DZ-119: Final Character Choices & Great Endings
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
How does your protagonist’s final choice resolve the plot, character arc and theme? In this episode, Stu and Chas focus solely on the final choices made by protagonists and how that reflects their character journey and successfully, or not, dramatises the internal. We compare and contrast different uses of narrative POV in respect to these final choices, in particular whether and when the audience is made aware of the options available to the character, the act of making the choice, and the consequences of the choice. We breakdown examples from DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES,...
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DZ-118: Adolescence and tension through questions
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
How do dramatic questions create tension? In this episode, Stu and Chas delve into the cultural phenomenon of ADOLESCENCE. We try to find the craft tools that have made the show so compelling and such a catalyst for conversation. In particular, we breakdown how the show’s emphasis on questions creates tension: not just tension through plot, but tension through character, and ultimately tension through theme. We analsyse the show episode-by-episode, and discuss how the overall structure skilfully shifts from a plot-heavy police procedural towards a thematic-heavy melodrama...
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DZ-117: Tonal shifts
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
How can we teach our audience new storytelling rules in the middle of our story? Following on from our episodes on establishing tone through action lines and through character, this is what we have been building up to: how to pull off a tonal switch… that does not throw the audience out of the film. And, in particular, how to pull that off on the page when writers don’t have framing, lighting, music, editing, etc. at our disposal? With that goal in mind, Mel and Chas dissect specific moments on the pages of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU and SWISS ARMY MAN. While there are definite...
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DZ-116: Writing physical comedy
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
How do you make extended technical scenes funny on the page? Mel joins Chas to tackle physical comedy. We limited our homework selection to extended scenes (as opposed to moments and sight gags) in live action projects and - with the help of our Patreons - selected early sequences from BRINGING UP BABY, the pilot for HAPPY ENDINGS and that wonderful food poisoning scene in BRIDESMAIDS. We discover how these incredible writers take their time (on the page) to set up geography, framing and running gags. We also get tips on judicious use ALL CAPS, ellipses and M-dashes to recreate visual gags…...
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DZ-115: A Christmas Special - Rewatching & Rituals
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
What magic do Christmas movies use to make them so rewatchable? In this “backmatter” episode of Draft Zero, Stu, Chas, and Mel Killingsworth embark on a festive exploration of what makes holiday films so engaging and so re-watchable that they can become part of our rituals. To that end, we breakdown the charm of of Christmas films like KISS KISS BANG BANG, RIDERS OF JUSTICE, and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. We discuss what defines a holiday movie, the power of nostalgia, the importance of ensembles to a sense of family, and how voiceover, snappy dialogue and intricate plots can make...
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DZ-114: Climaxes in Challengers
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
How does ending your story on the climax affect audience experience? While Stu is on show, Mel and Chas sit down to analyse the meaning behind the ending of 2024’s CHALLENGERS, especially when - upon reading the script - the most impactful moment of the ending on screen (for Chas in particular) is not written on the page. Following on from episodes on filmmakers talking directly to the audience as well as previous exploration into choices and decisions (and hopefully serving as a prelude to our episode on Hero’s Choice), Mel and Chas explore the choices the characters make in that final...
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DZ-113: Tools for filmmakers to talk to the audience
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
What tools help ensure that you as the filmmaker are not misunderstood? In our final (ha!) episode looking at Talking Directly to the Audience, we turn away from character-and-text based craft tools to look at other ways that filmmakers - whether they be directors, writers, editors, or anyone else - can make the audience feel their 'hand' more. To that end, Mel, Stu and Chas dive into ADAPTATION, STORIES WE TELL and THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION. We discuss structure (in particular how to structure more “meta” stories), the influence of TikTok and YouTube in portraying character...
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DZ-112: Breaking the 4th wall
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
DZ-112: Breaking the 4th wall How is the effect of breaking the 4th wall different to VoiceOver? As part of our series on how filmmakers can directly communicate to the audience, we finally examine the most blatant tool of them all: when character look directly down the barrel of the camera… and thus look directly at us, the viewer. Chas, Stu and Mel take the craft tools/levers they identified in previous episodes and use them to examine HIGH FIDELITY, ABBOTT ELEMENTARY and - of course - FLEABAG. By examining how “in-world” the camera is, who is talking, and whom the character is talking...
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DZ-111: Unreliable Narrators and Fight Club
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
How does the unreliability of a narrator impact the way a story is told? In this episode, Stu and Mel (sans Chas!) take a deep dive into FIGHT CLUB and its use of the unreliable narrator. This is a bridging episode between our previous episode on VOICEOVER and our forthcoming episode on TALKING TO CAMERA as Fight Club does both. We dissect the film’s disconnected sequence-driven structure and how the voiceover ’stitches’ the film together. And then we look at what makes ‘Jack’ an unreliable narrator and how his control over the storytelling impacts us. As...
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DZ-110: Voiceover
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
How can you use Voiceover without it feeling like a cheat? In this episode, we finally delve into the world of VOICEOVERS (as part of our larger series exploring craft tools that allow characters & storytellers to talk directly to the audience). Chas, Stu and Mel deep dive into the VERONICA MARS pilot, Disney’s THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, and the Michael Bay epic PAIN & GAIN. In exploring what makes these particular examples of Voiceover great (and not feel like a cheat or a well-worn trope), we apply the four levers identified in our Part 1 (in particular ‘when in time is the...
info_outlineHow can your characters' worldview dramatise your theme?
In this episode, Stu and Chas tackle one of the more esoteric topics in screenwriting (and writing in general): theme! To help us tackle this topic, we decided to look at television pilots, because we felt that television requires the theme to be more explicit. Our zig-zagging (and long) discussion covers thematic engines, music themes, thematic loglines, punishment vs reward, and - perhaps most of all - the worldview of characters.
So we take a look at the opening and closing scenes (and middle scenes, too) of some of our favourite shows: HOUSE OF CARDS, CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, TRUE DETECTIVE, FARGO and TRANSPARENT. We also make passing reference to SPEC OPS: THE LINE, GAME OF THRONES (its Stu's new Star Wars), and BOJACK HORSEMAN.
In backmatter, we talk about the difference between the written scripts of these pilots and their released versions.
Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter markers included in the mp3.
It should go without saying but - SPOILERS AHEAD.
- DRAFT ZERO - Related Episodes
- BACKGROUND MATERIAL
- /r/screenwriting: [QUESTION] How do I find my theme/moral/the point I want to make with my story?
- Game Maker's Toolkit: Morality in the Mechanics
- Game Maker's Toolkit: Telling Stories with Systems
- YouTube: SpecOps the Line - White Phosphorus Scenes
- PopMatters: Morality and Karma Systems
- HOUSE OF CARDS [@ 24m 33s]
- Script: HOUSE OF CARDS by Beau Williamson
- YouTube: Francis Underwood's first monologue
- YouTube: Tyrion and Varys Discuss Power
- Find it on JustWatch
- CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND [@ 42m 23s]
- Script: CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND "West Covina" Written by Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna
- YouTube: "West Covina"
- YouTube: Bojack Horseman
- Find it on JustWatch
- TRUE DETECTIVE [@ 01hr 07m 27s]
- Script: TRUE DETECTIVE "The Long Bright Dark" by Nic Pizzolatto
- YouTube: Rust & Martin Car Conversation
- YouTube: Six Feet Under - Elephant Art vs Termite Art
- Find it on JustWatch
- FARGO [@ 1h1 35m 40s]
- Script: FARGO script by Noah Hawley
- YouTube: Lester Nygaard talks to Lorne Malvo about Sam Hess
- Find it on JustWatch
- TRANSPARENT [@ 1hr 52m 46s]
- Script: TRANSPARENT by Jill Soloway
- YouTube: A Big Change
- Find it on JustWatch
- WRAP UP MATERIAL [@ 2hr 01m 05s]
- BACKMATTER [@ 2hr 21m 29s]
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