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DZ-41: Theme and Worldview

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Release Date: 03/24/2017

DZ-70: Joker & Melodrama show art DZ-70: Joker & Melodrama

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

How does Joker use melodramatic techniques to elevate its storytelling?

info_outline DZ-69: Parasite & Audience Questions show art DZ-69: Parasite & Audience Questions

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Draft Zero return with their next YouTube livestream! Stu and Chas take a deep dive into PARASITE and how its mastery of audience questions elevates the film. They then answer listeners questions on PARASITE and much more.

info_outline DZ-68: Using POV to structure KNIVES OUT show art DZ-68: Using POV to structure KNIVES OUT

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

How can shifting narrative point of view drive your sequences?

info_outline DZ-67: Writing “Passive” Protagonists & Melodrama show art DZ-67: Writing “Passive” Protagonists & Melodrama

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Stu and Chas are joined by Stephen Cleary following his exploration into Melodrama, and together they try to reclaim the word from its pejorative meaning.

info_outline DZ LiVEsolation Annoucement show art DZ LiVEsolation Annoucement

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

We hope you are all staying healthy and safe. Due this difficult time of lockdown, Chas and Stu have decided to “regularly” do special live-streamed episodes (via YouTube Live) of Draft Zero that we are calling LiVEsolation.

info_outline DZ-66: The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker - Audience Knowledge vs Character Motivation show art DZ-66: The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker - Audience Knowledge vs Character Motivation

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Chas and Stu are joined by special guest - filmmaker Mel Killingsworth - to talk all things Star Wars. Well… focusing on The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker and wherever else our tangents take us.

info_outline DZ-65: Collaborating with a Director - The Snip show art DZ-65: Collaborating with a Director - The Snip

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

This episode, Chas steps down as co-host (kinda) and is interviewed by Stu as a guest, alongside director Ben Mizzi, about the short rom-com that Chas wrote and Ben directed & produced. The episode covers taking an idea from pitch to screen, working with a director, directing performance on the page, and marketing and distribution strategies for short films.

info_outline DZ-64: Backmatter - Controlling your Work, Treatments, and Writing Styles show art DZ-64: Backmatter - Controlling your Work, Treatments, and Writing Styles

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Stu and Chas indulge themselves by offering personal opinions based on their own personal experience. To that end, they discuss: what is and is not in your control in relation to an emerging writing career; choosing what project to develop next; using the Black List site to gain traction; the difference between treatments for pitching as opposed to for development; the difference in writing style when writing on spec as against work for hire; and guest David Wappel shares his thoughts on anchoring nouns.

info_outline DZ-63: Tools for Better Dialogue (Part 2) - Hook and Eye show art DZ-63: Tools for Better Dialogue (Part 2) - Hook and Eye

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Stu and Chas have kidnapped Stephen Cleary to once again develop some craft tools around dialogue. In Part 2 of this series, 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.

info_outline DZ-62: Unfilmables and Unscriptables (Part 3) - As Ifs & Emotional context show art DZ-62: Unfilmables and Unscriptables (Part 3) - As Ifs & Emotional context

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

In this final part of our series on unfilmables, Chas and Stu turn their critical eye to... each other’s work! They take their key learnings from the previous ep and apply them to rewriting scenes from their own projects. They discuss metaphors, emotional context, and how you can write tone on the page without resorting to unfilmables.

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How 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.

Please send feedback to ask at draft-zero.com, via our web form or twitter @draft_zero  We are @chasffisher and @stuwillis on twitter.

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