MONDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:

FORWARD MOMENTUM


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Why do some movies drag and others just zip along from scene to scene? Why do some stories seem to have a driving force behind them and others just limp along until the closing credits? It all comes down to character, motivations, and conflict - the basics of story!

We've seen leaked pictures of the new Batmobile and that's good because the police can use those pictures to find it now that it's been stolen. Ben Affleck is playing Batman this time around, and I hope that third time playing a superhero is a charm. He played Superman in HOLLYWOODLAND and Daredevil in the film with that title which I'm sure Ben has tried to remove from his resume because it flopped big time. DAREDEVIL was a Netflix show... did they avoid the core problems of the Ben Affleck film?

DAREDEVIL did okay at the box office, but wasn't a hit... I think the studio was disappointed. Though I still sometimes wonder why Ben Affleck is a star, he didn't sink this one, the story and characters did. The film has no forward momentum because none of the characters had goals... and no one was actively trying to *do* anything. Eventually Daredevil and Kingpin bump into each other and fight - but the fight ends up dull because there are no stakes. Daredevil gains nothing if he wins, Kingpin gains nothing if he wins. Neither character has an active goal.

The film drags because no one is driving the story.

daredevil

Our protagonist, Daredevil, has no forward momentum. No driving force. Like Batman, his parents were murdered... but unlike BATMAN BEGINS the story is not about a guy searching for the killers of his father - he's just a vigilante. All criminals seem to be the same. He accidentally stumbles on the guy who killed his father (the rose clue) but it was never his goal in the film. Daredevil's quest for vengeance wasn't driving the movie. Daredevil has a *vague* goal - catching bad guys. If all bad guys are the same, he can never actually achieve his goal because there will always be another bad guy. He has no *concrete* goal - so his story is pointless. He can't make any progress towards his goal, so the story has no forward momentum.

It's not enough that Daredevil have a goal, he must be actively pursuing that goal. The goal isn't going to come to him, he has to go out there and grab it. He must be ACTIVE. He has to chase the goal, fight for the goal. The story needs to be *about* Daredevil pursuing his goal, so every *scene* will be about the pursuit of that goal. Every scene will be moving the story towards the conclusion. Even set back scenes where the protagonist may be licking his wounds or regrouping, are about pursuing the goal... *Why* are they regrouping? What is the *purpose* for regrouping? Obviously, it's so they can regain the strength necessary to go after the goal again. If they actually give up the pursuit of the goal, the story drops dead.

A screenplay is like a shark - it never sleeps, it never stops moving forward until it dies. What we have in DAREDEVIL is a dead shark.

ACTIVE VILLAINS

law and order

In most action and thriller scripts the Villain's goal is more important than the hero's goal. Heroes tend to be reactive (which is not the same as passive). If you think about the average cop show, the killer starts the story. Take an episode of LAW & ORDER - the opening scene has a pair of New Yorkers engaged in an argument trip over a dead body. The next scene has Detectives Briscoe and Green on the scene examining the dead guy, and ends with a quip from Briscoe... then on to the first commercial and titles. The murder has already been committed before the story starts. Our cop heroes now must react to the crime by going after the killer. Twenty three minutes later they've captured the killer and the story is turned over to the prosecutors for the last half of the show.

In a feature script we have two hours instead of twenty three minutes, so the villain's plan is going to be something that can sustain a story of that length. The villain's goal isn't going to be killing one person, that victim is part of a larger and more complex plan. The villain's plan will be to achieve a specific goal by the end of the story, and only the hero can stop him. The villain is usually the driving force in an action or thriller script. Their plan is what creates the forward momentum.

But Kingpin has no plan at all, so Daredevil has nothing to stop.

Kingpin wants to maintain a status quo - he wants nothing to change. That's a non-goal. It's something he *already has*, so there's nothing to pursue. Nothing active for Kingpin to do. He has already achieved his goal - which makes him PASSIVE instead of active. Had Daredevil been actively closing in on Kingpin - attacking Kingpin in scene after scene - then Kingpin could be REACTIVE. But Daredevil isn't doing anything that threatens Kingpin. We have no direct conflict in the story!

Major story flaw - there is no conflict! They could have either given Kingpin a plan that Daredevil had to stop, or given Daredevil a goal that Kingpin got in the way of... like the search for his father's killer. If that had been 100% the focus of the film, with Daredevil climbing the ladder of henchmen to find Kingpin, that would have given the story trajectory. It would have given the story the momentum needed to keep it from sagging. It also might have made for a more interesting story if Daredevil followed the trail to his father's killer and ended up at the partnership between Electra's dad and Kingpin... with the clues pointing to Electra's dad. Would you kill the father of the woman you loved? Man, that's a good dramatic dilemma!

electra

That scenario makes the whole Bullseye assassination thing more dramatic - it's what Daredevil desires. He secretly wanted Electra's dad dead, and he gets his wish. NOW go to the confessional - you're guilty for wanting him dead. The rose reveals that Electra's dad wasn't Daredevil's dad's killer... and that makes it worse. Much more dramatic! Hey - and it has that forward trajectory and conflict that a story needs.

What the film really needs is CONFLICT - it has fight scenes, but they don't really accomplish anything. Why? Because none of the characters are pursuing a goal (Except when Electra goes after her father's killer and Bullseye goes after Daredevil - two sequences where characters have goals and the two most exciting sequences in the film.) Having the protagonist actively pursuing a goal that creates a conflict with the antagonist (or vice versa) gives a script forward trajectory and would have made DAREDEVIL a really good film. Instead it's just a slow moving time killer.

SUPER HEROES, POINTLESS VILLAINS

electra

IRON MAN 2 had the same problem, so maybe Hollywood didn't learn its lesson...

Whiplash (a brilliant Mickey Rourke) wants to destroy Tony Stark (Robert Downey, jr - always great) for what Stark's father did to his father decades ago...

But when Whiplash has a chance to kill Stark, he does not... why? Instead Whiplash is arrested, and his threat is removed from the story for part of Act 2. The other villain, Justin Hammer (excellent Sam Rockwell) is a weapons manufacturer in competition with Stark on a Defense Contract. He busts Whiplash out of jail and gives him free run of his lab to create some amazing weapon thing to make Stark look foolish and win Hammer the Defense Contract - and that is the rest of Act 2.

Note: there is no real interaction between our hero and either villain! Whiplash's goal seems to be to get his pet parrot out of Russia! Hammer's goal is to get a Defense Contract! Stark's goal is to get drunk a lot! (Stark's conflict is completely internal for Act 2 - and sleep inducing.)

Though the Defense Contract does put Stark and Hammer on mild collision course, if Hammer gets the contract, who cares? It doesn't hurt Stark, it doesn't hurt anybody. Whiplash already had a chance to kill Stark and did not - so what is his plan now? To build a better weapon and make Stark look like a fool? No plan! No conflict! No Act 2! This is why IRON MAN 2 isn't as good as IRON MAN or IRON MAN 3 - basic structure issues! Nothing is driving the story, so it loses momentum in Act 2.

There are all kinds of possibilities in IRON MAN 2 - like Stark discovering his father was a cheat who would do anything to get ahead... and worrying that he may be his father's son. And Whiplash wants revenge for how his father was treated. Seems like there was a juicy conflict that was never really explored. Too bad. IRON MAN might have gone the way of DAREDEVIL if they hadn't hired Shane Black on the third one. You always have to pay close attention to the script and the conflict and the character's goals.

THE DARK KNIGHT FALLS?

dark knight rises DARK KNIGHT RISES lagged behind THE DARK KNIGHT in ticket sales and Box Office. The reviews were positive but mixed... and that wasn't just because the critics don't get it. The film was a fun summer movie... but not as good as the first two films. The great thing it did have going for it was that it comes full circle to BATMAN BEGINS - bringing back character and plot elements from that (underappreciated) film.

It also started well, with a handful of thematic discussions about masks - Bane says "No one cared who I was before I put on the mask", Bruce Wayne talks about wearing a mask to protect the ones you love, Arthur says "You don't outsmart the truth - you let it have it's day" (removing the mask), and Commissioner Gordon sets out to remove the "mask" of Harvey Dent to expose the truth: Dent tried to kill his son and *Batman* was the hero they should be honoring. The story is on track for Bruce Wayne to step up and take responsibility for being Batman...

Except that doesn't really happen.

SPOILERS!

And when we come to Bane's plot, the film sputters like DAREDEVIL because Batman is *not involved*. So there is no *conflict* between Batman and Bane. We get a couple of *fist fights* but that's all. For much of the first part of the film Bruce Wayne is wondering if he should put on the Batsuit again... then we get a chase scene where the focus isn't on Batman Vs. Bane, then a fist fight... then Batman is held captive for most of the rest of the film. That means Bane has no opponents. There is no conflict. Bane just does what he wants. Batman is out of the picture (literally) until the end.

So we have an active antagonist... just no protagonist around to create a conflict.

Our supporting cast ends up filling in for Batman in the protagonist category - and that keeps the film going in ways that never happened with DAREDEVIL... but if you came for a Batman movie and end up with a Commissioner Gordon and Idealistic Young Cop (Joseph Gordon Levitt) movie. To make matters worse, the only other person in a mask who can kick ass - Catwoman - spends most of the rest of the movie, like Batman, offscreen being held captive... or just not getting involved. So we end up with a Batman movie with no Batman - and no real protagonist who can stand up to Bane. No real conflict. Another issue is that Bane has a "One Step Plan"... which I look at in the Act Two Blue Book. DARK KNIGHT RISES ended up a movie without much Dark Knight - and no real conflict because the story removes the protagonist from the action. Big mistake!

Though DARK KNIGHT RISES was a nice end to the trilogy and - like Nolan's other films - an ambitious blockbuster that tackles real social and political issues - the best of the Nolan Batman movies is *still* BATMAN BEGINS...

Please - no death threats! I *liked* DARK KNIGHT RISES... but compared to Nolan's first two Batman movies? Those are huge shoes to fill. Will Zack Snyder be able to fill the director's shoes in the new movie? Will Ben Affleck be a good Batman? Tune in March 25, 2016, same time, same Batchannel!

Your Screenplay Checklist:

1) What is your protagonist's goal?
2) What are they doing to achieve it?
3) Is every scene about the protagonist chasing their goal?

1) What is the antagonist's goal?
2) What are they doing to achieve that goal?
3) Is the antagonist active pursuing their goal in every scene?

It's not enough to have a goal - the characters have to be ACTIVELY working to achieve the goal. They have to be DOING SOMETHING. No passive protagonists, no passive antagonists! And put them in the same scenes so that they *can* do something!


NEWEST AND BLUEST!

Want To Look Like An Expert?

bluebook

RESEARCH & WORLD BUILDING Blue Book!

Does this gun fire 6 shots or only 5? In all of the excitement of writing your action scene, you might not have done the research... and your hero could be out of ammo! Whether you are writing a novel or screenplay, you can save your hero, and your story, by doing a little research first! This book looks at Why you should research, Whether you should research First or Later, PLUS the importance of World Building in Science Fiction, Fantasy... and the worlds you explore in every other genre. Movies like JOHN WICK and THE GODFATHER take place in their own unique worlds... and writers must create them! YOU are the technical advisor on your Screenplay or Novel.

Using movie examples like TOP GUN, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, BLUE CRUSH, ADVENTURE LAND, several of my produced films, JOHN WICK, the novels of Donald E. Westlake and Thomas B. Dewey, SPY KIDS, the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, SOYLENT GREEN (which takes place in the far off future of 2022), and many others we will look at researching stories and creating worlds. The 8 Types Of Research, the 10 Types Of Information To Look For, 12 Important Elements Of World Building. Plus chapters on How To Rob A Bank and Commit Murder And Get Away With It for those of you interested in crime fiction, and Researching The Future for those writing science fiction, and Levels Of Reality if you are writing about a version of the real world.

No matter what you are writing, this book will help you find the facts... or make them up in a convincing way!

Only $4.99


NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!


FINISHED WRITING?

All About Rewrites!

bluebook

REWRITES Blue Book!

Rewriting In Waves?

When You Finish Your Screenplay Or Novel...
The Rewrites Begin!

The end is just the beginning! You’ve finished your story, but now the rewriting begins! This 405 page book shows you how to rewrite your screenplay or novel to perfection. Everything from Character Consistency to Shoeboxing to How To Give And Receive Notes to 15 Solutions If Your Script’s Too Long! and 15 Solutions If Your Script’s Too Short! to Finding The Cause Of A Story Problem to Good Notes Vs. Bad Notes to Finding Beta Readers to Avoiding Predictability to Learning To Be Objective About Your Work to Script Killer Notes and Notes From Idiots to Production Rewrites and What The Page Colors Mean? and a Complete Rewrite Checklist! The complete book on Rewriting Your Story!

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NEW ISH!

All About Endings!

bluebook

GRAND FINALES Blue Book!

The Perfect Ending For Your Story!

The First Ten Pages Of Your Screenplay Are Critical,
But What About The Last 10 Pages?

Creating the perfect ending to your story! This 100,000 word book shows you how to end your story with a bang, rather than a whimper. Everything from Resolution Order to Act Three Tools to Happy or Sad Endings? to How The Beginning Of Your Story Has Clues To The Ending (in case you were having trouble figuring out how the story should end) to Falling Action to How To Avoid Bad Endings to Writing The Perfect Twist Ending to Setting Up Sequels & Series to Emotional Resolutions to How To Write Post Credit Sequences to Avoiding Deus Ex Machinas, to 20 Different Types Of Ends (and how to write them) and much more! Everything about endings for your screenplay or novel!

Only: $4.99


NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!


SHRINKING IT DOWN

All About LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING!

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LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING! Blue Book!

Distilling Your Screenplay!

Loglines, Treatments, Pitching, Look Books, Pitch Decks, One Pagers, Rip-O-Matics?

You have written a brilliant 110 page screenplay, but how do you get anyone to read it? You need to distill it down into some form of verbal moonshine or story rocket fuel that will ignite that bored development executive or manager or agent and get them to request your screenplay. But how do you shrink those 110 pages into a 25 word logline or a 2 minute elevator pitch or a one page synopsis or a short paragraph? This 100,000 word book shows you how! Everything you need to know! From common logline mistakes (and how to solve them) to how your pitch can reveal story problems to the 4 types of pitches!

272 Pages - ONLY $4.99!


NEW in 2020!

Making Your Own Movie?

WRITE IT: FILM IT BOOK! WriteItFilmIt



Making Your Own Movie?
Writing An Indie Film?
Writing A Low Budget Genre Script To Sell?
Writing A Made For TV Holiday Movie?

You will be writing for BUDGET. On a standard spec screenplay, you don’t have to think about budget, but these types of screenplays writing with budget in mind is critical!

If you are making your own movie, budget, is even more important - and you need to think about budget *before* you write your screenplay... or you will end up with a script that you can’t afford to make (or is a struggle to make). Everyone is making their own films these days, and even if you have done it before there are lots of great techniques in this book to get more money on screen - for less money! You can make a film that looks like it cost millions for pocket change.

344 Pages - ONLY: $7.99!


bluebook

THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL!

*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Kindle!

*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Nook!


Why pay $510 for a used version of the 240 page 2000 version that used to retail for $21.95? (check it out!) when you can get the NEW EXPANDED VERSION - over 500 pages - for just $9.99? New chapters, New examples, New techniques!

"SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is the best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read." - Ted Elliott, co-writer of MASK OF ZORRO, SHREK, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and the sequels (with Terry Rossio). (ie; 4 of the top 20 Box Office Hits Of ALL TIME.)

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BRAND NEW!

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*** MITCH ROBERTSON #2: THE FAMILY'S JEWEL *** - For Kindle!

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Mitch Robertson stepped over the body of an ex-child star turned sex tape star turned pop star and entered the room, spotted a gun on the floor and picked it up... careful not to spill his coffee with three pumps of mocha syrup from Penny’s Coffee Shop. That coffee was gold, the only thing keeping him going in this dazed state of wakefulness. The gun felt light. Holding it, he saw the silhouette of an 80s action star sitting sideways on a tipped over chair. Motionless. Was he dead? Mitch was still hung over from the Awards Party the night before, and wondered whether this was all some sort of crazy nightmare that he would wake up from... but when he tripped over the brown legs of a bottomless Superhero, flaccid junk encased in a condom but still wearing his mask, and hit the edge of the sofa, gun skittering and coffee spilling, he realized that it was all very real. What the hell had happened here?"

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Tips FAQ

My New Script Secrets Newsletter!


THE BLUE BOOKS!

bluebook

FIND A GREAT IDEA!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle!

****

Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Your screenplay is going to begin with an idea. There are good ideas and bad ideas and commercial ideas and personal ideas. But where do you find ideas in the first place? This handbook explores different methods for finding or generating ideas, and combining those ideas into concepts that sell. The Idea Bank, Fifteen Places To Find Ideas, Good Ideas And Bad Ideas, Ideas From Locations And Elements, Keeping Track Of Your Ideas, Idea Theft - What Can You Do? Weird Ways To Connect Ideas, Combing Ideas To Create Concepts, High Concepts - What Are They? Creating The Killer Concept, Substitution - Lion Tamers & Hitmen, Creating Blockbuster Concepts, Magnification And The Matrix, Conflict Within Concept, Concepts With Visual Conflict, Avoiding Episodic Concepts, much more! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 175 pages!

Only $4.99 - and no postage!


FIGURE OUT YOUR STORY!

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OUTLINES & THE THEMATIC Blue Book.

ARE YOUR SCENES IN THE RIGHT ORDER?
AND ARE THEY THE RIGHT SCENES?

Your story is like a road trip... but where are you going? What's the best route to get there? What are the best sights to see along the way? Just as you plan a vacation instead of just jump in the car and start driving, it's a good idea to plan your story. An artist does sketches before breaking out the oils, so why shouldn't a writer do the same? This Blue Book looks at various outlining methods used by professional screenwriters like Wesley Strick, Paul Schrader, John August, and others... as well as a guest chapter on novel outlines. Plus a whole section on the Thematic Method of generating scenes and characters and other elements that will be part of your outline. The three stages of writing are: Pre-writing, Writing, and Rewriting... this book looks at that first stage and how to use it to improve your screenplays and novels.

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bluebook

GOT STRUCTURE?!

*** STRUCTURING YOUR STORY *** - For Kindle!


William Goldman says the most important single element of any screenplay is structure. It’s the skeleton under the flesh and blood of your story. Without it, you have a spineless, formless, mess... a slug! How do you make sure your structure is strong enough to support your story? How do you prevent your story from becoming a slug? This Blue Book explores different types of popular structures from the basic three act structure to more obscure methods like leap-frogging. We also look at structure as a verb as well as a noun, and techniques for structuring your story for maximum emotional impact. Most of the other books just look at *structure* and ignore the art of *structuring* your story. Techniques to make your story a page turner... instead of a slug!

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STORY: WELL TOLD!

*** STORY: WELL TOLD *** - For Kindle!


This book takes you step-by-step through the construction of a story... and how to tell a story well, why Story always starts with character... but ISN'T character, Breaking Your Story, Irony, Planting Information, Evolving Story, Leaving No Dramatic Stone Unturned, The Three Greek Unities, The Importance Of Stakes, The Thematic Method, and how to create personal stories with blockbuster potential. Ready to tell a story? Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 85,000 words - 251 pages!

Only $4.99 - and no postage!


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START STRONG!

*** HOOK 'EM IN TEN *** - For Kindle!


Your story doesn't get a second chance to make a great first impression, and this book shows you a bunch of techniques on how to do that. From the 12 Basic Ways To Begin Your Story, to the 3 Stars Of Your First Scene (at least one must be present) to World Building, Title Crawls, Backstory, Starting Late, Teasers and Pre Title Sequences, Establishing Theme & Motifs (using GODFATHER PART 2), Five Critical Elements, Setting Up The Rest Of The Story (with GODFATHER), and much more! With hundreds of examples ranging from Oscar winners to classic films like CASABLANCA to some of my produced films (because I know exactly why I wrote the scripts that way). Biggest Blue Book yet! Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 100,000 words - 312 pages!

Only $4.99 - and no postage!


NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!


bluebook

MOVIES ARE CHARACTERS!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Kindle!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! A step-by-step guide to creating "take charge" protagonists. Screenplays are about characters in conflict... characters in emotional turmoil... Strong three dimensional protagonists who can find solutions to their problems in 110 pages. But how do you create characters like this? How do you turn words into flesh and blood? Character issues, Knowing Who Is The Boss, Tapping into YOUR fears, The Naked Character, Pulp Friction, Man With A Plan, Character Arcs, Avoiding Cliche People, Deep Characterization, Problem Protagonists, 12 Ways To Create Likable Protagonists (even if they are criminals), Active vs. Reactive, The Third Dimension In Character, Relationships, Ensemble Scripts, and much, much more. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 205 pages!

ONLY $4.99 - and no postage!


bluebook

I WRITE PICTURES!

*** VISUAL STORYTELLING *** - For Kindle! (exclusive)


Show Don't Tell - but *how* do you do that? Here are techniques to tell stories visually! Using Oscar Winning Films and Oscar Nominated Films as our primary examples: from the first Best Picture Winner "Sunrise" (1927) to the Oscar Nominated "The Artist" (which takes place in 1927) with stops along the way Pixar's "Up" and Best Original Screenplay Winner "Breaking Away" (a small indie style drama - told visually) as well as "Witness" and other Oscar Winners as examples... plus RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 200 pages!

ONLY $4.99 - and no postage!


DESCRIPTION & VOICE Blue Book!

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DESCRIPTION & VOICE Blue Book.

IS HALF OF YOUR STORY IN TROUBLE?

Most screenplays are about a 50/50 split between dialogue and description - which means your description is just as important as your dialogue. It just gets less press because the audience never sees it, the same reason why screenwriters get less press than movie stars. But your story will never get to the audience until readers and development executives read your script... so it is a very important factor. Until the movie is made the screenplay is the movie and must be just as exciting as the movie. So how do you make your screenplay exciting to read? Description is important in a novel as well, and the “audience” does read it... how do we write riveting description?

Only $4.99 and no postage!


bluebook

PRO DIALOGUE TECHNIQUES!

*** DIALOGUE SECRETS *** - For Kindle!

***

Expanded version with more ways to create interesting dialogue! How to remove bad dialogue (and what *is* bad dialogue), First Hand Dialogue, Awful Exposition, Realism, 50 Professional Dialogue Techniques you can use *today*, Subtext, Subtitles, Humor, Sizzling Banter, *Anti-Dialogue*, Speeches, and more. Tools you can use to make your dialogue sizzle! Special sections that use dialogue examples from movies as diverse as "Bringing Up Baby", "Psycho", "Double Indemnity", "Notorious", the Oscar nominated "You Can Count On Me", "His Girl Friday", and many more! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 175 pages!

Only $4.99 - and no postage!


bluebook

WHAT IS A SCENE?

*** SCENE SECRETS *** - For Kindle!

***

What is a scene and how many you will need? The difference between scenes and sluglines. Put your scenes on trial for their lives! Using "Jaws" we'll look at beats within a scene. Scene DNA. Creating set pieces and high concept scenes. A famous director talks about creating memorable scenes. 12 ways to create new scenes. Creating unexpected scenes. Use dramatic tension to supercharge your scenes. Plants and payoffs in scenes. Plus transitions and buttons and the all important "flow"... and more! Over 65,000 words! Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 210 pages!

Only $4.99 - and no postage!


bluebook

SUBPLOTS?

*** SUPPORTING CHARACTER SECRETS *** - For Kindle! (Exclusive)


Expanded version with more techniques to flesh out your Supporting Characters and make them individuals. Using the hit movie BRIDESMAIDS as well as other comedies like THE HANGOVER and TED and HIGH FIDELITY and 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and many other examples we look at ways to make your Supporting Characters come alive on the page. Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 170 pages!

ONLY $4.99 - and no postage!


bluebook

ACT TWO SOLUTIONS!

*** ACT TWO SECRETS *** - For Kindle!


Expanded version with more techniques to help you through the desert of Act Two! Subjects Include: What Is Act Two? Inside Moves, The 2 Ps: Purpose & Pacing, The 4Ds: Dilemma, Denial, Drama and Decision, Momentum, the Two Act Twos, Subplot Prisms, Deadlines, Drive, Levels Of Conflict, Escalation, When Act Two Begins and When Act Two Ends, Scene Order, Bite Sized Pieces, Common Act Two Issues, Plot Devices For Act Two, and dozens of others. Over 67,000 words (that’s well over 200 pages) of tools and techniques to get you through the desert of Act Two alive! Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is well over 200 pages!

ONLY $4.99 - and no postage!


READY TO BREAK IN?
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THE BUISINESS SIDE

*** BREAKING IN BLUE BOOK *** - For Kindle!


Should really be called the BUSINESS BLUE BOOK because it covers almost everything you will need to know for your screenwriting career: from thinking like a producer and learning to speak their language, to query letters and finding a manager or agent, to making connections (at home and in Hollywood) and networking, to the different kinds of meetings you are will have at Studios, to the difference between a producer and a studio, to landing an assignment at that meeting and what is required of you when you are working under contract, to contracts and options and lawyers and... when to run from a deal! Information you can use *now* to move your career forward! It's all here in the Biggest Blue Book yet!

Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 400 pages!

$4.99 - and no postage!




STORY IN ACTION SERIES!

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THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES

NEW: Updates On Films 7 & 8 Casting!

All Six Movies analyzed! All of the mission tapes, all of the “that’s impossible!” set pieces and stunts, the cons and capers - and how these scenes work, the twists and double crosses, the tension and suspense (and how to generate it), the concept of each film as a stand alone with a different director calling the shots (broken in the sixth film), the gadgets, the masks, the stories, the co-stars and team members (one team member has been in every film), the stunts Tom Cruise actually did (and the ones he didn’t), and so much more! Over 120,000 words of fun info!

THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES - 347 Pages - Only $3.99 !


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BRAND NEW!

*** THE BOURNE MOVIES

NEW: Updates on TREADSTONE TV show!

All five "Bourne" movies (including "Legacy" and it's potential sequels) - what are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? Reinventing the thriller genre... or following the "formula"? Five films - each with an interesting experiment! A detailed analysis of each of the films, the way these thrillers work... as well as a complete list of box office and critical statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just fans of the series.

Only $3.99 - and no postage!


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Over 240 pages!

*** THE TERMINATOR MOVIES *** - For Kindle!


He's back! The release of "Terminator: Dark Fate" is set to begin a new trilogy in the Terminator story... 35 years after the first film was released. What draws us to these films about a cybernetic organism from the future sent back in time? Why is there a new proposed trilogy every few years? This book looks at all five Terminator movies from a story standpoint - what makes them work (or not)? What are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? How about those secret story details you may not have noticed? Containing a detailed analysis of each of the five films so far, this book delves into the way these stories work... as well as a complete list of box office and critical statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just fans of the series.

ONLY $3.99 - and no postage!



HITCHCOCK FOR WRITERS!

hitchcock

Strange Structures!

*** HITCHCOCK: EXPERIMENTS IN TERROR! *** - For Kindle!

***

Contained Thrillers like "Buried"? Serial Protagonists like "Place Beyond The Pines"? Multiple Connecting Stories like "Pulp Fiction"? Same Story Multiple Times like "Run, Lola, Run"?
HITCHCOCK DID IT FIRST!

This book focuses on 18 of Hitchcock's 52 films with wild cinema and story experiments which paved the way for modern films. Almost one hundred different experiments that you may think are recent cinema or story inventions... but some date back to Hitchcock's *silent* films! We'll examine these experiments and how they work. Great for film makers, screenwriters, film fans, producers and directors.

Only $5.99 - and no postage!



LEARN SUSPENSE FROM THE MASTER!

*** HITCHCOCK: MASTERING SUSPENSE *** - For Kindle!

Alfred Hitchcock, who directed 52 movies, was known as the *Master Of Suspense*; but what exactly is suspense and how can *we* master it? How does suspense work? How can *we* create “Hitchcockian” suspense scenes in our screenplays, novels, stories and films?

This book uses seventeen of Hitchcock’s films to show the difference between suspense and surprise, how to use “focus objects” to create suspense, the 20 iconic suspense scenes and situations, how plot twists work, using secrets for suspense, how to use Dread (the cousin of suspense) in horror stories, and dozens of other amazing storytelling lessons. From classics like “Strangers On A Train” and “The Birds” and “Vertigo” and “To Catch A Thief” to older films from the British period like “The 39 Steps” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much” to his hits from the silent era like “The Lodger” (about Jack The Ripper), we’ll look at all of the techniques to create suspense!

Only $5.99


The new  MP3s are available now!

AUDIO CLASS!

NOIR & MYSTERY80 minute MP3 packed with information on writing Film Noir and Mystery scripts. Using examples from CHINATOWN to OUT OF THE PAST to DOUBLE INDEMNITY you'll learn how to create stories in this dark, twisted genre. How to plant clues, red herrings, suspects, victims, spider women, fallen heroes, the funhouse mirror world of noir supporting characters... and the origins of Film Noir in literature Noir dialogue and how noir endings are different than any other genre. All of the critical elements necessary to write in this critically popular genre.
The Noir & Mystery Class is only $15 (plus $5 S&H). First 20 on Limited Black Disk!

PAMDEMIC SALE! $5 OFF!

IDEAS AND CREATIVITY - 80 minute MP3 packed with information. Tools to find ideas that are both personal *and* commercial. Hollywood wants scripts with High Concept stories... but not stupid scripts. Developing *intelligent* high concept ideas. How to turn your personal story into a blockbuster - or find your personal story in a high concept idea. Brainstorming and being creative. Ideas and Creativity is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H)

WRITING INDIES - Writing an Indie film? This class covers everything you need to know - from Central Locations to Confined Cameos. Using examples from SWINGERS, THE COOLER, STATION AGENT and others, this 80 minute MP3 is packed with information. How Indoe films challenge the audience (while mainstream films reassure the audience). Structures, using BOYS DON'T CRY, RUN LOLA RUN, HILARY & JACKIE, and others as example. Writing for a budget, writing for non-actors, getting the most production value out of your budget. Writing Indies is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H)

WRITING HORROR - The essentials of a horror screenplay - what do ROSEMARY'S BABY, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE EXORCIST, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE OTHERS and OPEN WATER have in common? This class will tell you! All of the critical elements necessary to write a script that scares the pants off the audience. Writing Horror is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H).

Click here for more information on CLASS MP3s!




hcd

FINAL DRAFT SOFTWARE

Use your creative energy to focus on the content; let Final Draft take care of the style. Final Draft is the number-one selling application specifically designed for writing movie scripts, television episodics and stage plays. Its ease-of-use and time-saving features have attracted writers for almost two decades positioning Final Draft as the Professional Screenwriters Choice. Final Draft power users include Academy, Emmy and BAFTA award winning writers like Oliver Stone, Tom Hanks, Alan Ball, J.J. Abrams, James Cameron and more. * * * Buy It!

copyright 2023 by William C. Martell


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E BOOKS PAGE

bluebook E BOOKS: New Blue Books and Novelettes!
I am expanding all of the Blue Books from around 44 pages of text to around 200 pages! Some are over 250 pages! See what is availabale and what is coming soon!Also, I've been writing Novelletes and there will soon be novels.
E BOOKS: BLUE BOOKS & NOVELLETES

ONLINE CLASSES
Furious Action Class
MY OTHER SITES

B MOVIE WORLD
Cult Films, Exploitation, Bikers & Women In Prison, Monster Movies.

FIRST STRIKE PRODUCTIONS
Producing my own scripts, investment possibilities, pipe dreams.

NAKED SCREENWRITING MP3s

Naked Class The NAKED SCREENWRITING CLASS ON MP3! The 2001 London Class on 8 MP3s! Recorded *live* the morning after the Raindance Film Festival wrapped. The two day class on 8 MP3s, plus a workbook, plus a bonus MP3 with PDFs.
The 2 Day Class on MP3!

THE BLOG!

A Whole Week Of Programming!
SEX IN A SUBMARINE
(no actual sex is involved)
From Trailer Tuesday to Film Courage Plus to THRILLER Thursday to Fridays With Hitchcock and more! My blog has all kinds of great stuff! Check it out! Lots of cool stuff every day!

BOOKLETS & PRODUCTS

bluebook FIRST STRIKE BLUE BOOKS
Each Blue Book is 48 pages and focuses on a different aspect of screenwriting. Dialogue. Visual Storytelling. Your First Ten Pages. Act 2 Booster. Protagonists. Great Endings.
Seventeen Blue Books now available!

THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING The Best Nuts & Bolts Screenwriting Book On The Market!

BILL'S CORNER

My nineteen produced films, interviews with me in magazines, several sample scripts, my available scripts list... And MORE!
...............................BILL'S CORNER


Available Scripts

CLASSES ON MP3

Class  MP3s CLASSES ON MP3! Take a class on MP3! GUERRILLA MARKETING - NO AGENT? NO PROBLEM! and WRITING THRILLERS (2 MP3s). Full length classes on MP3. Now Available: IDEAS & CREATIVITY, WRITING HORROR, WRITING INDIE FILMS, more!
Take classes on MP3!