Screenwriting From Iowa

One thing that is not going down in price is the cost of going to movies. While you can buy a classic movie on DVD for $5, going to a mediocre one in the theaters can cost just about twice as much. And by the time you add drinks, snacks, gas (and sometimes parking) a [...]

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Every once in a while I pick up William Goldman’s book Adventures in the Screen Trade and flip through it. I don’t know if that or Syd Fields’ book Screenplay was the first book on screenwriting I ever read, but I remember discovering them both while in film school. Many have built on the foundation [...]

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Since I just covered descriptive writing for screenwriting in five parts I think it’s important to address the Shane Black factor. When Black came on the scene in the 80s he was the latest hotshot screenwriter to come on the scene.
He quickly had a couple hit movies (Lethal Weapon, Last Boy Scout) and made a [...]

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Today we’ll look at three well known movies and see how the settings were written:
INT. MEMPHIS SUPERHUB–NIGHT–LATER
Our executives work amid the army of EMPLOYEES sorting the rivers of Christmas packages that flow relentlessly into the Hub. Some still have ties on, others have on Christmas hats incredibly complex; the work is demanding, intense. Like “Modern [...]

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Writing action in a screenplay is not to be confused with car chases (though it could be a car chase). The action, or as it is also called the narrative, is simply what’s supposed to be happening on screen. More often than not it is a few blurbs rather than thick paragraphs. If there is [...]

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When you break down the core aspects of a screenplay you have scene headings (INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY), dialogue (”I’m walking here!”) and what is called scene description, action or narrative. It’s the little blurb that sets up the scene and explains what’s going on in between the the dialogue.  Today we’ll look at [...]

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There are been over 100 movies and TV programs based on the novels and short stories of Stephen King so it’s safe to say that his writing strikes a cord with viewers as well as readers of his books. Here are some excerpts of what what King as to say about descriptive writing:
“Description is what [...]

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This week we’ll look at examples of descriptive writing and Joan Didion is a fitting place to start. While Didion did co-write the screenplays A Star is Born and Up Close and Personal she is best known for her essays and novels. John Leonard of  The New York Times wrote,“There hasn’t been another American writer [...]

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Captain Kirk isn’t the only Star Trek person with an Iowa connection. Nicholas Meyer who directed Star trek II; The Wrath of Khan (1982) and co-wrote the screenplays for Star Trek IV; The Voyage Home (1986) and Star Trek; The Undiscovered Country (1991) graduated from the University of Iowa in 1964. 
He worked as a Unit Publicist [...]

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Finding time to write is one of the biggest struggles for that writers with jobs and a family. But there are many stories of writers like John Grisham (The Firm) and Ron Bass (Rain Man) waking up at 5 A.M. to write before their day jobs. Now I’ve discovered another that is in that club:
“I [...]

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