by Jason Brubaker.

Since starting Filmmaking Stuff, many screenwriters have written me, asking if I could provide advice on how they can protect their screenplay from theft. I usually tell screenwriters that most producers will not go through the process of raising a gazillion dollars without compensating the screenwriter fairly.

However, as my screenwriter friend Jurgen Wolff points out, “While most people are honest, in every business there are people who steal. Once in a while you read about such cases in the media but others are kept quiet as a condition of the settlement.”

Read the rest of this article from Filmmaking Stuff.

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This article was written for Bachelors Degree.

“Creative industries seem impenetrable for those attempting to launch their careers, owing to the minimum amount of jobs and exhausting crush of people thinking they hold the next Citizen Kane in their hot little hands. The film and television industries especially suffer from this phenomenon, intimidating many who genuinely have something to offer the mediums. As countless G.I. Joe episodes have touted, “knowing is half the battle” — and this mantra especially applies to aspirant screenwriters and filmmakers.

Staying on top of the latest people, places and pieces, opinions, and trends is almost as crucial to forging a career as completely understanding the narrative devices that make a script stand out. The internet, per usual, delivers on this front with a cascade of reading material poking and prodding every nook and cranny of the cinematic arts. While this list is by no means comprehensive — nor does it dismiss the contributions of other resources out there — it does provide a hopefully valuable and diverse starting point for anyone hoping to see their stories get told.”

Read the rest of this article from Bachelors Degree.

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Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 28 pages of my 210 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”
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This article was written by Richard Verrier.

“Screenwriter David Steinberg was invited last fall by a producer to pitch his idea for a rewrite of a “high-concept comedy” about an adult slacker for a major studio.

Steinberg figured he had a good shot at the assignment with credits like “American Pie 2″ under his belt, even though he heard there were many other writers competing for the opening.

After an initial meeting, the producer asked him to prepare a more detailed proposal, known as a “beat sheet,” outlining each scene and character. Steinberg reworked four drafts of his pitch and met with other producers, each one offering a different take while praising him for a “great job.”

Normally, jumping through all those hoops signaled he had the job in the bag. Not this time. Steinberg was vacationing with his family in Aruba over the winter holiday when his agent e-mailed him that the studio picked another writer.”

Read the rest of this article from LA Times.

This article was written for Get Film Crew.

“I am a film major and am being given the option to focus on directing or screenwriting although I am not sure on what to do. What would you guys do?

The issue is not if you’re a people person or a loner. There are plenty of Directors I know who are very much not the life of the party and they could care less about your feelings. They care about getting the job done and everybody around them doing their jobs. So that the story can be told. Everything else is secondary.”

Read the rest of this article from Get Film Crew.

“The Science & Entertainment Exchange is a program of the National Academy of Sciences that provides entertainment industry professionals with access to top scientists and engineers to help bring the reality of cutting-edge science to creative and engaging storylines.”

Read this artice from The Science & Entertainment Exchange.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Well, after a marathon of several weeks and 14 hour days (sounds like a film set!) I am extremely happy to announce that I have finally finished the “Script Breakdown and Film Scheduling Online Course For Independent Filmmakers.”

The website is now live and you can be one of the first to get a look at this intensive Online Film Scheduling course. But before you go, here’s another section of this 137 page course you can read:

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“The Classic Three Act Script Structure”

In 2007, a Production Manager called me and asked me if I would interview as a 1st AD for a feature film. He told me the director wanted to bring in his own 1st AD, so these interviews were more about meeting the locals than hiring someone. Knowing that I probably wasn’t going to have a chance at the job, I said yes anyway. He emailed me the script.

Now I have read hundreds of scripts during my career, and after a while, you get a “gut feeling” about whether a script will make a good film or not.

Well, as I was reading this script, I sensed something different about it. The story grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go. When I got to the end, I had a big grin on my face. I really enjoyed this funny and charming story.

What was the script? It was called “Juno” and we all know what happened a year later at the 2008 Academy Awards!

Why am I telling you this story?

It’s because everything to do with the making a film starts with the script. And every department on a movie has to take this script, read it, understand it and break it down to find all the elements they need to look after during the production.

Therefore, before we get into the 1st AD breakdown of the script, I think it is a good idea to discuss the actual structure of a dramatic script.

Traditionally, the basic structure of any movie script is divided into three (unseen) acts. Here’s how it breaks down:

1. ACT ONE (Set Up) (Boy meets girl)

a. Who is the main character?

b. What is the premise or theme?

c. What is the situation? (story)

d. What are the main character’s needs and goals?

2. ACT TWO (Confrontation) (Boy loses girl & fights against impossible odds to get her back)

a. What is the dramatic action?

b. What are the obstacles?

c. What is the conflict?

3, ACT THREE (Resolution) (Boy gets girl) OR (Boy dies – “Titanic”)

a. How does the story end (what is the solution)?

b. What happens to the main character?

c. What happens to the other characters?

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I am very excited about the quality of the content I’m going to share with you in the “Script Breakdown and Film Scheduling Online Course For Independent Filmmakers.”

I guarantee that when you have finished reading this 137 page manual, you will have gained in-depth industry knowledge of the entire pre-production stage of making an independent film or TV series.

And don’t forget, this course is not just for Assistant Directors and Production Managers. I also wrote this course for Directors, Producers, Location Managers and other filmmakers who need to know and understand the proper steps involved in breaking down a script and creating a realistic film shooting schedule.

Here’s the website link again so you can be one of the first to check out all the details about this online course including content list, support materials and free bonuses.

This article is from Samurai Screenwriter’s Dojo.

Screenwriter’s Bushido is the only screenwriting guide that takes a martial arts approach to the development of screenplay craft! Read articles.

This article is from BBC World Service.

“If you’re interested in screenwriting then the first thing you have to come terms with is that film history is littered with good manuscripts that never got made. The director fell out with the producer. The star got pneumonia. The distribution company got cold feet.

It’s possible to make quite a tidy sum out of writing screenplays that will be never be seen by a single paying punter. Somewhat demoralising, you may think, but before you worry about all that, you have to write the manuscript in the first place.” Read article.

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WGA and Academy Award nominated screenwriters share secrets to their succes. Watch Video.

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THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR: Sign up for your own FREE subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine, packed with hundreds of film making articles, tips, tools and techniques. This FREE monthly Film Directing ezine is read by over 3200 filmmakers in 100 countries around the world. http://www.actioncutprint.com/ezine.html

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Michael Bruce Adams is a screenwriter and a friend of mine. I interviewed Michael for my “Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar” and I have included a portion of that interview here. Part One (Monday) was about how to research; Part Two (Wednesday) was about the search for truth; and Part Three (today) is about how to write believable characters.

A film that Michael wrote has just been released and is called “REACH FOR ME.” Michael can be reached at solperro@shaw.ca

PART THREE

Peter - What’s the trick to writing believable characters?

Michael - The trick is to turn your senses inward. Trust that the bank of sensory memories you have stored away from all the experiences in your life can help you create accurate sensory impulses for your characters. Close your eyes and put your self in a still frame from your scene. Paint that frame until it is true and accurate. Now slip into the role of your character, become that character and live the scene as it plays out. React as that character, speak, feel and think as that character. Now do the same process with each character in the scene.

As you get good at this you will be able to jump from character to character and live out the scene in real time. You will also find that the responses and actions of your characters will be frighteningly truthful and unique. You will also find that, with practice, as in dreams, you will be able to control the spin of situations so that you can rewind and try a different reaction from a certain character that might take the scene to a new and more exciting direction.

You write with all six senses, the five usual ones and the sixth sense, which for writers is transcendence. Transcendence, or the ability to rise above and go beyond the limits of normal physical human experience, is both a tool and a goal. Eventually you will so adept at slipping into your characters’ psyches that you can take your characters into any situation and create a truthful, resonant story. So when a studio says to you, “We love your story but it’s an ensemble drama and what we really need is a single character driven action piece,” you can say, “No problem. I can do that.” That’s transcendence. That’s magic.

Peter - Do you use the same technique for building characters?

Michael – Building characters comes out of the research. Remember we talked about what a benefit it is to have your characters in mind when you going through your research process? Well, it’s almost like reverse engineering. When you have the seeds of a story and an idea of what your main characters look like, then you have a pretty good idea, simply from psychological dynamics, of what you expect your character to be capable of through their journey. Then you work back.

If your character has to accomplish a near impossible goal at the end of their journey then you might wonder where that strength would come from. Was it a positively reinforced trait or negatively reinforced? And how would they react at having to use that strength? Would they be liberated, or racked with guilt? What were their parents like, the home, their upbringing? What key events impacted their lives? Did they make key decisions or let life make decisions for them? Did they have room to breathe as a child or were they hemmed in by a Brooklyn brownstone neighborhood?

All these things have an impact on who your characters are and who they will become over the course of their journey through your story, and this is called their character arc. So, when you research, you build your characters, when you write, you become what you’ve built.

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Want to Learn More Film and Television Directing Tips and Techniques? Check out Peter D. Marshall’s 2008 multi-media reference guide for filmmakers, “The Art and Craft of the Director 10-Day Audio Seminar“ – a 162 page eBook packed full of insider film directing tips and tools supported by over 500 film making reference links, 26 mp3 audio files, 28 video links and 23 pdf special reports all designed to help you become a successful, working film and television director.
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