Clik here to view.
Beauty Will Save the World
DostoyevskyOne of the discoveries that came to light during my research for The Moral Premise, and which to this day continues to be true, is that a true and consistently applied moral premise is at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Screenwriting: “124 Pages Of Begging For Money & Attention”
James Schamus“While we ask for respect as artists,” Schamus (IMBD) said, “we really don’t know what we mean by art.” Screenwriters who have finished a screenplay have not written a work of art, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Didactic Message Films Always Fail
I have spent a good deal of time trying to persuade storytellers that message films, with a didactic base will always failed at the box office. The subject matter doesn't matter. Failure is inevitable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Scientific Method Story Structure
Successful Story Structure has a few rules. One is that the major beats and turning points align themselves with some Natural Law order of the human condition or experience.In other posts and in The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Beauty So Rare
Just finished best selling author Tamera Alexander's latest release, A BEAUTY SO RARE, her second Belmont Estate novel (476 pages). What a wonderful read—historically accurate, romantically inclined,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Helping New Writers
The Moral Premise can help new script-writers or novelists understand what their story is about in a way that will focus their effort and make their writing more efficient. I share this new comment...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Valuable Thesaurus Tools for Use with The Moral Premise
Here are three books (hardcopy or Kindle) that perfectly dovetail with The Moral Premise. I have just listed them on my Recommended Book List under the WRITING section with links to all three to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ACTIONABLE INNER VALUES with MICHAEL JANN
MICHAEL JANN - Emmy Nominated TONIGHT SHOW writerMaking the invisible visible.That's the job of the filmmaker, and even the novelist, although, I think, the novelist has the more difficult time of it....
View ArticleClik here to view.
ST. VINCENT - My Picture of the Year
ST. VINCENTDirector/Writer: TED MELFIStarring: BILL MURRAY (Vincent)MELISSA McCARTHY (Maggie)NAOMI WATTS (Daka)CHRIS O'DOWD (Bro. Geraghty)JAEDEN LIEBERHER (Oliver)TERRENCE HOWARD (Zucko)IMDB Log: A...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Moral Premise MEET-UP
At the request of a number of workshop attendees and book fans, to have some sort of additional access to a Moral Premise event, I am launched a monthly MEET-UP event here in Northville, MI....
View ArticleClik here to view.
IRONY and NATURAL LAW, INSEPARABLE
I have my expectations of ANNIE. I hope they're not ironic.Stories are all about Ironic Expectations and Reality. This essay is NOT about the upcoming movie ANNIE, but I'm including this image taken of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Thanksgiving Greetings
This was the scene during one of my walks along Novi Road, to break up the long hours of writing at my computer. It reminds me of you--my friends, family, clients, and customers over the years. For all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Theory of Everything
I hope to have something to say about this great film in the future. But I'll wait until I can study the script, or see the film with subtitles. The sound in the theater wasn't the best and it was hard...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SCRIPT LENGTH VS. BEST PICTURE
I've made this point many times before, but just updated it.A true and consistently applied Moral PremiseExplored through a variety of World ViewsPortrayed by differencecharactersStruggling to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IRONY: VISUAL vs. AURAL...A Fairy Tale
I watched a festival film the other day, which can't yet be posted on-line, in which what we saw and what we heard were opposites in tone. The film is called FAIRY TALE. What we see is a father tucking...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ANNIE - Go See It!
ANNIE (2014)An Overbrook ProductionProducers: WILL SMITH, JADA PINKETT SMITH, CALEEB PINKETT, JAMES LASSITERDirected by WILL GLUCKScreenplay by WILL GLUCK and ALINE BROSH MCKENNAStarringJAMIE FOXX...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ST. VINCENT Moral Premise Discussion
ST. VINCENT(Updated 2-9-15 from our MEETUP Discussions)Director/Writer: TED MELFIStarring: BILL MURRAY (Vincent)MELISSA McCARTHY (Maggie)NAOMI WATTS (Daka)CHRIS O'DOWD (Bro. Geraghty)JAEDEN LIEBERHER...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Log Lines, Tags, & Hooks
I recently received the following question from a reader.Hey Dr. Stan, Can I get your reaction to my tagline for the script I'm currently working on (and constantly re-working). It is: After defying...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BIRDMAN - The Moral Premise and Arcs
ALEGANDRO GONZÁLEX IÑÁRRITU (Director/Co-writer)EMMANUEL LUBEZKI (Cinematography)------MICHAEL KEATON (Riggan/Nick)EMMA STONE (Sam, Riggan's daughter)EDWARD NORTON (Mike Shiner, Riggan's method acting...
View ArticleClik here to view.
NOAH: Book from Rizzoli on Aronofsky's Masterpiece
A picture book with a screenplay in the back is available from Rizzoli, New York.A quick review is in order.As you may know from my longer posts on Aronofsky's NOAH (contributed over several weeks when...
View Article