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Category Archives: Script Analysis
Wild Thoughts About WILD THINGS
Script Analysis: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't yet seen Where The Wild Things Are, you may want to check it out before you read this article.
Let's set aside the question right now of whether or not Where The Wild Things Are is a good movie. Let's set aside the question of whether you liked it or not (or were a little bit embarrassed for liking it as much as you did).
And if you feel like you wasted your twelve bucks on a movie in which essentially nothing happens, let's set that aside too.
Love it or hate it, Wild Things is a movie worth studying, because of the bold and unique ways it is structured to reflect its authors' premise, both in its most wonderful, and its most problematic elements.
PREMISE? WHAT PREMISE?
Wild things is governed by a simple idea-- or at least a strong suggestion-- that we are seeing the whole world through the perspective of a young boy-- as he works out his rage over his isolated life (and more importantly, his parents divorce) by playing with a bunch of stuffed animals in his room.
The writer-director team of Jonze & Eggers make a very strong (and very risky) decision that nothing in the world of the Wild Things is going to exist outside what a boy Max's age could reasonably imagine. This is embodied in every element of the film:
Posted in Script Analysis Tagged 7 act structure, Archetypes, Emotional Structure, film structure, film writing, how to write a screenplay, Jacob Krueger, learn to write a screenplay, movies, plot, screen play, screenplay structure, screenplay writing classes, screenplay writing workshops, Screenwriter's Mind, script classes, Symbolic Structure, Symbolism, Where The Wild Things Are Comments closed
Script Analysis: What's Wrong With "Surrogates"?
Movies are a lot like professional sports. The things we notice tend to be the big plays, the brilliant scenes, the moments that make us say “wow!” But what actually makes movies work is a lot like what makes sports teams successful: not the brilliant moments, but the fundamentals. In football, [...]
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Thoughts On "Drag Me To Hell"
I just saw "Drag Me To Hell" tonight. Talk about a great example of how a well structured movie uses theme to craft a character's journey. Spoiler alert: If you haven't watched this movie yet, this might be a good time to dash out and see it. Then come on back and read all about it.
The theme of "Drag Me To Hell" is pretty simple: selfish desire leads to the soul's destruction. The film begins with a woman who is genuinely good. And step by step, the structure of the film quite literally drags her to hell-- not just through the terrible curse that she must contend with, but by causing her to make such immoral choices in her attempts to escape it that by the time it's all over, she just about deserves her fate...
Posted in Script Analysis Tagged Drag Me To Hell, film structure, film writing, how to write a screenplay, how to write a script, Jacob Krueger, learn to write a screenplay, movie writing, movies, plot, Sam Raimi, screen play, screen play structure, screen writing, screen writing classes, screen writing courses, screen writing workshops, Screenplay Analysis, screenplay structure, screenplay writing classes, screenplay writing workshops, Screenwriter's Mind, screenwriting classes, screenwriting courses Comments closed
Thoughts On "The Watchmen"
In my Monday class tonight a question came up about the difference between Message and Theme.
It turns out a perfect example can be seen in the "The Watchmen".
Theme is about the character's journey. It reflects the want the character is pursuing, the value in that character that is being tested, and the way the character changes.
Message is about the writer. It's what the writer wants you to believe. And in execution it tends to be preachy and unengaging, because it's all about PLOT and INFORMATION, rather than about a character on a journey...
Posted in Script Analysis Tagged 7 act structure, Add new tag, film structure, how to write a screenplay, how to write a script, Jacob Krueger, learn to write a screenplay, movie writing, movies, plot, screen play, screen play structure, screen writing classes, screen writing workshops, screenplay structure, screenplay writing classes, screenplay writing workshops, Screenwriter's Mind, screenwriting classes, screenwriting courses, screenwriting workshops, Script Analysis, script classes, script courses, script structure, The Watchmen, writing structure Comments closed
A PROPHET… And You’re Worried YOUR Character Is Unlikable!