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Category Archive: Screenwriting focus

Analysis: Shaping History into a Screen Narrative – A Complete Unknown (2024)

The recent Bob Dylan biopic provides a good example of how you can shape historical events into a […]

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Analysis: Bringing the Past into the Present

One of the challenges of writing the historical film is that the story is… well historical. This raises […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Establishing Historical Context – BlackBerry (2023)

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When it comes to a fact-based film, placing the narrative into its historical context is as important as […]

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Analysis: Ford v Ferrari (2019) and the Power of ‘Action’ Words

The screenplay for the James Mangold-directed racing film Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ’66) is a great […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Setting the Scene – First 12 Pages of The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Who says exposition is boring and hard to weave into a script? In The Trial of the Chicago […]

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Researching the Fact-based Film – Part One: An Introduction

In this series, we break down the research process to help screenwriters bring their fact-based stories to life. […]

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Researching the Fact-based Film – Part Two: Getting Started

In the first part of the series, we offered an overview of researching the fact-based screenplay. We now […]

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Researching the Fact-based Film – Part Three: Getting Organised

So far, we’ve looked at the importance of research and at identifying relevant sources. Before we get stuck […]

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Researching the Fact-based Film – Part Four: Historical Research (Pt 1)

So far in the series, we’ve outlined the basics of research and finding sources. Now, we delve into […]

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Researching the Fact-based Film – Part Five: Historical Research (Pt 2)

We conclude our two-part look at historical research by offering some advice on how to make the most […]

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Researching the Fact-based Film – Part Six: Journalistic Research

In this article, we move on from passive historical research to look at more proactive ‘on the ground’ […]

ResearchScreenplay researchScreenwriting focus

Researching the Fact-based Film – Part Seven: Putting It All Together

In the final part of the series, we move away from conducting research to discussing the process of […]

ResearchScreenplay researchScreenwriting focus

Analysis: The King’s Speech (2010) – A Few Thoughts on the Midpoint

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A clearly defined midpoint can help to propel your story through the long Act Two, raising the stakes […]

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Analysis: Saving Mr. Banks (2013) and the Use of Flashback

When is the flashback more than just a flashback? When it’s the B-story! The use of structural flashback […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Casino (1995) – Adapting the Source Material (Part Two)

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The second part of our analysis focuses on the opening to Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi’s sprawling Las […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Casino (1995) – Adapting the Source Material (Part One)

In this analysis, we take a closer look at how Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi’s Las Vegas-set crime […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Writing the Social Issues Film

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We’ve all seen films that have an agenda woven through the narrative. When done well, these ‘social issues’ […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Serpico (1973) – Incorporating Character Weakness and Counterpoint

We’ve chosen a scene from Serpico that highlights how an alternative point-of-view and protagonist weakness can be incorporated into the […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Milk (2008) – Notes on the Use of Voice-over

Voice-over is an often criticised screenwriting tool, but Milk highlights how it can be effectively employed to enhance a biopic […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Hidden Figures (2016) – Notes on the Multi-Protagonist Narrative

Having more than one protagonist can be problematic, but it can also offer rich opportunities to develop several […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Erin Brockovich (2000) & the ‘Investigative Biopic’ Narrative

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In the investigative biopic narrative, it is the protagonist and her development that drive the story… Even though […]

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Analysis: The Importance of a Strong Opening – The Report (2019)

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This dramatization of the investigation into the CIA’s post-9/11 detention and interrogation programme provides a good example of […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: The Insider (1999) – First 10 Pages

The first 10 pages of any screenplay are important, as they set the scene, introduce the main characters […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Overcoming Narrative Challenges – The Social Network (2010)

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The fictionalised account of the birth of social media platform Facebook provides an opportunity to look at how […]

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Analysis: Character ‘Wants’ and Obstacles – The Damned United (2009)

The fictionalised account of Brian Clough’s turbulent and short-lived time as manager of Leeds United soccer club provides […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Review: The Wrong Man (1956)

Henry Fonda is wrongly accused of armed robbery in this interesting fact-based entry in the filmography of the […]

Articles & AnalysisFilmReviewsScreenwriting focus

Analysis: ‘First 30’ Narrative Breakdown – Spotlight (2015)

In this analysis, we break down the first 30 pages of Spotlight, which tells the story of how […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Review: The Mule (2018)

Clint Eastwood directs and takes the lead role in this tale of a fun-loving elderly man who falls […]

Articles & AnalysisFilmReviewsScreenwriting focus

Analysis: First Act Narrative Breakdown – Good Night, And Good Luck (2005)

In this analysis, we break down the story structure of the first act of this 1950s-set tale of […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Fact vs Fiction: Quiz Show (1994)

One of the main issues of interest when discussing the fact-based film is the extent to which the […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Narrative Breakdown – Moneyball (2011)

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In this analysis, we break down the narrative structure of Moneyball, the Oscar-nominated story of how a baseball […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: History-Scene-Screen: All the President’s Men (1976)

This series of articles takes a film based on real-life events and analyses the opening section, following the […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisCraftFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Selma (2014)

The historical film is a tricky beast to tame. However, the filmmakers approach the story, there’ll always be […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: The Screenwriter as…Social Commentator

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The final article in the series on the screenwriter’s role explores a few issues around the idea of […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Five Things Screenwriters Can Take Away from Green Book (2018)

Studying successful screenplays and films is a key part of learning how to write them yourself! In this […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: The Killing Fields (1984)

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The Killing Fields is an Oscar-winning fictionalisation of the experiences of two journalists working in war-torn 1970s Cambodia… Director: Roland Joffé […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: The Screenwriter as…Journalist

The second article in our short series on the screenwriter’s role, looks at how employing journalistic skills can […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: The Screenwriter as…Historian

The first article in our short series on screenwriter’s roles, looks at how the function of the ‘history film’ […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Reds (1981)

Reds tells of John Reed, an American journalist and radical who chronicled the 1917 Russian Revolution. Director: Warren Beatty […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Does ‘the Truth’ Matter?

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We don’t go to the movies for a history lesson. So, why should makers of the fact-based film […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Goodfellas (1990)

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In the nearly 30 years since its release, Goodfellas has been much parodied, discussed and downright adored. So, to accompany […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: The Historical Adaptation (Part 2)

In the second part of our article, we take a look at researching a screenplay based on a […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: The Historical Adaptation (Part 1)

The first part of our article on adapting history for the screen looks at some things to think […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

If you’re grappling with writing a fact-based film, a good exercise is to pick a classic film that […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: What is Authenticity?

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When adapting from any type of source material, it is accepted, and indeed required, practice to compress events, […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: American Sniper (2014)

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While it’s been a few years since American Sniper hit the big screen and the headlines, the film offers a […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisFilmScreenwriting focus

Analysis: Why Screenwriters Choose to Tell True-life Stories

Transforming a true-life, or fact-based, tale into a screen story is problematic for many reasons, both practical and […]

AnalysisArticles & AnalysisScreenwriting focus
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