“Remember that scripts are not so much written as rewritten and rewritten and rewritten (Mark Twain’s rule for writing: ‘Apply seat of pants to chair’). During a period of nearly ten years when I was under contract to a British studio, first as a contract screenwriter, then later as a writer/director, a pattern emerged. Every […]
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“I’m gonna to do something really outragous—I’m gonna tell the truth.” Presidential candidate Gov. Jack Stanton (John Travolta) in Primary Colors I try to not post on holidays but this Presidents’ Day I thought a nice way to break up the series of posts I’ve been doing on writer/director turned film professor Alexanader Mackendrick is to show […]
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I had a meeting in Ocala, Florida today and couldn’t help but take this picture of the Marion Theatre that’s been in the historic downtown area for more than 70 years. The movie theatre has had a few bumps in the road since it was built in 1941, including one 15 year stretch where it went dark, […]
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“What is happening NOW is not as exciting as what may or may not Happen NEXT. Alexander Mackendrick
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“Exposition is BORING unless it…”
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“The obligatory scene, usually the denouement of a story, classically expresses the theme.” Alexander Mackendrick
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“Cinema hits us at a gut level—its impact is sensory and physical.”—Alexander Mackendrick 
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“Dramatic tension generally requires an element of conflict. The nineteenth-century theorists suggested that conflict requires the presentation of an onstage clash of wills between hero and his antagonists. Later critics pointed out that in many cases, when a story is really rewarding, the tension may be a matter of not what happens, but how it […]
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The man in this case was writer/director Alexander Mackendrick, and what he walked way from way making movies in Hollywood. Here’s a documentary about the film Mackendrick made and how he turned to teaching at CalArts—a school founded by Walt Disney. Scott W. Smith Tagged: Alexander Mackendrick, CalArts, Walt Disney
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“‘Protagonist’ (the name given to the leading character in your story) literally means the person who initiates the agon (struggle).
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