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?
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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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DZ-81: Pitch Decks & Look Books - Development Tools 4
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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DZ-80: Interweaving Timelines 3 - Little Women
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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DZ-79: Interweaving Timelines 2 - The Social Network
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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DZ-78: Interweaving Timelines 1 - Destroyer
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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DZ-77: Backmatter - Prioritising and choosing projects
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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DZ-76: Spotlight on Sofia Coppola
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
What can we learn from Sofia Coppola’s on-the-page skills over her career?
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DZ-75: Fury Road & Visual Storytelling
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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DZ-74: Midsommar & Folk Horror
Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
What can we learn from folk horror?
info_outlineWorkshopping ways to fix character motivations.
In this second part of their exploration of character motivations, Chas and Stu dive into what makes “BAD” screenplays NOT work. They examine at moments where they (and maybe you, dear listeners) did not believe a key decision being made by a character and so were taken out of the movie. In a departure from the Draft Zero format, they apply the tools they developed in Part 1 to workshop potential fixes to these beats.
Character decisions that come under the microscope are AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (again), SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, DIE HARD (which is a good example for contrast, not a bad one!), PREDATOR 2, SICARIO 2: DÍA DEL SOLDADO and PROMETHEUS (with an honourable mention to A PRINCESS BRIDE).
Let us know if you like the variation on our format or not!
As always: SPOILERS ABOUND!
Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter markers included in the mp3. Watch it on on YouTube.
Read the transcript on GitHub or in HTML.
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters. If you would like more Draft Zero episodes more often, click here!
LINKS
- DRAFT ZERO RELATED EPISODES
- DZ-55: Character Motivations (Part I) http://draft-zero.com/2019/dz-55/
- DZ-33: Protagonist vs Main Character http://draft-zero.com/2016/dz-33/
- AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR screenplay by Markus & McFeely [@ 10m 41s]
- SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY screenplay by Jonathan & Lawrence Kasdan [@ 16m 58s]
- DIE HARD screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza [@ 34m 04s]
- PREDATOR 2 written by Jim Thomas & John Thomas [@ 38m 04s]
- Youtube: Child vs Predator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsDci3A76N0
- JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/le-predateur-2
- SICARIO 2: DÍA DEL SOLDADO written by Taylor Sheridan [@ 53m 30s]
- PROMETHEUS written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof [@ 1h 35m 15s]
- TV Tropes: Idiot Ball https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall
- Engineering Prometheus – From Jon Spaihts to Damon Lindelof:https://www.avpgalaxy.net/alien-movies/prometheus/engineering-prometheus/
- JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/prometheus
- WRAP UP & KEY LEARNINGS [@ 2h 04m 06s]
- Scriptnotes - Plot Holes: https://johnaugust.com/2019/plot-holes
- Scriptnotes - A Princess Bride: https://johnaugust.com/2019/the-princess-bride
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