Narrative Aesthetics

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… →

Films: Challengers (2024)

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… →

Films: Adaptation (2002) , Stories We Tell (2012) , The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)

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… →

Films: Lady Bird (2017) , Emily the Criminal (2022) , The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) , Spontaneous (2020)

In the first part of our series on ensembles, Chas, Stu and Mel start by laying the groundwork for our future episodes. And we begin by asking the seemingly innocuous question: What do we mean by calling a story an ensemble?… →

Films: Jurassic Park (1993) , Alien (1979) , Heat (1995) , Top Gun: Maverick (2022) , Ocean's Eleven (2001)

In this second part of our series on unfilmables, Chas and Stu continue their deep dive into how writing the “unfilmable” can enhance your script. Rather than looking at micro moments, they turn their gaze to “moments of awe” — those often breathtaking cinematic moments that feel beyond writing. But are those scenes actually unscriptable… →

Films: You Were Never Really Here (2017) , Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) , The Invitation (2016) , Moonlight (2016)

*AKA Why your screenwriting guru is wrong *… →

Films: Lethal Weapon (1987) , Hereditary (2018) , A Quiet Place (2018) , Killing Them Softly (2012) , Spartan (2004) , The Girl on the Train (2016) , The Nice Guys (2016) , Drive (2011) , Michael Clayton (2007) , The Tree of Life (2011) , Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) , Killing Eve (2018) , Fleabag (2016) , Sharp Objects (2018) , Battlestar Galactica (2004)

Shows: Killing Eve 1x1 , Fleabag 1x1 , Sharp Objects 1x1 , Battlestar Galactica

It is time (in fact, well past time) for our semi-annual #Backmatter episode. For the uninitiated, this is an episode where Stu and Chas discuss career and craft-related topics beyond what makes great screenplays work. To that end, Stu and Chas dive into: a five year review of Draft Zero and how it has changed their writing craft and process; a discussion on the aesthetics of writing; learnings for emerging writers in having their work produced; and finally forgiving yourself for not writing… →

Welcome to Draft Zero. A message from 2019 to those starting with our first episodes dating from 2014. We’ve learned a lot in five years. So where do you begin… →

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… →

Films: Michael Clayton (2007) , Inglourious Basterds (2009) , The Substance (2024)

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… →

Films: The Nice Guys (2016) , The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) , YELLOWJACKETS (2021)

Shows: YELLOWJACKETS 1x1

Chas, Stu and Mel reunite to talk about writing the feel of camerawork in screenplays. We use “oners” — a long-playing continuous take — as a lens to talk about how some writers have “directed” from the page. We talk immediacy, camera positions, handovers, and anchoring action and more… →

Films: Goodfellas (1990) , The Adventures of Tintin (2011) , Children of Men (2006)

In this final podcast release of last year’s run of LiveSoLation episodes, Chas and Stu are joined by Uber-geek Mel Killingsworth (who else?) in an epic exploration of how Dave Gibbons’ and Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel WATCHMEN is adapted differently in Zack Snyder’s 2009 film and Damon Lindelof’s 2019 HBO television show… →

Films: Watchmen (2009) , Watchmen (2019)

Shows: Watchmen

Stu and Chas are joined by filmmaker, podcaster and writer Lia Matthew Brownn to deep dive into FURY ROAD and its astounding visual storytelling, both on the page and on screen. We talk about setups and payoffs, given circumstances, image systems, environmental storytelling, and how the relationship between Furiosa and Max is built over the course of the story with very little dialogue (besides Tom Hardy’s grunts and the odd bellow of “MEDIOCRE!”). You can also watch the complete live stream on YouTube or just the breakdown of the Furiosa/Max fight (which isn’t in the podcast) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8uYAbEcQeQ&feature=youtu.be… →

Films: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Chas & Stu are joined once again by the renowned script developer and producer, Stephen Cleary. In the first part of our series on writing better dialogue (there will be more!), we take a close look at how dialogue serves character: individuating characters, revealing characterisation, shifting status, and much more… →

Films: Analyze This (1999) , Notting Hill (1999) , The Remains of the Day (1993) , The Avengers (2012)

Remember that time in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS when Bruce suddenly - magically - returned to Gotham, and you were like “WTF?!” Well, it turns out that many of the best films have moments that are just as coincidental or contrived (or a flock of Giant Eagles) and yet get away with it. Does Pixar’s “rule” that it is ‘cheating to use coincidences to get your characters out of trouble’, always apply… →

Films: Finding Nemo (2003) , Michael Clayton (2007) , Pulp Fiction (1994)

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… →

Films: Shaun Of The Dead (2004) , Sorry To Bother You (2018) , Swiss Army Man (2016)