Go Into The Story

The Theology of Cinema: Congregation

In giving themselves over to a larger cause, the individuals forge themselves together as a congregation.

Script To Screen: “Airplane”

A memorable scene featuring the actress who played June Cleaver on Leave It To Beaver, screenplay by Jim Abrahams & David Zucker & Jerry…

Interview (Written): Dan Fogelman

Conversation with the creator and showrunner of This Is Us.

Daily Dialogue — November 10, 2019

“Before I kill you, I’m going to throw your baby out the window.”

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Midway in the Photoplay [Part 4]

“It is inadvisable to attempt a minor plot in a photoplay unless it has a distinct and important bearing on your big story.”

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Interrogation

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 4,195 consecutive days and counting.

Interview (Video): Paul Schrader

An 84-minute conversation with the screenwriter of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.

Daily Dialogue — November 9, 2019

Victor Joseph: You gotta look mean or people won’t respect you. White people will run all over you if you don’t look mean. You gotta look…

Writing Mantra: “Writing equals butt on chair” (*)

Makes sense… but what’s the asterisk for?

Video: Taiki Waititi breaks down a scene from ‘Jojo Rabbit’

The writer, director, and actor takes us inside a scene from his new movie.

Writing and the Creative Life: Structure and Freedom

Words of creative wisdom the great 20th century composer Igor Stravinsky.

Daily Dialogue — November 8, 2019

“So, that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there. And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper. And those three people in…

What do ‘Wall-E’ and ‘Logan’ have in common?

Both movies use a simple gesture to pack an emotional wallop.

Reader Question: How do you know when your script is ready to send out?

Tough question, especially for writers who may NEVER think a story is ‘done’.

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs [Part 6]

“We’d like to have something that works for both the studios and the financiers, a script that could be a big blown-out studio movie as…

Daily Dialogue — November 7, 2019

“Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you’ll marry a music man Ballerina, you must have seen her…

Reader Question: Is any exposition scene a “crock of shit”?

“Exposition is critically important. However, poor handling of exposition can be lethal to creating drama and sustaining a story’s pace.”

Update: 2019 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 1 New Script, 8 Total

It’s that time of year again when studios and production companies make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season.

Screenwriting 101: Akiva Goldsman

“Adaptation is always the same process for me, which is some version of throwing the book at the wall and seeing what pages fall out. It…

Daily Dialogue — November 6, 2019

Sally Albright: Amanda mentioned you had a dark side. Harry Burns: That’s what drew her to me. Sally Albright: Your dark side? Harry Burns…

Movie analysis: “Up”

When Up was about to be released, Wall Street experts actually downgraded Disney stock. Their thinking: Who would go see a movie featuring…

Difference Between Scene Heading and Shot

What they are and when each should be used.

Script To Screen: “The Devil Wears Prada”

Miranda arrives in the office in this scene from the 2006 comedy, screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna, novel by Lauren Weisberger.

Daily Dialogue — November 5, 2019

Taxi Driver: So what’re we doing? Michael Clayton: [hands driver cash] Give me fifty dollars worth. Just drive.

“Where am I going?”

A great question for a Protagonist to answer.