Iain Coleman | April 3, 2010
William Goldman’s The Princess Bride is a corker of a script, and an endlessly delightful movie. Which might strike some people as a bit odd, given its blatant subversion of one of the most long-established principles of dramatic structure.
If a pistol is fired in the third act, it should be hanging on the wall in [...]
Iain Coleman | March 18, 2010
I’ve been rereading William Goldman’s masterful script for The Princess Bride, and before I do a meatier post on the story as a whole, I’d like to quickly mention one lovely piece of technique that I noticed.
Spoilers follow. If you haven’t seen The Princess Bride yet, stop reading this and go and watch it.
We’re in [...]
Iain Coleman | October 21, 2009
I’m off to Cheltenham next week for the Screenwriters’ Festival. If it’s anything like last year, it should be great. There’s one big difference, though - at least, for me. This year, as well as all the nattering, drinking and going to talks, I have some scheduled meetings that I need to prepare for. On [...]
Iain Coleman | October 13, 2009
I was reading the script for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - not just the best Star Trek film, but a fine movie in its own right - and something leapt out at me. The sexual tension between Kirk and Saavik.
If you’re saying “the what now?”, then I quite sympathise. I’ve seen that [...]
Iain Coleman | September 20, 2009
I had some back trouble lately, which left me unable to do pretty much anything except sit up straight in front of the television. Not so good in terms of doing any kind of writing, but they say every problem is also an opportunity…
…so we finally got round to watching all four Alien movies back-to-back. [...]
Iain Coleman | April 14, 2009
There’s a useful repository of TV pilot scripts (British and American) at TV Writing Pilot School.
Iain Coleman | March 13, 2009
If you put the name of any type of firearm into the search box on YouTube, you will almost certainly find a bunch of video clips of enthusiasts firing these weapons off. These are quite remarkably dull, but they can be an excellent tool for research. For example, I’ve just written an action scene in [...]
Iain Coleman | January 9, 2009
Via Danny Stack, a simple but far-reaching meme: what are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer?
The first things that come to my mind are linked. I think I have a strength in writing real characters, people with the foibles and obsessions of actual human beings rather than puppets who merely operate the plot and [...]
Iain Coleman | December 18, 2008
Agendas - they’re not just for committee meetings. Though, ironcally, it was while writing a committee meeting scene that I realised what I had to do do bring it alive.
Every character in a scene should come into it with their own agenda. It might be central to the plot or a peripheral piece of colour, [...]
Iain Coleman | November 17, 2008
I’ve just read NIcholas Pileggi’s screenplay for Casino, and it’s masterly in its use of voiceover. Which is just as well, since the majority of the text is delivered in this form. One of his techniques, which I hadn’t consciously noticed when I watched the film, but which jumps right out of the page, is [...]
