MetaFilter posts tagged with writing and movies

Why he will not read your fucking script

Artw — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:46:32 -0800

How Godzilla and Sinbad were lost, and other tales

Navelgazer — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:28:19 -0800

After a lengthy hiatus, Terry Rossio is once again writing columns on screenwriting and other aspects of the film trade for Wordplayer (previ ously). New articles include a dissertation on the use of dramatic irony, a fascinating story about a single vacation photo and the strange twists of life, and an insider's look into how good stories get killed, and which battles are worth fighting. Terry Rossio is one half of a writing team with partner Ted Elliott. They are the team behind Alladin, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Shrek, but also, as they will sadly admit, behind Godzilla, Treasure Planet, and The Puppet Masters. Rossio's stories of dealing with both successes and failures are compulsively readable and enlightening as to what goes into making a film from the ground up, and how it can so easily fall apart.

Essays on writing by various tv and movie writers

Tehanu — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:23:15 -0800

An essay by Bill Lawrence, creator of "Scrubs," on why he writes. It's part of a series: "Why We Write." Other highlights include: Damon Lindelof ("Lost"), Mark Gaberman ("Jeopardy!"), Jane Espenson ("Buffy" "Battlestar Gallactica"), Jack Kenny ("Titus" "Book of Daniel"), Howard Gordon ("24"), Hart Hanson ("Bones"), and Gary Lennon ("The Shield").

Writers on Screenwriting

dobbs — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:48:26 -0800

Word Into Image: Writers on Screenwriting {youtube}
William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) (1 2 3)
Robert Towne (Chinatown) (1 2 3)
Carl Foreman (High Noon) (1 2 3)
Neil Simon (The Odd Couple) (1 2 3)
Paul Mazursky (An Unmarried Woman) (1 2 3)
Eleanor Perry (The Swimmer) (1 2 3)

Plotbot: Online collaborative screenplay writing

ColdChef — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:11:28 -0800

Plotbot is a web-based collaborative screenwriting application where you can write a screenplay with as many or as few people as you like. Adopting the wiki approach to screenwriting, each element is editable by any member of a project. You can also comment on, delete or restore any element. For all of the "filmic storytellers" on MeFi.

"LOCK UP THE DATE!" --FBI for writers

amberglow — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:15:44 -0800

FBI 101 -- "Essentials for Writers," an "exciting and informative" interactive workshop for writers being offered to members of my union -- the Writers Guild of America, East - by the FBI Office of Public Affairs and FBI New York. ... -- Very interesting account of a workshop the FBI puts on for writers in NY. What's in it for the FBI? ...The only question we have for you is 'Will it show us in a good light?'" ...

Snakes on the motherfucking plane

dobbs — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 22:14:47 -0800

I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing is the new blog by screenwriter Josh Friedman. Not much there yet but what is is fun, especially parts one and two of his adventures with arbitration on War of the Worlds. (Of note: Friedman is the writer who adapted James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia for ~~David Fincher~~ Brian De Palma.) {via The Screenwriting Life}

Speechifying

blahblahblah — Tue, 24 May 2005 20:35:51 -0800

Do you know your rhetoric? You can hear how it is used in the top 100 American speeches of all time, 63 of which have the original audio recordings! (prev.) The list has some odd omissions, such as the Gettysburg Address (and here in convenient presentation form) and non-American speakers like Churchill, so this shorter international list may be useful. While the slow decline in the quality of presidential addresses is much lamented, scriptwriters are stepping up, see for example, top movie speeches of all time ("Smells like victory" beats "You can't handle the truth"). So, MeFiers, do any of these still inspire, or is rhetoric dead?

Plan B

delmoi — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 12:42:40 -0800

Of course, the ultimate problem was that [my] script didn't have an ending. It didn't until I received a fax from the studio instructing me that Jo Maloni would die by being eaten by an alligator. _{Salon, so, you'll need to jump through hoops. I think it's worth it}

Script-O-Rama!

crunchland — Fri, 18 Jul 2003 08:43:55 -0800

Script-O-Rama! Hundreds and hundreds of film scripts, film transcripts, tv show scripts, and anime scripts.