Theatre & Film – Page 2

December 13, 2015

Breaking the Fourth Wall on Page, Stage, & Screen

The term “breaking the 4th wall” started with theatre and the concept that the stage was a room with an invisible wall that the audience peeked through to see into the characters’ lives. A character could break the 4th wall by talking to the audience directly, making eye contact with them, or otherwise mentioning that he or she was part...

Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Theatre & Film Comment: 1

December 12, 2015

Video Recommendation: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

While I’m on a Shakespeare kick, if any of you haven’t seen The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), it is well worth watching if you enjoy Vaudevillian humor. The three men of the Reduced Shakespeare Company perform all the works of Shakespeare in a single performance. That calls for some witty re-writes that are enjoyable for the less-knowledgable and have...

Humor & Wordplay/Reviews & Recommended Reading/Theatre & Film/Videos Comments: 0

December 11, 2015

The Drama of Dialogue

When it comes to dramas, it’s all about dialogue. Seriously. The script of the play is a long series of conversations. That’s it. So if you’re not good at writing dialogue, then you have a choice: don’t write plays, or get better at writing dialogue.* If you want to get better at writing dialogue, I wish I could tell you...

Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Theatre & Film Comments: 0

December 10, 2015

Playwright: A Compound Word for a Compound Job

Fun fact: in older English, a “wright” was a maker or craftsman, which makes a playwright a maker of plays, an artisan. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty cool. And entirely appropriate.

Quotes, Words, & Phrases/Theatre & Film Comment: 1

November 25, 2015

Ocean’s Eleven & Learning from Other People’s Mistakes

A lot of improving our writing is learning from our own mistakes. But why stop there? Let’s learn from other people’s mistakes. If you want to try this, some of the most revealing pieces to examine are works in progress or works that were re-released. Other than movies of Broadway musicals where the change is apparent over time (such as Rodgers...

Characterization, Plot, & Setting/General Thoughts & Updates/Research & Worldbuilding/Theatre & Film Comments: 0

October 27, 2015

The Mystery of the Meh Film: Nature Or Nurture?

I bet every one of you have a seen a movie or television show that was ok (with meh overtones) but could’ve been great if it’d had better writing. You know the ones I’m talking about – the shows that get brought up with an “if only” (either in a grumble or a sigh, possibly over alcohol). I can think...

Characterization, Plot, & Setting/General Thoughts & Updates/Theatre & Film Comments: 0

October 22, 2015

A Litmus Test for Characterization: Tom Hiddleston’s Fan Letter to Joss Whedon

Has anyone seen the fan letter to Joss Whedon from Tom Hiddleston about the script of The Avengers? To summarize, Hiddleston gushes a bit and thanks Whedon for writing him a character who has so many layers (“Tom Hiddleston’s fan letter to Joss Whedon is the most adorable thing ever”). Anyone who has spent time with actors will find this...

Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Theatre & Film Comments: 0

October 21, 2015

10 Puns From Films: From Serious To Silly

EM: Hello, I’m Em T. Wytte, and I love puns. ALL: Hi, Em. Puns don’t get the best rap nowadays (personally, I blame groaners for this); however, for all that it isn’t “cool” to like puns, they are everywhere. They’re in movies, they’re on tv, they’re in advertisements, they’re in memes, and they’re in books. They’re a huge...

Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Humor & Wordplay/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Theatre & Film Comment: 1

October 16, 2015

A Big Problem for Playwrights

One of the biggest problems the modern playwright faces is the way we imagine and envision scenes. More and more of us have grown up with cartoons, television, and now the internet and computer games. We’re used to CGI and other technological tricks that allow characters to fly or scenes to change in an instant. So when we get great...

Theatre & Film Comments: 0

September 15, 2015

Warning: Works of Fiction May Contain Fiction

I always thought it was obvious that not all of a work of fiction (or necessarily any of it) is true. Apparently, not everyone believes that. I keep seeing posts where people are offended by an author’s view on something – based solely on the viewpoint of one of the characters. If this keeps up, I imagine books will start with the same...

General Thoughts & Updates/Humor & Wordplay/Theatre & Film Comments: 0

Words & Deeds

Category: Theatre & Film