WEDNESDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:

INDIVIDUALS

A major problem in many scripts is that all of the characters sound and act the same. Though all of your characters are aspects of you, they should be DIFFERENT aspects. Each needs to have their own individual point of view. Their own "voice".

All of your supporting characters need to be different. They need to have different strengths and weaknesses. Different 'looks'. Different personalities and ways of handling problems. Different "voices", vocabularies and speech rhythms. The audience should be able to instantly tell one from another, even if they are all dressed the same.

Mark Brown's BARBERSHOP is a lot like IT's A WONDERFUL LIFE. Both films are about guys in their communities who are going broke, feel unappreciated, and are living in the shadows of their fathers. In both films, they feel like they are going broke because their fathers gave away services out of the kindness of their hearts... and the sons want to be smarter businessmen. Both films have villains who want to foreclose on the businesses (this fuels the story). Both are feel good movies about community.

BARBERSHOP is a movie that I wish had lasted longer. There were characters who I wanted to learn more about and relationships between characters that I wanted to explore more. Each of the characters in the film is an individual with their own distinctive style of speech. You could cover the character slugs and know EXACTLY who is speaking.

OUR CHARACTERS:

* There's our protagonist Calvin (Ice Cube) who owns the Barbershop and is always looking for a get rich quick scheme that will allow him to sell the shop. Calvin lives in his father's shadow and is scrambling for the light. He needs to find a way out.

* There's Old Eddie (Cedric The Entertainer) who has an opinion on everything - usually a wrong one. He never stops talking.

* There's Terri (Eve) who is worried that her boyfriend is cheating on her... and that someone has been drinking her apple juice, too. Everyone is taking from her.

* There's Dinka from Nigeria (Leonard Howze) who is the ultimate romantic, secretly in love with Terri. He writes her poetry, and sees everything in the world through long-stemmed rose colored glasses.

* There's Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas) the college student who knows everything - Mr. Trivia. Knowledge is his power - he hopes to leave the neighborhood for a good job and a life in the suburbs.

* The only white barber, Isaac (Troy Garity), accuses Jimmy of being more white than he is... and that would be easy, because Isaac has his bling-bling jewelry and his do-rag and tries to act Black. He uses more street slang than anyone else in the barbershop.

* Ricky (Michael Ealy) is a quiet ex-con with rage simmering below the surface... and he doesn't like Isaac pretending to be Black. Ricky may have a gun in his locker, but he's a loyal friend to Calvin. He is a man of his word who would rather go to jail than give up his pals JD (Anthony Anderson) and Billy (Lahmard Tate) who borrowed his truck to steal an ATM from a convenience store. The great thing about Ricky's character is that when he does say something, you realize he may be the most intelligent and well-read person in the barbershop. By the end of the film he calls know-it-all Jimmy on a couple of his trivia answers.

Each of these characters has a distinctive voice, an individual attitude, different relationships with the other characters and a character arc that is weaved through the film. Each character is an individual - cover their character slugs and their individual vocabularies would give away who was speaking.

One thing I liked about it - it didn't judge any character except Keith David's (and we get to see him dancing with his bodyguard - so maybe there's a good side to him that didn't fit in the story). The guy who sells stolen stuff - used as a running gag - is also shown as someone who serves the community. When the AC broke down in the barbershop, he got the freon to fix it. The kid who gets a haircut and runs without paying turns out to be okay. None of the characters in the film were cliches. Everyone was struggling with some sort of moral question, or was more that they seemed. They were PEOPLE. Individuals.

They might have all been barbers, but each had a different outlook on life. Different strengths, different weaknesses, different ways of expressing themselves.

INDIVIDUALS IN THE GOLDEN AGE

One of the great things about movies made in the Golden Age (1930s & 1940s) are the supporting characters - they had all of these great character actors on studio contract and it made sense to put them in as many films as possible... and that meant writing great little roles for them. All of these roles were interesting individuals, and watching Golden Age films like CAPTAIN BLOOD and RED RIVER you can see how they did it.

CAPTAIN BLOOD is a pirate adventure book about Dr. Peter Blood, who takes no sides in war - his job is to help the injured. When he treats a rebel fighting against the government of England, he's arrested and put on trial. Blood tells the judge he's a doctor, not as rebel. Neutral. The judge sentences him to *death* for saving the life of a rebel. Instead of death, they ship all of the convicts to the British colonies in the Caribbean as slaves to work on plantations. Blood and his slave pals all get whipped and mistreated... and Blood has now taken a side - with the rebels. Oh, he's bought by plantation owner's niece Olivia DeHaviland - she buys him just to piss off her uncle. Blood insults him.

The supporting characters are so well written and well played that they become real people - like friends of yours. There's a slave-pirate who always quotes the Bible... but finds ironic passages to quote, so he comes off funny instead of as a zealot. There is a tough guy, always itching for a fight. The guy who always has his flask - even in sword fights he's taking a nip now and then. All of the bit-part slave-pirates have *personalities* and their own little goals. The colony's Governor is a great character - this fey, flamboyant guy in a powdered wig always complaining about his gout. The Governor's doctors both have distinctive personalities. The guy in debtor's prison who sells Blood the boat... and gets swept up in the escape, becoming one of Blood's pirates by mistake. Every single minor character is an individual in this film.

And all of the great character actors under contract at Warner Bros play these roles as if they're competing for an Oscar. If a character is only in one scene, they do everything in their power to be the most memorable character in that scene. You end up with all of these amazing actors playing amazingly well defined characters - written so vividly that they come alive on the screen. I've always wanted to take over programming at TCM for a week and do a festival of great character actors in bit parts. You would see several movies with completely different stars in different genres and wonder why these films are on the same program... then you'd notice some guy like Ned Sparks is in every movie. Who is Ned Sparks you are probably asking? Well, he's this guy who played bit parts in a lot of movies who had a very distinctive voice - and you'd recognize his voice from a couple of cartoon characters who swiped it. I think most people know the cartoons more than the real guy whose voice the imitated. But BLOOD has all of these great bit part players (but no Ned Sparks) playing the pirates - the guy in the background of some shot not only has a well written character, the actor playing that character is trying to make sure you remember him!

RED RIVER is basically MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY on a cattle drive, with John Wayne as an obsessed, nasty, mean, and probably out of his mind Dunson with Montgomery Clift playing the protégée turned mutinous Matt. But the real stars of the show are about 1,000 head of cattle and the well written supporting characters. The movie is about a cattle drive, and you get to see actors on horseback driving a herd. There are shots where you see at least a thousand steers interacting with the stars, and one kick ass shot that 360s around John Wayne on horseback showing steers for as far as the eye can see. Almost every shot in the film has a thousand steers in the background - if not the foreground with the actors. And there's another great shot from inside Walter Brennan's chuckwagon as they ford a raging river (for real) behind and ahead and surrounded by cattle. No special effects, no cardboard cows or CGI - this film is filled with real cattle.

There are all of these cowboys, secondary characters, and each of them has a real character and distinctive character traits. There are all kinds of great gags in the film designed to show the characters of these minor characters. They have an Indian on the crew who always wins at poker because they can't tell when he's bluffing - his face never changes expression. Walter Brennan loses his false teeth to him in a poker game, and this deal is made that the Indian will loan Brennan his teeth for meals, but afterwards they must be immediately returned. From this point on, every time there is a meal scene in the film it is followed by Brennan returning the teeth... sometimes just in the background of a shot.

There is a character named Dave who has a wife he's always talking about. Dave's life is defined by his marriage - and when all of the cowboys are talking about what they will do with their money once they get paid (a great scene for showing the difference between all of these secondary characters) Dave's dream is to buy his wife a pair of fancy red shoes. They live in a shack in the middle of nowhere, but he thinks his wife would love to own a fancy pair of shoes. There is another cowboy with a sweet tooth who is always licking his finger and sticking it in the sack of sugar on the chuckwagon... and that guy's sweet tooth not only extends to other aspects of his character, it creates a plot event later in the film when he accidentally knocks over a bunch of pots and pans while trying to sneak some sugar... and starts a stampede that kills some of the other supporting characters we have grown to love... and he has to live with this throughout the rest of the film. (There is even *another* plot even caused by the stampede that concerns his character.) The great thing about these little things that make each of the cowboys into individuals is that we feel like we know them, and care about them, and when things happen on the cattle drive to them we can relate. It's like we are on that cattle drive with them.

You should plan all of these things before you begin writing your script because different characters handle situations differently. If one of your characters is a Grand Prix racer, it'll probably change the outcome of your car chase if he's driving. Or create an interesting scene if he ends up in the backseat, and your fussy art expert is driving. These are two very different scenes, aren't they? Every character handles a situation in their own way, so you can't just plug a character into a situation or swap one character with another without changing the outcome of the situation. The Grand Prix racer evades the bad guys, but that fussy art expert is liable to total the car! A change in the outcome of the car chase changes EVERY scene which comes after it.

Attitude.
Vocabulary.
Thought process.
Background.
Goals and Fears.
Knowledge (and lack of knowledge).

How are each of your characters different? What makes them an individual?

If you liked this tip, check out: SUPPORTING CHARACTER SECRETS which is ON SALE until the end of the month!

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THE BLUE BOOKS!

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*** OUTLINES & THE THEMATIC ***

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GOT STRUCTURE?!

*** STRUCTURING YOUR STORY ***

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*** STORY: WELL TOLD ***

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START STRONG!

*** HOOK 'EM IN TEN ***

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!

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MOVIES ARE CHARACTERS!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS ***

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I WRITE PICTURES!

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

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*** DESCRIPTION & VOICE ***

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 ***

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!

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WHAT IS A SCENE?

*** SCENE SECRETS ***

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!

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SUBPLOTS?

*** SUPPORTING CHARACTER SECRETS ***

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!

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ACT TWO SOLUTIONS!

*** ACT TWO SECRETS ***

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!

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Can You Make It bigger?

***BLOCKBUSTERS (and BEACH READS) ***

Thinking about writing a big Disaster Movie? An Historical Epic? An Epic Adventure Film? Or maybe you like Gladiator Movies? This book looks at writing Blockbusters and those Big Fat Beach Read novels - anything epic! Usng movies like JAWS, POSEIDON ADVENTURE, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, and those MARVEL and FAST & FURIOUS flicks as examples. What *is* a Blockbuster? 107 years of Blockbuster history! Blockbuster Characters. Blockbuster Story Types! Why modern Blockbusters are soap operas! Social Issues in Blcokbusters? Big Emotions! Keeping All Of Those Characters Distinctive! How to avoid the Big problems found in Big Movies and books! More! If you are writing a Big Event Movie or a Big Fat Novel, there are tips and techniques to help you!

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All About Rewrites!

*** REWRITES Blue Book! ***

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

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Want To Look Like An Expert?

*** RESEARCH & WORLD BUILDING BUILDING! ***

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.

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All About LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING!

*** LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING! ***

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!

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READY TO BREAK IN?

*** BREAKING IN BLUE BOOK ***

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!

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STORY IN ACTION SERIES!

THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES

NEW: Updates On Films 7 & 8 Casting!

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

*** THE BOURNE MOVIES

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 - Kindle version

Over 240 pages!

*** THE TERMINATOR MOVIES ***

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.

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HITCHCOCK FOR WRITERS!

Strange Structures!

*** HITCHCOCK: EXPERIMENTS IN TERROR! ***

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 - Kindle Version

LEARN SUSPENSE FROM THE MASTER!

*** HITCHCOCK: MASTERING SUSPENSE ***

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!

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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 2026 by William C. Martell