Die Hard (1988)

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DZ-86: Backmatter - Minimum Viable Product

How do you determine what is your MVP?

In their annual full backwater episode, Stu and Chas let out their pandemic hair, drop the ruse of objectivity, and allow themselves to have even more options about writing and the business of writing… →

⏱ 1h 29m

Process · Words | 1 FEB 2022

Listen for screenwriting lessons from 2021, strategies for pitching projects, and insights on running a writers workshop

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In their annual full backwater episode, Stu and Chas let out their pandemic hair, drop the ruse of objectivity, and allow themselves to have even more options about writing and the business of writing… →

Films: Die Hard (1988)

Process: Pitching , Craft Tools , Development , Collaboration , Career

Words: Big Print

DZ-56: Character Motivations (Part 2)

Workshopping ways to fix character motivations.

In this second part of their exploration of character motivations, Chas and Stu dive into what makes “BAD” screenplays NOT work. They examine at moments where they (and maybe you, dear listeners) did not believe a key decision being made by a character and so were taken out of the movie. In a departure from the Draft Zero format, they apply the tools they developed in Part 1 to workshop potential fixes to these beats… →

⏱ 2h 16m

Character · Process · Audience | 30 MAR 2019

Listen if you want to understand how character decisions can break a screenplay and how to fix them

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In this second part of their exploration of character motivations, Chas and Stu dive into what makes “BAD” screenplays NOT work. They examine at moments where they (and maybe you, dear listeners) did not believe a key decision being made by a character and so were taken out of the movie. In a departure from the Draft Zero format, they apply the tools they developed in Part 1 to workshop potential fixes to these beats… →

Films: Avengers: Infinity War (2018) , Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) , Die Hard (1988) , Predator 2 (1990) , Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) , Prometheus (2012)

Character: Character Motivation , Character Agency , Internal Journey , Subtext

Process: Craft Tools

Audience: Audience Sympathy

DZ-49: Antagonists! 1 - vs Humans

What makes a strong human antagonist?

Prompted by a listener (and patron of the podcast) question, Stu and Chas dive into antagonistic forces. And because Draft Zero does not do anything by halves, this is Part One of a Five Part Epic Exploration™ into antagonists; namely: vs humans, vs self, vs nature/supernatural, vs systems and “other”. aka the classic narrative conflicts… →

⏱ 1h 20m

31 MAR 2018

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Prompted by a listener (and patron of the podcast) question, Stu and Chas dive into antagonistic forces. And because Draft Zero does not do anything by halves, this is Part One of a Five Part Epic Exploration™ into antagonists; namely: vs humans, vs self, vs nature/supernatural, vs systems and “other”. aka the classic narrative conflicts… →

Films: Die Hard (1988) , Misery (1990) , Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

DZ-10: Midpoint Reversals and The Ride

How can the middle of your film pivot so much that it pulls the rug out of your audience?

Stu and Chas embark on the first of a series of explorations into the dreaded Second Act. Their first stop is midpoint reversals or shifts, a plot point bang in the middle of ACT II that changes the protagonist’s goal, raises the stakes and potentially leaves your audience leaning forward and asking “How the hell is this going to end?&rdquo… →

⏱ 1h 19m

Structure · Character · Scenes | 8 JUL 2014

Listen when your second act sags and you need a structural jolt to accelerate audience engagement.

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Stu and Chas embark on the first of a series of explorations into the dreaded Second Act. Their first stop is midpoint reversals or shifts, a plot point bang in the middle of ACT II that changes the protagonist’s goal, raises the stakes and potentially leaves your audience leaning forward and asking “How the hell is this going to end?&rdquo… →

Films: Death at a Funeral (2007) , Prisoners (2013) , Short Term 12 (2013) , Alien (1979) , Aliens (1986) , The Bourne Supremacy (2004) , Full Metal Jacket (1987) , Philomena (2013) , How I Live Now (2013) , Elysium (2013) , Die Hard (1988) , Star Wars (1977)

Structure: Midpoints , Act Two , Stakes , Plot Questions , Narrative Velocity

Character: Character Motivation

Scenes: Dramatic Irony

Shot Zero Deep Dives

DIE HARD: integrating inserts in the action by Shot Zero

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Character Introductions 002: Hans Gruber by Shot Zero

Why is Hans Gruber's character introduction so iconic? The visual introduction of Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988) is so dynamic. We start with the truck moving L-to-R and towards camera. Creates momentum. We cut to a steadicam doing a counter-move: pushing in as the truck still moves towards camera, and the roller doors going up creating action in multiple axises.

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