Learn the Hidden Side of Screenwriting: How to Write Amazing Scenes
ABOUT THE WEBINAR
You may have taken a dozen courses and read a bookshelf full of books on screenwriting, but may still be searching for the one secret that puts all into action for you. This webinar will complement what you’ve already learned, but will also shed a bright light on the previously untaught craft of scene writing.
If paragraphs are the building blocks of fiction, then scenes are the building blocks of a screenplay. Although most screenwriting instruction revolves around the structure of a story, no one comes out of a movie talking about what great structure they’ve just seen. No, what audiences love and remember most about a movie are its scenes. Marlon Brando riding in a cab in ON THE WATERFRONT giving his “I could’a been a contender” speech. Meg Ryan’s fake orgasm in Katz’s Deli in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. Or in SUPER BAD, Jonah Hill professing “I love you” to his friend Michael Cera by touching his nose with a “boop.”
Screenwriters need to know and understand the nitty-gritty craft of scene writing in order to succeed both creatively and financially. These skills will help you create more emotional and memorable scenes, as well as establish your unique voice. Your script will also become more marketable because you’ll be able to serve what the film business needs.
Jack Nicholson says he won’t do a movie unless it has at least five amazing moments. This means the scenes in your script have to be as good as its structure. Structure alone does not lead to a great screenplay. In this tough spec market with its companies’ shrinking development slates, scripts with only a cool concept no longer cut it. A polished script with bulletproof execution can skip the development process and allows a producer to submit it immediately to actors or directors, whose involvement can lead to a sale and production.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
- How to train your brain to see storytelling patterns everywhere
- Why scene writing isn’t a separate skill from screenwriting and storytelling
- How to use character to create structure organically
- Where your surprises and reversals come from
- The importance of climax and how to illuminate it
- How to write visually and make dialogue a last resort to tell your story
- A filmmaker’s perspective on scenes
- How to “break the rules” like Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino and David Mamet do with their long, talky scenes
- How to polish your script so it’s ready for A-List actors and directors
WHO SHOULD WATCH?
- Storytellers of all short-form narratives: commercials, songs, skits, sketches, and shorts
- Those who need an understanding of story in their work: editors, composers, and songwriters
- Those who wish to learn more about storytelling patterns
- Those who wish to learn more about the craft of writing a dynamic and solid screenplay
- Writers, actors, directors, producers, and novelists
The Writers Store does not offer any refunds for the webinar. All sales are final.