Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

How can you create flow and contrast in your dialogue? A full three years after the first instalment (and one of our most popular), Stu and Chas have kidnapped Stephen Cleary to once again develop some craft tools around dialogue. It would be fair to say that - in that time - all three have learnt a lot more about dialogue than they knew in 2016. It would be also fair to say that Stephen perhaps learnt a little more through his research into “genderlect”. In Part II, we analyse key scenes from films and TV shows famous for their dialogue, namely FLEABAG (Season 2, Episode 5), JUNO and DEADWOOD (The Pilot). The biggest tools we explore are: the hook and eye; how dialogue can reveal status and empathy; rhythm; contrast and affinity; and pacing. And just to help us all out, Stephen rounds out the episode with some quick fire examples - FIVE EASY PIECES, JERRY MAGUIRE, GROSSE POINTE BLANK, and NOTTING HILL (again) -  and further dialogue tips. Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode during the holiday season. RUNNING ORDER Intro/Groundwork Status and Gender (@ 05:52) FLEABAG (Season 2, Episode 5) by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (@ 15:26) WATCH: Hair Is Everything — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q97iIDx-b7U JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fleabag JUNO by Diablo Cody (@ 47:41) WATCH: Juno Tells Her Parents: — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWC-R-q85JU  JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/juno DEADWOOD (Pilot) (@ 01:20:20) WATCH: Seth Bullock Hangs a Man in Montana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtgjwmYgTOg JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/deadwood More Dialogue Tips and Techniques (@ 01:40:55) WATCH: Jerry Maguire “Show me the money” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTFJocQBLyE WATCH: Grosse Pointe Blanke “You can never go home again” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgLr6qlpec4 WATCH: Notting Hill “Kitchen Scene” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtQShHQuPwI&t=93s EPISODE LINKS LISTEN: DZ-31: Tools for Better Dialogue (Part 1) WATCH: Five Easy Pieces “Side Order of Toast”  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38maVb_30ng FOLLOW: Stephen Cleary JOIN: Stephen Cleary Workshops READ: Genderlect / Language and Gender READ: The Truth About How Much Women Talk — and Whether Men Listen 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. And you can find @draft_zero on Instagram and Twitter. Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Theis, Jesse, Daniel, Jack, Chris, Khrob, Sandra, Nick, Matteo, and Carrie. They’re good humans. BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic

How do you know if your unfilmable is good... or if you’re just being a wanker? In this third and final part of our series on unfilmables, Chas and Stu turn their critical eye to... each other’s work! They take their key learnings from the previous episodes and apply them to rewriting scenes from their own projects. They discuss metaphors, emotional context, and how you can write tone on the page withoutresorting to unfilmables. They are also joined by Carissa Lee (who has been reading the excerpts) to discuss her perspective as an actor on the scripts we’ve been reading; and they answer listener questions about unfilmables. And, lastly, in backmatter Carissa reads the entire script to Stu’s award-nominated script, DUST BUNNY. Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode, and Carissa Lee for performing the big print. RUNNING ORDER Introduction / Discussion UNCONDITIONAL (Pilot) by Chas Fisher (@ 09:10) PAYLOAD by Matthew Clayfield & Stuart Willis (@ 38:48) DUST BUNNY by Stuart Willis (@ 59:50) THE ACTOR’S PERSPECTIVE with Carissa Lee (@ 01:15:59) LISTENER QUESTIONS & KEY LEARNINGS (@ 01:41:56) Backmatter: DUST BUNNY - full script read by Carissa Lee (@ 01:59:13) EPISODE LINKS LISTEN: DZ-60: Unfilmables and Unscriptables (Part 1) – Engaging imagination LISTEN:DZ-61: Unfilmables and Unscriptables (Part 2) - Moments of Awe READ:  DZ-62 Unfilmables (Part 3) - Collated Scripts WATCH: PAYLOADwritten & directed by Stuart Willis WATCH: RESTORATIONwritten by Matthew Clayfield & Stuart Willis LISTEN: PAYLOAD Original Soundtrackcomposed by David Barber LISTEN: RESTORATION Original Soundtrackcomposed by David Barber 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. And you can find @draft_zero on Instagram and Twitter. Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Theis, Jesse, Daniel, Jack, Chris, Khrob, Sandra, Nick, Matteo, and Carrie. They’re good humans. BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic

How can unfilmables help you create those cinematic moments of awe? In this second part of our series on unfilmables, Chas and Stu continue their deep dive into how writing the “unfilmable” can enhance your script. Rather than looking at micro moments, they turn their gaze to "moments of awe" — those often breathtaking cinematic moments that feel beyond writing. But are those scenes actually unscriptable? In this episode we look at sequences from YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE, SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER, THE INVITATION, and MOONLIGHT. We talk writing cinematically, performance beats, breaking (and maintaining) “the spell”, limited palettes of language, self-contextualising writing, and "instructables". Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode, and Carissa Lee for performing the big print. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. RUNNING ORDER WHEN UNFILMABLES DON’T WORK(@ 12:01) YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE(@ 26:08) screenplay by Lynne Ramsay, based on the novella by Jonathan Ames READ: https://www.scriptslug.com/script/you-were-never-really-here-2017 JustWatch:https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/you-were-never-really-here SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER(@ 38:29)  screenplay by Steven Zallian, based on the book by Fred Waitzkin WATCH (YouTube): Searching For Bobby Fischer - final game JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.cohttps://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/searching-for-bobby-fischerm/au/movie/searching-for-bobby-fischer THE INVITATION(@ 01:04:14) by Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi READ: https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/4rbc3v/request_the_invitation_pdf/  JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/the-invitation MOONLIGHT(@ 01:29:29) Written by Barry Jenkins, Based on “In the Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” by Tarell Alvin McCraney  WATCH: Moonlight 2016 Ending  READ: https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/MOONLIGHT.pdf JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/moonlight WRAP UP AND KEY LEARNINGS(@ 01:49:43) EPISODE LINKS LISTEN: DZ-16: Masters of Time and Whitespace LISTEN: DZ-60: Unfilmables and Unscriptables (Part 1) – Engaging imagination READ: DZ-61 Unfilmables Part 2 - Collated Scripts 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. And you can find @draft_zero on Instagram and Twitter. Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Jesse, Daniel, Devin, Jack, Paul, Chris, Khrob, Sandra, Nick, Rob, Matteo, Daniel and Carrie. They’re good humans. BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic

How can unfilmables enhance the experience of your script? AKA Why your screenwriting guru is wrong In this episode, Chas and Stu deep dive into the controversial area of “unfilmables” — those alleged screenwriting sins, where a writer writes a line that (apparently) cannot be seen or heard. But many produced spec scripts use unfilmables to great effect. So how and why do they “get away with it”? In this first part, they look at unfilmables in micro moments: to describe locations, set (or change) the mood/tone, bring performances to life, and communicate certain types of humour. To that end, they breakdown into examples from LETHAL WEAPON, MY BRIDESMAID IS A BITCH, HEREDITARY, FLEABAG, KILLING EVE, A QUIET PLACE, KILLING THEM SOFTLY, SHARP OBJECTS, SPARTAN, THE NICE GUYS, DRIVE, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI, TREE OF LIFE, and MICHAEL CLAYTON. Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode, and Carissa Lee for performing the big print. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. RUNNING ORDER ASIDES (@ 23:08) LETHAL WEAPON by Shane Black YOUR BRIDESMAID IS A BITCH by Brian Duffield HEREDITARY by Ari Aster FRAMING THE SCENE (@ 52:58) READ: Jane Espenson - The Grim Brothers KILLING EVE, EPISODE1 by Phoebe Waller-Bridge OPENINGS (@ 59:27) KILLING THEM SOFTLY screenplay by Andrew Dominik, based on the novel “Cogan’s Trade" by George V. Higgins SHARP OBJECTS. EPISODE 1, VANISH Written by Marti Noxon, Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn HEREDITARY by Ari Aster SPARTAN a screenplay by David Mamet PERFORMANCE (@ 1:36:07) FLEABAG PILOT written by Phoebe Waller Bridge THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Erin Cressida Wilson, Adapted from the novel by Paula Hawkins THE NICE GUYS by Anthony Bagarozzi & Shane Black DRIVE written by Hossein Amini, Based on the novel by James Sallis TONE/THEME (@ 01:54:49) MICHAEL CLAYTON by Tony Gilroy THE TREE OF LIFE by Terrence Mallick THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI by Martin McDonagh WRAP UP / KEY LEARNINGS (@ 02:11:52) EPISODE LINKS READ: DZ-60 - Unfilmables Collated Examples READ: Cinephilia & Beyond -In Search of Our Better Selves: The Rebirth, Redemption and Road Warriors of George Miller’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ LISTEN: DZ-16: Masters of Time and Whitespace 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. Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Devin, Jack, Paul, Chris, Khrob, Sandra, Nick, Rob, Matteo, Daniel and Carrie. They’re good humans. BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic

One day, Chas saw Avengers: Endgame for the second time and wrote a review on Letterboxd. In particular, he had issues with how little he perceived the characters of Cap and Tony changed within the film, their big finale (spoiler). Then friend and patron of the podcast Julio vehemently disagreed in the comments. He was egged on by Stu. And there in the comments began a debate that looked a lot like an episode of Draft Zero. So we decided to make it one.   And what began as an exploration of how to dramatise character change swiftly became an exploration of how to position audience in relation to your characters. Do you want the audience empathising with the characters? Feeling what they are feeling in the moment? Or do you want your audience sympathising with your characters? Being rocked by surprise after the fact? Reminding your audience of their own personal relationship with the characters.   As always, spoiler-tastic.   RUNNING ORDER   CHAS’ LETTERBOXD REVIEW [@ 00:00:00] HOW DOES THE SNAP AFFECT CAP & TONY? [@ 00:04:27] HOW IS TONY’S JOURNEY DRAMATISED? [@ 00:08:31]  WORKSHOPPING A MOMENT WHEN TONY RISKS IT ALL [@ 00:26:56]  PROVING TONY HAS CHANGED SINCE IRON MAN [@ 00:35:13]  HOW IS STEVE’S JOURNEY DRAMATISED? [@ 00:48:03]  WHAT IF CAP CHOSE TO STAY IN THE PAST? [@ 00:54:49]  KEY LEARNINGS [@ 01:02:43]    EPISODE LINKS Chas’ full review on Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/HqvKD  Screenrant: Russos Claim Cap Could Lift Mjolnir in Avengers 2 But Didn’t Want to Upset Thor - https://screenrant.com/captain-america-mjolnir-worthy-explained-russos/   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, @chasffisher, and @Ovnio on twitter.   Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Jack, Paul, Chris, Khrob, Sandra, Nick, Rob, Matteo, Daniel and Carrie. They’re good humans.   BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic  

How can you let your characters tell us how they feel? In watching Season 7 (and the first three episodes of Season 8) of Game of Thrones, Stu noticed that there were lots of scenes where characters either met for the first time or were reunited after a long time apart. In these scenes, the audience knows (or thinks they know) more than either character. And so the fascination, power and subversion comes from what the characters choose to reveal... or not.   And yet... while we thought this episode would be an extension of our previous musings on exposition, in nearly every great scene we assessed, the characters basically said “screw talking about plot or backstory” and instead exposited about their character. How it feels to be them. How they have, or have not, changed.    And so this episode unexpectedly but rewardingly pivoted to learnings on how to set up and sell character exposition.     As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.   RUNNING ORDER   GAME OF THRONES & EXPOSITION [@ 00:01:10] SCENES CONVEYING PRE-EXISTING FACTS JAIME VS CERSEI IN THE MAP ROOM [@ 00:12:54] YouTube: https://youtu.be/Y6x0KKghBGs ARYA & HOT PIE AT THE CROSSROADS [@ 00:28:23] YouTube: https://youtu.be/F8sJSjMNDSE JON VS THE BROTHERHOOD AT EASTWATCH [@ 00:39:10] YouTube: https://youtu.be/pGmQdbgwUWU CONTRASTING SCENES WITH AND WITHOUT CHARACTER ACTION JON VS TYRION AT DRAGONSTONE [@ 00:47:54] YouTube: https://youtu.be/-vmNy9q9ebQ JON & DAVOS VS MISSANDEI AT DRAGONSTONE [@ 01:01:06] YouTube: https://youtu.be/1hRo54XNvek STARK SIBLING REUNION SCENES ARYA VS SANSA IN THE CRYPT [@ 01:07:05] BRAN, ARYA & SANSA IN THE WEIRWOOD [@ 01:18:46] YouTube: https://youtu.be/xvEr2L3UbjQ ARYA VS JON IN THE WEIRWOOD [@ 01:27:14] YouTube: https://youtu.be/ShNNEn30Yi8 CHARACTER MONOLOGUING BRAN VS MEERA AT WINTERFELL [@ 01:33:06] YouTube: https://youtu.be/i-SiYKyFm2I LEARNINGS [@ 01:37:14] EDUCATION & THWARTING [@ 01:40:13]   EPISODE LINKS   Previous DZ episodes Excelling at Exposition (Part 1) - https://draft-zero.com/2016/dz-37/ Excelling at Exposition (Part 2) - https://draft-zero.com/2016/dz-38/ Game of Thrones - Decision Making & Character Implications - https://draft-zero.com/2016/dz-34/ Read: AV Club:  As new spreads, Westeros reckons with the cumulative absurdity of Game of Thrones - https://tv.avclub.com/as-news-spreads-westeros-reckons-with-the-cumulative-a-1798194760 Listen: Terry Rossio on the On the Page Podcast: https://podtail.com/en/podcast/on-the-page-screenwriting/457-terry-wrossio/ Watch: Find Game of Thrones on JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/tv-show/game-of-thrones   Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts! or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.   Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Chris, Khrob, Sandra, Nick, Rob and new supporters Matteo, Daniel and Carrie. They’re good humans.   BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic

How can you best articulate your ideas? It is time (in fact, well past time) for our semi-annual #Backmatter episode. For the uninitiated, this is an episode where Stu and Chas discuss career and craft-related topics beyond what makes great screenplays work. To that end, Stu and Chas dive into: a five year review of Draft Zero and how it has changed their writing craft and process; a discussion on the aesthetics of writing; learnings for emerging writers in having their work produced; and finally forgiving yourself for not writing. As always: an amazing thank you to out Patreons for supporting more Draft Zero more often, and in particular Patreon Chris Walker who edited this episode for us. EPISODE LINKS Beginner’s Guide to Draft Zero — http://draft-zero.com/beginners-guide/ Watch: Ira Glass on The Gap - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbC4gqZGPSY Listen: Lingua Ignota - For I Am The Light (And Mine Is The Only Way)https://linguaignota.bandcamp.com/album/all-bitches-die-2 Read: Michael Hauge — STORY STRUCTURE: The 5 Key Turning Points of All Successful Screenplays Read: SIX-STAGE PLOT STRUCTURE CHART Listen: David Foster Wallace - This is Water - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI Read: How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation- https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts! or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. Many thanks to Carrie, Daniel, Chris, Sandra, Paul, Rob, and Khrob for being top-level patrons. They’re good humans.

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. Character decisions that come under the microscope are AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (again), SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, DIE HARD (which is a good example for contrast, not a bad one!), PREDATOR 2, SICARIO 2: DÍA DEL SOLDADO and PROMETHEUS (with an honourable mention to A PRINCESS BRIDE). Let us know if you like the variation on our format or not! As always: SPOILERS ABOUND! Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter markers included in the mp3. Watch it on on YouTube. Read the transcript on GitHub or in HTML. Special thanks to our Patreon supporters. If you would like more Draft Zero episodes more often, click here! LINKS DRAFT ZERO RELATED EPISODES DZ-55: Character Motivations (Part I) http://draft-zero.com/2019/dz-55/ DZ-33: Protagonist vs Main Character http://draft-zero.com/2016/dz-33/ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR screenplay by Markus & McFeely [@ 10m 41s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/avengers-infinity-war SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY screenplay by Jonathan & Lawrence Kasdan [@ 16m 58s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/solo-a-star-wars-story DIE HARD screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza [@ 34m 04s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/die-hard-1 PREDATOR 2 written by Jim Thomas & John Thomas [@ 38m 04s] Youtube: Child vs Predator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsDci3A76N0 JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/le-predateur-2 SICARIO 2: DÍA DEL SOLDADO written by Taylor Sheridan [@ 53m 30s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/sicario-day-of-the-soldado PROMETHEUS written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof [@ 1h 35m 15s] TV Tropes: Idiot Ball https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall Engineering Prometheus – From Jon Spaihts to Damon Lindelof:https://www.avpgalaxy.net/alien-movies/prometheus/engineering-prometheus/ JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/prometheus WRAP UP & KEY LEARNINGS [@ 2h 04m 06s] Scriptnotes - Plot Holes: https://johnaugust.com/2019/plot-holes Scriptnotes - A Princess Bride: https://johnaugust.com/2019/the-princess-bride Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts! or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. Many thanks to Chris, Murirb, Sandra, Paul, Rob, and Khrob for being top-level patrons. They’re good humans. BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic

In part 1 of this 2-part episode, Chas & Stu look at examples of good character motivation.  We’ve all watched movies where we don’t believe the motivation of a character or characters. We may have even written scripts where readers don’t buy the character’s choices. And that’s often a real problem because most of these choices coincide with key structural moments — e.g. the moments where the characters decide to do something “out of character” in order to progress to the next part of the story.  To help us solve the problem of how to improve our character motivations, in this episode we explore great examples of character motivation and how they have helped the audience believe a character’s decision.  And so Chas and Stu dive into NOTTING HILL, TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE, GAME NIGHT, ARRIVAL, IN THE BEDROOM, BEIRUT, BREAKING BAD, THE MATRIX, BLOCKERS, A NEW HOPE (of course) and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. Passing/honourable mention also to MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, THE COMMUTER, THE LOBSTER, GAME OF THRONES, IRON MAN, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and DOCTOR STRANGE (as we re-visit and re-contextualise stuff we’ve analysed previously).  The potential craft tools they uncover are character patterning, structural timing of the decision, debating the decision (both internally and externally), withholding the decision from the audience, and using external plot elements to either remove obstacles or push the character into making a decision that is... well... out of character. But believably so. Stay tuned for Part II where we - for once - actually do explore ome bad examples of character motivation. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND! Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter markers included in the mp3. Watch it on on YouTube.  Read the transcript on GitHub or in HTML. Special thanks to our Patreon supporters. If you would like more Draft Zero episodes more often, click here! LINKS CRAFT TOOLS AND THE ISSUE OF SUBJECTIVITY  MANCHESTER BY THE SEA written by Ken Lonergan  [@ 5m 03s] Reddit Thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/8oew26/character_motivation_examples_of_motivations_that/ JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/manchester-by-the-sea DECISION vs MOTIVATION [@ 9m 48s] CHARACTER PATTERNING THE COMMUTER screenplay by Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi and Ryan Engle [@ 11 m 3s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/the-commuter/movie-tickets GAME OF THRONES [@ 13m 8s] https://www.justwatch.com/au/tv-show/game-of-thrones EARLY CHARACTER DECISIONS NOTTING HILL written by Richard Curtis [@ 18m 54s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/notting-hill TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE written by Sofia Alvarez [23m 28s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before LATE CHARACTER DECISIONS AVENGERS INFINITY WAR written by C Markus & S McFeely [@ 37m 24s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/avengers-infinity-war  DEBATING THE CHARACTER DECISION GAME NIGHT written by Mark Perez [@ 37m 24s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/game-night  INTERNALLY DEBATE THE CHARACTER DECISION THE LOBSTER written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou [@ 52m 44s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/the-lobster  ARRIVAL written by Eric Heisserer [@ 54m 53s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/arrival-2016  WITHHOLDING THE DECISION FROM THE AUDIENCE IN THE BEDROOM  written by Robert Festinger and Todd Field [@ 1h] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/in-the-bedroom  BEIRUT written by Tony Gilroy [@ 1 h 10m 45s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/beirut/movie-tickets  PROVIDING MOTIVATION THROUGH BACKSTORY BREAKING BAD - “GRAY MATTER” written by Patty Lin and Vince Gilligan [@ 1h 10m 45s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/beirut/movie-tickets  NOTTING HILL written by Richard Curtis [@ 1h 19m 47s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/notting-hill GAME OF THRONES - “AND NOW HIS WATCH IS ENDED” written by D Benioff & D B Weiss [1h 22m 15s]  JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/tv-show/game-of-thrones WORLD BUILDING AFFECTING DECISION MAKING THE MATRIX written by Lana & Lily Wachowski [@ 1h 25m 3s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/the-matrix  REMOVING OBSTACLES/ANCHORS STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE written by George Lucas [@ 1h 29m 23s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/star-wars-episode-iv-a-new-hope  OVERCOMING CHARACTER WOUNDS IN MARVEL FIRST ACTS [@ 1h 38m 8s] GOALS, STAKES & URGENCY ScriptShadow: GSU!!! BLOCKERS written by Brian & Jim Kehoe [@ 1h 41m 43s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/blockers  WRAP UP [@ 2h 9m 14s] BACKMATTER [@ 2h 15m 20s]

How does removing character and plot questions force your audience to engage with theme? Chas and Stu are joined, once again, by the inestimable Stephen Cleary. This episode is a spiritual sequel to our last episode with Stephen on sequence structure. That episode explored how sequences could be broken into plot, character, and plot/character sequences. Well, Stephen’s back to talk about a different type of sequence: the thematic sequence. By limiting (or removing all together) questions related to character or plot, filmmakers can force their audience to engage with the deeper, underlying meaning of the story. Our deep dive onto this topic focuses on LOVE ACTUALLY, THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL, APOCALYPSE NOW, and IN THE BEDROOM. But it wouldn’t be a Draft Zero without numerous digressions including into HUNGER, GET OUT, INFINITY WAR, and THE THIN RED LINE. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND! Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter markers included in the mp3. Watch it on on YouTube. Read the transcript on GitHub or in HTML. Special thanks to our Patreon supporters. If you would like more Draft Zero episodes more often, click here! EPISODE LINKS DRAFT ZERO RELATED EPISODES DZ-43: Driving Sequences – Character and Plot Intensity DZ-41: Theme and Worldview DZ-45: Arguments of the Scene INTRODUCTION: Thematic Sequences Sequence Structure Refreshed [@ 1m 51s] What is a Thematic Sequence? [@ 10m 21s] LOVE ACTUALLY written by: Richard Curtis [@ 13m 33s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/love-actually THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL story by: Luis Alcoriza & Luis Buñuel, screenplay: Luis Buñuel [@ 42m 29s] JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-exterminating-angel GET OUT(briefly) written by: Jordan Peele [@ 1 h 13s 28s] Watch: Get Out - Dinner Party Scene JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/get-out APOCALYPSE NOW written by: John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola, narration by: Michael Herr [@ 1h 17s 10s] Watch: “Because it’s judgement that defeats us” JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/apocalypse-now-redux IN THE BEDROOM screenplay: Robert Festinger and Todd Field [@ 1h 57s 04s] WRAP UP AND KEY LEARNINGS [@ 2 h 42m 41s] Watch: The Thin Red Line - Opening Scene Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts! or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. Many thanks to Murirb, Sandra, Paul, Rob, Christopher, Joakim and Khrob for being top-level patrons. They’re good humans.