September 2011
15 posts
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Now Showing at Amazon Studios: Your Personalized...
Looking for an easier way to keep up with your favorite people and projects at Amazon Studios? Check out our homepage, which now features a dynamic Newsfeed that provides updates on what you’re following (and on Amazon Studios awards announcements). Like this:
Following people and projects is easy: Just find someone or something you like and look for the “follow” button. Then, when someone you’re...
August 2011
17 posts
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From The Script Lab: Your Central Theme (The Key...
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
There was a time when I wasn’t so sure a theme was necessary in writing a good screenplay. All you needed was an interesting character, who wanted something badly, and was having trouble getting it. That was it. If we had someone to cheer for, with a clear goal, and lots of conflict and obstacles, the script would work.
And if someone asked, “What’s it about?”...
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From The Script Lab: Character Creation (Truth Is...
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
While I was vacationing in Wisconsin last week to visit my family, I went to the local fitness club for a few games of racquetball, and I spotted this:
A bearded man, a modern-day Jeremiah Johnson, walking back to his vehicle with his two loyal companions. They were a band of raggedy brothers, two dogs and their master, but it wasn’t this man’s 12-inch...
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Amazon Studios Announces $460,000 in New Contests...
Amazon Studios will close out 2011 with $460,000 in new contests for scripts, test movies and dialogue tracks, all leading up to its previously announced $1.1 million annual awards for the best test movie and script submitted to the site by Dec. 31. These monthly contests are part of a development process that has already put nearly $1 million in the hands of writers and filmmakers around the...
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From The Script Lab: Connecting with Your Audience
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
A hidden connection is stronger than an obvious one. - Heraclitus of Ephesus
Connecting with your audience. This is paramount. If the audience isn’t invested with the story, if it doesn’t care about the characters, if it’s not intimately involved, anticipating, reaching conclusions, and adding it up… well, then you’re in trouble, riding a sinking...
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From The Script Lab: Subtext, the Underlying Truth
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
In screenwriting, subtext is all the content underneath that is not announced explicitly by the characters but is understood by the reader or viewer as the scene, sequence, or script unfolds. And when it comes to dialogue scenes, subtext is what the character is saying between the lines, often revealed through a character’s action or reactions. In action...
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Test Movie Update: Funding Deadline, Must-Sees and...
This is an exciting time for test movies at Amazon Studios, whether you’re a movie fan looking for something to watch (for free!) or a filmmaker looking for a calling card. Test movies are visual rough drafts and they’re at the heart of the Amazon Studios development process. They show writers what their stories look like on their feet, and give a worldwide audience a chance to see – and...
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New at Amazon Studios: Star Tracks
If you’ve got a few hours, you can give a character from an Amazon Studios script a voice, put it out there for the world to enjoy, and maybe even hear yourself in a test movie version of the story. And to celebrate this addition to its online movie development process, Amazon Studios has commissioned Star Tracks – roles from three acclaimed Amazon Studios scripts voiced by four talented...
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From The Script Lab: Script Polarity (Opposites...
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
Polarity, or action and reaction, we meet in every part of nature. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
In screenwriting, polarity is bliss. Why? Because polarity is mutual opposition, and when opposite elements are forced to interact, sparks fly.
Conflict! It’s the elixir of the script, the adhesive that keeps us there. If there’s no conflict, there’s no audience; therefore,...
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From The Script Lab: Your Hero (Top Ten Rules)
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
The most important character in your screenplay is your protagonist: your hero. Without her, there is no story. But when creating that unforgettable protagonist, you must know the entire iceberg, so follow these Ten Key Rules, and you’ll sculpt a hero that breaks the mold.
1. Hope and Fear
When creating your hero, audience connection is key. Your hero needs to...
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From The Script Lab: Location (The World of the...
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
It was Alfred Hitchcock who famously said that the three most vital elements of a film are “the script, the script, the script.” But when it comes to buying real estate, the three most important ingredients are location, location, location. And since location is a major part of any screenplay, it must be pretty damn significant.
In 2005, I had co-written a...
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From The Script Lab: Ten Steps to Completing Your...
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
Screenwriting is a skilled trade, and a good screenplay must be molded and managed with craftsman hands. But the hard truth is that good screenwriting is a “nose to the grindstone” occupation. And if you want to be a serious screenwriter, you must make the commitment. Be disciplined, get organized, prioritize, and above all else, write. So if you’re willing...
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From The Script Lab: Character Arc (Your Hero's...
By Michael Schilf The Script Lab
In dramatic writing, the very essence is character change. The character at the end is not the same as he was at the beginning. He’s changed — psychologically, maybe even physically. — Robert Towne
Good movies are about an interesting and flawed somebody (your protagonist), who wants something badly (goal) and is having trouble getting it (obstacles). By ...
