MONDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:

THAT'S EPISODIC!


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It's one of those notes you hear frequently - your script is "episodic". But, what exactly does that mean? What makes a script episodic, why is it a bad thing, and is there a cream or ointment that you can apply to cure it?

Imagine the beginning of your story is a point on one end of a field, and the end is a point on the other end of that field. We put a 20 foot tall pole at each point to mark them. And between those two pole we string our "story line". We don't want a saggy, flabby, storyline - so we make sure it's tight. One reason for that is that our storyline is going to have to support a whole bunch of scenes and sequences and incidents. Just having some line between a couple of poles isn't as cool as having tight rope walkers beautifully balanced on that line. We want our scenes and sequences to be light, graceful and elegant - to *compliment* that storyline. To be part of that storyline.

But sometimes you may think that having a graceful tightrope walker sequence is fine, but wouldn't a bigger, stronger, more interesting sequence be better? Instead of that little graceful guy, imagine a powerful King! Or maybe a huge Warrior! So we put our fat and powerful King or our huge musclebound Warrior on the line... and the danged thing snaps under their weight! We're gonna need a stronger storyline!

Episodic problems always end up being some conflict between scenes (or sequences) and storyline (also called a "throughline"). Either the storyline isn't strong enough, or the focus is on the scenes and sequences instead of the story, or there is no storyline. Instead of *one* storyline that stretches from beginning to end, we have a bunch of fat Kings and musclebound Warriors laying on the field between the two pole with nothing really connecting them. That is what episodic means - a bunch of scenes or sequences with little or nothing connecting them. Usually the only thing that connects them is that all of the scenes revolve around the same character... but sometimes even that connection is missing.

You may not remember this, but before Jack Black dropped off the face of the earth after making GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, there was a certain amount of hype surrounding his caveman comedy film YEAR ONE - it was Harold Ramis' return to cinema. The man who gave us CADDYSHACK and GROUNDHOG DAY was making another movie, and it starred two new big comedy stars, Jack Black and Michael Cera. Hey, this was gonna be great! Only it wasn't great at all... and the film flopped. Why? Well, it was episodic.

PREHISTORIC COMEDY

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YEAR ONE was just a bunch of semi-funny little skits with our two cave-guys wandering from Old Testament skit to skit. Adam & Eve. Cain & Able. Sodom & Gomorrah. All of the famous comedy teams. Some of the skits were pretty good, others would have been rejects for Saturday Night Live. As with any skit comedy, even the great KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, not every skit is going to work. You hope the great skits earn you enough laughs that the audience forgives the misfires. But here's the big problem - YEAR ONE is not a skit comedy like GROOVE TUBE or KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE or Mr. MIKE'S MONDO VIDEO... it's a single story! It just seems like two guys going from one skit to another because there is no clear storyline. There is no *reason* for them to go to the next skit, it's just the next town they stumble in to. These two dopey cavemen wander into some village where a skit takes place and then wander into the next village.

What YEAR ONE needed was a "throughline" - an over-all plot that links all of these scenes together and creates some *drive* from one scene to the next. The film is kind of a parody of Roland Emmerich's 10,000 BC... the "quest" the two guys are on is to find this woman that Cera has a crush on, and they are wandering from town to town searching for her. Except, they never really do any real searching. Once they get to a new town, there's a skit... and she isn't visible in the town... so when the skit is over they move on to the next town.

In 10,000 BC the lead's girl is kidnapped and he goes from scene to scene chasing the people who have taken her in order to get her back... the storyline is all about rescuing the woman he loves, and every new village he goes to he either battles the kidnappers or finds a clue to where the kidnappers have taken her. It's all about that kidnapped girl, even if the scene in this village is about finding some warriors to help him rescue her.

In YEAR ONE, the two are banished from their village, and at the end of the movie discover their women have been captured and decide to rescue them.

Difference is, 10,000 BC is always about rescuing the girl, even if the scene is kind of a story side-trip. YEAR ONE it isn't about anything - it is all side trips... and seems to take forever to get anywhere. It's just wandering without purpose. There are scenes, but the storyline linking them together is weak to the point of non-existent.

UNITY OF EVENT

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About two and a half thousand years ago this dude Aristotle came up with these ideas of what makes a dramatic piece work. One of the elements was The Three Unities: Time, Place, Action/Event. In movies, these things are more plyable than on stage (there were very few movies in Aristotle's time), but the basic ideas are still true.

If you have a movie that takes place in too many different locations it can become confusing... and the location shifts can take away from the story. That's the one that we can most play with in cinema, and it still holds true.

If you have a movie that jumps all over the place in time, it can be difficult to follow the story, and too many different time periods can be confusing. Again, movies have flashbacks which bend this rule... but it still holds true.

When we get to Action/Event, I think we get to the one that still holds true in cinema. Movies tend to tell one story, and the more different stories you cram into there, the more confusing it becomes. It can easily seem like there is no story - just a bunch of subplots woven together. That single unified line of action is missing. That is the problem with YEAR ONE. Where 10,000 BC is all about rescuing the woman he loves, YEAR ONE uses finding the girl as little more than an excuse to connect skits. The Unity Of Action/Event means that your story must be more important than all of the scenes that make up that story, and the main story must be *driving* each of those scenes. Scenes that are not part of the main story make it episodic.

All they had to do in YEAR ONE is make this a quest to rescue the women from the start, and all of the side trips have purpose... they are places on the road to rescuing the women. Then each scene needs to focus on that purpose - rescuing the women. We can still get the funny skit, but the skit must be part of the over-all story and required to tell that over-all story. Our tight-rope walkers have to be on the rope - not levitating somewhere off that storyline. Without the over-all story, the scenes in YEAR ONE seem pointless, and when one isn't funny, it's...

1) Not funny
2) Not required to tell the story
3) A waste of time
4) A real pisser if you're sitting in the audience!

Unity of Action/Event means that we will have ONE story per screenplay, and ONE major conflict per screenplay. The subplots will all be part of the main plot - like rungs in the ladder leading to the resolution of the conflict. The sub-conflicts will all be part of the main conflict - not some crazy pasted on problem but an aspect of that main conflict that must be resolved to take us to the next step. Each scene or sequence is not telling its own story, it is part of the larger story and must be a "step" on that storyline from the "starting post" to the "ending post". One scene leads to the next scene... and all of the scenes are leading to the end.

Any scene that does not move the story forward? Any scene that is "heavier" than the storyline? Any scene that is not part of the storyline? Any script that is a collection of incidents from a character's life without *one* conflict that connects them all? That's what makes your script "episodic" and probably rejected all over town... and if they do make it into a movie like YEAR ONE? Well, most people will not remember it, even a year after it came out!

THE FINE PRINT

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Someone will now mention a couple of films that completely violate the Unity of Action/Event... the exceptions to the rule. One of the things I always say is that there are no real rules in screenwriting, only tools to use to make your scripts work better. But some tools are more important than others, and those basics of drama that Aristotle noted 2,400 years ago have been around for a long time and seem to be the things that have worked for 2,400 years. That's longer than Christianity! So, be careful when you mess with these things. Sure, there are some exceptions, but very few of them.

Here's the big question: What do you plan to do with the script? Because experiments are fine, and experimental films you make yourself are fine. It only becomes an issue when you intend on selling the script (or finding someone else to foot the bill for your film). Because an experiment is, well, an experiment - and most of them fail. Not a problem if you are just writing the script, but a big problem if you are trying to find someone to pay you money for it. Even if the script works, they may worry that a film will not. There is a difference between *your* investment of time and $2.99 worth of paper and *their* investment of lots of folk's time and $106 million. If your experiment fails, you aren't out much... if they make a film of your experiment and it fails, they've lost over $100 million... and someone will probably get fired over that. Usually the person who thought filming your experiment was a good idea.

I may seem like I'm Mr. Commercial Screenwriter, but mostly I'm just trying to aim people's efforts at the place where they can find someone to buy their script or hire them to write an assignment (which tend to be commercial in nature). When it comes to making money, you have to write the kind of thing that makes money for producers. That's what they are looking for - the "sure thing" or at least something with possibilities. Now, you may actually find some producer who really wants to make the same long shot as you have written - but that is a long shot for you. The more your script resembles scripts that made a lot of money, the more a producer will be interested (because they want to make a lot of money). That means the easier it will be for you to sell a script like that or get someone to read it and want to hire you for an assignment... which means money for you and maybe a film with your name on it.

If you *have to* write the strange script, you *have to* write it. Just don't expect to sell it. Hey, it may be a great sample script... that gets you a job writing a mainstream movie. The thing I often see on message boards is people who *only* want to write strange scripts, and that leads to a big stack of strange scripts that nobody wants to read. Maybe not even your mom. So I always push towards what is most likely to get your script read and maybe sold and maybe a film with your name on it. Not because I am Mr. Commercial, more that I am Mr. I Want To See You Succeed.

Mutiple Oscar Winning Screenwriter Billy Wilder said, "Develop a clean line of action for your leading character." That is that line that we have strung between the pole that begins our story and the pole that ends our story.

Your Screenplay Checklist:

1) What is your protagonist's goal in the story? What is the (physical) conflict they are struggling to resolve?
2) What is the starting point of your story? The ending point of your story?
3) Now you have your "throughline" - how is each scene a point on that "throughline"?
4) Sometimes you have to refocus a scene to bring it back onto the "throughline" - do that!
5) Anything not on the "throughline" is not part of the story!

One way to succeed is to make sure your script is *not* episodic, that it has *one* main conflict and a strong storyline and none of the scenes or sequences are separate stories with separate conflicts that don't move the over-all story forward.

One story = One conflict... don't make the mistake of YEAR ONE!

More on this in the Story Blue Book.


COMING SOON!!!

Want To Look Like An Expert?

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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! End of March!


NEWEST AND BLUEST!!

All About Rewrites!

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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 in 2020!

All About Endings!

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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!


NEW in 2020!

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!


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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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THE BLUE BOOKS!

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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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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!

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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!


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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!

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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!

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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?

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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!


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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!


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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!


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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!

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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!