What goes into writing a great movie script?
Last Updated: 02.07.2025 15:31
Don’t direct from the page. Everyone, from the director on down, wants to be part of the process of making movies. Let them do their work.
Use status to help drive conflict. King Lear/fool. Upstairs/downstairs.
Conflict is your power source; without it you have no drama and hence no script.
A Forgotten Cancer Is Surging in Young People, And Experts Are Puzzled - ScienceAlert
Get up there yourself. Be in a movie. Take some acting (not writing) classes. Learn how a trained actor approaches a text. Learn why actors take roles. They do as much if not more than the writer does.
Primary characters must change polarities. Secondary characters can change less.
Leave holes. Write and unwrite. Put it in, take it out.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Girlfriend Has Major Wardrobe Malfunction at Bezos Wedding Party - Yahoo
People choose what to see based on the high concept. Make sure to deliver an ending consistent with the high concept -- it is what the audience paid for.
Audiences are smarter than you think. Something about turning down the house lights makes their IQs go up.
The DSM 5 is a wonderful character compendium.
Scientists Solve 50-Year Mystery of Strange Zone Deep Inside Earth - SciTechDaily
A critical function of storytelling is wish fulfillment. This is why video games are so popular. “That protagonist is JUST LIKE ME.”
Research the facts and then throw away the research.
Only God gets it right the first time. Rewrite everything.
What is the best reply if your boyfriend asks you,"why do you love me?"
A scene should change valence from beginning to end. Up to down, down to up.
Maintain a slush pile/idea file. When you are ready to write, choose the best seeds to plant.
To develop a unique voice for each character, try interviewing your characters.
Cut everything that is not a payoff, or a setup for a specific payoff. “Omit needless words.” Think about the sparseness of joke telling, or Grimm Brothers.
Actors give better feedback than writers do.
Outline everything. Use story beats. Keep character’s mouths taped up, until they absolutely MUST speak. Write the script and the dialogue at the last minute, after you’ve revised the hell out of the outline.
If you got to make your own K-pop year-end awards show for 2024, who would win?
What you leave unwritten is as important as what you write. SUBTEXT.
Your primary job is to create situations. Modern actors will fuck up your dialogue, despite whatever your contract says.
Learn to tell a story orally and not through writing. Try telling your story to a friend.
What everyday objects become surprisingly challenging to use in zero gravity?
Write in reverse time. Major characters need to change polarity; minor characters may remain the same at the end.
All rules are made to be broken, but you damn well better know WHY you’re breaking them.
Make sure to pack enough explosives into the rocket.