Understanding Screenwriting #117
Captain Phillips, All is Lost, Gravity, Paradise, Enough Said, The Fifth Estate, Don Jon, Rush.
By Tom Stempel. Pirates Not of the Caribbean Captain Phillips (2013. Screenplay by Billy Ray, based on the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty. 134 minutes.) When Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were writing their script for the first of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, they came […]
Understanding Screenwriting #116
In a World…, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Planes, The Spectacular Now, William Froug: An Appreciation, Pitch Perfect, Foreign Correspondent, Saboteur, End of the Summer 2013 Cable Television Season
by Tom Stempel A CORRECTION: In #115 I wrote that in Blue Jasmine Woody Allen was shooting in ’scope (2.35:1) for the first time. He had used ’scope in one other film, Manhattan (1979). I suspect he used ‘scope and black-and-white for Manhattan to distract viewers from noticing its similarities to Annie Hall, which was […]
Understanding Screenwriting #115
Blue Jasmine; Elmore Leonard: An Appreciation, The Way, Way Back; The To Do List; Red 2; 2 Guns; Incendies
by Tom Stempel FAN MAIL: So far there have not been any comments on my first Understanding Screenwriting column for the new Creative Screenwriting Website. I don’t know if that’s because nobody is reading it, or reading it and agreeing so much with everything I said that they feel nothing more is to be added, […]
Understanding Screenwriting #114
The Lone Ranger, I’m So Excited, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, Nightfall, The Burglar, The Burglars, Camp, The Bridge
by Tom Stempel Hi, I’m Tom Stempel, and I write about screenwriting. Well, if you have already been following this column at The House Next Door, you know that from the first 113 columns. If you are primarily Creative Screenwriting veterans, you may recognize me from my years on the Editorial Board there or from […]
