The original idea I had for this story was a train carrying an Allied weapon towards Germany and the train to get accidentally rerouted into German territory. But I think it is stronger to have
Continue Reading50 Loglines in 50 Weeks: #4 – Simulant
This one took a bit to refine, because I had a few competing ideas that I was trying to get into the story. I liked the idea of a programmer testing virtual reality and finding
Continue Reading50 Loglines in 50 Weeks: #3 – Liminal
The third logline in my 50 Loglines in 50 Weeks series is a thriller called LIMINAL. A photojournalist’s world unravels when photographs from his dreams begin manifesting in reality, pulling him toward a life that
Continue Reading50 Loglines in 50 Weeks: #2 – Platform
Here is Logline #2 in my 50 Loglines in 50 Weeks Instagram series. It’s for a contained thriller called PLATFORM. A troubled activist wakes up chained to a forest platform, his family pleading below, news cameras rolling.
Continue Reading50 Loglines in 50 Weeks: #1 – Lockdown
I had the idea for Lockdown a few years back when I needed to create a logline for a screenwriting class. The logline I submitted for that assignment goes like this: “After receiving a threatening
Continue ReadingA Logline a Week…
So I’ve been trying to post a quote a week on my Instagram channel. The one for this week was from Ray Bradbury. “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52
Continue ReadingWhat Type of [Thematic Object] are Your Characters?
One of the podcasts on my rotation is The Screenwriting Life, hosted by Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna and produced by Jeff Graham. In Episode 117, screenwriter Eirene Tran Donohue talks about how to write
Continue ReadingScene-us Interruptus; or Why to Withdraw Early
I was working on a scene last night. It’s a scene where the protagonist meets with his ex and the police about his daughter’s kidnapping. Following this, he kicks into action to get her back.
Continue ReadingFrom Script to Screen: The Expanse
This week’s Scriptnotes episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 224, in which John and Craig discussed several scenes from Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash. They discuss the family dinner scene and Miles’ and Fletcher’s meeting in the
Continue ReadingStakes and Structure…
I’m sure I’m not alone in learning about movie structure through the lens of Blake Snyder’s
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