I don't mean to have veal again, or to turn an adult cow into a baby cow, I mean to expose something that was hidden. The most important part of a writer’s job is to decide when to give information to the audience. Both at what time in the over-all story and in what specific order the information is given. We look at this in the Structuring Blue Book, and - spoilers - there is no one size fits all method. That isn’t in the book. Instead, we look at some films and how the time and order where the information is revealed creates an emotional impact on the audience. What dies the audience know and when did they know it?
Let’s say we have a man and a woman in their 40s who share the same last name, and they kiss. Passionately. Then head to the bedroom. The audience is likely to feel the romance - hey, a couple this age are still passionate about each other! And the sex scene that follows will be erotic. Okay, now let’s say we have the same scene, but before it we introduce the characters as Cercei and Jaimie Lannister from GAME OF THRONES who are brother and sister. No longer romantic, no longer sexy - it’s gross! Hey, that was the last episode of Season 1. Now imagine what you would have felt had their relationship as brother and sister not been revealed until after the sex scene. Shock! A different response than the slow burn grossness of the sex scene when we knew they were brother and sister. The reason why there’s no “one side fits all” method when it comes to revealing information is that 0only you know how you want the audience to feel at this point... and either version of the Cercei & Jaimie scene can work. Which do *you* think works best? And that is the art part of the job! So let’s look at a couple of couples, both of which have a relationship involving cell phones...
STORY REVEALS
Neil Jordan’s GRETA (2019) is an 80s style thriller like SINGLE WHITE FEMALE and BAD INFLUENCE that features modern cell phone technology put to great use. The 1980s and early 1990s were great decades for thrillers and to some degree the genre has been dormant recently. Chloë Grace Moretz plays Frances, a girl who has just graduated from college and is renting a room from her wealthy college friend Erica (Maika Monroe) in New York City. Frances works as a waitress in an upscale restaurant, and is one of those responsible, hard working people... which is kind of the opposite of her friend Erica. I think this might be Chloe’s first role as an “adult” - she’s played kids and college girls but here she’s all about her job. There is some great character building in the first few minutes involving calls from her father on her cell phone - they have been estranged since the death of her mother, and Frances lets the calls go to voice mail.
One day on the subway, she finds a handbag with an ID and some money inside and sets out to return it to the woman who lost it. Erica thinks they should just take the money and have a spa day... but Frances is the responsible one, and returns the handbag to...
Greta (Isabelle Huppert) a witty and outgoing older woman who lives alone in a large ground floor apartment. Greta invites Frances in for a cup of tea, and they have a nice conversation about being lonely in the big city - Greta’s daughter is away at college in Paris and she never calls. So we have a mother missing her daughter and a daughter missing her mother - see how giving the audience the information in this order would make them think that these two belong together? During this conversation there is some loud pounding on the wall behind Greta’s piano, and she says that her next door neighbors are doing some remodeling, and from the amount of noise they are making you would think that they are building an ark!
To avoid spoiling later scenes I am not going to reveal the relationship that Greta has with her neighbors who are making all of that noise... or how the noisy neighbors become part of the story later. But giving the information about the noisy neighbors early in the story has been done so that you will forget about them. Had this piece of information been given to the audience later in the film, closer to when the noisy neighbors become important to the story, it would have allowed the audience to jump ahead.
Greta invites Frances back for dinner, in appreciation of the returned handbag... and the two have become friends.
Just before the dinner, Greta asks Frances to get the candles from the cupboard, and Frances opens the wrong door and sees a dozen identical handbags, all with the exact same contents as the one she found on the subway. This happens early in the story, maybe around the ten minute mark. The reason why it happens at this point? This is a thriller, and we need to establish the threat early in order to create suspense. Greta isn’t just a lonely mother, she is a stalker looking for a surrogate daughter. Now we get a really creepy dinner scene where Greta keeps saying things that would not sound odd and vaguely threatening if we didn’t know that she had been “fishing” for a friend like Frances.
CELL PHONE TERROR
One of the “problems” with horror and thriller stories now is that everybody has a cell phone, and that means that they can call for help or find their way to safety or take a picture of the monster or whatever. My screenwriter friends hate them... but I love them. My theory is that anything that is a liability is secretly an asset. You just have to figure out how to make the cell phone the protagonist’s problem rather than their solution! They are hiding from the killer... and it rings. The villains can trace the cell phone. Maybe hack it and take pictures to discover where the protagonist is hiding. There are a million ways to make a cell phone work against the protagonist in a horror movie or thriller - find one!
GRETA does a great job of using cell phones. When Frances says that she no longer wants to visit Greta, she starts getting a million texts at work from Greta. Stalking by phone! If she turns her phone off she won’t be able to get important calls, if she leaves it on it buzzes every minute with a message from Greta. Or a missed call from Greta. She turns off her phone ringer, and later there is a great reveal as she looks at her messages - sees Greta’s name, then scrolls through HUNDREDS of messages from Greta. The phone becomes an integral part of the stalking plot - and this reveal show us just how bad things are, And all of these calls and messages from Greta obscure important calls from her father, so they are a great two-fer.
SPOILERS
Greta’s physical self is another element of reveals - when Frances looks outside her apartment window, Greta is standing in the street watching her building like Michael Myers in HALLOWEEN! When she looks across the street from the restaurant that she works at - traffic breaks up revealing Greta across the street. My favorite reveals - not really much of a spoiler - is when Frances goes to a table to greet a new customer and tell them about today’s specials... and it’s Greta! Revealing in this way creates shock in the audience, and a feeling that Greta can just pop up *anywhere* - Frances can never be safe because a car may pull away from the curb revealing Greta!
As Frances realizes that there is no escape from this lonely older woman, who is witty and loves Franz List music and dances when she’s happy (great uncliche characteristics for a stalker), she realizes that she must learn more about Greta in order to stop her. This leads to all kinds of information being revealed, each piece more shocking than the last. All of this information must be concealed in order to be revealed - so the loud next door neighbors and Greta’s estranged daughter in Paris and Greta’s piano and many other pieces of information we get early in the story pay off later when we understand that they conceal other information. They are clues - especially the piano - that reveal secrets later in the story.
The coolest use of the cell phone in the movie is when Greta threatens Frances by stalking her roommate Erica and taking candid photos and sending them to Frances. Frances calls Erica to say - she’s in the same bar as you! As Erica finds a way to sneak out through the delivery door (kind of from the world of restaurants) into the alley - Greta sends Frances a photo of Erica in the alley! No matter where Erica goes, an unseen Greta manages to take a photo of her and send it to Frances’ phone! Every time we thing that Erica has escaped, Frances’ cell phone rings revealing a photo from Greta only a few feet away! This builds great suspense - it’s a creepy chase scene combined with one of my 20 Iconic Thriller Scenes - watching someone in danger and being unable to help (think of the REAR WINDOW scene where Grace Kelly goes across the way to search Raymond Burr’s apartment as Jimmy Stewart watches... and Burr returns home early!). This movie does a great job of inventing new ways for cell phones to add to the suspense!
GRETA is a nice little old school thriller which even includes some shocking horror movie style reveals late in the story. XX lays a Private Detective reminiscent of Arbogast in PSYCHO, and Isabelle Huppert manages to be charming and frightening at the same time. If you find something left behind on the subway, give it to Lost And Found and let them deal with it!
SCENE REVEALS
Reveals can also be used in scenes (like the photo stalking of Erica) and short films, so let's look at one of the shorts that was in competition at the Raindance Film Festival several years ago when I was on the jury: not a thriller, but a delightful little French film called TEOU. In this case we're going to talk about connections between characters that are revealed for effect. It's as if the pieces of the puzzle come together and we can finally see the whole picture for the first time. After a couple breaks up, they try to make up by phone - each walking down crowded streets, talking on their cell phones. The film is split screen - she's on one side, he's on the other. As they dissect what went wrong with their relationship, apologize for past mistakes, profess their love for each other, and even ditch a rebound relationship; they are connected only by voice...
Or are they?
When the story opens, they seem to be in different worlds - she on her side of the screen and he on his. A line cuts through the screen. Both are in urban backgrounds, but they couldn't be more different. One is surrounded by graffitied walls and urban decay, the other on well maintained street with plants and flowers. But as the story continues, we begin to notice similar landmarks. She passes a particular building, and a minute later he passes the same building! They are in the same city! And getting closer together! In an odd way, this is similar to the GRETA stalking Erica scene - proximity between characters on a cell phone revealed to the audience.
When he says something stupid, and she takes a side-street. They may have been coming together before, but now they are coming apart. As they iron out their relationship problems, we begin seeing similar landmarks again. He passes a building and a minute later she walks past the same building. As their conversation continues, we start to spot more landmarks - She passes a fountain, then he passes it! We realize these two are walking around in the same area! Maybe only a block away from each other. They might even be able to see each other... if they weren't so focused on their phone conversations.
Every time it is revealed that one is passing a landmark the other passed only a minute ago, we want to yell at the screen "She's right there!" or "He's a block behind you!". As the time between the landmarks showing up on one side of the screen and the other becomes shorter, we realize they are getting closer to each other. Finally, when they profess their love to each other, we realize that the backgrounds are almost the same... and as each walks towards "center screen" the back grounds become the same. The two weren't in different worlds - they were close to each other all along. The total running time of the short - 7 minutes!
SERENDIPITY does the same thing. When John Cusack gets tangled in the leash of a friendly dalmatian on the streets of New York, we think he's a hundred miles away from his one true love Kate Beckinsale. But when we see Beckinsale a minute later and a man walks past with a friendly dalmatian, it's revealed that they are only a block away from each other! Like magic, she has appeared in his world. These are some of the most amazing scenes in the film - we become involved in the search and the romance because we are given information that neither character has - we know they are close when they think they are far away from each other.
When information is revealed to the audience that is not revealed to the characters, it puts us in a superior position. We know what might happen (or might not happen) and hope the characters make the right choices. This allows the audience to participate in the story - we are INVOLVED. Any time you have a character with an important decision, and show the audience the choices before the character makes the decision, the audience BECOMES the protagonist. They make the decision, then hope the protagonist will make the same decision. The decision to turn left instead of right while walking down a street may seem trivial... but in both SERENDIPITY and TEOU that decision will either take the character into the arms of their true love, or send them in opposite directions.
TEOU was a magical little 7 minute short, brilliant because the proximity of the lovers was revealed with little clues that involved the audience in their relationship. GRETA was an intense little thriller, brilliant for its use of cell phones to reveal the escalating threat. What information do you reveal to the audience in your script? What magic moments do you create by giving information at just the right moment?
This Script Tip gets a shout out in the GRAND FINALES Blue Book that I am currently writing. Reveals in Act Three!
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!
Thinking about writing a big Disaster Movie? An Historical Epic? An Epic Adventure Film? Or maybe you like Gladiator Movies? This book looks at writing Blockbusters and those Big Fat Beach Read novels - anything epic! Usng movies like JAWS, POSEIDON ADVENTURE, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, and those MARVEL and FAST & FURIOUS flicks as examples. What *is* a Blockbuster? 107 years of Blockbuster history! Blockbuster Characters. Blockbuster Story Types! Why modern Blockbusters are soap operas! Social Issues in Blcokbusters? Big Emotions! Keeping All Of Those Characters Distinctive! How to avoid the Big problems found in Big Movies and books! More! If you are writing a Big Event Movie or a Big Fat Novel, there are tips and techniques to help you!
"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?"
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!
*** 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!
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.
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.)
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 !
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.
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.
Screenwriting books have been around as long as films have. This series reprints vintage screenwriting books with a new introduction and history, plus new articles which look at how these lessons from almost 100 years ago apply to today’s screenplays. Anita Loos book is filled with information which still applies.
In addition to the full text of the original book, you get the full screenplay to Miss Loos' hit THE LOVE EXPERT, plus several new articles on the time period and women in Hollywood.
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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?
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
IT'S BACK! SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING
Over 460 pages packed with tips and techniques.
How to
write a plot twist,
the four kinds of suspense (and how to create it), reversals, ten ways to invent new action scenes, secrets and lies,
creating the ultimate
villain, five kinds of love interests, MORE!CLICK HERE!
CLASSES ON MP3
CLASSES ON MP3! Take a class on MP3! GUERRILLA MARKETING - NO AGENT? NO PROBLEM! and WRITING THRILLERS (2 MP3s). Full length classes on MP3. Now Available: IDEAS & CREATIVITY, WRITING HORROR, WRITING INDIE FILMS, more!
Take classes on MP3!
MY OTHER SITES
B MOVIE WORLD Cult Films, Exploitation, Bikers & Women In Prison, Monster Movies.
E BOOKS: New Blue Books and Novelettes!
I am expanding all of the Blue Books from around 44 pages of
text to around 200 pages! Some are over 250 pages! See what is availabale and what is coming soon!Also, I've been writing Novelletes and there
will soon be novels. E BOOKS: BLUE BOOKS & NOVELLETES
BOOKLETS & PRODUCTS
FIRST STRIKE BLUE BOOKS
Each Blue Book is 48
pages and focuses on a different aspect of screenwriting. Dialogue. Visual Storytelling. Your First Ten Pages. Act 2 Booster. Protagonists. Great Endings. Seventeen Blue Books now available!
