§ RESOURCES / FILMMAKER INDEX
Ethan Coen
Writer / Director
Films Discussed 5
- · A Serious Man (2009) (d/w)
- · Fargo (1996) (d/w)
- · No Country for Old Men (2007) (d/w)
- · The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) (d/w)
- · True Grit (2010) (d/w)
Draft Zero Episodes 6
DZ-107: Establishing Tone through Character
How can we use dramatisation to create tone?
In this episode, Chas and Stu continue their deep dive into how to write tone by examining films with “light” (we use the phrase loosely) tones: LADY BIRD, EMILY THE CRIMINAL, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS, and SPONTANEOUS. We also talk a surprising amount about DUNE and CRAZY STUPID LOVE… →
Listen if you want to understand how character actions and reactions shape a film's tone
DZ-92: Insightful Recognition in Powerful Endings
How can endings prompt an audience to reflect on your story?
Stu & Chas set out to explore what makes certain endings powerful, in particular those of LA LA LAND, INCEPTION, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and TURNING RED. The lens they bring to those endings is Aristotle’s moment of “anagnorisis” (don’t worry - we can’t pronounce it either), traditionally when a character moves from ignorance to knowledge (particularly of self)… →
Listen if you want to write endings that make audiences pause and ponder (in a good way, obvs)
DZ-89: Opening Sequences
How does your opening sequence set up your audience?
Inspired by her tweet on how subversive an opening OCEAN’S ELEVEN has, Chas and Stu invited amazing writer/director Jessica Ellis onto the show to deep dive into opening sequences. How does a good opening setup character, genre, and theme… →
Listen if you want to understand how great opening sequences establish character, genre, and theme while defying genre conventions
DZ-43: Driving Sequences - Character and Plot Intensity
What gives your sequences their intensity?
Chas and Stu are joined for the fourth time by the inestimable Stephen Cleary - this time to take a deep dive into sequences. A real deep dive. A 3+ hour deep dive… →
Listen to understand how dramatic questions shape audience engagement and pacing through sequences.
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 sequences can be found in any genre of film, not just thriller or horror. To that end, Stu and Chas dive into high tension scenes from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, ZODIAC, ROOM, and THE BABADOOK. We cover their use of shifting POV, Dramatic Irony, Status Transactions, White Space, Sound FX, and many more… →
Listen if you want to evoke fear and tension using only the written word (without relying on camera, lighting, music, or sound_
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DZ-8: Status Transactions
How does a shift in status or power reveal character?
Stu and Chas explore an idea they both came across studying theatre: status and by extension (or juxtaposition) power. Is a story where a character changes status or experiences loss (or gains) in power more compelling… →
Listen to make your character relatinships more dynamic.
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Referenced In
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