I haven’t really posted anything about genres so far so I thought I would start with one of my favourite genres – the western. Genres are a way of categorizing films that have a loose set of similar characteristics. They are inevitably vague with flexible boundaries but include sets of conventions that recur in many [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Screenwriting'
Westerns – Part 1
February 1st, 2010 · No Comments · Film Criticism and Analysis, Film Narrative, Genre, Screenwriting
Tags: american dream·cowboys·Genre·Hollywood·John Ford·westerns
Brilliant Beginnings
December 18th, 2009 · No Comments · Cinematography, Film Directing, Film Editing, Film Narrative, Screenwriting
A film lives or dies by its beginning. If you haven’t hooked the audience within the first twenty minutes it is an uphill battle from then on. The first twenty minutes of a film are crucial to its success artistically and, no doubt, financially. A brilliant beginning can make a good film great or a [...]
Tags: aliens·apocalypse now·babel·beginnings·dawn of the dead·set up
Manhunter vs Red Dragon
June 19th, 2008 · No Comments · Film Criticism and Analysis, Film Directing, Film Narrative, Genre, Screenwriting
Many people have read the books by Thomas Harris that introduced the serial killer, Dr Hannibal Lecter, to an unsuspecting world. Who can forget Anthony Hopkin’s performance in Silence of the Lambs when that story was transferred to the silver screen.
However, his first appearance was several years earlier in a small but pivotal cameo role [...]
Tags: Anthony Hopkins·Brian Cox·CSI·forensic criminal investigations·Hannibal Lecter·Manhunter·Miami Vice·Michael Mann·Red Dragon·serial killer·Silence of the Lambs·Thomas Harris
Screenwriting Software – update
June 9th, 2008 · No Comments · Screenwriting
In a previous post, I did a brief survey of screen writing software and made some recommendations. Well, I have just come across a new piece of software that purports to be the complete pre-production package taking your work through story development, screen play, shooting schedules etc. Even more important – it’s free and comes [...]
Tags: celtx·pre-production software
Screenwriting Software
September 3rd, 2007 · No Comments · Film Narrative, Screenwriting
In the last couple of weeks I have been musing again about maybe starting some screenplays. Being the person I am, I do like to prepare everything beforehand and have everything I need before I start. (This is also a convenient excuse when I don’t start or finish something – “I haven’t got the right [...]
Tags: cinergy·final draft·microsoft word·open office·sophocles·writers cafe
Free Film Enthusiast Toolbar
August 9th, 2007 · No Comments · Film Criticism and Analysis, Film General, Film News, Screenwriting
I have recently been working on a free toolbar specifically designed for film enthusiasts. And now I have one to launch to the world! It’s fairly basic at the moment but I will continue developing it and adding whatever features I can to it, hopefully, with your help.
As I said it is designed with film [...]
Tags:
Letters and Flags from Clint
July 25th, 2007 · No Comments · Film Directing, Film Narrative, Genre, Screenwriting
I bought a boxed set of the recent Clint Eastwood movies about the battle for Iwo Jima earlier this week from the local supermarket. I had wanted to see them at the cinema but missed them because there was such a short theatrical release for them particularly in the North East of England.
First and foremost, [...]
Tags: clint eastwood·flags of our fathers·iwo jima films·letters from iwo jima
Screenwriting – The Inner Movie Method
March 13th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Screenwriting
There are many books on screenwriting that give you a formula or set of rules to build (and sell) your script. Having read a number of them over the years, the one I go back to for a little inspiration from time to time is a “How to Write a Movie in 21 Days” by [...]
Tags: Screenwriting·viki king
Film Screenplays – The Perfect Story?
March 1st, 2007 · No Comments · Film Criticism and Analysis, Film Narrative, Screenwriting
Ever since cinema began Hollywood executives and screenwriters have been looking for the holy grail – a story structure that will work over and over again in different environments, across different genres and with different characters to lay the foundations for a successful screenplay. If you had this formula it would be like pure gold [...]
Tags: christopher vogler·joseph campbell·the writers journey·vladimir propp