One of the precepts of comedy is that as absurd as the scene gets, the actor cannot laugh. A comedic scene develops through the development of absurd and humorous elements, stacking on top of each other. These elements build, bringing tension, and can only be diffused through laughing. Laughing brings the catharsis. If the actor laughs then it takes away the pressure on the audience to laugh.
Read MoreThere’s a chapter in How Music Works where David Byrne looks at the effect of the introduction of record player. Until then, if someone wanted music in their house, they had to play it. Or find someone else who could. Musical literacy at this time meant playing instruments, and almost everybody could play at least one.
Read MoreThe word character – as long time readers will remember – did not mean dramatis personae. The word comes from the Greek meaning an engraved mark. As in to draw a character on a piece of paper. Put some together and it becomes a word. The term also meant to mark on the body, or the soul. It was not until a few hundred years ago that the term became applicable to a person in a story. Hamlet was not a character – the meaning changed more recent than Shakespeare’s death.
Read MoreAs a film student/aspiring screenwriter, Jean-Luc Godard’s films were hugely important to me. I’m hardly the first aspiring screenwriter or film student to have been inspired by his works. There are plenty of terrible student films trying to pull off the same magic.
Beyond his films, it was his creativity at finding solutions to problems that has stuck with me.
Read MoreI’ve been working on a novel through this year. It came to the point in writing this third draft where it was clear that one plot just wasn’t working. I cut it out.
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