Free Republic

One hears a great deal these days about the universal nature of story. It's a gratifying conceit that deep down we all share the same fundamental narrative. But what about the more factional, political nature of story? I don't mean the depiction of torture in Zero Dark Thirty or corporate cunning in Promised Land. I mean the intrinsically political nature of how character is portrayed and plot structured. Stories stage conflict. And the strongest conflict always dictates inseparable, irreconcilable opposites. If Henry Adams was right, that politics in practice is always "the systematic organization of hatreds," then what better place...

Syd Field, whose books on screenwriting became set texts for many aspiring film writers, has died at the age of 77. Famous for outlining the "three act" structure used by many screenplays, the author and lecturer died of haemolytic anaemia at his Beverly Hills home.

If you’ve gone to the movies recently, you may have felt a strangely familiar feeling: You’ve seen this movie before. Not this exact movie, but some of these exact story beats: the hero dressed down by his mentor in the first 15 minutes (Star Trek Into Darkness, Battleship); the villain who gets caught on purpose (The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Skyfall, Star Trek Into Darkness); the moment of hopelessness and disarray a half-hour before the movie ends (Olympus Has Fallen, Oblivion, 21 Jump Street, Fast & Furious 6).

If you want to write for Hollywood, study this picture. This faded lobby card from Charles Chaplin’s The Kid is the best lesson you’ll ever have in how to write for the movies. Despite its age, it illustrates many of the essential elements you’ll need to keep in mind today as your write your Hollywood screenplay. It’s a visual reminder of the kind of movie that producers, studios and – most importantly – audiences are looking for.

If you’re a writer struggling to put together a screenplay, but it’s a big mess and you don’t know where to begin, this is the post for you. I’m going to explain the easiest way I know how to bring structure to your screenplay and solve the problems you’re having. In my last post, I suggested that “doing the right thing is worth the struggle” is a common inspirational message found in many of the most stirring Hollywood movies. However, each individual film has it’s own particular moral theme that it wants to get across to the audience. And it’s...

Hollywood’s gift to America – and the world – is the Hollywood Hero. Cue laughter from the Left: “How quaint! How primitive! How typical of lowbrow, right-wing culture! We give our Best Picture awards to nihilist movies like "No Country for Old Men" and Best Actor awards to anti-heroes like Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood." No hope for millions of Americans there!” Many of you have probably taken courses in screenwriting and read several of books on the subject. You know about character arcs, emotional beats, and mid-point reversals. Yet, when it comes to putting words to paper,...

My Pitch Meeting With Steven Spielberg by J. Neil SchulmanHere's a picture of Steven Spielberg with E.T. (Spielberg is the one on the right.)In 1982, when E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released, six-year-old Brian Herzlinger first got a crush on its young co-star, Drew Barrymore. Twenty-three years later, with a video camera obtained under morally ambiguous circumstances and $1,100 prize money he won on a game show, Brian decided to make the charming, inspirational, and laugh-out-loud funny movie, My Date with Drew, in which he documents his campaign to get a date with his crush. Strategic to Brian's campaign to...

The American Film Renaissance, which hosted the first-ever conservative film festival last September, is sponsoring a screenwriting competition. First place is $2,000. The judges include three Oscar-nominated screenwriters: Lionel Chetwynd (Hanoi Hilton, Ike), John Milius (Apocalypse Now, Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn), and Roger L. Simon (Enemies: A Love Story). They are looking for scripts with a conservative or libertarian theme. The early deadline is October 17, 2005.

Scientists ...at an American Film Institute workshop. LA -Tucked away in ...Hollywood...an elite group of scientists from across the country and from a grab bag of disciplines - rocket science, nanotechnology, genetics, even veterinary medicine - has gathered this week to plot a solution to what officials call one of the nation's most vexing long-term national security problems. Their work is being financed by the Air Force and the Army, but the Manhattan Project it ain't: the 15 scientists are being taught how to write and sell screenplays. At a cost of roughly $25,000 in Pentagon research grants, the American...

Well, Oscar Night is upon us again. And if Chris Rock is nearly right, I might be the only straight white man who watches the Oscars for both the pretty women almost dressed plus the primetime fun of making rude comments as the awards are handed out. I think I seen about every Academy Awards when I've been able to since my folks got a television set in 1955. It was always in the back of my mind to one night walk up and accept one of those small golden guys. I tried the acting route, even obtaining a SAG...