Archive for the “Screenwriting From Iowa” Category
Jul
13
2009
 
What Would Arthur Miller Do?Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaI often wonder what Arthur Miller would do if he were setting out to be a writer today. What kind of writing would the author of “Death of a Salesman” be doing? I think the same for Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, Ibsen, Chekhov and so on. Would they even be writing plays?
Jul
12
2009
Before Juno There Were Grumpy Old MenPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaLong before Diablo Cody wrote Juno in a Starbucks in a Minneapolis suburb, and before Nick Schenk wrote Gran Torino at Gumpy’s Bar in Minneapolis another screenwriter from Minnesota had jumped into the scene with his first script Grumpy Old Men
Jul
12
2009
Screenwriting Quote of the Day #97 (John Truby)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Any character who is going to drive the story has to grab and hold the audience’s attention at all times. There must be no dead time, no treading water, no padding in the story (and no more metaphors to hammer home the point). Whenever your lead character gets boring, the story stops.” Moral; of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.
Jul
09
2009
Screenwriting & Slavery to FreedomPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaI’d hate to admit to how many books on screenwriting I’ve read. I tend to agree you need just one to get you on track and then start writing. (And this blog, of course. Just for a little inspiration.) But with that said, I just starting reading John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story. When Henry Miller died in 1980 at the age of 88 he had over 40 books published. On Wikipedia it was written that Miller “was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of ‘novel’ that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, [...] “I am not afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
Jul
06
2009
Simplicity in Screenwriting (tip #27)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaIn the past week I watched two modern classic films (Deliverance & Scent of a Women) and read the script again for Juno. Though these movies are different in genre and were made in three different decades they have at least one thing in common – they are simple stories. “It seems to me that the earth may be borrowed but not bought. It may be used but not owned. It gives itself in response to love and tending, offers its seasonal flowering and fruiting. But we are tenants and not possessors, lovers and not masters.” “The United States is the only country with a known birthday.” |
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