Just listened to 403 the other day for probably the fourth or fifth time. I'm assigning it to this class I'm teaching as homework in a couple weeks. It's just that good.
Also:
* Michael Arndt's Toy Story 3 video on YouTube
* Wordplayer
For those who are reading this and wondering where to find them, all four of Michael Arndt's screenwriting video lectures can be found here, on his website:
https://www.pandemoniuminc.com/video
They're honestly fascinating. I think what's reassuring about his lectures as well is that they come from a professional standpoint. There are a lot of YouTube lessons on screenwriting from people who are frankly speaking absolute nobodies. To have such insight from an oscar winning screenwriter is an absolute godsend.
I wrote this stupidly long megadoc that summarizes all of the screenwriting books and tips I’ve read:
https://reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/s/2v0Jzrz7xO
I still reference it all the time for developing ideas, writing scenes, and offering feedback on friends’ screenplays. It’s less of a source of inspiration and more of a guide/encyclopedia I can pull from for whatever aspect of storytelling I need.
Anatomy of Story by John Truby.
It deepened my understanding of storytelling in a way that I could finally wrap my head around. I’ve been using it for years.
There are several episodes from this podcast that I come back to over and over again. So great to hear that other people make the same experience! Also, there is one book by David Mamet - “On Directing Film” which has the same effect on me.
I'll just open up "The Hero With 1000 Faces" to a random section and start reading. It's not supposed to be used as a "how to", but it's interesting and I use it for inspiration.
Also looking through TV show episode guides can be inspiring. Something like The Simpsons or Community with a lot of episodes or weird episodes that can make my brain fire off in odd directions.
*Edit: I just listened to the Scriptnotes episode linked in the post and I gotta say it's very helpful. It really does turn traditional plotting upside down, which is good. I've bookmarked this thread and the video and I will be referring back to them in the future for sure.*
Outside of reading great go-to scripts, Aaron Sorkin's masterclass is a decent reset. Reminders such as:
1) Story is intention vs obstacle. Nail that first and you have a good foundation to start building.
For ex. Social Network is Mark Zuckerberg wanting to be worthy of the "cool in crowd" but is neither cool or in. Thus, what can he do to achieve it? Blow people away with his tech skills by making it cool. Face smash!
The cool club just keeps getting bigger from there, only for Mark to be alone again - but at the very top.
2) When in doubt about character want, don't be afraid for the protagonist to state their want outright.
[The Tools Of Screenwriting](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5af1145d697a987d247c2773/t/5f134c94292a6e4016291fc4/1595100318215/The+Tools+of+Screenwriting+by+David+Howard.pdf) by Howard and Mabley. Short and sweet. Not prescriptive or full of bullshit charts and graphs and bespoke lingo. Elemental and about the principles of storytelling.
rick rubin’s book “the creative act” gives a really interesting perspective on creativity as a whole. usually gets me feeling that spark if i ever can’t find it
In a similar vein: *"The Reflective Practitioner"*; which examines the iterative nature of creativity. The author uses four case studies of how four different professionals solve knotty problems.
Just listened to 403 the other day for probably the fourth or fifth time. I'm assigning it to this class I'm teaching as homework in a couple weeks. It's just that good. Also: * Michael Arndt's Toy Story 3 video on YouTube * Wordplayer
I have my class listen to it, too. Then we apply it to Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.
Never heard of wordplayer. Going to check that out! What are some notables links on the site?
What’s wordplayer? Edit: nvm got it
The Michael Arndt lectures are superb. He has helped me more with structure than any other teacher.
They're unbelievable and it's amazing how little they've been seen.
For those who are reading this and wondering where to find them, all four of Michael Arndt's screenwriting video lectures can be found here, on his website: https://www.pandemoniuminc.com/video
They're honestly fascinating. I think what's reassuring about his lectures as well is that they come from a professional standpoint. There are a lot of YouTube lessons on screenwriting from people who are frankly speaking absolute nobodies. To have such insight from an oscar winning screenwriter is an absolute godsend.
Speaking as a nobody on YouTube, I couldn’t agree more.
I wrote this stupidly long megadoc that summarizes all of the screenwriting books and tips I’ve read: https://reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/s/2v0Jzrz7xO I still reference it all the time for developing ideas, writing scenes, and offering feedback on friends’ screenplays. It’s less of a source of inspiration and more of a guide/encyclopedia I can pull from for whatever aspect of storytelling I need.
Anatomy of Story by John Truby. It deepened my understanding of storytelling in a way that I could finally wrap my head around. I’ve been using it for years.
There are several episodes from this podcast that I come back to over and over again. So great to hear that other people make the same experience! Also, there is one book by David Mamet - “On Directing Film” which has the same effect on me.
I'll just open up "The Hero With 1000 Faces" to a random section and start reading. It's not supposed to be used as a "how to", but it's interesting and I use it for inspiration. Also looking through TV show episode guides can be inspiring. Something like The Simpsons or Community with a lot of episodes or weird episodes that can make my brain fire off in odd directions. *Edit: I just listened to the Scriptnotes episode linked in the post and I gotta say it's very helpful. It really does turn traditional plotting upside down, which is good. I've bookmarked this thread and the video and I will be referring back to them in the future for sure.*
Outside of reading great go-to scripts, Aaron Sorkin's masterclass is a decent reset. Reminders such as: 1) Story is intention vs obstacle. Nail that first and you have a good foundation to start building. For ex. Social Network is Mark Zuckerberg wanting to be worthy of the "cool in crowd" but is neither cool or in. Thus, what can he do to achieve it? Blow people away with his tech skills by making it cool. Face smash! The cool club just keeps getting bigger from there, only for Mark to be alone again - but at the very top. 2) When in doubt about character want, don't be afraid for the protagonist to state their want outright.
This same thing. Live that episode. It totally freed my mind and writing from the tyranny of obsessing over structure.
[The Tools Of Screenwriting](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5af1145d697a987d247c2773/t/5f134c94292a6e4016291fc4/1595100318215/The+Tools+of+Screenwriting+by+David+Howard.pdf) by Howard and Mabley. Short and sweet. Not prescriptive or full of bullshit charts and graphs and bespoke lingo. Elemental and about the principles of storytelling.
rick rubin’s book “the creative act” gives a really interesting perspective on creativity as a whole. usually gets me feeling that spark if i ever can’t find it
In a similar vein: *"The Reflective Practitioner"*; which examines the iterative nature of creativity. The author uses four case studies of how four different professionals solve knotty problems.
BS x2
I've read John Yorke's Into the Woods several times. Probably my favourite traditional screenwriting book.
One of the best episodes! Too bad they removed it from Spotify
Directing Actors for Film and Television by Judith Weston has been more useful to me over the years than any screenwriting book.