MONDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:
PLOT SEED:
LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL
Most of us have found screenwriting or writing novels or short stories because we wild imaginations that keep coming up with crazy ideas. One of the important elements in a screenplay are “High Concepts” - which I like to think of as *ideas* as stars. Some people have favorite movie stars and they see everything they are in. Others might not have favorite stars, but they know that if a particular actor is in a film it is usually good. That’s why the stars names are in big letters on movie posters. The audience needs a reason to pay to see a movie *before* they see it. So whether a movie is “good” or “bad”? They won’t know that until after they have paid for their ticket. So movie stars and movie trailers and those *30 second* TV adverts are all about selling tickets... and your story’s *concept* is critical if all you have is 30 seconds...
When you are writing a screenplay, the biggest, weirdest ideas we can come up with? The first thing anyone asks about a new movie or your screenplay is “What’s it about?” They don’t expect you to tell them the whole story, they just want to hear the idea.
That idea needs to be so amazing that they buy a ticket to see that movie.
Even if it doesn’t have a big movie star.
But you also need an idea that can generate 90-110 pages of page turning screenplay. Often people come up with a great idea for a short story, and try to write a screenplay or a novel by adding more ideas... and end up with a “scattershot plot” - a bunch of things that happen to the same character, but the only connection between these ideas is that character. It’s confusing, and when someone asks “what’s it about?” the answer takes 30 minutes instead of 30 words. The screenplay is an unfocused mess because it went wider instead of deeper. Instead of the story growing from one great central idea, it’s a bunch of ideas taped together... and when you are watching a movie in one gulp, all of those different flavored sips don’t add up to a pleasant taste.
This is my “Plot Seed Theory” - that everything in your story (EVERYTHING!) Needs to grow from that one central idea.
PLOT SEED AND BUDGET?
When you are breaking into the business, you probably aren’t going to be starting at the top. You might be writing a Holiday Romance or a low budget Action flick or a low budget Horror movie or a Low Budget Thriller. No movie stars involved. Your *idea* needs to be the star. Your *idea* needs to be amazing and intriguing and exciting...
And be inexpensive to make. And be able to “sprout” all of that screenplay from the “plot seed”.
Hey, anyone can come up with an amazing science fiction idea with all kinds of special effects or a romance set against an epic background or a globe trotting action flick with an amazing idea. But all of those are going to bust the budget. We want an amazing idea that is economical to make. Those can be difficult to come up with. Those require a wild imagination that also can also take the practical side of making a film into consideration. It’s like juggling chainsaws!
And that’s going to be the skill that you develop early in your career.
And part of that is having a “plot seed” idea instead of throwing a bunch of different ideas into your screenplay, and each adds locations and supporting characters and digits to the film’s budget.
So let’s look at a horror movie with a great idea, a really scary idea, an idea that could be made on a limited budget, an idea that could grow an entire screenplay and all of its characters, and an idea that has it’s basis in a bunch of true stories (so, oddly believable for such a wild idea). Oh, and it could have been filmed on existing sets. A “found footage” horror flick titled...
LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL (2023)
Written by Colin & Cameron Caines.
Budget: Estimated $1-1.5 million
Total Special Effects Budget: $150,000.
Worldwide Theatrical Gross: $12.7 million
You might see that Worldwide Theatrical Gross and think it’s nothing to brag about, but this *wasn’t* a theatrical film. Shudder Streaming has been giving some of their original films a limited theatrical release, basically as publicity. To get people talking about the film, to pick up some reviews, and maybe get a few people to see the film in the theater and make a couple of bucks. I saw SKINAMARINK at my local AMC cinema when it played there for a week, and I think they expected LATE NIGHT to play for a week and then hit the streaming service a couple of weeks later... but it was still playing in cinemas when it started its streaming run!
So how did a streaming film that probably cost $1 million or maybe $1.5 million manage to make around ten times its budget in a limited theatrical run that was basically for publicity?
This is a fun horror flick that builds dread and works... but doesn't quite stick the landing. This film is all about the 1970s, starting with it being kind of a cross between NETWORK and THE EXORCIST. What? Yes, and it makes complete sense, and I gave it all kinds of extra credit for finding odd connections between all sorts of 1970s elements. It has an awesome idea that spawned every single thing in the film!
A failing Late Night TV show’s rating stunt: a live exorcism of a teen girl possessed by a demon... which might escape into your living room and possess you!
PLOT SEED: Live televised Exorcism.
So let’s dig into that idea to find everything else in the story.
1) Though there are a bunch of different ways you could “mine” this plot seed for stories, let’s start with the Exorcism. The movie the EXORCIST was release in 1973, and that’s where most people learned about demonic possession and all of the other fun horror stuff that comes with Exorcism.
2) Our other major element in this plot seed is *television*, so we are going to “mine” that as well. Dig deeper and deeper into those two main elements of our idea and see what we can find that grows naturally from those two elements of our plot seed.
3) What can we grow from that?
A) The story is about a TV show on a struggling "fourth network" (think the 1970s OPT Network - the first major assault on the big 3!), a Tonight Show knock off, but instead of Charro as the host (OPT's real life version) there's a guy who is a bargain bin Carson and his McMahon-like sidekick. The show is struggling in the ratings, Carson is beating it every night, so when Halloween falls in the middle of sweeps week the host goes a little bit Springer to see if he can boost the ratings and stay on the air.
His guests are...
B) A Uri Geller type famous TV psychic (70s!).
C) An Amazing Randi type ex magician turned psychic debunker (70s! - he actually debunked Geller in 1972!).
And...
D) The only survivor of a Satanic Cult (70s!) - a tween girl who is supposedly possessed by a demon, and her psychologist who will bring forth the demon on live television!
So we have all of these actual things that happened in the 1970s and are connected by the time period and connected because they are horror related and TV related. The brilliance of this story is finding a logical connection to wrap a horror movie around. Oh, Amazing Randi was a recurring guest on THE TONIGHT SHOW. The thing that amazes me about movies like this is that all of those pieces have been sitting there for decades, and someone finally put them together. And in a contained horror movie. All of the pieces are grown from the same seed, and that seed was just sitting there! Nothing needed to be glued on from the outside, all of these horror related things were on television in the 1970s.
Once we have our concept (or emotional conflict for the character, or big decision the character has to make) we can also find the seeds of theme that we can also use as our “plot seed”. Theme is another type of “plot seed”. So in GHOST what is Sam’s big emotional problem? He can’t get himself to say “I love you” to Molly. What is his big physical problem? Well, after he is murdered communication becomes much more difficult because he’s a ghost. Everything in GHOST grows from “communication”.
In my BLACK THUNDER film for Showtime the concept is: Our own plane used against us... The logical plot seed would seem to be "betrayal". So I decided the hero and villain had once been friends. Better yet: Mentor and student. The sidekick once betrayed the hero, and they must learn to forgive each other and work together to survive. Then I tied the sidekick in to the mentor... The hero and sidekick shared the same Mentor, each vying for favored son status, this lead to a conflict between hero and sidekick. Once I had this, I was able to think of the story as an emotional family drama: two sons fighting for the love of their father... the emotional conflict in the story. All of it from the concept, the idea.
Everything in LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL is connected. It all grows from that concept. Nothing is random. No scattershot plot. Everything is conneceted!
FOUND FOOTAGE & REAL TIME
The added conceit of the story is that this isn't fiction. It's the unaired tapes of the actual show, plus behind the scenes footage when they cut to commercial. One of the additional techniques is that a montage of the 1970s used to set up the "documentary" we are watching about this TV episode is 90% real doc footage and 10% things that pay off in the episode of NIGHT OWLS (the late night show)... but we don't know that. This subconsciously makes us feel like all of this really happened.
This was also used in a the great zombie film PONTYPOOL (XXX) about a drive time radio show where live news updates about disruptions and a possible riot downtown eventually are identified as a zombie attack... and block by block that attack gets closer and closer to the radio station. Until our radio station characters are battling zombies. The great thing about both of these films is that they take place at one location (great for budget) with a limited cast (great for budget) and we can spend time getting to know the people who will soon be under attack.
In LATE NIGHT the corny banter between host and sidekick and some of the "unscripted responses" were clever enough to be on a TV show, but not good enough to be on a big hit TV show. Kind of an interesting balancing act, there. That also made it believable to me. And when they cut to commercial, the behind the scenes stuff was spot on. The fake friendly producer who is threatening you with his arm around your shoulder. The hair and makeup woman. The host and sidekick who are all smiles on camera but don't like each other off camera. TV persona and real life persona. All of that made it seem real... and these personal conflicts between characters gave us information about the characters that allowed us to understand them and care about them. Our late night host is fighting for his future... the show will be cancelled if tonight’s show doesn’t get great ratings.
One of the things that worked with the suspense/dread is that this is a live broadcast, and there were no second takes. So you might worry a little bit about the Amazing Randi clone who is a loose cannon and just interrupts constantly... which sets you up for when things really go wrong. If you are worried about a guest talking too much, you have bought into the idea that this is real. The film lures you in with "What if things go wrong on the show and it doesn't get renewed?" That tension opens the door for the weird stuff when you aren't looking.
The Uri Geller guy screws up trying to mind read the first audience member, and we fear for the show's ratings. So when he scores with the second audience member, we relax a little. Which is when we get hit with the Uri Geller guy feeling physically ill on live TV. The story pulls us in with small things... And then hits us with horror.
And it's paced well. Even before we get to the EXORCIST guests, scary stuff happens again and again. Live TV is no place for someone to projectile vomit blood all over the place. Not good for the ratings!
EVERY MINUTE COUNTS!
Another great thing this story does is a bit of slight of hand magic that worked for me twice. One, right up front, is the studio audience for the Halloween show is dressed in costume. Mostly fun costumes, but one member is effing scary looking and scary acting. You keep waiting for them to be a serial killer and start hacking away at people. This is a horror movie! Another example is the Satanic Cult's ceremonial dagger as a prop for that segment. The people on the show think of it as a prop - rather than something that can actually kill someone. Sometimes it’s just set down on a table between two characters who are in an argument. What if someone grabs it? These and some other things that are organic and related to the rest of the story build suspense in scenes, but aren't used for violence in those scenes. That dagger is set down next to an unpredictable character at one point and I might have yelled "No!" at the screen. Those things often made you *not* notice or think about a different threat, that was used in the scene. All of these things grow naturally from that initial idea. Though the guests on the show might seem random, all are part of the 1970s, and all are part of the supernatural world... and all are part of television! Each piece is connected, and grows from that main idea.
One of the great things about this film is that there’s never a dull moment. They dig deeper and deeper into that concept and find everything that might be frightening on a live TV show. From unexpected technical problems to projectile vomiting blood. Once you figure out your concept, brainstorm every possible idea that grows from that idea. Just keep going until you have a “menu” of ideas to “order” from - and then pick the best ideas that fit the story that you want to tell.
The end of the film didn't quite work. I think they were going for a NETWORK type of ending, where the real Devil was our host who would do anything for ratings. But if that's what they were going for, I wish they had used a plot device from a Brian Garfield novel (from the 70s!) - a radioactive necklace. The ending goes on a bit too long without clearly making its point, but that’s nitpicking a movie that had me on the edge of my cinema seat for 95% of its runtime.
With that ending, they might have used the "where are they now" (ANIMAL HOUSE - 70s!) as a return to the "documentary about this just discovered tape of the final episode of Night Owls"... With a bunch of crazy OMEN type deaths.
But for a movie that takes place almost 100% at the TV studio with a small audience and a small cast, that could probably really be shot on the existing Springer set? Worked well as both NETWORK and THE EXORCIST, and every piece of the story grew from that basic premise. All of it seemed logically connected with nothing glued on from the outside. This was a lower budget horror film that delivers, seemed “realistic”, and every character and scene and subplot and line of dialogue was logically connected. It all grew from the same “plot seed” - Live televised Exorcism.
Because your action conflict and emotional conflict and theme and everything else is connected, you can use the place where all of these things intersect as a “plot seed” to grow a story. You can begin with the theme or the emotional conflict or the character and find a high concept that best explores it. My “Thematic Theory” is that once you have any one element you can use that as a seed and find the other elements... and grow a script. So if you begin with your protagonist's emotional conflict (which may be *your* emotional conflict) you can find the most exciting physical conflict that will force him or her to deal with that emotional conflict. That physical conflict gives you clues to your villain... because all of these elements are connected way below the surface. The audience may never see the connections, but they are there. You are telling *one* story instead of just stringing together a bunch of random incidents that happen to the same person. What can you grow organically from that concept?
BRAND NEW!
How Do I do That?
![bluebook](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61jGslJP+KL._SY425_.jpg)
101 SCREENWRITING ANSWERS Blue Book!
New to screenwriting? You probably have questions! How do I get an Agent? How do I write a phone conversation? Do I need a Mentor? What’s does VO and OC and OS mean? What is proper screenplay format? Should I use a pen name? Do I need to movie to Hollywood? What’s the difference between a Producer and a Production Manager, and which should I sell my script to? How do I write a Text Message? Should I Copyright or WGA register my script? Can I Direct or Star? How do I write an Improvised scene? Overcoming Writer’s Block? How do I write a Sex Scene? And many many more! This book has the answers to the 101 Most Asked Questions from new screenwriters! Plus a Glossary of terms so that you can sound like a pro! Everything you need to know to begin writing your screenplay!
All of the answers you need to know, from a working professional screenwriter with 20 produced films and a new movie made for a major streaming service in 2023!
Only $4.99
NEWEST AND BLUEST!
Want To Look Like An Expert?
![bluebook](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51WSnNax7VL.jpg)
RESEARCH & WORLD BUILDING Blue Book!
Does this gun fire 6 shots or only 5? In all of the excitement of writing your action scene, you might not have done the research... and your hero could be out of ammo! Whether you are writing a novel or screenplay, you can save your hero, and your story, by doing a little research first! This book looks at Why you should research, Whether you should research First or Later, PLUS the importance of World Building in Science Fiction, Fantasy... and the worlds you explore in every other genre. Movies like JOHN WICK and THE GODFATHER take place in their own unique worlds... and writers must create them! YOU are the technical advisor on your Screenplay or Novel.
Using movie examples like TOP GUN, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, BLUE CRUSH, ADVENTURE LAND, several of my produced films, JOHN WICK, the novels of Donald E. Westlake and Thomas B. Dewey, SPY KIDS, the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, SOYLENT GREEN (which takes place in the far off future of 2022), and many others we will look at researching stories and creating worlds. The 8 Types Of Research, the 10 Types Of Information To Look For, 12 Important Elements Of World Building. Plus chapters on How To Rob A Bank and Commit Murder And Get Away With It for those of you interested in crime fiction, and Researching The Future for those writing science fiction, and Levels Of Reality if you are writing about a version of the real world.
No matter what you are writing, this book will help you find the facts... or make them up in a convincing way!
Only $4.99
NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!
FINISHED WRITING?
All About Rewrites!
![bluebook](http://www.scriptsecrets.net/images/RewritesCoverSML.jpg)
REWRITES Blue Book!
Rewriting In Waves?
When You Finish Your Screenplay Or Novel...
The Rewrites Begin!
The end is just the beginning! You’ve finished your story, but now the rewriting begins! This 405 page book shows you how to rewrite your screenplay or novel to perfection. Everything from Character Consistency to Shoeboxing to How To Give And Receive Notes to 15 Solutions If Your Script’s Too Long! and 15 Solutions If Your Script’s Too Short! to Finding The Cause Of A Story Problem to Good Notes Vs. Bad Notes to Finding Beta Readers to Avoiding Predictability to Learning To Be Objective About Your Work to Script Killer Notes and Notes From Idiots to Production Rewrites and What The Page Colors Mean? and a Complete Rewrite Checklist! The complete book on Rewriting Your Story!
Only $4.99
NEW ISH!
All About Endings!
![bluebook](http://www.scriptsecrets.net/images/EndCoverSmall.jpg)
GRAND FINALES Blue Book!
The Perfect Ending For Your Story!
The First Ten Pages Of Your Screenplay Are Critical,
But What About The Last 10 Pages?
Creating the perfect ending to your story! This 100,000 word book shows you how to end your story with a bang, rather than a whimper. Everything from Resolution Order to Act Three Tools to Happy or Sad Endings? to How The Beginning Of Your Story Has Clues To The Ending (in case you were having trouble figuring out how the story should end) to Falling Action to How To Avoid Bad Endings to Writing The Perfect Twist Ending to Setting Up Sequels & Series to Emotional Resolutions to How To Write Post Credit Sequences to Avoiding Deus Ex Machinas, to 20 Different Types Of Ends (and how to write them) and much more! Everything about endings for your screenplay or novel!
Only: $4.99
NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!
SHRINKING IT DOWN
All About LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING!
![bluebook](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518HyzGlDrL._SY346_.jpg)
LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING! Blue Book!
Distilling Your Screenplay!
Loglines, Treatments, Pitching, Look Books, Pitch Decks, One Pagers, Rip-O-Matics?
You have written a brilliant 110 page screenplay, but how do you get anyone to read it? You need to distill it down into some form of verbal moonshine or story rocket fuel that will ignite that bored development executive or manager or agent and get them to request your screenplay. But how do you shrink those 110 pages into a 25 word logline or a 2 minute elevator pitch or a one page synopsis or a short paragraph? This 100,000 word book shows you how! Everything you need to know! From common logline mistakes (and how to solve them) to how your pitch can reveal story problems to the 4 types of pitches!
272 Pages - ONLY $4.99!
NEW in 2020!
Making Your Own Movie?
WRITE IT: FILM IT BOOK!
Making Your Own Movie?
Writing An Indie Film?
Writing A Low Budget Genre Script To Sell?
Writing A Made For TV Holiday Movie?
You will be writing for BUDGET. On a standard spec screenplay, you don’t have to think about budget, but these types of screenplays writing with budget in mind is critical!
If you are making your own movie, budget, is even more important - and you need to think about budget *before* you write your screenplay... or you will end up with a script that you can’t afford to make (or is a struggle to make). Everyone is making their own films these days, and even if you have done it before there are lots of great techniques in this book to get more money on screen - for less money! You can make a film that looks like it cost millions for pocket change.
344 Pages - ONLY: $7.99!
THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL!
*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Kindle!
*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Nook!
Why pay $510 for a used version of the 240 page 2000 version that used to retail for $21.95? (check it out!) when
you can get the NEW EXPANDED VERSION - over 500 pages - for just $9.99? New chapters, New examples, New techniques!
"SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is the
best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read."
- Ted Elliott, co-writer of MASK OF ZORRO, SHREK, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and the sequels (with Terry Rossio). (ie; 4 of the top 20 Box Office Hits Of ALL TIME.)
Only $9.99 - and no postage!
BRAND NEW!
***
MITCH ROBERTSON #2: THE FAMILY'S JEWEL *** - For Kindle!
"The Presidential Suite of the Hollywood Hoover Hotel looked like a bloody battlefield: bodies everywhere, furniture broken, red liquid dripping from the walls, dead soldiers littering the elegant Berber rug as clouds of smoke overhead bounced between two air conditioning vents.
Mitch Robertson stepped over the body of an ex-child star turned sex tape star turned pop star and entered the room, spotted a gun on the floor and picked it up... careful not to spill his coffee with three pumps of mocha syrup from Penny’s Coffee Shop. That coffee was gold, the only thing keeping him going in this dazed state of wakefulness. The gun felt light. Holding it, he saw the silhouette of an 80s action star sitting sideways on a tipped over chair. Motionless. Was he dead? Mitch was still hung over from the Awards Party the night before, and wondered whether this was all some sort of crazy nightmare that he would wake up from... but when he tripped over the brown legs of a bottomless Superhero, flaccid junk encased in a condom but still wearing his mask, and hit the edge of the sofa, gun skittering and coffee spilling, he realized that it was all very real. What the hell had happened here?"
Short Novel. Only 99 cents! - and no postage!
Tips FAQ
My New Script Secrets Newsletter!
![](http://go.reachmail.net/images/subscribe.png)
THE BLUE BOOKS!
FIND A GREAT IDEA!
*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle!
****
Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Your screenplay is going to begin with an idea. There are good ideas and bad ideas and commercial ideas and personal ideas. But where do you find ideas in the first place? This handbook explores different methods for finding or generating ideas, and combining those ideas into concepts that sell. The Idea Bank, Fifteen Places To Find Ideas, Good Ideas And Bad Ideas, Ideas From Locations And Elements, Keeping Track Of Your Ideas, Idea Theft - What Can You Do? Weird Ways To Connect Ideas, Combing Ideas To Create Concepts, High Concepts - What Are They? Creating The Killer Concept, Substitution - Lion Tamers & Hitmen, Creating Blockbuster Concepts, Magnification And The Matrix, Conflict Within Concept, Concepts With Visual Conflict, Avoiding Episodic Concepts, much more! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 175 pages!
Only $4.99 - and no postage!
FIGURE OUT YOUR STORY!
![bluebook](http://www.scriptsecrets.net/images/outlinesSM.jpg)
OUTLINES & THE THEMATIC Blue Book.
ARE YOUR SCENES IN THE RIGHT ORDER?
AND ARE THEY THE RIGHT SCENES?
Your story is like a road trip... but where are you going? What's the best route to get there? What are the best sights to see along the way? Just as you plan a vacation instead of just jump in the car and start driving, it's a good idea to plan your story. An artist does sketches before breaking out the oils, so why shouldn't a writer do the same? This Blue Book looks at various outlining methods used by professional screenwriters like Wesley Strick, Paul Schrader, John August, and others... as well as a guest chapter on novel outlines. Plus a whole section on the Thematic Method of generating scenes and characters and other elements that will be part of your outline. The three stages of writing are: Pre-writing, Writing, and Rewriting... this book looks at that first stage and how to use it to improve your screenplays and novels.
Only $4.99 - and no postage!
GOT STRUCTURE?!
*** STRUCTURING YOUR STORY *** - For Kindle!
William Goldman says the most important single element of any screenplay is structure. It’s the skeleton under the flesh and blood of your story. Without it, you have a spineless, formless, mess... a slug! How do you make sure your structure is strong enough to support your story? How do you prevent your story from becoming a slug? This Blue Book explores different types of popular structures from the basic three act structure to more obscure methods like leap-frogging. We also look at structure as a verb as well as a noun, and techniques for structuring your story for maximum emotional impact. Most of the other books just look at *structure* and ignore the art of *structuring* your story. Techniques to make your story a page turner... instead of a slug!
Only $4.99 - and no postage!
STORY: WELL TOLD!
*** STORY: WELL TOLD *** - For Kindle!
This book takes you step-by-step through the construction of a story... and how to tell a story well, why Story always starts with character... but ISN'T character, Breaking Your Story, Irony, Planting Information, Evolving Story, Leaving No Dramatic Stone Unturned, The Three Greek Unities, The Importance Of Stakes, The Thematic Method, and how to create personal stories with blockbuster potential. Ready to tell a story?
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 85,000 words - 251 pages!
Only $4.99 - and no postage!
START STRONG!
*** HOOK 'EM IN TEN *** - For Kindle!
Your story doesn't get a second chance to make a great first impression, and this book shows you a
bunch of techniques on how to do that. From the 12 Basic Ways To Begin Your Story, to the 3 Stars Of
Your First Scene (at least one must be present) to World Building, Title Crawls, Backstory, Starting
Late, Teasers and Pre Title Sequences, Establishing Theme & Motifs (using GODFATHER PART 2), Five Critical
Elements, Setting Up The Rest Of The Story (with GODFATHER), and much more! With hundreds of examples
ranging from Oscar winners to classic films like CASABLANCA to some of my produced films (because
I know exactly why I wrote the scripts that way). Biggest Blue Book yet!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 100,000 words - 312 pages!
Only $4.99 - and no postage!
NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!
MOVIES ARE CHARACTERS!
*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Kindle!
*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Nook!
Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! A step-by-step guide to creating "take charge" protagonists. Screenplays are about characters in conflict... characters in emotional turmoil... Strong three dimensional protagonists who can find solutions to their problems in 110 pages. But how do you create characters like this? How do you turn words into flesh and blood? Character issues, Knowing Who Is The Boss, Tapping into YOUR fears, The Naked Character, Pulp Friction, Man With A Plan, Character Arcs, Avoiding Cliche People, Deep Characterization, Problem Protagonists, 12 Ways To Create Likable Protagonists (even if they are criminals), Active vs. Reactive, The Third Dimension In Character, Relationships, Ensemble Scripts, and much, much more. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 205 pages!
ONLY $4.99 - and no postage!
I WRITE PICTURES!
*** VISUAL STORYTELLING *** - For Kindle! (exclusive)
Show Don't Tell - but *how* do you do that? Here are techniques to tell stories visually! Using Oscar Winning Films and Oscar Nominated Films as our primary examples: from the first Best Picture Winner "Sunrise" (1927) to the Oscar Nominated "The Artist" (which takes place in 1927) with stops along the way Pixar's "Up" and Best Original Screenplay Winner "Breaking Away" (a small indie style drama - told visually) as well as "Witness" and other Oscar Winners as examples... plus RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 200 pages!
ONLY $4.99 - and no postage!
DESCRIPTION & VOICE Blue Book!
![bluebook](http://www.scriptsecrets.net/images/DescriptionCovSM.jpg)
DESCRIPTION & VOICE Blue Book.
IS HALF OF YOUR STORY IN TROUBLE?
Most screenplays are about a 50/50 split between dialogue and description - which means your description is just as important as your dialogue. It just gets less press because the audience never sees it, the same reason why screenwriters get less press than movie stars. But your story will never get to the audience until readers and development executives read your script... so it is a very important factor. Until the movie is made the screenplay is the movie and must be just as exciting as the movie. So how do you make your screenplay exciting to read? Description is important in a novel as well, and the “audience” does read it... how do we write riveting description?
Only $4.99 and no postage!
PRO DIALOGUE TECHNIQUES!
*** DIALOGUE SECRETS *** - For Kindle!
***
Expanded version with more ways to create interesting dialogue! How to remove bad dialogue (and what *is* bad dialogue), First Hand Dialogue, Awful Exposition, Realism, 50 Professional Dialogue Techniques you can use *today*, Subtext, Subtitles, Humor, Sizzling Banter, *Anti-Dialogue*, Speeches, and more. Tools you can use to make your dialogue sizzle! Special sections that use dialogue examples from movies as diverse as "Bringing Up Baby", "Psycho", "Double Indemnity", "Notorious", the Oscar nominated "You Can Count On Me", "His Girl Friday", and many more! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 175 pages!
Only $4.99 - and no postage!
WHAT IS A SCENE?
*** SCENE SECRETS *** - For Kindle!
***
What is a scene and how many you will need? The difference between scenes and sluglines. Put your scenes on trial for their lives! Using "Jaws" we'll look at beats within a scene. Scene DNA. Creating set pieces and high concept scenes. A famous director talks about creating memorable scenes. 12 ways to create new scenes. Creating unexpected scenes. Use dramatic tension to supercharge your scenes. Plants and payoffs in scenes. Plus transitions and buttons and the all important "flow"... and more! Over 65,000 words! Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 210 pages!
Only $4.99 - and no postage!
SUBPLOTS?
*** SUPPORTING CHARACTER SECRETS *** - For Kindle! (Exclusive)
Expanded version with more techniques to flesh out your Supporting Characters and make them individuals. Using the hit movie BRIDESMAIDS as well as other comedies like THE HANGOVER and TED and HIGH FIDELITY and
40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and many other examples we look at ways to make your Supporting Characters come alive on the page.
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 170 pages!
ONLY $4.99 - and no postage!
ACT TWO SOLUTIONS!
*** ACT TWO SECRETS *** - For Kindle!
Expanded version with more techniques to help you through the desert of Act Two! Subjects Include: What Is Act Two? Inside Moves, The 2 Ps: Purpose & Pacing, The 4Ds: Dilemma, Denial, Drama and Decision, Momentum, the Two Act Twos, Subplot Prisms, Deadlines, Drive, Levels Of Conflict, Escalation, When Act Two Begins and When Act Two Ends, Scene Order, Bite Sized Pieces, Common Act Two Issues, Plot Devices For Act Two, and dozens of others. Over 67,000 words (that’s well over 200 pages) of tools and techniques to get you through the desert of Act Two alive!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is well over 200 pages!
ONLY $4.99 - and no postage!
READY TO BREAK IN?
THE BUISINESS SIDE
*** BREAKING IN BLUE BOOK *** - For Kindle!
Should really be called the BUSINESS BLUE BOOK because it covers almost everything you will need to
know for your screenwriting career: from thinking like a producer and learning to speak their language,
to query letters and finding a manager or agent, to making connections (at home and in Hollywood) and
networking, to the different kinds of meetings you are will have at Studios, to the difference between
a producer and a studio, to landing an assignment at that meeting and what is required of you when you
are working under contract, to contracts and options and lawyers and... when to run from a deal!
Information you can use *now* to move your career forward! It's all here in the Biggest Blue Book yet!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 400 pages!
$4.99 - and no postage!
![](http://www.scriptsecrets.net/images/planet-megamall.jpg)
STORY IN ACTION SERIES!
![bluebook](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51vgMuXTGAL.jpg)
THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES
NEW: Updates On Films 7 & 8 Casting!
All Six Movies analyzed! All of the mission tapes, all of the “that’s impossible!” set pieces and stunts, the cons and capers - and how these scenes work, the twists and double crosses, the tension and suspense (and how to generate it), the concept of each film as a stand alone with a different director calling the shots (broken in the sixth film), the gadgets, the masks, the stories, the co-stars and team members (one team member has been in every film), the stunts Tom Cruise actually did (and the ones he didn’t), and so much more! Over 120,000 words of fun info!
THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES - 347 Pages - Only $3.99 !
BRAND NEW!
*** THE BOURNE MOVIES
NEW: Updates on TREADSTONE TV show!
All five "Bourne" movies (including "Legacy" and it's potential sequels) - what are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? Reinventing the thriller genre...
or following the "formula"? Five films - each with an interesting experiment! A detailed analysis of each
of the films, the way these thrillers work... as well as a complete list of box office and critical
statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just fans of the series.
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
Over 240 pages!
*** THE TERMINATOR MOVIES *** - For Kindle!
He's back! The release of "Terminator: Dark Fate" is set to begin a new trilogy in
the Terminator story... 35 years after the first film was released. What draws us to these films about
a cybernetic organism from the future sent back in time? Why is there a new proposed trilogy every few
years? This book looks at all five Terminator movies from a story standpoint - what makes them work
(or not)? What are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? How
about those secret story details you may not have noticed? Containing a detailed analysis of each of
the five films so far, this book delves into the way these stories work... as well as a complete list of
box office and critical statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just
fans of the series.
ONLY $3.99 - and no postage!
HITCHCOCK FOR WRITERS!
Strange Structures!
*** HITCHCOCK: EXPERIMENTS IN TERROR! *** - For Kindle!
***
Contained Thrillers like "Buried"? Serial Protagonists like "Place Beyond The Pines"? Multiple Connecting Stories like "Pulp Fiction"? Same Story Multiple Times like "Run, Lola, Run"?
HITCHCOCK DID IT FIRST!
This book focuses on 18 of Hitchcock's 52 films with wild cinema and story experiments which paved the way for modern films. Almost one hundred different experiments that you may think are recent cinema or story inventions... but some date back to Hitchcock's *silent* films! We'll examine these experiments and how they work. Great for film makers, screenwriters, film fans, producers and directors.
Only $5.99 - and no postage!
![](http://www.scriptsecrets.net/images/HitchMasterSM2.jpg)
LEARN SUSPENSE FROM THE MASTER!
*** HITCHCOCK: MASTERING SUSPENSE *** - For Kindle!
Alfred Hitchcock, who directed 52 movies, was known as the *Master Of Suspense*; but what exactly is suspense and how can *we* master it? How does suspense work? How can *we* create “Hitchcockian” suspense scenes in our screenplays, novels, stories and films?
This book uses seventeen of Hitchcock’s films to show the difference between suspense and surprise, how to use “focus objects” to create suspense, the 20 iconic suspense scenes and situations, how plot twists work, using secrets for suspense, how to use Dread (the cousin of suspense) in horror stories, and dozens of other amazing storytelling lessons. From classics like “Strangers On A Train” and “The Birds” and “Vertigo” and “To Catch A Thief” to older films from the British period like “The 39 Steps” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much” to his hits from the silent era like “The Lodger” (about Jack The Ripper), we’ll look at all of the techniques to create suspense!
Only $5.99
AUDIO CLASS!
NOIR & MYSTERY80 minute MP3 packed with information on writing Film Noir and Mystery scripts. Using examples from CHINATOWN to OUT OF THE PAST to DOUBLE INDEMNITY you'll learn how to create stories in this dark, twisted genre. How to plant clues, red herrings, suspects, victims, spider women, fallen heroes, the funhouse mirror world of noir supporting characters... and the origins of Film Noir in literature Noir dialogue and how noir endings are different than any other genre. All of the critical elements necessary to write in this critically popular genre.
The Noir & Mystery Class is only $15 (plus $5 S&H). First 20 on Limited Black Disk!
PAMDEMIC SALE! $5 OFF!
IDEAS AND CREATIVITY - 80 minute MP3 packed with information. Tools to find ideas that are both personal *and* commercial. Hollywood wants scripts with High Concept stories... but not stupid scripts. Developing *intelligent* high concept ideas. How to turn your personal story into a blockbuster - or find your personal story in a high concept idea. Brainstorming and being creative. Ideas and Creativity is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H)
WRITING INDIES - Writing an Indie film? This class covers everything you need to know - from Central Locations to Confined Cameos. Using examples from SWINGERS, THE COOLER, STATION AGENT and others, this 80 minute MP3 is packed with information. How Indoe films challenge the audience (while mainstream films reassure the audience). Structures, using BOYS DON'T CRY, RUN LOLA RUN, HILARY & JACKIE, and others as example. Writing for a budget, writing for non-actors, getting the most production value out of your budget. Writing Indies is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H)
WRITING HORROR - The essentials of a horror screenplay - what do ROSEMARY'S BABY, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE EXORCIST, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE OTHERS and OPEN WATER have in common? This class will tell you! All of the critical elements necessary to write a script that scares the pants off the audience. Writing Horror is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H).
Click here for more information on CLASS MP3s!
Use your creative energy to focus on the content; let Final Draft take care of the style. Final Draft is the number-one selling application specifically designed for writing movie scripts, television episodics and stage plays. Its ease-of-use and time-saving features have attracted writers for almost two decades positioning Final Draft as the Professional Screenwriters Choice. Final Draft power users include Academy, Emmy and BAFTA award winning writers like Oliver Stone, Tom Hanks, Alan Ball, J.J. Abrams, James Cameron and more.
* * * Buy It!