NoFilmSchool » writing

Shawn Ryan on Writing for the Screen: 'Lead as Interesting a Life as Possible'

Ryan Koo — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:19:30 +0000

Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield and now The Chicago Code, is probably the best-known filmmaker to graduate from my alma mater, Middlebury College. Shawn broke into the industry after writing “thirteen or fourteen spec scripts,” a testament to his drive as a writer. In a pair of interviews I found myself reading and watching recently, Shawn gives excellent advice for aspiring writers. The first interview is ~~actually by a classmate of mine, Astri von Arbin Ahlander~~ conducted by Evan Dumouchel, who asked Shawn, “What advice would you give to young people as they develop their craft?”: (more…)

A Comment on the Internet was Acquired by Warner Brothers

Ryan Koo — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:53:31 +0000

Community-based website Reddit has an ask reddit section wherein users can pose questions for other users (aka “redditors”). Redditor The.Quiet.Earth posed the question, “Could I destroy the entire Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus if I traveled back in time with a modern U.S. Marine infantry battalion or MEU?” In response, Prufrock451 (real name James Erwin) began writing a serialized story of this exact scenario. Madhouse Entertainment’s Adam Kolbrenner caught wind of the story after it hit the reddit front page, helped develop the story further, and sold the idea to Warner Brothers. Now called Rome, Sweet Rome, here is an excerpt from the short story as it first appeared on reddit: (more…)

Upstart Screenwriting Application Movie Draft SE Looks Promising

Ryan Koo — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:30:34 +0000

First of all, industry standard screenwriting software Final Draft is $70 off until Sept 30. But thanks to @navesink on Twitter, I found out about a new screenwriting program that brings some appealing changes to the table. Movie Draft SE is available through the Mac App Store for just $30 (“for a limited time,” though I don’t know how limited of a time we’re talking) with some very promising features. Chiefly I’m interested in the modularity of the scenes and the navigation sidebar, as demonstrated in this video: (more…)

Wacom’s New 'Inkling' Looks Mighty Handy for Storyboarding

Ryan Koo — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:09:24 +0000

Despite writing about Apple’s iPad — repeatedly — I’ve been holding off on getting one. On my wish list: the ability to use a stylus. And while there are a few iPad styli out there, it’s hard to beat the feeling of real paper. As someone who does a lot of freehand writing (my first draft of Man-child, for example, was freehanded in a notebook), I’ve been considering a Livescribe, which is popular with the entrepreneur set but seems a bit primitive since the dawn of the iPad. Now Wacom has join the paper-to-digital party with a new product named the “Inkling,” and watching the video demo, I can’t help but think of storyboarding: (more…)

For 21st Century Storytellers, Frank Rose's 'The Art of Immersion' is a Must-Read

Ryan Koo — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:32:31 +0000

I just finished reading The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories by Wired writer Frank Rose. The book provides an overview of all the changes taking place in our connected, interactive, game-ified culture, more than justifying its lengthy title in the process. As someone who’s interested in interactive storytelling in addition to more linear film narratives, I found the book to be packed with flavor crystals of brain candy (how’s that for an endorsement?). Here’s the first chapter, free: (more…)

Here's a Free 72-Minute Master Class with Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.

Ryan Koo — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:39:54 +0000

NAB ended a week ago, yet I feel like I’ve still got several roundup posts to write. However, I’ve been spending most of my days working on a screenplay in a nearby coffee shop because, like many people, I find something about the public space to inspire more creativity (or at least productivity). In the writing spirit, then, let’s enroll (virtually) in a master class from the Göteborg Film Festival, where brilliant screenwriter Charlie Kaufman held court for over an hour about his craft: (more…)

Don't Fool Around in April: Write 100 Pages in 30 Days for the Annual Script Frenzy Challenge

Ryan Koo — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:02:14 +0000

Every year the annual screenwriting challenge Script Frenzy asks participants to write 100 pages of script in 30 days. The grand prize? You win your own completed script. There are no awards other than the resulting feeling of accomplishment (and the movie that may get made as a result of your writing). I’m going to participate unofficially, as I have a just-completed hand-written first draft that I’m going to type up and revise twice in the month of April. Here are the official contest details: (more…)

Hours Don't Lie: Why Tracking Time = Getting Things Done (and Why to Live Abroad)

Ryan Koo — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:17:43 +0000

[photo: Darren Tunnicliff]

Plenty of us say we’re working on a [screenplay, novel, song, portfolio, website, acting career] while we we’re only [waiting tables, editing copy, being an assistant] to pay the bills. But the truth of the matter is, if we spend 40 hours a week doing [the latter] and we only find a few hours to do [the former], which of these tasks is more important to us?

The truest indicator of what’s important to us is the amount of time we devote to something. Not what we spend money on. No what we say we care about. So for the last 16 months, I’ve tracked my time religiously. What have I found? Hours don’t lie. Once you know where your hours are going, you can start changing your behavior in order to achieve your goals. (more…)

Joss Whedon's Top 10 Screenwriting Tips

Ryan Koo — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:01:10 +0000

Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) recently shared his top ten tips for screenwriting with 4Talent Magazine; screenwriter Danny Stack got their permission to reprint Whedon’s tips online. Here’s one of his tips: (more…)

Scripped is Free Cloud-Based Screenwriting Software

Ryan Koo — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:35:51 +0000

Here’s an interesting idea. Scripped is a sort of Google Docs for screenplays, in that is stores your script in the cloud (making it accessible from anywhere, and theoretically impervious to data loss). There’s also an online community allowing realtime collaboration and feedback, and there are a number of ongoing screenwriting contests as well. Scripped is free to use, with upgraded features available as a paid subscription. Here’s a look at it in action: (more…)

Using the Internet to Advance Your Screenwriting Career

Ryan Koo — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:06:51 +0000

Here are some quotes from an all-day Writers Guild seminar earlier in the year, wherein industry veterans talk about screenwriters using the internet to break into the industry. Another tip comes from John August, though you may not agree: use an email address from Gmail or your own domain. John’s one of the panelists here: (more…)

Structuring/Writing Application Scrivener 2.0 Released

Ryan Koo — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:57:47 +0000

About a year ago I bought the first version of Scrivener, a Mac writing app that falls somewhere between a structuring/outlining application and a proper word processor/screenwriting application. It’s an intriguing proposition, with virtual notecards, a nice full-screen writing mode, and plenty of other bells and whistles. Since adding it to my dock, however, I haven’t found myself using it that often — though I’m not sure if it’s through any fault of the software or just because I tend to outline the old-fashioned way (with pen and paper). Still, there’s a new version that’s just been released after a long development cycle, and it’s worth checking out if you’re a screenwriter or any other kind of long-form writer. (more…)

David Mamet on Drama (a Memo to 'The Unit' Writers)

Ryan Koo — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:21:05 +0000

This is an oldie but goodie. David Mamet wrote an impassioned memo to his writers on the now-cancelled show The Unit, laying out some principles of good dramatic writing. He wants three questions answered for every scene: “1) WHO WANTS WHAT? 2) WHAT HAPPENS IF [THEY] DON’T GET IT? 3) WHY NOW?” The memo also includes a few putdowns aimed at studio executives, and is a good read — and yes, he wrote it in ALL CAPS to stress the importance of what he was saying: (more…)

ClipMenu Rids Your Mac of its Textual Amnesia

Ryan Koo — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:02:40 +0000

You probably use a computer to write instead of freehanding or typewriting, because computers have all sorts of tools for saving, formatting, spell-checking, and copying and pasting. But when you think about it, the default copy-and-paste functionality of a computer is extremely basic. Out of the box, Macs and PCs only remember the very last thing you copied. The thing you copied before that? Gone. This makes no sense, since computers have enough memory for billions of lines of text. Thankfully there are a number of free applications out there to “buffer” your clipboard, placing everything you’ve copied — as well as commonly-used snippets of text — at your fingertips. Once I started using such an application, I forgot how I wrote without it. (more…)

Productivity in an age of constant connectivity

Ryan Koo — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:22:44 +0000

I affixed a quote from a GQ interview with Philip Roth into my writing notebook before leaving for Costa Rica; it seems especially relevant now that I’m trying to shut out New York City for considerable chunks of every day. (more…)