by Angela Bourassa (@angelabourassa1) Dan Calvisi is an expert when it comes to structuring television shows. He is a story analyst, speaker, screenwriter, and the author of Story Maps: TV Drama and Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay. Dan gets his know-how from his past years as a Story Analyst for major studios... Continue Reading →
3 Things TV Drama ‘This Is Us’ Does Differently
by Greg DePaul (@GregDePaul) If you’re channel-surfing on a Tuesday night and briefly land on This is Us [pilot script], you might think you’ve stumbled on an episode of Parenthood. After all, This Is Us also airs on NBC, also gives us a saccharine look at American family life, and also uses the adoption (more or... Continue Reading →
Quote of the Day: Frank Capra
I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.
Quote of the Day: Harold Hayes
The essence of drama is that man cannot walk away from the consequences of his own deeds.
Quote of the Day: Alfred Hitchcock
Drama is life with the dull parts cut out of it.
Quote of the Day: Frank Capra
I made some mistakes in drama. I thought the drama was when the actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.
Quote of the Day: David Mamet
Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement - they offer not drama but thrills.
Creating Drama in a Talking Head Scene
This article by Hal Croasmun of ScreenwritingU gives insight into how to create drama in a scene that is primarily or even entirely composed of dialogue.