All posts that are Essays
Successful storytelling hinges on choreographing a dance between characters and audience, with information as the music. Controlling the Flow of Information As audience members watching a [...]
Invite your audience to work with you to add layers of meaning to your story through three kinds of subtext. When you are telling a story, [...]
What is funny, and how do you make it funny? It’s often said that you can’t explain comedy. Or teach it. If you’ve got the [...]
Make your story more cinematic by thinking and writing in sequences, not scenes. These notes refer to the document Sample Sequences, which was written to illustrate various aspects [...]
More about how sequences work, referring to Sample Sequences. Behind, Beside or Ahead By sequence X we are well into the story, and as you’d expect, we [...]
More about how sequences work, referring to Sample Sequences. Variations in Point of View Unlike a typical novel, cinema can treat point of view quite fluidly. Sequences [...]
Wrapping up how sequences work, referring to Sample Sequences. Stakes: Tension and Release Across the journey of each sequence you are trying to raise the stakes [...]
Take the question you discovered through Duelling Aphorisms and Double-Sided Questions, and use subplots to turn the answer into a story, not a lecture. The Second [...]
A simple, incisive, scalable test of your story logic. Causality and Meaning Story logic is crucial to understanding character. Story logic is built on causality [...]
Watch out for ‘just ’in your work, in how you think about your work, and in how you discuss your work. It punctures everything. [...]
Graham Thorburn is a director, producer, writer and educator with decades of experience in film and television.
My thanks to:
Matisse Walkden-Brown – Concept Consultant
Marie Schyberg – Website Design and Development
