DZ-102: Game of the Scene – Bluey, John Wick 4

How can ‘games’ help us write better scenes?

Stu and Chas turn their attention to a topic that has long eluded them: the game of the scene. We look at how considering the game that characters are playing — its rules, arenas, players, referees, and win conditions — can help you write more dynamic scenes.

This will be a two-parter, and for this half, we talk BLUEY, “The Quiet Game” (from Season 2) and “Phones” (from Season 3), and JOHN WICK 4. We also touch on GAME NIGHT and LIFE OF BRIAN.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

CHAPTERS

  • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
  • 00:00:18 – Sponsor: ScriptUp
  • 00:01:52 – Intro: What do we mean by Game of the Scene?
  • 00:15:06 – The Life of Brian: “What have the Romans ever done for us?”
  • 00:20:03 – Bluey
  • 00:35:08 – Sponsor: Arc Studio Pro
  • 00:37:56 – John Wick 4
  • 01:14:34 – Wrap Up & Key Learnings
  • 01:22:17 – Many thanks to our Patreons

RELATED EPISODES

RELATED LINKS

This episode brought to you by (drum roll):

And how can we forget our awesome Patreons, especially Lily,  Alexandre, Casimir, Jennifer, Thomas, Garrett, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

We are @stuwillis, and @chasffisher on twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

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DZ-101: Creating Immediacy & Anchoring Action on the Page

What can we learn by analysing how ‘oners’ are written on the page?

Chas, Stu and Mel reunite to talk about writing the *feel* of camerawork in screenplays. We use “oners” — a long-playing continuous take — as a lens to talk about how some writers have “directed” from the page. We talk immediacy, camera positions, handovers, and anchoring action and more.

We breakdown the famous Copacabana shot from GOODFELLAS, the awe-inspiring chase sequence from THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, and the heart pounding ‘Zed attack’ from CHILDREN OF MEN. We also briefly discuss THE BOURNE IDENTITY, HEREDITARY, THE BEAR, ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN and TOUCH OF EVIL.

And we do this breakdown by closely reading the actual words on the page. So thanks to Meegan May (of Starship Q Star) for performing the big print / action lines. Script Pages available on our Patreon.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

CHAPTERS

  • 00:00:13 – Cold Open
  • 00:00:23 – ScriptUp Sponsorship
  • 00:00:33 – New Chapter
  • 00:01:58 – Intro: Camerwork on the page
  • 00:09:50 – Contrary Examples: The Bourne Identity and Hereditary
  • 00:13:15 – Narrative Purpose and Oners
  • 00:16:30 – Goodfellas (intro)
  • 00:16:57 – Goodfellas (excerpt)
  • 00:18:22 – Goodfellas (discussion)
  • 00:32:48 – The Adventures of Tintin (intro)
  • 00:34:14 – The Adventures of Tintin (excerpt)
  • 00:37:23 – The Adventures of Tintin (discussion)
  • 00:49:34 – Children of Men (intro)
  • 00:53:38 – Children of Men (excerpt)
  • 01:00:32 – Children of Men (discussion)
  • 01:12:24 – Key Learnings and Wrap Up

SCENE EXCERPTS via

LINKS

LINKS

RELATED EPISODES

This episode brought to you by (drum roll):

And how can we forget our awesome Patreons, especially Lily,  Alexandre, Casimir, Eduardo, Jennifer, Thomas, Garrett, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, Alex, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. We are @stuwillis, and @chasffisher on twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

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DZ-100: Scenes through Swords

What scene-writing tools can be learned from martial arts?

n this slightly unusual episode of Draft Zero (but also incredibly on brand), Stu and philosopher swordsperson Damon Young discuss how the lessons they have learned from martial arts can be applied to scenes. In particular, they discuss how approaching an opponent in a sword fight can be analogous to how characters approach conflict, such as: the distance between the characters, who chooses to engage first, how to feint, how to lure an attack by leaving yourself vulnerable, etc. 

They reference classic conflicts such as Clarice interviewing Dr. Lecter in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, when Miranda puts down Andrea in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, and the final showdown between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul in the animated series THE CLONE WARS. 

You can find Damon Young here:

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND.

RELATED EPISODES

This episode is brought to you by our awesome Patreons, especially Alexandre, Casimir, Eduardo, Jennifer, Thomas, Garrett, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, Alex, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. We are @stuwillis, and @chasffisher on twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic