DZ-32: High-Tension Sequences

How can you recreate the feeling of cinematic high-tension on the page? Chas & Stu take a close look at sequences of high-tension – the ones that make you lean forward in fear, or jump backwards in terror. Without camera angles, lighting, music or sound, how can screenwriters can evoke those emotions in readers using only the page? These […]

DZ-30: Oscars revisited – Spotlight and Carol

What makes a script so compelling that it ends up with an Oscar nod? This week, Stu and Chas return to their first ever episode by tackling two Oscar-nominated screenplays. But this time – instead of exploring the rigid structures laid down by gurus – they use it as an opportunity to explore what they’ve learned […]

DZ-14: Writing For Actors with Succession’s Sarah Snook

In this episode, Chas and Stu are joined by a very special guest, SARAH SNOOK – star of Predestination, Jessabelle, and Oddball, amongst many others – to discuss ACTING and it’s relationship with WRITING. We focus our analysis on two scenes from AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, a screenplay that started life as a Pulitzer Prize winning play, and whose writer – Tracy Letts – is a successful actor in his own right. But, as usual, we ice-skate between a whole range of topics,  including what attracts actors to a script, writing realistic characters, how actors analyse scenes, character spines & objectives, and the importance of hugs.