Final Draft Blog

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Character Breakdown: ‘Living’ Explores How a Terminal Man Finds the Meaning of His Life

February 3, 2023

What would it take for you to change your life? It’s often the basis for a plot for film and TV shows: a protagonist receives grim news about their health and becomes determined to alter how they live their life. Impending death = motivation. Living,...

How to make Rom-Coms great again

February 1, 2023

It’s Valentine’s Day and you want to watch a rom-com. There are plenty of tried-and-true classics like Pretty Woman, Sleepless in Seattle, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but there are also even more tired-and-dull rom-coms too (My Best Friend’s Gi...

What ‘Poker Face’ Teaches Us About Writing Procedural TV

January 30, 2023

If you’re looking to create a ‘Who Dun It,’ the master to follow these days is Rian Johnson. Known for his clever murder mysteries Knives Out and Glass Onion, this writer/director can show you plenty of ways to write a suspenseful tale with quirky ch...

Take 5: How ‘M3GAN’ uses the dark side of technology to scare

January 22, 2023

Dolls are creepy, especially when they get a mind of their own. The new film M3GAN follows in the footsteps of other possessed doll-like creatures such as Chucky, Annabelle and Slappy where a child’s toy comes to life and all hell breaks loose. What ...

Take 5: How ‘Wednesday’ creates a world around the Addams Family daughter

January 17, 2023

For the past 85 years, The Addams Family has been a part of the American life. Originally a single panel cartoon created by Charles Addams, this creepy and kooky family was turned into a TV series in 1964 which ran for 64 episodes followed by a movie...

Take 5: What ‘Babylon’ can teach writers about story, conflict and theme

January 13, 2023

Babylon gives audiences a glimpse into the wild west of Los Angeles when silent films produced the first movie stars and the thirst for fame, fortune and the pursuit of a dream brought people from around the world to southern California. With an ecle...

Character Breakdown: Finding complexity and depth in ‘The Whale’

January 13, 2023

When an actor gains or loses a tremendous amount of weight for a movie role it often leads to accolades and Oscar buzz. Over the last 25 years, performers like Charlize Theron, Tom Hanks, Christian Bale, Renée Zellweger, Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway ...

How To Keep Your Protagonists in Peril

January 10, 2023

If you’re writing an action, thriller or horror script, it’s important to have your protagonists in constant peril. These genres rely heavily on audiences watching to see how a character survives or overcomes a perilous situation; more often than not...

Take 5: What ‘Avatar 2: Way of the Water’ Can Teach Screenwriters of Any Genre

January 4, 2023

Not everyone has $350+ million to spend on making a technological marvel like Avatar 2: Way of the Water, but at the end of the day, it’s a movie that requires compelling characters and a story that excites the audience in order to be successful. Ava...