Oscars RSS

Oscars, scene work, screenplay, Whiplash - March 19, 2019

Effective Scene Work: Enough Is Never Enough

Effective scene work often is the difference between a solid and a spectacular screenplay. It’s one thing to have a great concept, but in the gladiatorial death match that is professional screenwriting, a great concept alone isn’t enough. That concept must also be impeccably executed. What do we talk about, when we talk about effective scene work? Often, we’ve found here at ScriptArsenal, it comes down to refusing to let up. Let’s take a scene example from WHIPLASH, a film that won four Oscars (and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture). Miles Teller’s student character is trying...

Script Openings: A STAR IS BORN

Opening your script in a way that hooks the audience is an existentially important factor for all screenwriters. Especially at the earlier stages of your career, having that great hook into the script is likely the difference between the person on the other side of the table (a development executive, agent, manager, producer, director) putting the script down or reading on. The recent film A STAR IS BORN (nominated for eight Oscars this year) has an incredibly compelling first half hour. It easily could not have. Bradley Cooper is on record as saying that close friends of his urged him...

Read more