The Process of Screenwriting by Clive Frayne

The Process of Screenwriting is nearly three years old. It still sells copies everyday thanks to you guys 😀 In it, I share the tools and techniques I use to develop scripts amzn.to/3YPv4F6

This week’s supply of tea bags has arrived

Today, I built a hydraulic robot arm. From a kit. This is what passes for fun in my life.

We’re waiting on a couple of funding decisions. So, I’m taking a little bit of family time. It’s been pretty much non-stop since January

I went to the aquarium. He was in a tank near the gift shop. That film really overplayed the difficulty of that task.

@SmithKolic Thank-you for your kind words. Actually, The Pocket Process of Screenwriting just went to the editors. We’re hoping to have it out before Christmas. It’s a condensed and updated pocket-sized version of the original I’ll put something together to demo the flow diagram approach

For years I organised my thoughts for writing by using tables [the spreadsheet method] These days, I mainly orgainise my thoughts with flow-diagrams. I should probably write about this fairly soon as I find it so productive

@dorondfeldman I’m using the other usage of vulnerability … to mean “a weakness or flaw that leaves it vulnerable to damage or harm” - it links the idea of jeopardy and stakes to character flaws - the idea that the challenges a character faces are bespoke to them

@clivefrayne It does.. though, then, I might have written "hidden" vulnerability = drama/tension and "revealed" vulnerability= release. (E.g. As audience members we are never moved when characters freely cry, we are moved when they fight tears)

This is the list of principles I apply to script writing: Build the story-chain Emotion drives the action Beats not events Vulnerability = drama Struggle and escalation Set-up, complicate, escalate, pay-off Write for the reader Clarity, tone, rhythm Shared without context

I meant “most common” - thumb typing sucks

The most transformative story chain is loner, wanderer, warrior, martyr. But it’s not the only way to do it and it doesn’t have to be four stages (acts)

In my writing, I see an acts as a story segment that covers the primary characters journey between transformative moments… the act break is the moment of change. This means the story has as many acts as there are transformative moments

@dorondfeldman For me, drama is what happens when a character is tested by circumstance or an opposing force. The test is both specific to the character and it stands between them and their objectives. The story unfolds because of their unique response to the test. (Does that make sense?) 😀

@clivefrayne Vulnerability = drama. How're you defining drama?

The writer/producer on Demons talks about working with our development team

Script analysis goes from complex to simplification Development goes from the simplest to the most detailed. This is why scene notes are a waste of time if the story hasn't been locked in

Plots are linear chains of ideas, with each idea linking to the next. We call this the story chain. In development, it's useful to go from the macro to the micro. We start from the simplest and broadest story chain, the act level. Then the sequence level, scene, and sentence

@bryanedwardhill Brian Cox = Phenomenal Hannibal Lecter Tom Noonan = Perfect Serial Killer

This Saturday, the New Beverly theater is doing a midnight screening of MANHUNTER (Dir. Michael Mann, 1986), one of my all time favorite films .

@Lilith_Nin An event is “something happens” - a beat is a dramatic moment formed by a character making a decision, acting to make a change, or being forced into conflict with something or someone

@clivefrayne Hi, this is a very interesting list. Could you please elaborate a little more on what you mean by "beats, not events"? Thank you.

All of the things I do I learned from other people… what I added were ways to use them in development

Story chain = Kuleshov applied to writing scenes Emotion to action = Actioning (taught to actors) Beats not events = basic story theory Vulnerable is drama = basic story theory Struggle/escalate = from @Bang2write Set-up, complicate, escalate, payoff = from @OKBJGM

I needed to compile this list to remind myself