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DZ-63: Tools for Better Dialogue 2 - Hook and Eye

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Release Date: 12/31/2019

DZ-83: A Very Thematic Stand-up Special! show art DZ-83: A Very Thematic Stand-up Special!

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Standup comedians can keep audiences gripped to their every word for over an hour, and often bring them to emotional climaxes by the end. So how do they do it and what tools can apply to scripted narratives? 

info_outline DZ-82: Dramatising Given Circumstances in Watchmen show art DZ-82: Dramatising Given Circumstances in Watchmen

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

In this final podcast release of last year’s run of LiveSoLation episodes, Chas and Stu are joined by Uber-geek Mel in an epic exploration of how Dave Gibbons’ and Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel WATCHMEN is adapted differently inthe 2009 film and 2019's HBO television show.

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Chas and Stu are joined by writer/director/producer/multi-hyphenate Marc Furmie of Rezistor Studios to talk all things pitch decks and look books. Coming from an advertising and music video background, Marc shares his experience in putting together visual materials to pitch a project. We discuss the difference between pitch decks and lookbooks,  how they help you sell your projects, what buyers are looking for, television vs features, and how do we make yours better?

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

In our final part, part 3, of our Interweaving Timelines series, we take a deep dive into Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women. In her adaptation of the iconic novels, Greta chose to interweave the seperate timelines of Little Women and it's sequel, Good Wives, to create a thematically and emotionally potent work. This differs from all the other adaptations, which have chosen to keep the chronological storytelling of the source material. It's almost like a scientific experiment!

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

In Part 2 of Interweaving Timelines, DZ tackle The Social Network. We analyse Sorkin’s on-the-page skill with time jumps, managing intercutting and introducing characters - as well as explore how the flash-forward technique manages the absence of stakes (i.e. we know Facebook exists) and creates a different emotional experience to the flashbacks of Destroyer. Finally, we look at how the interweaving timelines change how the audience feel about Mark Zuckerberg (as portrayed in this film).

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Stu and Chas are joined by Mel Killingsworth to dissect interweaving timelines. Not anthology films. Not Cloud Atlas. But films where two plot lines featuring the same characters, but from different timelines, are woven together. How do you manage stakes when you know a character’s future? What questions does this prompt in the viewer? And how the hell do you orient the reader?

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

In this particular Backmatter entry, Stu & Chas wax lyrical on [deep breath]: character journeys, hyperlink cinema, keeping genre fresh, beginning a new co-writing relationship, managing multiple projects, choosing your next project, and - naturally - Star Wars. SPOILERS ABOUND, particularly for The Mandalorian Season 2 and Ready or Not.

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

What can we learn from Sofia Coppola’s on-the-page skills over her career?

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Stu and Chas are joined by filmmaker, podcaster and writer Matthew Brown to deep dive into FURY ROAD and its astounding visual storytelling, both on the page and on screen. We talk about setups and payoffs, given circumstances, image systems, environmental storytelling, and how the relationship between Furiosa and Max is built over the course of the story with very little dialogue (besides Tom Hardy’s grunts and the odd bellow of “MEDIOCRE!”).

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

What can we learn from folk horror?

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More Episodes

How can you create flow and contrast in your dialogue?

A full three years after the first instalment (and one of our most popular), Stu and Chas have kidnapped Stephen Cleary to once again develop some craft tools around dialogue. It would be fair to say that - in that time - all three have learnt a lot more about dialogue than they knew in 2016. It would be also fair to say that Stephen perhaps learnt a little more through his research into “genderlect”.

In Part II, we analyse key scenes from films and TV shows famous for their dialogue, namely FLEABAG (Season 2, Episode 5), JUNO and DEADWOOD (The Pilot). The biggest tools we explore are: the hook and eye; how dialogue can reveal status and empathy; rhythm; contrast and affinity; and pacing.

And just to help us all out, Stephen rounds out the episode with some quick fire examples - FIVE EASY PIECES, JERRY MAGUIRE, GROSSE POINTE BLANK, and NOTTING HILL (again) -  and further dialogue tips.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode during the holiday season.

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Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts! or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. We are @stuwillis and @chasffisher on twitter. And you can find @draft_zero on Instagram and Twitter.

Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Theis, Jesse, Daniel, Jack, Chris, Khrob, Sandra, Nick, Matteo, and Carrie. They’re good humans.

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