Tag Archive for: sci-fi

Before Rian Johnson directs Star Wars Episode VIII, check out Looper (free Story Map download)

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 looper-script-analysis

My buddy William Robert Rich (co-author of Story Maps: The Films of Christopher Nolan) over at Screenplay How To has put together a fantastic Story Map for Rian Johnson’s 2012 sci-fi action film Looper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. It’s a great way to study the screenplay structure and screenwriting techniques used by Rian Johnson to create one of the most compelling Science Fiction features of the last decade. Read more

Back to the Future screenplay analysis and podcast now available

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Back to the Future (1985)

One of the greatest spec screenplays of all time and a timeless piece of entertainment that plays with pop culture in brilliant ways, Back to the Future, written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis and directed by Zemeckis, is the topic of our latest Story Maps Screenwriting Podcast. Wes Alwan of The Partially Examined Life joins me and William Robert Rich for this discussion of the history, screenplay and philosophy behind the film, and, yes, the incest issue. Read more

Summer Blockbusters that broke the rules (District 9, Ted, The Hobbit)

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The summer movie season is known for convention — sequels, remakes, broad comedies, CGI spectacles; rinse and repeat. But the films that really stand out and distinguish themselves creatively are those that break with commercial movie conventions in major ways, beginning with the script. Here’s three examples from recent years…

 

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