Is Hamlet really about Hamnet’s death?
The film Hamnet asks us to accept that William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet at least partly in response to the death of his son Hamnet five years previously. Does this [...]
Hamnet: the perils of the predetermined ending
Writing to a predetermined ending often distorts both character behaviour and narrative causality to get there. Is that what Hamnet does? What’s the story’s argument? [...]
Why and How of Scriptorium
A place for exploration and discovery. No hand-holding, no IKEA instructions. The internet is full of people offering you five steps to success. This is not one [...]
Fix Your Internal Creative Marriage
For real creativity, get your conscious mind and your subconscious mind to work with each other, not against each other. Sonnet 116 Shakespeare (or perhaps [...]
Internal Contradiction Externalised
Sometimes, especially in fables, the divided self is represented by two separate characters. This post extends the argument in Sequences: How they Work and it's accompanying Sample Sequences [...]
SHORT CUTS: Scene for analysis
This is the scene referred to in the post Subtext and Non-sequiturs, Who’s Got The Problem Now?, and Case Study: Who's Got the Problem Now? It’s from the Production script, [...]
Case Study: Who’s Got the Problem Now?
As ownership of the dramatic problem shifts, it generates subtext and emotional dynamics. This analysis links directly to the concepts introduced in Who’s Got the Problem Now? and [...]
Sample Sequences
A series of linked sequences, written to illustrate the analysis in Sequences: How They Work. [Moment 1] and so on within the text are references to that analysis. [...]
Six Illustrations of the Social and Philosophical Story Questions
Six worked examples of how films fit the ‘Three Key Questions’ paradigm. Narrative, Social/Psychological, Philosophical Questions Almost every screen story is constantly asking three core questions, [...]
Write for the Story, not the Production Manager
Introducing standard script formatting too early undercuts clear cinematic storytelling. You don't need formatting software. You need a pen and paper, ideas, and a clear idea of what the audience [...]
