December Film Blog Round-Up

This week, Kid asked me to do the film blog round-up for this facebook page. So here it is - some classic bloggers and some others:

"This month's blog round-up is brought to you by little old me, just in time for Christmas. So here's a line-up of the blogs, posts etc I think all film peeps should take a look at:

CREATIVE SCREENWRITING MAGAZINE
The Creative Screenwriting blog posts regular Q&A sessions with the hottest writers around, including the scribes for 'The Road,' 'Zombie Land,' 'Watchmen,' 'District 9' et al. Definitely a brilliant source for writing interviews - http://creativescreenwritingmagazine.blogspot.com/

GO INTO THE STORY
Scott Myers' blog has multiple posts every day and this discussion is particularly interesting, discussing detailed scene description - http://www.gointothestory.com/2009/12/visual-grammar-vs.html. Another great post is from last month - what makes a great opening? - http://www.gointothestory.com/2009/11/question-what-are-keys-to-great-opening.html

DAN'S MEDIA DIGEST
Dan is a TV fanatic, writer and reviewer. He reviews all the hottest shows in the UK and the States. It really pays to read the reviews and get a discussion going - just why did a particular episode of TV work so well? - http://danowen.blogspot.com/

KID IN THE FRONT ROW
Kid recently posted an inspiring blog about how to talk to those film industry professionals. We've all been in a situation where we feel we should have watched a certain film (usually 'The Shawshank Redemption') in order to call ourselves writers. Kid explains that's not always the case - http://kidinthefrontrow.blogspot.com/2009/12/polarity-of-pretentiousness-talking.html

NIGH JOURNAL
I was particularly interested in John's post about character introductions. He makes some great point using some unexpected films as examples. There's also a good discussion in the comments section - http://www.theendisnigel.com/john/?p=1357

SOFLUID
Michelle's post about expositional dialogue is definitely one to read. The ability to hide expo is something a lot of writers overlook and sometimes it pays to revisit that skill - http://michellegoode.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-avoid-expositional-dialogue.html On a side-note, one of the best ways to learn about hiding exposition is to re-watch James Cameron's 'Terminator.'

MEMOIRS OF A WORD NERD
Manda talks about the role of film characters in everyday life. Can they be role models? Should they be? She pays particular attention to Disney women and their responsibility for children's development - http://memoirsofawordnerd.blogspot.com/2009/12/fictional-characters-as-role-models.html

PROJECTOR FILMS
Tim talks about what it takes to write a great short script (check comments for further ideas) - http://projectorfilms.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-goes-into-great-short-script.html

WRITING IS A SCIENTIFIC ART
I recently commented on Alex Epstein's point about episodic vs serial television which prompted a few comments with conflicting views. Discussion from the UK, to Canada and the States - http://writewithhonour.blogspot.com/2009/12/episodic-vs-serial.html

SCRIPT COLLECTOR
Finally, this awesome dude find and collects screenplays for people like us. They're all on his site and there for PDF download completely free and completely safe. All the latest releases, from comedies to action. Also a collection of old films. Take a look around and get reading - http://scriptcollector.blogspot.com/


Thanks for reading, and if you have any other blogs or posts etc you'd like to share, feel free to let us know on the group.

Merry Christmas to all (don't drink too much!),
Neil
http://writewithhonour.blogspot.com/"