When examining any work of art especially a film, it is essential to view it as a reflection of the time and language or culture in which it is created. In the case of our film – A Trial Before Monsoon, the first draft of the screenplay was in English, and later we decided that…
It’s wise to act on the idea when you first receive ‘that spark’; And once you start meeting new people who share similar thoughts as you do, that spark starts getting into a perspective. Your idea starts becoming sharper. So you are ready, to break the ice and produce a new film. The Idea What’s…
by Ines de los Santos | June 7th, 2020 Before generating a story from an idea, it’s very important to keep in mind what a story is made up of. A story isn’t just something that happens to someone. In its most basic form, a story is how what happens to someone affects that being,…
by David Barbeschi | June 6th, 2020 Sometimes, when I’m commissioned to rewrite a script, I come across strange things that are just irritating. Like page-long sex scenes (why?) or overuse of exclamation marks and ellipses (so it reads as if every sentence is either yelled or trails off). In this particular case, the writer/director…
by Ines de los Santos | May 22nd, 2020 There is no wrong place to get an idea from. Therefore, “building a story” has countless sources. However, there are some that we might not be aware of their accessibility to us. A great screenplay that has been written comes from dreams, conversations with friends, news…
by David Barbeschi | May 20th, 2020 So you’ve begun to write your first script. Hurray! Congratulations. You’ve taken the most important step. As you write, you finally reach the point where you have to describe your female character. *clearing my throat* DO NOT COMMENT ON HER PHYSIQUE. Avoid anything like “she is beautiful/gorgeous/sublime/sexy” or…
by Anthony Ho | May 15th 2020 Throughout film history, many have considered the antagonist as someone who has opposed principle or morality to the protagonist, widely addressed as the “bad guy”. That way of speaking is mostly correct as most protagonists stand as a figure or symbol of righteousness and justice in the movie…
Creating a story should focus on mastering the art of screenwriting and not about guessing what the marketplace needs right now.
by Henry Wallis | May 10th 2020 Fundamentally, our protagonist must have two defining characteristics. They must be active and flawed. Otherwise, your audience will be sat half asleep and wondering why they paid for the cinema tickets in the first place. Our protagonist must be actively pursuing an external goal which must be cinematic. …
When I worked as a script reader, I read a drama screenplay where the writer tries to put humor , quippy comments in the lines trying to be the “funny guy”.