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influences

Want To Get Noticed? Then Don’t Write These Type Of Screenplays

Updated Previously titled, ‘Want To Get Noticed? Don’t Write Low Budget Depressing Drama or High Budget Science Fiction/Fantasy Spec Scripts‘, this post will outline why trying to get out of the submissions pile with a low budget drama or a high budget sci fi TV pilot like a gazilion other writers (probably) ain’t gonna work for you. Strap yourself in and suck it up, peeps … Cliches + Stereotypes = BORING When I started script reading, everyone was writing very “worthy”, very personal psychological dramas where generally everybody died or was at least miserable as Hell and in the grip of addiction,… Read More »Want To Get Noticed? Then Don’t Write These Type Of Screenplays

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Why Won’t My Spec Sell??

Every day people find this blog via the search, “Why won’t my spec script sell??” Once upon a time I would have sympathised and said a fair amount of luck comes into it. Whilst true, having been on enough projects that have sold now (and seen a disproportionate amount go down the flusher having never come close to selling), I think I get why, now. End of the day, it all comes to this: Are you writing your concept to FIT the industry? Or expecting the industry to FIT your concept? If the former, CONGRATULATIONS. You realise that it’s concept… Read More »Why Won’t My Spec Sell??

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6 Ways To Make The Most Of Low Budget Visual Effects

Thinking about writing a low budget feature? Ever imagined that you might be able to stuff it full of visual effects…? I’d currently define myself as VFX-curious – I’m interested but inexpert. Most writers and editors know very little about the VFX world. But earlier this year my virtual mind was blown by two fab workshops led by experts in the field as part of our Cross Channel Film Lab preparations. Here are some of their top tips for embedding lower cost VFX in your screenplay: 1. Keep the monsters under the bed Don’t show us your monsters. Even Jurassic… Read More »6 Ways To Make The Most Of Low Budget Visual Effects

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Your Book Is Movie …

… I heard this advice at a seminar at London Book Fair 2010. It was a real watershed moment for me. It was quite literally the best advice I ever heard, because it finally unlocked the idea in my head that had been percolating for about five years, which enabled me to craft my novel so that it sold. But what does it mean? Seems to me there’s two ways of thinking about “your book is a movie”: Your book will want to “unlock” all possible markets … In other words, if your book can be easily adapted INTO a… Read More »Your Book Is Movie …

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Genre & Tone, A Case Study: BEETLEJUICE

This post is inspired by  two separate Twitter conversations over the last two weeks between myself and Michelle Goode & Claire Yeowart and then Hina Malik – so stand by for some serious musing. Years ago I attended a conference held by The British Board of Film Classifcation (BBFC). It was a very interesting  – and of course the notion of film censorship reared its head. Since the majority of us in the room were students, many of us expressed outrage that censorship existed at all; we claimed that as artists we should be “trusted” to make the “right” stuff.… Read More »Genre & Tone, A Case Study: BEETLEJUICE

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How To Write Great Characters

It’s oft-said that it’s *all* about characters, so one thing Bang2writers ask me about over and over again is “how” to write a “great character”. Sorry, but there is no actual *way*. Lots of people advocate various techniques… But most are a variation on that fabled notion of “getting inside a character’s head”. Character questionnaires, talking to/visiting the very people you want to write about and what Dom Carver calls “method writing” are a good start in terms of representing one’s characters… but that’s all they are: a START. I don’t think “getting in the character’s head” is even HALF… Read More »How To Write Great Characters

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I Am Not A Lucky Person

You don’t have to go far to hear writers, filmmakers, actors etc expressing RAGE when told however hard they’ve worked, they’re “lucky”. Hell, I include myself on that. I am not a lucky person. Name any given situation, even something as small as picking one outcome **or the other** – left or right? Heads or tails? Red or black? – I WILL PICK THE WRONG ONE. 100% true factoid. I’ve ended up in enough wrong places and lost enough bets and money to know this. I am a hard working person. Hell yeah. We all are. I know lots of… Read More »I Am Not A Lucky Person

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Influences: A Meme

It’s been quite a while since I started a meme, so here’s one to consider: What single film or TV programme at some point in your life made you a) understand the filmmaking process and b) influence your own style of writing? [Then tag three people and reprint these instructions]. I tag: David Bishop, Elinor & Lara. So here’s mine… Beware, there be spoilers. SEVEN (1995)Director: David Fincher Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker It’s hard to believe Seven has been around now for nearly HALF MY LIFE: watching it only recently, I was of the opinion it hadn’t dated much. Funnily… Read More »Influences: A Meme

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Welcome To Rom Com Hell: 8 Awful Ways To Write Romantic Comedy

Rom Com / Real Life Hell Rom Com was always one of those genres I avoided through my teens and early twenties. Being a Goth, I was way too cool for boy-meets-girl, obviously. Besides which, by 18 I was a total cynic … I had after all been the girl who’d met the boy, then got knocked up and ripped off by him! I’d been left with a broken heart, a wailing baby and a man-hating attitude problem for approximately five years.  I was also of the (not unreasonable) belief that post-FOUR WEDDINGS in the late 90’s/early noughties that all… Read More »Welcome To Rom Com Hell: 8 Awful Ways To Write Romantic Comedy

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All About Dramatic Irony And Twists In The Tale

All About Dramatic Irony Dramatic irony is a tool I see often in produced and published works, but hardly ever in spec scripts or unpublished novels. Recently I was talking with Uber-Agent Julian Friedmann and mentioned how much I love Yves Lavender’s book Writing Drama. Segnor Friedmann replied how much he loves the book’s section on dramatic irony, lamenting the fact that so few screenwriters actually use this fantastic device. His comments really struck a chord, so I think I’ll have a good look at what makes dramatic irony so great. What is Dramatic Irony? First off however, what is dramatic irony? Well, this… Read More »All About Dramatic Irony And Twists In The Tale

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More on Genre, Pt 2: Steven Sheil

Steven Sheil, writer and director of the horror film Mum and Dad, drops in to share his thoughts on genre!Why do you think genre has mass appeal, when drama films don’t necessarily provide a draw for audiences when they’re so celebrated by critics? I think audiences like being told stories – and the more ‘story-like’ something is, the more they like it. With realist films, obviously you are still being told a story, but it’s one that is probably a little closer to the audience’s own experience – and therefore it’s more likely to produce feelings of empathy (“that’s happened… Read More »More on Genre, Pt 2: Steven Sheil

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How To Use Plot Devices – Voiceover, Flashback, Montage, Intercut and Dream Sequence

Plot Devices With A Bad Name … There are lots of plot devices in scriptwriting we hear are “frowned on”. We shouldn’t use voiceover or flashback is the usual (or voiceover WITH flashback!). I’ve also heard montage maligned in a similar fashion, as well as intercut and dream sequence. This is a load of rot as far as I’m concerned. You can use what you like. These accusations we see levied like “flashback is a lazy way of telling a story” is just another generalisation. Flashback can be an amazingly dramatic way to tell a story. … For A REASON!!… Read More »How To Use Plot Devices – Voiceover, Flashback, Montage, Intercut and Dream Sequence

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