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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast
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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

par Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis

NouveauDZ-131: Negative Character Arcs vs Negative Feelings1 novembre 2026 · 2 h 23 min
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137
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1 Nov 2026
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À propos du podcast

Two emerging screenwriters – Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis – try to work out what makes great screenplays work. Discovering what it takes by analysing what successful writers put on the page.

Participants

  • Stuart WillisAnimation
  • Chas FisherAnimation

Épisodes 137

  1. DZ-131: Negative Character Arcs vs Negative Feelings

    2 h 23 minÉpisode 131

    Listen to learn how to control your audience’s perception of your character arcs. In our fourth entry into our series on character arcs, we explore both what makes an audience perceive a character arc to be …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to learn how to control your audience’s perception of your character arcs.

    In our fourth entry into our series on character arcs, we explore both what makes an audience perceive a character arc to be “negative” AND separately what makes the audience feel negative about a character arc. The individual arc, as Chas puts it, is only one lever.

    We dive into BACKROOMS, IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU and ANATOMY OF A FALL, further developing craft tools we’ve looked at earlier in the series - repeated character beats, emotional events, operant conditioning - as well exploring newer ones in more depth, such as relationship questions and symbolism.

    And the tool we crystallise the most this episode is the relationship question — a sibling to plot, character, and thematic questions. Ask it and you often find the arc the film wants you to notice isn't the main character's at all. In ANATOMY OF A FALL the ostensible lead is Sandra, on trial for her husband's death — but the arc that is the most developed (and the most negative) most belongs to Daniel, the son, forced onto the trial stand to choose a truth.

    We also talk BLUE MOON, GOODFELLAS, SCARFACE, EMILY THE CRIMINAL, WOLF OF WALL STREET, REVENGE OF THE SITH, SAINT OMER, BLADE RUNNER 2049, APOLLO 13, and whether blood-splatter analysis still counts as evidence anywhere.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre & Natalie and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "There's a difference between a character arc being negative and an audience feeling negative about the arc." — Chas Fisher @ 00:02:33

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:27 – Negative Arc vs Negative Audience Feeling
    • 00:03:18 – › Distinguishing character shift, world reward, and audience experience
    • 00:09:58 – › Why these three films resist a classic tragedy template
    • 00:10:03 – The Relationship Question as a Craft Tool
    • 00:11:11 – BACKROOMS
    • 00:16:56 – › Clark's steadfast refusal disguised as trying to change
    • 00:21:14 – › Repeated role-play beat as evidence of change or relief
    • 00:26:31 – › Symbolism of loops and liminal space as character state
    • 00:34:22 – › Decoupling character change from audience emotional change
    • 00:44:09 – › Mary's window metaphor and inherited trauma
    • 00:50:02 – › How operant conditioning punishes both leads
    • 00:54:11 – IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU
    • 00:58:45 – › Spiral structure and the illusion of available choices
    • 01:06:00 – › Agency versus repeated impossible choices
    • 01:12:21 – › Scripted imagery of the hole as inescapable metaphor
    • 01:16:01 – › Authenticity of experience versus stylized horror world-building
    • 01:18:49 – › Climax as abandonment, baptism, and ambiguous reward
    • 01:26:11 – › Supporting relationships mirroring the protagonist's decline
    • 01:33:46 – ANATOMY OF A FALL
    • 01:39:24 – › Six competing explanations and the choice Daniel must make
    • 01:45:59 – › The marriage itself as the film's true negative arc
    • 01:51:14 – › Sandra's steadfastness and refusal to manage perception
    • 01:58:49 – › Daniel and Sandra's relationship fractured by testimony
    • 02:09:34 – › Acquittal as subtraction rather than reward
    • 02:16:21 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 02:21:46 – Thanks to our Patreons!

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    EPISODES IN THE CHARACTER ARCS SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-131/

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  2. Teaser: Negative Character Arcs

    2 minÉpisode 131Bande-annonce

    Teaser for our next episode: DZ-131. Please watch BACKROOMS, IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU, and ANATOMY OF A FALL.

    Chapitres

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  3. DZ-130: Positive Character Arcs

    2 h 33 minÉpisode 130

    Listen to understand how to dramatize a character's internal change. Welcome to our third entry in our character arc series; and the first where we talk about characters that actually change. And positively …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to understand how to dramatize a character's internal change.

    Welcome to our third entry in our character arc series; and the first where we talk about characters that actually change. And positively, too.

    We deep dive into BARBIE, WIDOWS and ALL OF US STRANGERS to work out what makes an arc feel positive -- even if the film itself is heartbreaking. All three films are "positive arcs" that feel wildly different. We speculate whether that's due to the nature of the relationship questions, the use of additive/subtractive rewards; and whether it's do with the connection of the characters needs and their goals.

    We further crystalize two tools we've been kicking around:

    • The relationship question — take a character question ("will she learn to connect?") and pose it as a relationship problem ("will these two grow closer or further apart?").
    • Additive vs subtractive rewards — We continue buildling on this idea from our Steadfast episodes. Does the story give the character something or take something away? And is that a good or a bad thing?

    And Mel brings up a third:

    • Repeating a beat from a different angle so we can trace a character's gradual evolution.

    We also debate whether Barbie's void scene is a producer's note personified — a director going into the endless nothing to spell the themes out one more time.

    All this and more on DZ-130!

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre & Natalie and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "A relationship question is taking what we think is an internal question about a character and defining it in terms of the relationship. Will Moana grow closer to their village coming back or will they'll grow further apart?" — Stu Willis @ 00:06:09

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:21 – Positive Character Arcs
    • 00:04:47 – › Relationship questions as the key to dramatizing arcs
    • 00:09:00 – Followup Questions
    • 00:12:12 – Zero Context Insights
    • 00:13:01 – BARBIE
    • 00:17:16 – › The void scene with Barbie's creator
    • 00:23:13 – › Immortality versus death as the real choice
    • 00:27:02 – › Debating the lie the character believes
    • 00:44:26 – › Gain versus loss framing the ending
    • 00:52:34 – › Contrast and affinity
    • 00:59:47 – WIDOWS
    • 01:05:47 – › Establishing character patterns before the heist begins
    • 01:09:37 – › Do the widows have values before the story starts
    • 01:18:42 – › Skills and goals tightly tied to character growth
    • 01:21:04 – › Alice's escalating value shift through the sugar daddy scene
    • 01:25:04 – › Linda's grief scene and steadfast versus positive arcs
    • 01:27:12 – › Veronica's arc through Harry's betrayal and revenge
    • 01:39:33 – › Comparing ensemble arcs to OCEAN'S ELEVEN and THE TOWN
    • 01:46:46 – › Relationship questions as emotional engine of ensemble films
    • 01:49:36 – ALL OF US STRANGERS
    • 01:55:38 – › Rebuffing Harry sets up the positive arc
    • 02:02:15 – › Isolation to connectedness as the emotional throughline
    • 02:07:24 – › Contrasting coming out scenes with mom and dad
    • 02:11:26 – › The low point as emotional violence not distance
    • 02:18:48 – › Dream logic and touch as physical arc tracking
    • 02:23:20 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 02:26:20 – › Additive versus subtractive rewards in character arcs
    • 02:29:58 – › Patreon shoutouts and next episode preview

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE CHARACTER ARCS SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-130/

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  4. Teaser: Positive Character Arcs

    1 minÉpisode 130Bande-annonce

    Teaser for our next episode: DZ-130. Please watch BARBIE, WIDOWS, and ALL OF US STRANGERS so you can learn about positive character arcs.

    Chapitres

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  5. DZ-129: Steadfast Character Arcs - Agents of Change

    2 h 36 minÉpisode 129

    Listen to learn how to move an audience with a character who never changes. Do characters need to change for you to have a satisfying story? That's a question we've been asking since, like, episode five of this …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to learn how to move an audience with a character who never changes.

    Do characters need to change for you to have a satisfying story? That's a question we've been asking since, like, episode five of this podcast. And we're finally talking about them - whatever you call 'em: steadfast, resilent, or flat arcs.

    To that end, we breakdown MOANA, APOLLO 13, and THE DRESSMAKER to work out what carries a story when a character arc doesn't. If your protagonist isn't going to change, the drama has to come from what they do to everyone else.

    We develop some tools that we reckon carry a steadfast story:

    • doubt and wobble (a character with no doubt isn't steadfast, they're a psychopath)
    • emotional events between characters
    • additive rewards (something is gained) versus subtractive ones (something is taken away) - a distinction we've borrowed borrowed from operant conditioning;
    • and how that difference changes the emotional tone of an ending.

    The subtractive reward is why a happy ending can still feel like loss... and it's the thing we reckon that'll matter most when we get to negative arcs.

    Chas, Mel and Stu also wibble-wobble over WILLOW, TAKEN, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, THE MARTIAN, PROJECT HAIL MARY, THE GREY, ALL IS LOST, STAR WARS (as always), GREY GARDENS, PRISCILLA, and how many tampons NASA sent to space.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre & Natalie and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "If your characters are not going to arc, if they are going to remain steadfast, then creating multiple smaller emotional events is really important to keep the story dynamic." — Mel Killingsworth @ 02:32:01

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:18 – What Is a Steadfast Character Arc?
    • 00:04:24 – › Character as habitual action defines change
    • 00:06:11 – › Operant conditioning reframes reward and punishment beats
    • 00:09:14 – › Steadfast characters still need emotional stakes and impact
    • 00:10:33 – The Questionnaire for Analysing Character Arcs
    • 00:12:18 – MOANA
    • 00:16:12 – › The I Want song and being pulled versus pushed
    • 00:18:19 – › Doubt as necessary proof of steadfast resilience
    • 00:26:54 – › Distinguishing upskilling and reward from true character change
    • 00:27:25 – › Maui's full arc contrasts with Moana's steadfastness
    • 00:41:15 – › Genre expectations teach the audience to predict steadfastness
    • 00:45:10 – › Tracking Maui's and Moana's dramatized moments of change
    • 00:53:08 – APOLLO 13
    • 00:58:52 – › Riveting problem solving without character values changing
    • 01:01:07 – › Jim and jack relationship as substitute emotional arc
    • 01:12:12 – › Comparing disaster films that punish or reward steadfastness
    • 01:20:02 – › Working through the arc questionnaire for the film
    • 01:33:53 – THE DRESSMAKER
    • 01:38:14 – › Debating whether THE DRESSMAKER is steadfast or positive
    • 01:44:54 – › Tracking Tilly's three objectives and mystery of the curse
    • 01:50:37 – › Teddy's death as subtractive reward and negative punishment
    • 01:57:00 – › GREY GARDENS parallels and the town as social environment
    • 02:03:10 – › How Tilly's steadfastness transforms the town around her
    • 02:16:37 – › Testing audience expectations for change versus subversion
    • 02:24:48 – › Values of beauty, love, and vengeance in the story world
    • 02:31:45 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up

    FILMS

    • MOANA (2016) — (w) Jared Bush, Ron Clements, John Musker, Chris Williams, Don Hall, Pamela Ribon, Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell (d) John Musker, Ron Clements
    • THE DRESSMAKER (2015) — (w) Jocelyn Moorhouse, Pj Hogan, Rosalie Ham (d) Jocelyn Moorhouse
    • APOLLO 13 (1995) — (w) William Broyles Jr, Al Reinert, Jeffrey Kluger, Jim Lovell (d) Ron Howard

    EPISODES IN THE CHARACTER ARCS SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-129/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  6. DZ-128: What even is a Character Arc?

    1 h 30 minÉpisode 128

    Listen to separate the three layers of an arc -- does the character change? How do they feel about it? And how is the audience positioned to feel about it? Stu, Chas and Mel finally begin their long-awaited …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to separate the three layers of an arc -- does the character change? How do they feel about it? And how is the audience positioned to feel about it?

    Stu, Chas and Mel finally begin their long-awaited journey into CHARACTER ARCS. In this "primer" episode, we try find some learnings and analytical lenses that we can then apply in future breakdowns.

    In this episode, we explore differences between a character learning something and a character fundamentally changing, how to dramatise that, and how the show teaches the audience to perceive that transformation (whether positively or negatively).

    Throughout the discussion, we skate over A NEW HOPE, BLUE MOON, BREAKING BAD, BETTER CALL SAUL, the French real-time thriller FULL TIME, A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS, THE GREEN KNIGHT, ALL OF US STRANGERS, PREDATOR BADLANDS, FIELD OF DREAMS, MEG 2, and Stu's receding hairline.

    Ultimately, this discussion synthesises into a series of questions to ask of a story and the main point-of-view character living through that story:

    • Does the audience enter the story with an expectation that characters will change?
    • How does the story teach the audience to expect characters to change or not?
    • Do the characters change? Is it experiential change or internal value change? How is that dramatised?
    • Is the character aware that they changed? How do they feel about that change? Does that matter?
    • How does the story want the audience to feel about that change? If different to the character’s perception, how does the story pull that off?
    • How does the story world punish or reward the change?
    • What are the values explored by the arc? How does this relate to the theme?
    • How is contrast vs affinity/unity portrayed through the characters’ journey? Order vs disorder vs inertia
    • What is the emotional event created between the character and audience as a result of the journey? Does the character end up more intimate or distant from the audience?

    In upcoming episodes, we intend to apply these lenses to stories with STEADFAST/RESILIENT arcs, POSITIVE arcs, NEGATIVE arcs and - potentially - a “WTF is this?!” arc.

    Please check out our homework discussion on Patreon. And if you want to vote on the stories we're gonna breakdown, sign up!

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre & Natalie and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "Character arcs are really difficult to talk about because they're not just in isolation. Rarely is a film only about one character, right? So we're actually talking about how we harmonize other characters around them." — Stu Willis @ 00:12:16

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:17 – Character Arcs: A Primer on What We're Really Asking
    • 00:03:13 – › Three layers of an arc: character, self-perception, audience
    • 00:07:04 – › The four-quadrant map: change, no change, better, worse
    • 00:10:15 – › Why calling it an arc is already a misnomer
    • 00:13:35 – What We Each Want to Learn from This Series
    • 00:19:56 – › Whether emotional authenticity is becoming more valuable than spectacle
    • 00:23:37 – › Why stories let us safely inhabit experiences outside our own
    • 00:30:04 – The Deep Question: Can Characters Actually Change?
    • 00:35:49 – › Contrast and affinity as the design logic of transformation
    • 00:41:40 – › The rock metaphor: external forces versus intrinsic change
    • 00:46:43 – › Order, disorder, and inertia as the spectrum of arc types
    • 00:50:29 – Three Layers of Judgment: Character, World, and Audience
    • 00:56:45 – › How the filmmaker positions the audience relative to the character
    • 01:00:01 – › Do audiences enter stories expecting change at all?
    • 01:06:09 – › Mapping the inner journey against plot beats
    • 01:09:28 – › Why low points exist to make the climax feel earned
    • 01:12:09 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:26:47 – Thanks to Our Patreons!

    FILMS

    SHOWS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE CHARACTER ARCS SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-128/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  7. DZ-127: Secrets and Clues 2 - The Cost of Revelation

    1 h 52 minÉpisode 127

    Listen to learn the emotional impact of revealing secrets vs discovering them. In this episode Stu, Chas and Mel apply the Landmark–Hidden–Secret framework (from DZ-126) across two very different genres: the …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to learn the emotional impact of revealing secrets vs discovering them.

    In this episode Stu, Chas and Mel apply the Landmark–Hidden–Secret framework (from DZ-126) across two very different genres: the thriller SIDE EFFECTS (2013) and the tragicomic pilot of SHRINKING.

    SIDE EFFECTS is a film of two genres. The first half plays as a drama about depression and over-medication; the second half is a 90s thriller. We talk about how every time Dr Jonathan Banks uncovers a new piece of information, it puts him in danger — and that danger motivates him to uncover more.

    In SHRINKING, we see a different use of the framework. "What are psychologists but detectives of the mind?" Rather than the cost of finding secrets, it's about the cost of sharing them. Chas also comes out of this with a paradigm he's been building toward (but we're keeping what that is secret until you listen!)

    And inevitably we go on some tangents: whether SIDE EFFECTS should even have been an erotic thriller!

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "Every time Dr Jonathan Banks uncovers a new piece of information, it puts him in danger -- and that danger motivates him to uncover more." — Chas Fisher @ 00:26:04

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:16 – Intro: Secrets and Clues 2 - the Cost of Revelation
    • 00:01:03 – Previously on Secrets and Clues (Recap of Part 1)
    • 00:04:24 – Flashforward Insights
    • 00:09:29 – SIDE EFFECTS
    • 00:20:18 – › The First Half: Push and Misdirection
    • 00:28:41 – › Genre Shift: Banks Becomes the Detective
    • 00:48:06 – SHRINKING
    • 01:00:02 – › The Inverted Paradigm: When Everyone Knows
    • 01:07:47 – › The Cost of Sharing
    • 01:22:02 – › Power Through Honest Acknowledgement
    • 01:35:37 – The Key Tool Chas Learned
    • 01:39:28 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:50:48 – Many Thanks to our Patrons!

    FILMS

    SHOWS

    • SHRINKING — (w) Brett Goldstein, Jason Segel, Bill Lawrence

    SCRIPTS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE SECRETS AND CLUES SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-127/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  8. DZ-126: Secrets and Clues

    1 h 29 minÉpisode 126

    Listen if you want to understand how hidden information drives character motivation and plot structure! “Getting information puts your character in danger. And danger rewards your character with information." — …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to understand how hidden information drives character motivation and plot structure!

    “Getting information puts your character in danger. And danger rewards your character with information." — One of three ideas we steal from game design in this episode. In this two part series, we talk about how secrets, clues and hidden information motivate characters and may (or may not) help you plot from a character perspective. Part One (this episode) looks at WAKE UP DEAD MAN; while Part Two looks at SIDE EFFECTS, and the pilot episode of SHRINKING.

    The other two (related) ideas are:

    • Landmark information (characters just have it), Secret (they know it's there, need to unlock it), and Hidden (invisible until they pay the cost)
    • Narrative velocity — are characters pushed forward or are they pulled forward?

    To that end, in this episode Stu, Chas and Mel start with the murder mystery (ostensibly the easier deep-dive): Rian Johnson’s WAKE UP DEAD MAN. But this is a complex film made even more complex by being a dual-protagonist film. Uhuh. Benoit Blanc is pulled through the story by his need to solve the case; Father Judd pushed through, against his will, to prove his innocence. Breaking down how that plays out — and why it matters for the kind of escalation each character can sustain — is the heart of the episode.

    And inevitably we go on some tangents: pointers, plants, and underpinnings (from our Everything Everywhere All At Once episode) fair play in locked-room mysteries, Narrative POV (as always) and node-based plotting and what dungeon-crawl game design has to do with writing a web of clues.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "Information puts players in danger and danger rewards characters with information, right? That's kind of the loop with like thriller game design." — Stu Willis @ 00:05:40

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:18 – What do we mean by Secrets and Clues?
    • 00:04:17 – › Landmark, hidden, and secret information defined
    • 00:08:10 – › Narrative velocity as push and pull for characters
    • 00:13:22 – WAKE UP DEAD MAN
    • 00:17:56 – › Key learnings preview: push-pull and narrative velocity
    • 00:32:33 – › Mapping character awareness of secrets through WAKE UP DEAD MAN
    • 00:58:21 – › Distinguishing secrets, clues, and hidden information
    • 01:13:17 – › Benoit Blanc's character arc and the choice of grace
    • 01:22:50 – KEY LEARNINGS & WRAP UP
    • 01:24:22 – › Character drives how secrets are hidden and revealed
    • 01:25:34 – › Narrative velocity and escalating stakes reveal character

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE SECRETS AND CLUES SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-126/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  9. DZ-125: Oscars One-shot - BLUE MOON

    1 h 18 minÉpisode 125

    Listen if you want to understand how narrative POV, screenplay format, and dialogue craft can elevate a contained biopic into an Oscar-nominated film BLUE MOON is a talky, period-drama that film about an …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to understand how narrative POV, screenplay format, and dialogue craft can elevate a contained biopic into an Oscar-nominated film

    BLUE MOON is a talky, period-drama that film about an obscure songer-writer in the 1940s. Yet, it attracted world-class talent AND Academy Award nominations, including for it's script. Join Chas & Mel as they explore how narrative POV, interweaving relationships, hooky dialogue, and even the screenplay format itself make the script for BLUE MOON so great.

    While Stu is still on show and we are between the 2026 Oscar nominations and the actual ceremony, our patreons selected BLUE MOON for this one-shot and boy are Mel and Chas glad they did. They dive into many lessons learned in previous episodes, like our character-driven episode… or analysis of French scenes in Adolescence… or the story-telling power that comes from the audience knowing the ending from biopics.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "When I say rules, I mean the prescriptive rules of when someone posts something on screenwriting and everyone goes *Oh, you broke all the rules*. I'm saying this is good. I'm saying most of those rules are suggestions or most of those rules are given to you when you are learning how to write for a reason." — Mel Killingsworth @ 00:38:42

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:32 – What Makes a Contained Biopic Compelling?
    • 00:02:19 – Flashforward Insights: POV, French scenes, dialogue craft, and structure
    • 00:04:32 – BLUE MOON: Plot Summary and Structural Overview
    • 00:08:00 – › How script format signals emotional breaks in a real-time story
    • 00:13:34 – Controlling narrative POV
    • 00:17:13 – › Tragedy versus the life he would have chosen
    • 00:24:09 – › Narrative POV as the film's core structural tool
    • 00:27:49 – Using screenplay FORMAT to reflect the emotional story
    • 00:31:56 – › French scenes and real-time spatial staging
    • 00:35:40 – › How rule-breaking formatting signals emotional truth
    • 00:39:27 – Interweaving relationships: Hart's Relationships as the A, B and C Stories
    • 00:44:50 – › Hart and Rogers: the collision of artistic integrity and commercial success
    • 00:49:14 – › Hart and Elizabeth: desire, repetition, and the just-not-that-way callback
    • 00:53:08 – › The bar regulars as audience surrogates and mirror to Hart's self-awareness
    • 00:56:46 – Repetition and pop culture references in dialogue
    • 00:59:48 – › Repetition as lyrical structure in dialogue craft
    • 01:03:49 – › Tonal variety and mixing registers in witty scripts
    • 01:07:54 – Key Learnings
    • 01:09:48 – › The hidden craft beneath real-time, single-location scripts
    • 01:13:42 – › How cultural touchstones establish stakes without exposition
    • 01:16:02 – Thanks patreons and Oscar-nominated listener!

    FILMS

    LINKS

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-125/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  10. DZ-124: Making the Despicable Compelling

    1 h 11 minÉpisode 124

    Listen if you need audiences to root for characters who do terrible things Mel and Chas continue to explore what Noir (the genre) can teach writers of all other genres. In particular: How to keep the audience …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you need audiences to root for characters who do terrible things

    Mel and Chas continue to explore what Noir (the genre) can teach writers of all other genres. In particular:

    • How to keep the audience on side of characters doing reprehensible things;
    • How to control your audience understanding of those reprehensible actions; and
    • Distinguishing between characters undergoing transformative arcs against discovering their true natures

    In finding the common craft tools of Noir over 100 years, this Part 2 looks at two modern noirs – DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1995) and WOMAN OF THE HOUR (2024) – after Part 1 looked at the classic DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE LONG GOODBYE.

    Despite Chas claiming to have edited this episode it was, in fact, Chris Walker who saved the day and got this done. Thanks Chris.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "I think these films have got really strong control over the questions and that's how they get us to follow, compelling us to follow characters who are doing terrible things." — Chas Fisher @ 01:06:08

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Using noir as a lens
    • 00:01:56 – DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS
    • 00:07:06 – › Period setting, race, and noir's embedded worldview
    • 00:10:30 – › Voiceover as access to morally compromised decisions
    • 00:22:02 – › How the film justifies rooting for Easy's transgressions
    • 00:29:09 – › Character worldview versus film worldview in noir
    • 00:31:33 – WOMAN OF THE HOUR
    • 00:37:15 – › Why WOMAN OF THE HOUR qualifies as noir
    • 00:43:25 – › The system as collective villain enabling the killer
    • 00:53:12 – › Depiction without endorsement, empathy without sympathy
    • 01:04:30 – Key Learnings
    • 01:08:50 – Thank you Patreons!

    FILMS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE NOIR SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-124/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  11. DZ-123: Flawed Characters in Noir

    1 h 23 minÉpisode 123

    Listen if you want to write morally compromised characters without endorsing their choices. In this two part series, Mel and Chas use Noir (the genre) as a lens to interrogate flawed characters. How can …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to write morally compromised characters without endorsing their choices.

    In this two part series, Mel and Chas use Noir (the genre) as a lens to interrogate flawed characters. How can characters doing reprehensible things still engage audiences? How can you ensure representation isn’t endorsement? And whether these characters undergo transformative arcs, or simply reveal their true natures?

    Part 1 (DZ-123) focuses on two (now classic) noirs: DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE LONG GOODBYE.

    While Part 2 (DZ-124) looks at two more contemporary examples DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS and WOMAN OF THE HOUR.

    Despite Chas claiming to have edited this episode it was, in fact, Chris Walker who saved the day and got this done by the end of 2025. Thanks Chris.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "This is the philosophical question, right? When you get drunk, do you change what you do or do you simply allow your inhibitions to fall and do what you would normally want to do?" — Mel Killingsworth @ 00:42:04

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:17 – Flawed Characters and Noir
    • 00:03:06 – › Writing morally compromised characters without endorsing their worldview
    • 00:08:41 – › Defining film noir as genre, style, and worldview
    • 00:14:27 – › Noir's reach across decades of screenwriting
    • 00:16:40 – DOUBLE INDEMNITY
    • 00:21:41 – › Diegetic confession and its structural function
    • 00:27:17 – › Telling the audience the crime upfront removes justification burden
    • 00:32:24 – › How everyman framing sustains complicity in a morally bankrupt protagonist
    • 00:41:43 – › Whether morally compromised characters genuinely change or self-reveal
    • 00:49:17 – › Film worldview versus character desire: crime without endorsement
    • 00:53:38 – THE LONG GOODBYE
    • 01:00:17 – › Save the cat: establishing a morally complex protagonist
    • 01:06:26 – › Transgression, personal code, and the inevitability of noir failure
    • 01:14:13 – › Character change versus worldview shift at the ending
    • 01:21:15 – Wrap Up and Key Learnings

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE NOIR SERIES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-123/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  12. 1dZ-01: Arkyvrs - A Mansion Most Vile - Ep1

    2 h 8 minBonus

    What happens when a group of filmmakers play a ragtag group of filmmakers in a gritty sci-fi horror?"Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory" - Werner Herzog.This episode is unusual, even by Draft …

    Notes de l’épisode

    What happens when a group of filmmakers play a ragtag group of filmmakers in a gritty sci-fi horror?


    "Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory" - Werner Herzog.


    This episode is unusual, even by Draft Zero standards. It's an "Actual Play Podcast" where Chas, Stu, & Mel are joined by Kim Ho and Luke Clark to play MOTHERSHIP, the sci-fi horror game we talked about in episodes DZ-121 and DZ-122. Stu is the GM while everyone else is a ragtag crew of freelance filmmakers. We debrief the experience (so far) at the end of the episode)


    Mel plays Zara, the glamorous face of the operation. Chas plays Winston, the cynical and egoistical "photojournalist". Kim is Cal, the scrappy scrounger and sound recordists, while Luke is Tarsos the steadfast producer of the group. The crew are enlisted to record a sensationalist report on a missing corporate president before the mercenary retrieval team arrives.


    And yeah, this means we're soft-launching yet another project that's called 1dZ, which looks at how we can use tools from ttrpgs in screenwriting… and vice versa.

    To get future episodes go to: http://www.1d-zero.com/


    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:11 - Intro for DZ Listeners
    • 00:01:51 - Meet the Snortin' Betsy
    • 00:06:22 - A Mansion Most Vile (Ep 1)
    • 01:52:32 - Debrief through TOMBS

    RELATED EPISODES

    LINKS

    More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, 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, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

    SUBSCRIBE TO SHOT ZERO via Substack

    SUBSCRIBE TO 1DZERO via Substack

    ACKNOWLEDGES via our website: https://draft-zero.com/2025/1dz-01/


  13. DZ-122: Escalating Antagonism Across Genres

    1 h 45 minÉpisode 122

    Listen to learn how thinking of your hero as the horror (for your villains) makes your script dynamic. In this episode Chas, Stu and guest Kim Ho continue their exploration into the power(s) of antagonism and …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to learn how thinking of your hero as the horror (for your villains) makes your script dynamic.

    In this episode Chas, Stu and guest Kim Ho continue their exploration into the power(s) of antagonism and how focusing on them can develop story.

    While Part 1 looked at the horror film SINNERS, in Part 2 we venture into genres beyond horror with the action-thriller REBEL RIDGE, and the comedy classic MEET THE PARENTS.

    To both these films we apply the generative story framework TOMBS (Transgression – Omens – Manifestation – Banishment – Slumber) and are surprised at just how well it maps. TOMBS comes from the MOTHERSHIP sci-fi horror table-top role-playing game. Which we love.

    We explore how TOMBS, and thinking about antagonism in general, allows writers to deepen their understanding of their characters, their relationship of the heroes with the antagonists, and generate story fuel in a way that escalates the story.

    We discuss how thinking of your hero as the horror for your villains helps everything become more dynamic.

    Oh, and we talk about launching an actual play podcast. Which is happening. Stay tuned!

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "There's a great line from Don Johnson later where he says, the deal was fair. The issue is that you felt that you were allowed to offer it. He tells him that he has transgressed against the rules of the laws or the rules of this system of this world." — Chas Fisher @ 00:12:09

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:12 – Escalating Antagonism Part 2
    • 00:03:29 – REBEL RIDGE
    • 00:09:30 – › Writing loglines from the antagonist's perspective
    • 00:14:36 – › Tombs cycle maps onto hero and villain escalation
    • 00:25:07 – › Solve, survive, save structure in action films
    • 00:33:16 – › Self-restraint as survival within systemic corruption
    • 00:45:30 – MEET THE PARENTS
    • 00:51:55 – › Greg's lying as the true transgression engine
    • 00:57:41 – › Structural turning points and escalating disaster beats
    • 01:01:28 – › Jack versus Greg's insecurity as twin sources of antagonism
    • 01:19:33 – › Applying TOMBS structure to map omens and manifestation
    • 01:30:29 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:34:38 – › Mapping antagonism sources to escalate story conflict
    • 01:38:53 – › Expanding beyond Western storytelling structures
    • 01:41:38 – Thanks to our Patreons

    FILMS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE ESCALATING ANTAGONISM SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-122/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  14. DZ-121: Escalating Antagonism in SINNERS

    1 h 25 minÉpisode 121

    Listen to strengthen your story by focusing on the antagonistic forces in your script. We often struggle to develop the middle stages of a story. Could this be because we focus on our protagonists’ journeys and …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to strengthen your story by focusing on the antagonistic forces in your script.

    We often struggle to develop the middle stages of a story. Could this be because we focus on our protagonists’ journeys and plot structure more than on how the antagonistic powers are awakened, wronged, discovered, gathering strength and revealing themselves?

    In this episode, Chas and Stu are joined by professional screenwriter and playwright Kim Ho to explore how a generative story cycle (from tabletop role-playing game MOTHERSHIP) can be used to develop stories, not just write them better. This cycle is TOMBS: Transgression – Omens – Manifestation – Banishment – Slumber. Kim also contrasts this cycle with the Onset, Discovery, Confirmation, Confrontation cycle identified by horror philosopher Noel Carroll, as well as the philosophy of the FINAL DESTINATION franchise as analysed by The Morbid Zoo.

    By applying the TOMBS cycle to Ryan Coogler’s amazing 2025 original feature SINNERS, we discover how focusing on the rising power of the various sources of antagonism can generate narrative fuel (and make your second Act sing); force your protagonists to Survive, Solve or Save (pick one); and how this escalation in antagonism can be mapped quite separately from your protagonists’ character arcs.

    To prove that TOMBS does not just work for horror stories, we polled our patreons for which other genres to explore. Stay turned for the next episode (DZ-122) where we apply the TOMBS cycle to thriller REBEL RIDGE and comedy classic MEET THE PARENTS.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "when you use those structures that are out there, they tend to be around plot and they tend to think primarily from the protagonist's point of view. And using this system, we can actually look at the forces of antagonism in a story." — Chas Fisher @ 00:06:31

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold open
    • 00:00:18 – What is T.O.M.B.S?
    • 00:06:31 – › How TOMBS shifts focus to antagonistic forces
    • 00:15:22 – › Reading the five stages of the TOMBS cycle
    • 00:24:12 – › Transgression as thematic and social boundary violation
    • 00:31:04 – SINNERS
    • 00:36:01 – › Delayed horror manifestation and the TOMBS framework
    • 00:45:31 – › Mapping transgression and omens across dual antagonists
    • 00:57:48 – › Confirmation, confrontation, and the stages of horror
    • 01:08:09 – › Survive, solve, save as competing character objectives
    • 01:17:51 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:23:51 – Thank you patreons!

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE ESCALATING ANTAGONISM SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-121/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  15. DZ-120: Subtext is Overrated!

    1 h 54 minÉpisode 120

    Listen if you're struggling to write subtext without it feeling forced! Or, how focusing on good drama will result in good subtext. We often hear how subtext is important for good screenwriting. We're here to …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you're struggling to write subtext without it feeling forced!

    Or, how focusing on good drama will result in good subtext. We often hear how subtext is important for good screenwriting. We're here to tell you it isn't. Good subtext is a result of good drama, and your focus should be on creating that good drama. But how?

    In this episode, Chas Fisher and Stu Willis are joined by screenwriter and teacher Tom Vaughn (Winchester) to delve into the world of subtext.

    We kick off the discussion by talking through Tom's article "Why Subtext is Overrated" and break down his core idea that subtext is a byproduct of character goals, tactics and fears.

    We explore this further through close examination of "the other way" scene from MICHAEL CLAYTON, "the strudel" scene from INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (both known for their subtext) and the "new years" sequence from THE SUBSTANCE.

    Inevitably discussion also turns to the relationship of subtext to emotional truth, theme, symbolism, dramatic irony and filmmaker's subtext.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre & Natalie, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "You can't market subtext, man." — Tom Vaughn @ 00:36:51

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:20 – Intro: What is Subtext?
    • 00:00:21 – Cold Open
    • 00:18:59 – MICHAEL CLAYTON
    • 00:23:18 – › How character tactics generate subtext organically
    • 00:27:26 – › Scene structure breaks down three beats of deniability
    • 00:35:25 – › Subtext requires narrative groundwork to land
    • 00:42:59 – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
    • 00:46:34 – › French scene structure and dramatic setup
    • 00:53:38 – › Filmmaker subtext versus character-driven tension
    • 01:08:35 – › Writing the score: action lines as emotional music
    • 01:13:48 – THE SUBSTANCE
    • 01:17:41 – › Originality vs. universality in thematic storytelling
    • 01:23:42 – › Reading the script's literal big print as filmmaker subtext
    • 01:35:46 – › Irony and denial as competing interpretations of the ending
    • 01:42:23 – › Subtext through fear: the date scene as contrast
    • 01:46:13 – Wrap up & Key Learnings
    • 01:48:00 – › Two layers of subtext: character awareness vs. filmmaker control
    • 01:49:18 – › Subtext as spectrum between explicit and implicit meaning

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    LINKS

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-120/

    Chapitres

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  16. DZ-119: Final Character Choices & Great Endings

    1 h 53 minÉpisode 119

    Listen if you want to understand how to better dramatise a character's internal journey In this episode, Stu and Chas focus solely on the final choices made by protagonists and how that reflects their character …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to understand how to better dramatise a character's internal journey

    In this episode, Stu and Chas focus solely on the final choices made by protagonists and how that reflects their character journey and successfully, or not, dramatises the internal.

    We compare and contrast different uses of narrative POV in respect to these final choices. And in particular whether and when the audience is made aware of the options available to the character, the act of making the choice, and the consequences of the choice.

    We breakdown examples from DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, FINDING NEMO, MICHAEL CLAYTON, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN and TALK TO ME.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "A character has to make the most difficult decision of their life, and it becomes the crisis because each alternative poses a loss as well as a gain. And so, therefore, characters have to weigh what really matters most to them." — Stu Willis @ 00:23:48

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Opening
    • 00:00:18 – Why Final Choices?
    • 00:03:49 – › Narrative point of view and the order of choice, decision, consequence
    • 00:07:03 – › How withholding character decisions shapes audience perception
    • 00:10:45 – DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
    • 00:15:57 – › The hero's choice: want vs. need, self vs. family
    • 00:19:09 – FINDING NEMO
    • 00:23:30 – › Crisis decision, catharsis beats, and the anatomy of a powerful ending
    • 00:28:45 – MICHAEL CLAYTON
    • 00:33:26 – › The Snowpiercer moment: dramatising binary choice visually
    • 00:40:37 – › Hero's choice made off-camera and revealed through Karen's perspective
    • 00:48:36 – › Character arc, theme, and the cost of moral compromise
    • 00:53:11 – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
    • 00:58:28 – › Withheld plans and dramatic tension in the third act
    • 01:05:52 – › Posthumous agency and the hero's choice after death
    • 01:13:45 – › Logic problems and the power of cinema over narrative precision
    • 01:16:38 – TALK TO ME
    • 01:19:39 – › Story structure and setup of TALK TO ME
    • 01:27:36 – › The withheld decisive act at the climax
    • 01:35:11 – › Ambiguity versus clarity in the film's meaning
    • 01:41:45 – Key Learnings
    • 01:44:37 – › Setup work that empowers climactic decisions
    • 01:50:13 – Thanks awesome patreons!

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

    LINKS

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-119/

    Chapitres

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  17. DZ-118: ADOLESCENCE -- How Questions Create Dramatic Tension

    2 hÉpisode 118

    Listen when you need tension without external stakes--subtext, stillness, and thematic weight do the work. In this episode, Stu and Chas delve into the cultural phenomenon of ADOLESCENCE. We try to find the …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen when you need tension without external stakes--subtext, stillness, and thematic weight do the work.

    In this episode, Stu and Chas delve into the cultural phenomenon of ADOLESCENCE. We try to find the craft tools that have made the show so compelling and such a catalyst for conversation.

    In particular, we breakdown how the show’s emphasis on questions creates tension: not just tension through plot, but tension through character, and ultimately tension through theme.

    We analsyse the show episode-by-episode, and discuss how the overall structure skilfully shifts from a plot-heavy police procedural towards a thematic-heavy melodrama and the impact that has on our experience.

    We discuss how the decision to shoot the show in a series of “oners” affects the writing and what tools we can take from that to apply to our own writing (even if we’re not writing it to be a one-shot): POV characters, handovers, French scenes, emotional events, and more.

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

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "The absence of plot does not mean the absence of tension." — Chas Fisher @ 00:00:00

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:13 – Why ADOLESCENCE? Craft tools behind a cultural phenomenon
    • 00:03:35 – › Melodrama, stillness, and the emotional contract with audiences
    • 00:07:28 – › Unity of time as a narrative constraint and creative tool
    • 00:09:38 – EPISODE ONE: Did Jamie do it, the audience question vs character objectives
    • 00:13:10 – › Every procedure scene tracks impact, not investigation
    • 00:19:29 – › POV strategy withholds Jamie to centre Eddie's emotional event
    • 00:27:35 – › Who is the protagonist when plot belongs to the detectives
    • 00:32:18 – EPISODE TWO: School as world, motivation as a character question
    • 00:36:03 – › Luke's emotional event with his son unlocks the plot
    • 00:39:24 – › Melodrama broadens the world through shallow but purposeful characters
    • 00:44:35 – › A dialogue scene resolves character questions and opens thematic ones
    • 00:46:47 – EPISODE THREE: Briony and the forensic interview as character excavation
    • 00:51:12 – › Win conditions are hidden when the goal is understanding, not confession
    • 00:55:07 – › Jamie's rage, restricted access, and what we project onto him
    • 00:57:49 – EPISODE FOUR: Social realism melodrama and a light plot engine
    • 01:00:19 – › The van incident as a vehicle for Eddie's sense of agency
    • 01:04:13 – › Responsibility, inherited anger, and the thematic endgame
    • 01:09:05 – › Incomplete questions invite the audience to finish the argument
    • 01:19:05 – Melodrama: Ordinary People, Big Emotion, and Genre as Emotional Contract
    • 01:23:32 – Scene-Level Tools: POV, French Scenes, Handovers, and Tension Through Questions
    • 01:30:51 – › Introducing characters before they appear controls audience questions
    • 01:36:59 – › Handovers and French scenes solve pacing inside a continuous take
    • 01:44:22 – › The point of view character of a scene is whoever is most impacted
    • 01:51:12 – › Using a character question to resolve a plot problem
    • 01:52:56 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:58:27 – Patreon Thanks

    SHOWS

    LINKS

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-118/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  18. DZ-117: Pulling Off Tonal Shifts

    2 h 8 minÉpisode 117

    Listen if you want to write tonal pivots that land on the page without a director's toolkit. Following on from our episodes on establishing tone through action lines and through character, this is what we have …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to write tonal pivots that land on the page without a director's toolkit.

    Following on from our episodes on establishing tone through action lines and through character, this is what we have been building up to: how to pull off a tonal switch… that does NOT throw the audience out of the film. And, in particular, how to pull that off on the page when writers don’t have framing, lighting, music, editing, etc. at our disposal?

    With that goal in mind, Mel and Chas dissect specific moments on the pages of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU and SWISS ARMY MAN.

    While there are definite craft tools identified - rhythm of action lines, varying use of unfilmmables and metaphors, establishing language patterns - the two big takeaways are:

    (1) pulling off a tonal shift takes a lot of setup; and (2) when the time comes, contrast on the page is key.

    Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "Not only does it allow us to accept the mother's death, but it allows them to really go for emotion because they've already taught us that throughout the film, there will be these moments." — Chas Fisher @ 00:00:00

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:25 – What do we mean by tonal shift?
    • 00:08:35 – Distinguishing between genre shift and tonal shift
    • 00:13:08 – Shaun of the Dead
    • 00:45:41 – Sorry to Bother You
    • 01:28:07 – Swiss Army Man
    • 02:02:10 – Key learnings and wrap up
    • 02:06:35 – Patreon thanks

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE TONE SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-117/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  19. DZ-116: Writing Physical Comedy

    1 h 36 minÉpisode 116

    Listen to learn how formatting--white space, caps, dashes--becomes your comedy toolkit without a director. Mel joins Chas to tackle physical comedy. We limited our homework selection to extended scenes (as …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to learn how formatting--white space, caps, dashes--becomes your comedy toolkit without a director.

    Mel joins Chas to tackle physical comedy. We limited our homework selection to extended scenes (as opposed to moments and sight gags) in live action projects and – with the help of our Patreons – selected early sequences from BRINGING UP BABY, the pilot for HAPPY ENDINGS and that wonderful food poisoning scene in BRIDESMAIDS.

    We discover how these incredible writers take their time (on the page) to set up geography, framing and running gags. We also get tips on judicious use ALL CAPS, ellipses and M-dashes to recreate visual gags… and when to just let a paragraph go long and draw attention to itself.

    This episode brought to you by (drum roll) ArcStudio: go to https://www.arcstudiopro.com/draftzero for $30 off a pro subscription!

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "The words on the page and the repetition are mimicking the edit, so we can visualize the humor and the repetition of it." — Chas Fisher @ 00:19:03

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:19 – Writing Physical Comedy: Scope, Constraints, and Homework Selection
    • 00:03:55 – › Defining screwball, farce, and slapstick as distinct forms
    • 00:06:52 – › How three case studies represent different slapstick approaches
    • 00:10:27 – BRINGING UP BABY
    • 00:15:04 – › Slug lines as editing rhythm and geography
    • 00:18:15 – › Repetition in action lines mirrors physical comedy beats
    • 00:22:31 – › Camera direction versus character eyeline to frame visual gags
    • 00:28:20 – › Script-to-screen reordering of physical comedy sequences
    • 00:31:44 – Thank you, Arc Studio Pro!
    • 00:34:34 – HAPPY ENDINGS PILOT
    • 00:38:53 – › How tone is established through action lines and formatting
    • 00:44:09 – › Setting up running gags early to fuel later physical beats
    • 00:54:59 – › Directing the camera on the page to control comedic framing
    • 00:58:15 – BRIDESMAIDS
    • 01:02:11 – › Framing the BRIDESMAIDS food poisoning scene setup
    • 01:08:00 – › How action lines build and escalate physical comedy on the page
    • 01:20:03 – › When setup earns dialogue-only visual comedy
    • 01:27:31 – Key learnings
    • 01:33:56 – Thank you amazing Patreons!

    FILMS

    SHOWS

    SCRIPTS

    SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-116/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  20. DZ-115: A Christmas Special - Rewatching & Rituals

    1 h 57 minÉpisode 105

    Listen if you want to understand what makes holiday films enduring parts of our seasonal rituals! In this “backmatter” episode of Draft Zero, Stu, Chas, and Mel Killingsworth embark on a festive exploration of …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to understand what makes holiday films enduring parts of our seasonal rituals!

    In this “backmatter” episode of Draft Zero, Stu, Chas, and Mel Killingsworth embark on a festive exploration of what makes holiday films so engaging and so re-watchable that they can become part of our rituals. To that end, we breakdown the charm of of Christmas films like KISS KISS BANG BANG, RIDERS OF JUSTICE, and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

    We discuss what defines a holiday movie, the power of nostalgia, the importance of ensembles to a sense of family, and how voiceover, snappy dialogue and intricate plots can make something rewatchable. For each of us, we see these films as gateways to introspection and shared experiences during the holidays.

    And we are briefly joined by filmmaker (and friend of the podcast) Damien Cassar who talks us through the meaning of nostalgia and it’s relationship with the "pain of homecoming", and how Christmas/Holiday films provide comfort and a sense of belonging amid ever-changing societal dynamics.

    Merry Christmas!

    This episode brought to you by (drum roll) ArcStudio: go to https://www.arcstudiopro.com/draftzero for $30 off a pro subscription!

    Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "What makes it rewatchable is not the Christmas elements. Like that's sort of what makes it rewatchable are all of the structure. The fact that like a lot of good noir mysteries, you forget exactly how things get solved." — Mel Killingsworth @ 00:30:20

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:01:00 – What do we mean by Holiday Movies?
    • 00:18:52 – Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
    • 00:41:16 – Riders of Justice
    • 01:03:45 – Sponsorship: Arc Studio Pro
    • 01:06:30 – It's A Wonderful Life
    • 01:48:37 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:51:03 – On Nostalgia
    • 01:54:28 – Many thanks to our Patreons

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-115/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  21. DZ-114: Climaxes in CHALLENGERS

    1 h 17 minÉpisode 114

    Listen to understand how withholding resolution can make your story great! While Stu is on show, Mel and Chas sit down to analyse the meaning behind the ending of 2024's CHALLENGERS, especially when - upon …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to understand how withholding resolution can make your story great!

    While Stu is on show, Mel and Chas sit down to analyse the meaning behind the ending of 2024's CHALLENGERS, especially when - upon reading the script - the most impactful moment of the ending on screen (for Chas in particular) is not written on the page.

    Following on from episodes on Filmmakers Talking Directly To The Audience as well as previous explorations into Choices and Decisions (and hopefully serving as a prelude to our episode on Hero's Choice - aka DZ-119), Mel and Chas explore the choices the characters make in that final moment, what happens when filmmakers obscure character motivation, and ultimately how that final moment in CHALLENGERS impacts theme.

    This conversation ends up being a deep exploration of what is the experience on the audience (and its impact on the perceived theme) when a story cuts out at the climax without further resolution.

    This episode brought to you by (drum roll) ArcStudio: go to https://www.arcstudiopro.com/draftzero for $30 off a pro subscription!

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "It's nice that the climax of the movie is actually at the end of the movie like to me the movie climaxes at the point where it cuts to black which is awesome yeah." — Chas Fisher @ 00:13:10

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:24 – BREAKING DOWN THE ENDING OF CHALLENGERS
    • 00:03:50 – › Plot summary and structural architecture of the film
    • 00:08:48 – › How backstory layering builds dramatic tension in the final match
    • 00:14:51 – Can one action line change everything?
    • 00:19:36 – › Script vs screen: what the final point actually shows
    • 00:27:35 – › Whose ending is it: Tashi's story vs the reunion embrace
    • 00:33:42 – › Reading the tropes: why polyamory felt inevitable
    • 00:39:41 – This episode is brought to you by Arc Studio Pro
    • 00:42:29 – Giving characters decisions
    • 00:47:46 – › Giving characters agency through deliberate decision-making
    • 00:52:10 – Meta subtext
    • 00:53:53 – Choices + feeling = theme?
    • 00:55:17 – › Do the characters make choices in the final moment
    • 01:00:25 – › Character feeling and what the film ultimately says
    • 01:06:03 – Ending on the climax
    • 01:09:27 – Key Learnings
    • 01:15:59 – Thank you patreons!

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    LINKS

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-114/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  22. DZ-113: Tools For Filmmakers To Talk To The Audience

    2 h 3 minÉpisode 113

    Listen if you want to explore how you can make your creative hand visible through meta-storytelling and structural choices!?! In our final (ha!) episode looking at Talking Directly to the Audience, we turn away …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to explore how you can make your creative hand visible through meta-storytelling and structural choices!?!

    In our final (ha!) episode looking at Talking Directly to the Audience, we turn away from character-and-text based craft tools to look at other ways that filmmakers - whether they be directors, writers, editors, or anyone else - can make the audience feel their 'hand' more. To that end, Mel, Stu and Chas dive into ADAPTATION, STORIES WE TELL and THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION.

    We discuss structure (in particular how to structure more meta stories), the influence of TikTok and YouTube in portraying character authenticity, how to set up scenes where your characters can actually debate what your story is really about., and get into the gritty of where "in the story world" the communication from the filmmakers is.

    Ultimately, in exploring these three powerful films through this lens, we discover that these tools give filmmakers more control in conveying their theme. Quelle surprise.

    This episode brought to you by (drum roll) ArcStudio: go to https://www.arcstudiopro.com/draftzero for $30 off a pro subscription!

    Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "I would guess that some of the most watched content in the world has people talking directly to the camera and that's stuff that people watch on YouTube." — Stu Willis @ 00:06:13

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:28 – The Meta of Meta
    • 00:04:20 – › How filmmakers speak without breaking immersion
    • 00:07:48 – › Mapping the craft levers for filmmaker-to-audience communication
    • 00:11:01 – ADAPTATION
    • 00:14:11 – › How filmmakers communicate through diegetic versus direct address
    • 00:20:30 – › When fiction blurs with reality in meta-storytelling
    • 00:29:23 – › Structural devices versus overt meta-communication across all three films
    • 00:34:28 – › What the work wants from its audience
    • 00:36:43 – Sponsor: Arc Studio Pro
    • 00:39:40 – Adaption (Part 2)
    • 00:42:23 – STORIES WE TELL
    • 00:44:24 – › Exposing the apparatus of documentary filmmaking
    • 00:49:44 – › Reconstructed Super 8 footage and the ethics of misdirection
    • 00:57:07 – › Sarah Polley's absence as subject and presence as author
    • 01:07:55 – › Mapping diegetic control across the film's storytelling layers
    • 01:12:13 – THE FORTY YEAR OLD VERSION
    • 01:19:29 – › Black-and-white cinematography and the Woody Allen inversion
    • 01:23:13 – › Locating the filmmaker's voice on the meta-storytelling spectrum
    • 01:33:20 – › Extracting portable craft techniques from autobiographical filmmaking
    • 01:43:39 – › Authenticity, truth, and what each film is ultimately arguing
    • 01:48:14 – Wrap Up & Key Learnings
    • 01:50:48 – › Black-and-white, artifice, and meta-techniques as thematic anchors
    • 01:56:27 – › Sound design, structural play, and further viewing recommendations
    • 02:01:24 – Many thanks to our Patreons <3

    FILMS

    EPISODES IN THE TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-113/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  23. DZ-112: Breaking the 4th wall

    1 h 52 minÉpisode 112

    Listen to understand how breaking the 4th wall directly involves the audience in a character's emotional present. As part of our series on how filmmakers can directly communicate to the audience, we finally …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to understand how breaking the 4th wall directly involves the audience in a character's emotional present.

    As part of our series on how filmmakers can directly communicate to the audience, we finally examine the most blatant tool of them all: when character look directly down the barrel of the camera… and thus look directly at us, the viewer. Chas, Stu and Mel take the craft tools/levers they identified in previous episodes and use them to examine the tv-version-of HIGH FIDELITY ("Top Five Breakups"), ABBOTT ELEMENTARY ("Attack Ad)") and - of course - FLEABAG.

    By examining how “in-world” the camera is, who is talking, and whom the character is talking to (i.e. who we are in the relationship), we end up discovering how breaking the 4th wall can involve the audience in the emotional present of the character and also grants the character a degree of narrative control (a craft lever that can be dialled in and out).

    Separately, in a Backmatter to this episode (which can be found on our Patreon page), Mel and Chas answer a listener question and take a deep dive into how breaking the 4th wall changes the RELATIONSHIP between you - the viewer - and character.

    This episode brought to you by (drum roll) ArcStudio: go to $30 off a pro subscription! Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "She's trying to work herself out in some ways. Like it's the reason a lot of people write in their diary or self-talk or do have a running monologue or encourage that. Like she's trying to understand and explain herself and in doing so maybe hopefully help herself." — Mel Killingsworth @ 00:35:50

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:16 – What is "barrelling"? or Breaking the Fourth Wall
    • 00:05:32 – › Narrative control as a resource in fourth wall breaking
    • 00:09:50 – › How voiceover levers apply to barrelling the camera
    • 00:13:44 – HIGH FIDELITY: "Top Five Heartbreaks"
    • 00:19:59 – › Fourth wall breaks as emotional present, not flashback
    • 00:25:21 – › Rob's narrative control and unreliable self-knowledge
    • 00:35:19 – › What Rob wants from the audience she's confiding in
    • 00:37:32 – ABBOTT ELEMENTARY: "Attack Ad"
    • 00:44:37 – › What each character wants when addressing the camera
    • 00:49:27 – › The documentary crew's agenda and point of view
    • 00:54:01 – › How the mockumentary form is extended and played with
    • 00:59:29 – › Format rigidity compared across mockumentary shows
    • 01:01:27 – Sponsor: Arc Studio Pro
    • 01:04:09 – FLEABAG:
    • 01:05:22 – › Establishing Fleabag's conceit and season two structure
    • 01:09:28 – › How fourth wall breaks become intrusive and uncontrolled
    • 01:20:12 – › Running from and returning to the camera as emotional avoidance
    • 01:31:45 – › Need versus want: what Fleabag seeks from the audience
    • 01:37:34 – › Why breaking the fourth wall externalises the internal
    • 01:40:54 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:43:38 – › Why granting narrative control limits fourth wall breaking
    • 01:50:48 – Thank You Patreons!

    SHOWS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-112/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  24. DZ-111: Unreliable Narrators and FIGHT CLUB

    55 minÉpisode 111

    Listen to learn how unreliable narrators shape storytelling through voiceover, structure, and control. In this episode, Stu and Mel (sans Chas!) take a deep dive into FIGHT CLUB and its use of the unreliable …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to learn how unreliable narrators shape storytelling through voiceover, structure, and control.

    In this episode, Stu and Mel (sans Chas!) take a deep dive into FIGHT CLUB and its use of the unreliable narrator. This is a bridging episode between our previous episode on VOICEOVER and our forthcoming episode on TALKING TO CAMERA as Fight Club does both.

    We dissect the film's disconnected sequence-driven structure and how the voiceover ’stitches’ the film together. And then we look at what makes ‘Jack’ an unreliable narrator and how his control over the storytelling impacts us.

    Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Paulo, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "I mean, no wonder the manosphere jumped on this film, because it's all about men who don't take responsibility for their actions. And so they're like, that really resonates with me and how my life is not in my control, even though clearly Jack at this point has control over the entire narrative." — Stu Willis @ 00:34:44

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:01 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:20 – FIGHT CLUB
    • 00:07:23 – › Voiceover temporality and the narrator's point of origin
    • 00:09:22 – › Sequence-by-sequence breakdown of structural antagonists
    • 00:21:08 – › How voiceover stitches loose sequences into unified story
    • 00:24:57 – Unreliable Narrators
    • 00:28:02 – › Fourth wall breaks as audience antagonism
    • 00:33:07 – › Narrator's control over story presentation
    • 00:39:37 – › The projectionist sequence as meta-narrative device
    • 00:44:40 – › Unreliable narration, sympathy, and character agenda
    • 00:49:09 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 00:54:07 – Many thanks to our Patrons!

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    EPISODES IN THE TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-111/

  25. DZ-110: Voiceover

    1 h 41 minÉpisode 110

    Listen to explore how voiceover can set tone, reveal character, enhance empathy, and create tension. How can you use Voiceover without it feeling like a cheat? In this episode, we finally delve into the world …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to explore how voiceover can set tone, reveal character, enhance empathy, and create tension.

    How can you use Voiceover without it feeling like a cheat?

    In this episode, we finally delve into the world of VOICEOVERS (as part of our larger series exploring craft tools that allow characters & storytellers to talk directly to the audience). Chas, Stu and Mel deep dive into the VERONICA MARS pilot, Disney’s THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, and the Michael Bay epic PAIN & GAIN.

    In exploring what makes these particular examples of Voiceover great (and not feel like a cheat or a well-worn trope), we apply the four levers identified in our Part 1 (in particular ‘when in time is the Voiceover coming from’). In this episode we discover how Voiceover can set tone, reveal character motivations, enhance viewer empathy, or even create tension.

    Don’t forget to check out the Backmatter (to this episode) answering Patreon Abigail’s question —

    "I'm currently writing a screenplay where the twist relies on the audience believing the narrator is a different character until Act III. Thus, have been thinking a lot about casting and audience voice recognition, etc. Would be interested in hearing thoughts on this."

    Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "The tone is huge in a noir show in particular. This is like a noir show set in high school. And the voiceover kicks that off and keeps it consistent all the way throughout." — Mel Killingsworth @ 00:10:33

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:23 – Voiceover craft levers to pull
    • 00:03:48 – VERONICA MARS (Pilot)
    • 00:07:15 – › How voiceover compresses narrative and sets tone
    • 00:12:34 – › Who Veronica talks to and what she wants from the audience
    • 00:19:41 – › Voiceover as a tool for revealing character motivation and lies
    • 00:27:23 – › Cumulative effect of voiceover choices on tone and empathy
    • 00:32:43 – THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE
    • 00:36:36 – › Voiceover as unreliable narrator and the low-point frame
    • 00:40:27 – › Temporal origin of voiceover and its effect on character
    • 00:44:08 – › Voiceover tense, omniscience, and empathy maintenance
    • 00:49:53 – › Consistent voiceover strategy across the whole screenplay
    • 00:54:11 – PAIN & GAIN
    • 00:57:29 – › Multiple voiceover characters and their introduction pattern
    • 01:02:29 – › Temporal origin of voiceovers and the court case frame
    • 01:09:50 – › Voiceover as dramatic irony and audience positioning
    • 01:24:28 – › Cumulative thematic effect of collective voiceover
    • 01:31:30 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:33:19 – › Temporal origin of voiceover as the master lever
    • 01:39:34 – Thanks Patreons!

    FILMS

    SHOWS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-110/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  26. DZ-109: Talking DIRECTLY to your audience

    1 h 20 minÉpisode 109

    Listen if you've wondered what a character actually wants when they're talking directly to the audience!? What are the different ways a filmmaker can ask something of the audience? Chas and Stu are joined by …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you've wondered what a character actually wants when they're talking directly to the audience!?

    What are the different ways a filmmaker can ask something of the audience?

    Chas and Stu are joined by Mel in this prelude episode to upcoming episodes on Voiceover (DZ-110, DZ-111) and Breaking the 4th Wall (DZ-112). In this episode, we attempt to taxonomise the different ways filmmakers can ask something directly of their audience.

    To this end, we identify 4 levers that can be pulled:

    1. Diagetic to non-diagetic (in story world to outside story world) 2. Who is talking? From story-teller to a character 3. Whom are they talking to? Themselves or directly to the audience? 4. From when in time is the communication coming?

    They then take these levers and ask a series of questions, including:

    • What does the communication want from the audience?
    • Does the audience know who’s talking?
    • How reliable is the information?
    • How aware is who is communicating of the audience?

    They then apply these questions and levers to… deep breath… : STAR WARS, ROBOCOP, STARSHIP TROOPERS, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, MINORITY REPORT, CHILDREN OF MEN, NEVER HAVE I EVER, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, STRANGER THAN FICTION, DUNE, OPPENHEIMER, YELLOWJACKETS, HUSTLERS, THE OFFICE, MASTERCHEF, ZOMBIELAND, FLEABAG, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, SPONTANEOUS, BLACKKKLANSMAN, AMERICAN FICTION, AMERICAN SPLENDOR, THE KILLER, VERONICA MARS, FIGHT CLUB, SHUTTER ISLAND, SIXTH SENSE, HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR. FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, GOODFELLAS, EMPERORS NEW GROOVE, THE TRUMAN SHOW, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, DIE HARD, THE BIG SHORT, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, DERRY GIRLS, THE LAST JEDI, THE LAST DUEL, RASHOMON, BONES AND ALL, ARCHIVE 81, SANS SOLEIL, F IS FOR FAKE, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS, JULIUS CAESAR, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Vol. 1

    Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "If you don't have anything dramatic to say, don't say it at all." — Stu Willis @ 00:00:00

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:49 – Distinguishing talking directly to the audience
    • 00:04:32 – Different levers to pull
    • 00:09:20 – Who is communicating?
    • 00:15:01 – › Mapping the spectrum from title cards to character narrators
    • 00:20:37 – › When narration blurs the line between diegetic and meta
    • 00:26:13 – Does the audience know who's talking?
    • 00:29:47 – › What narrators want from their audience
    • 00:32:21 – › Filmmakers speaking directly without breaking the fourth wall
    • 00:40:00 – From when is the communication coming?
    • 00:40:50 – How reliable is the communication?
    • 00:46:08 – How aware are the characters?
    • 00:49:56 – › What does the speaker want from their audience
    • 00:53:46 – › Emotional vs intellectual effects of direct address
    • 00:58:35 – Analysing edge cases
    • 01:04:00 – › Writer's intent versus character's intent in voiceover
    • 01:07:37 – What effects do these have on the audience?
    • 01:11:51 – › Monologue length and its emotional effect on audiences
    • 01:16:00 – Key learnings and wrap-up
    • 01:19:00 – Thanks patreons!

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    EPISODES IN THE TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-109/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  27. DZ-108: The Emotional Event with Judith Weston

    1 h 37 minÉpisode 108

    Listen to understand why a scene's power lives in what shifts between characters, not what happens to them. How and why should every scene have an emotional event? For the first episode of our tenth anniversary …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen to understand why a scene's power lives in what shifts between characters, not what happens to them.

    How and why should every scene have an emotional event?

    For the first episode of our tenth anniversary year, we are joined by Judith Weston to talk about Emotional Events. What is an emotional event? Well, it’s a way of thinking about scenes through relationships rather than plot. Instead of asking how a scene moves the plot forward, ask how the scene alters the relationship between characters. While emotional events are ostensibly a tool for directors to interpret scenes, we believe that the emotional event starts with the writer(s).

    But it is an idea better illustrated through examples and discussion rather than sound bites. To that end, we breakdown scene from OPPENHEIMER, CASINO ROYALE (the Daniel Craig one), and PAST LIVES and explore how the emotional event is written (and not written) on the page.

    Through a close reading of each scene, we talk about subtext, power dynamics, status transactions, tactics, beats and much much more. Because Chas, Stu and Judith are also reading the scripts there lot of discussion about table reads and how to get the most out of them.

    For those unfamiliar with Judith, she is a famed teacher of writers, directors and actors with a focus on the directing or actors. Her books Directing Actors and The Film Director’s Intuition are basically industry standards.

    You can find Judith Weston (and her books!) at her website: https://judithweston.com/web/

    Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "I think they're both testing each other. I think, you know, Oppenheimer wants the job, but he knows that Groves wants somebody who will test him. They want the friction. They like the friction. They both work best with friction." — Judith Weston @ 00:30:37

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:30 – What is an emotional event?
    • 00:05:18 – › How the relationship changes defines the scene
    • 00:10:49 – › Reading aloud to let the words live unprepared
    • 00:13:48 – OPPENHEIMER
    • 00:19:01 – › Breaking a scene into beats and emotional wins
    • 00:28:54 – › How beat shifts are physicalized and marked on screen
    • 00:39:53 – › Exposition works when buried in relationship dynamics
    • 00:44:09 – › Core relationships as structural delivery systems for acts
    • 00:46:16 – CASINO ROYALE
    • 00:49:07 – › How actors overrode the script's male gaze
    • 00:52:38 – › Shared vulnerability as the scene's emotional event
    • 00:55:57 – › How stage directions can direct actors from the page
    • 00:59:35 – PAST LIVES
    • 01:06:49 – › Emotional beat changes and the language of scaffolding
    • 01:11:22 – › How each line negotiates a relationship shift
    • 01:27:28 – › Arthur's final act of kindness closes the triangle
    • 01:30:20 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:36:05 – Thanks to our Patreons!

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    LINKS

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-108/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  28. DZ-107: Establishing Tone through Character

    1 h 54 minÉpisode 107

    Listen if you want to understand how character actions and reactions shape a film's tone In this episode, Chas and Stu continue their deep dive into how to write tone by examining films with “light” (we use the …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to understand how character actions and reactions shape a film's tone

    In this episode, Chas and Stu continue their deep dive into how to write tone by examining films with “light” (we use the phrase loosely) tones: LADY BIRD, EMILY THE CRIMINAL, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS, and SPONTANEOUS. We also talk a surprising amount about DUNE and CRAZY STUPID LOVE.

    We focus on the relationship between character & tone and how the writers of these films use dramatisation to create their unique tones. We talk minimalism vs maximalism, dialogue, character actions & reactions, emotional dynamic range, and rules of the world vs given circumstances.

    Stu proposes a new triangle to help us understand the dials we as writers have to affect tone:

    • The given circumstances of the story,
    • How that effects character actions & reactions,
    • How the audience are told about those elements.

    Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "Emily feels a rush of blood to the head. And the blood, to me, kind of connects it to the feral thing, right? Like it's just got a little bit of an animalistic quality to it in terms of the kind of language system they're using it." — Stu Willis @ 00:42:31

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:23 – Tone & Character
    • 00:03:21 – › The tone triangle: given circumstances, character reaction, audience feeling
    • 00:09:38 – › Diegetic vs non-diegetic levers and the writer's control over tone
    • 00:15:26 – Ladybird
    • 00:18:43 – › How opening scenes encode a film's emotional range
    • 00:22:37 – › Underplaying drama to teach audiences what to laugh at
    • 00:29:42 – › How dialogue mechanics carry tonal instruction on the page
    • 00:33:20 – EMILY THE CRIMINAL
    • 00:36:22 – › Sparse big print and character-revealing given circumstances
    • 00:44:34 – › How action and reaction encode tone and theme
    • 00:53:25 – › Dialogue styling and emotional proximity to character
    • 00:57:43 – THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS
    • 01:02:51 – › How character reaction creates comedic contrast with violence
    • 01:13:32 – › Given circumstances, audience expectation, and world rules
    • 01:17:28 – SPONTANEOUS
    • 01:20:57 – › Action lines as character voice and tonal instruction
    • 01:26:31 – › Humor as audience permission to engage with horror
    • 01:34:03 – › Tonal complexity versus emotional range across films
    • 01:38:11 – › Shared laughter as a device for building connection
    • 01:39:38 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:42:38 – › Tonal contrast as emotional contract with audience
    • 01:46:13 – › Character reactions as the root of tonal clarity
    • 01:51:58 – Many thanks to our Patreons

    FILMS

    SCRIPTS

    LINKS

    EPISODES IN THE ESTABLISHING TONE SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-107/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  29. DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?

    1 h 36 minÉpisode 106

    Listen you're not sure whether your idea has enough fuel for 90 pages. In this episode, Chas, Stu and Mel attempt to answer a listener question: “In your own pre-writing process, how do you know you have enough …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen you're not sure whether your idea has enough fuel for 90 pages.

    In this episode, Chas, Stu and Mel attempt to answer a listener question: “In your own pre-writing process, how do you know you have enough for a feature? And do you have a specific pre-writing method you're going to?”

    Thus we launch into a discussion on our writing processes and the varying usefulness of tools such as log lines, turning points, beat sheets, synopsis, treatments, and scene breakdowns. We also tackle the challenges encountered while developing an idea to first draft, such as balancing the pace of the story, developing distinct character voices, character choices, plot changes, pacing, and thematic clarity.

    Is this backmatter? Or is it development tools? You decide! Hahaha.

    Thanks so much to Chris Walker for his excellent editing on this episode!

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Alexandre, Malay, Casimir, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "for me, that's actually in a lot of ways easier to write. You don't need to conclude anything. And you can hopefully if you sell it, then you get a room of people and then it's all of your problems, you know, as opposed to just your problem and you're banging your head up against the wall on page 80 going, Oh my God, what have have I done?" — Mel Killingsworth @ 00:05:41

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:16 – The Listener Question: Do You Have Enough for a Feature?
    • 00:00:30 – › Why features demand a known ending before you start
    • 00:02:38 – Our Development Processes
    • 00:05:20 – › Deciding format before asking if you have enough story
    • 00:09:20 – › Narrative fuel as a concept and when to test it
    • 00:13:42 – › Why the midpoint is the first structural tent pole to find
    • 00:17:35 – › Cards, brainstorming, and capturing scenes before plot
    • 00:20:06 – › How TV bible development differs from feature outlining
    • 00:25:15 – Developing from Concept
    • 00:28:53 – › Mel's four-stage process from voice note to scriptment
    • 00:33:06 – › Theme as the organising principle before you outline
    • 00:38:55 – › Character and plot as mutually dependent in development
    • 00:44:09 – › Loglines from other characters' points of view
    • 00:45:26 – Sponsor: Arc Studio Pro
    • 00:48:12 – Expanding Your Idea
    • 00:51:24 – › Sequence structure as a test for narrative fuel
    • 00:55:34 – › Turning points driven by character decisions, not events
    • 01:00:01 – › When genre dictates how fixed your major beats should be
    • 01:06:19 – › From bullet outline to scriptment: when to move to pages
    • 01:09:36 – › Summarising dialogue scenes before writing them
    • 01:15:29 – Long Short Documents
    • 01:20:34 – › The therefore-and-but test applied to outlines
    • 01:23:07 – › Prose treatments as a low-cost pitch and development tool
    • 01:27:22 – Consistent Problems with First Drafts
    • 01:28:53 – › Pacing imbalance between over-written and under-written sequences
    • 01:31:27 – › Character voice, empathy, and choices that don't land
    • 01:34:28 – Many Thanks to Our Patreons!

    EPISODES IN THE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS SERIES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2023/dz-106/

    Chapitres

    Chargement des chapitres…

  30. DZ-105: Establishing Tone through Big Print

    2 h 6 minÉpisode 105

    Listen if you want to use an unusual tone in your screenplay. Chas and Stu finally start their long-mooted exploration of tone with a series that examines films and shows with unusual tones and dives into how …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Listen if you want to use an unusual tone in your screenplay.

    Chas and Stu finally start their long-mooted exploration of tone with a series that examines films and shows with unusual tones and dives into how the writers establish those tones in the first 5 pages.

    How does your script want your reader to experience violence in your story? Humour? Sex? Prejudice?

    To answer these questions, this episode look at how films with “darker” or “sadder” tones teach the reader what they can laugh at, namely: THE NICE GUYS, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN and the pilot for YELLOWJACKETS.

    Together they learn how to better talk about tone, how to frame tone for a scene or sequence, and what levers writers can use on the page to compensate for cinematic tools like music, performance, composition, lighting, design, editing, etc etc etc.

    Future episodes plan to explore establishing lighter or quirkier tones, as well as tools in shifting or changing tone on the page.

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

    LIKE THIS EPISODE?

    Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Alexandre, Malay, Casimir, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

    → Read the transcript for this episode.

    ———

    "He is writing our experience as the audience to us as we're reading it." — Chas Fisher @ 00:40:40

    ———

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00:00 – Cold Open
    • 00:00:32 – What is tone?
    • 00:05:36 – › Tone defined through the rhetorical triangle
    • 00:09:27 – › Teaching the audience the rules of tone
    • 00:16:36 – › Word and narrative choices as tonal tools
    • 00:25:00 – THE NICE GUYS
    • 00:31:48 – › How Shane Black's prose style establishes tone on the page
    • 00:39:39 – › Complicity, strangeness, and tonal shift within the opening scene
    • 00:49:49 – › How repetition and rhythm sell comedy in action lines
    • 00:55:07 – Sponsor: Arc Studio Pro
    • 00:57:23 – THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
    • 01:00:17 – › Surrealism, sparseness, and McDonagh's tonal commitment
    • 01:05:43 – › How script mood is built through environment and repetition humour
    • 01:21:42 – › What the opening pages teach us about tonal contracts with the audience
    • 01:25:06 – YELLOWJACKETS
    • 01:28:07 – › Establishing three tones across three timelines in a pilot
    • 01:34:49 – › How big print language and POV shifts create horror dread
    • 01:43:06 – › Tonal transitions between scenes using comedy and environment
    • 01:50:16 – › Writing style shifts that signal tone within action lines
    • 01:53:30 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
    • 01:57:23 – › Being bolder with tone in Australian screenwriting
    • 02:00:14 – › Signalling authorial judgment in satirical writing
    • 02:04:40 – Many thanks to our Patreons!

    FILMS

    SHOWS

    SCRIPTS

    EPISODES IN THE ESTABLISHING TONE SERIES

    RELATED EPISODES

    ———

    More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

    If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

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

    Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2023/dz-105/

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