Archive for the “Screenwriting From Iowa” Category
Aug
14
2013
 
Screenwriting Quote #185 (Carson Reeves)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“At some point in the evolution of screenwriting, a buzz phrase was born: the ‘active protagonist.’ This refers to the hero who makes his own way, who drives the story forward instead of letting the story drive him. If you’re looking for a character in cinema history that embodies this persona, look no further than […]
Aug
13
2013
Raiders’ Snakes & Stunts 101Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Snakes are moving in force up the pillar toward Indy’s dwidling torch. Indy graps the pillar for dear life, grimaces with exertion and pushes against the wall with all he’s got.” Raiders of the Lost Ark Written by Lawrence Kasdan “It’s a hell of a way to make a living.” Stuntman Terry Leonard Raiders of […] “The whole language of the underworld and the understanding that the characters have of each other, you feel like you’re being led into a secret world.” Raiders of the Lost Ark Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan On the film Out of the Past (1947) The roots of Raiders of the Lost Ark range from the B-films of the […]
Aug
10
2013
Screenwriting by Numbers (tip #4)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaToday on repost Saturday I’m going back to 2008 when I wrote about numbers. And despite reading various posts debunking three-act structure and any kinds of patterns in screenplays and films I’ll stick by this post for the majority of American films. In fact, in recent years script readers have started their own blogs on […]
Aug
09
2013
Making “Raiders of the Lost Ark”Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“The Indiana Jones story started before I started working on the screenplay for Star Wars. When I was thinking of doing a sort of modern fairy tale couched in sort of a Saturday matinée serial vernacular I was thinking about all of the great things I can do. And obviously one of the subjects that […] “The best films are the ones that take you through a range of emotions. So with Stand By Me, we’re happy (they’re singing songs), terrified (Sick Balls!), exhilarated (barely escape being hit by a train), and sad (Gordie dealing with the death of his brother). Make sure to mix up the emotions in your script.” […] “Even in my own life, after 35 years, I feel that I have never done that one thing, that noble thing that defines a life.” Jerry Maguire’s Mission Statement “I came here to fire you Jerry.” Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr) in Jerry Maguire Written by Cameron Crowe The now ledgendary 1991 Disney memo written by […] “In the dizzying world of moviemaking, we must not be distracted from one fundamental concept: the idea is king. Stars, directors, writers, hardware, special effects, new sound systems… all of these can have a role to play in the success of a film, but they all serve as humble subjects to the supremacy of the idea. […]
Aug
05
2013
Concept, Concept, Concept (Tip #80)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“This may shock you, but most beginners fail at the concept. It’s the single most common problem I’ve found with scripts. Concept is the core of the script.” Karl Iglesias Writing for Emotional Impact “The other overwhelming weakness with these ninety-out-of-a-hundred rejected screenplays is with initial concept.” Michael Hauge Writing Screenplays that Sell (Formatting being […] “Indiana Jones is a master class on how to start a movie. It is a master class.” Craig Mazin Congrats to John August and Craig Mazin on their 100th podcast episode of Scriptnotes. They recorded that episode at the end of July and in either episode 100 or episode 101 (the Q&A with the live audience […] |
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