nofilmschool » writing

Everybody Could Use a Little Self Control, or an App That Does It for You

Micah Van Hove — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:50:59 +0000

Too often have I experienced the doubled-edged nature of the internet: it’s a great tool, but also a great distraction. We all need to buckle down sometimes and get to work, and the insta-grat (yes) of the internet can be crippling. In comes SelfControl, a free and open-source application that blocks your own access to chosen websites for a designated amount of time. Hit the jump for the details. (more…)

20 Things That Helped Me Finish the MANCHILD Screenplay

Ryan Koo — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:30:48 +0000

A few months ago I finished the screenplay for my feature MANCHILD (for now, at least, until we move to the next stage and start making changes for talent/locations/budget/etc). I’ll have more updates on the project soon, but suffice to say there’s been a long rewriting process since I ran my Kickstarter campaign over a year ago. And while this wasn’t the first screenplay I’ve written, it’s certainly the best, and the one on which I’ve worked the longest and hardest. Over the past two years, here are the things that have helped my screenwriting process. (more…)

Don't Let Your Imagination Get the Best of You: a Message from NY Times Editor Hugo Lindgren

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:36:57 +0000

Ideas are great, but in having ‘too many’ of them, you run the risk of overloading yourself, compounding your creative schedule to a point you can’t actually manage, or worst of all — never actually getting the thing written, or shot, or otherwise made — whatever the case may be. The editor of The New York Times, Hugo Lindgren, has just written a powerful self-case study about the many undeveloped story and concept kernels he’s had, why they never got off the back burner, and where all the time seems to have gone — in other words, a creative thinker’s worst nightmare. Whether you’re a writer, a shooter, a director, or a film editor, you might want to check out Hugo’s editorial, because you might see a lot more of yourself in his words than you may expect. (more…)

Rian Johnson's Sci-Fi Film 'Looper': A Great Case Study of the MacGuffin

Benjamin Dewhurst — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:00:59 +0000

You see Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the left here? He seems pretty confused. Now, it’s arguable that he’s contemplating the nuances of time travel. Or maybe pondering how he can elude male pattern baldness. But you know what? I think he’s thinking about something else entirely — his MacGuffin in Looper, written and directed by Rian Johnson, who also helmed and wrote Brick and The Brothers Bloom. Hit the jump for a great video by Isaac Niemand that looks at the MacGuffin in general, and a take on Looper‘s MacGuffin by boingboing’s Jamie Frevele that provides a great case study. Note the bottom portion of this post is SPOILER-ridden if you haven’t seen Looper yet! (more…)

Free Platform '750 Words' Challenges You to Write Three Pages Every Day

Benjamin Dewhurst — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 22:45:28 +0000

As fellow NoFilmSchool and feature-film script writer Christopher Boone would tell you (you’re my boy, blue!), writing is something you have to practice daily. The hardest part sometimes is just motivating yourself to stop staring at the blank page and just write something. If you’re the type of person who enjoys a challenge, then perhaps a fun way to get a few good pages in every day is a free platform called 750 Words. Hit the jump for a full rundown on the site, and how it could be a boon to your screenwriting creativity: (more…)

Creative Boxes Can Help Inspire Screenwriting: Musician Jack White Discusses Purposeful Obstacles

Joe Marine — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 20:30:23 +0000

Ideas don’t always just come to artists out of thin air, contrary to popular belief. A lot of what happens between the mind and the page (or screen) is just pushing through and making things happen even when you’re not feeling inspired creatively. While this clip from Jack White speaking in the documentary The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights is about music, it can certainly be applied to filmmaking, and more specifically, screenwriting. (more…)

Screenwriters Erik Bork and Pamela Gray Break Down the Marathon Writing Process

Christopher Boone — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:30:25 +0000

Screenplays look deceiving. Short paragraphs, blocks of dialogue and all of that white space can lure new writers into the trap of believing that writing a screenplay just can’t be that hard. That is, until they actually try to write a screenplay. As aspiring screenwriters, we know it is so much more than putting words on a page. We have so much creative work to do before we even type word one of our screenplay. Yet, ironically, after we have grappled with concept, story, structure, character development and setting, we still face the long process of, well, putting words on a page. John Buchanan of Script Magazine interviewed professional screenwriters Erik Bork (Emmy winner for HBO’s From the Earth to the Moon and Band of Brothers) and Pamela Gray (Conviction, A Walk on the Moon) and uncovered valuable perspectives on tackling the long haul of writing screenplays. (more…)

17 Writing Tricks to Help Get You Through Your Screenplay

Joe Marine — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:26:08 +0000

Scott Myers and the Go Into The Story blog is a tremendous resource for screenwriters, regardless of whether you’re an amateur or a professional. Over the past few years Scott has been writing about simple tricks that can help get you unstuck when you’re writing your screenplay. Most of them are straightforward, but a few are a little unorthodox. There’s a good chance you’ve heard some of them before, but I’ve compiled a list of 17 tips that Scott has shared on his site. (more…)

22 Tips on Storytelling from Pixar

Ryan Koo — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 17:53:07 +0000

Director and Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats (@lawnrocket) recently tweeted out 22 tips for storytelling, one of which ends with “Endings are hard, get yours working up front.” From day one I always knew how I wanted Manchild to end — and throughout a year and a half of writing, the ending has never changed. Perhaps that’s why, while it is not the first feature I’ve written, it will be the first feature I actually make (more news on the project when I have some… soon). Here are the tips, handily compiled in list form: (more…)

Movie Draft Review: Promising (and Affordable) Screenwriting Software with a Bright Future

Ryan Koo — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:51:37 +0000

For screenwriting, I’ve been a long-time Final Draft user, but I’ve never been a huge fan. It’s like the Microsoft Word of screenwriting software — ubiquitous and adequate, but not something you’re particularly excited about. I’ve been using it since Version 4, and it has definitely improved since then, but for a $250 program I’ve never felt that it has evolved as much as I’d like. What am I looking for? More structuring and outlining tools. This is where Movie Draft comes in. Note that it’s ~~Mac only~~ available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, it’s rated nearly 5 stars in the Mac App Store, and it only costs $30. (more…)

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 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. It’s also available for Windows and Linux. 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…)