eskow and Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Randall Jahnson, character created by…

Alexander Payne on appealing characters vs. sympathetic characters

Alexander Payne on appealing characters vs. sympathetic characters

“I hate when movie people say, ‘Your lead character has to be sympathetic,’ which for them means ‘likeable.’ I don’t give a shit about…

Go Into The Story Resource: Great Scenes

Go Into The Story Resource: Great Scenes

When you boil it down, screenwriting is scene-writing. Hone your scene-writing ability by studying these scenes.

Script Analysis: “One Night in Miami” — Part 2: Plot

Script Analysis: “One Night in Miami” — Part 2: Plot

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-nominated screenplay. Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday:

Screenwriting 101: William Goldman

Screenwriting 101: William Goldman

“Nobody sets out to fuck up your movie. It’s not like the director or the star wake up in the morning and say, ‘Let me screw up this scene…