What goes into writing a great movie script?

Write in reverse time. Major characters need to change polarity; minor characters may remain the same at the end.

Research the facts and then throw away the research.

Learn to tell a story orally and not through writing. Try telling your story to a friend.

How long before AI can deliver an over-the-shoulder shot of a face in a film?

Actors give better feedback than writers do.

Use status to help drive conflict. King Lear/fool. Upstairs/downstairs.

What you leave unwritten is as important as what you write. SUBTEXT.

Samsung U-turns on ‘ugly’ camera ring with Z Fold 7 – Galaxy S26 next? - Sammy Fans

Only God gets it right the first time. Rewrite everything.

Leave holes. Write and unwrite. Put it in, take it out.

People choose what to see based on the high concept. Make sure to deliver an ending consistent with the high concept -- it is what the audience paid for.

Do interviewers discriminate against a candidate if he or she is overweight (assuming physical fitness is NOT part of the job requirements)?

A critical function of storytelling is wish fulfillment. This is why video games are so popular. “That protagonist is JUST LIKE ME.”

All rules are made to be broken, but you damn well better know WHY you’re breaking them.

Audiences are smarter than you think. Something about turning down the house lights makes their IQs go up.

Baby saved by gene-editing therapy 'graduates' from hospital, goes home - ABC News

Maintain a slush pile/idea file. When you are ready to write, choose the best seeds to plant.

Don’t direct from the page. Everyone, from the director on down, wants to be part of the process of making movies. Let them do their work.

To develop a unique voice for each character, try interviewing your characters.

Why do men think all women are the same?

Outline everything. Use story beats. Keep character’s mouths taped up, until they absolutely MUST speak. Write the script and the dialogue at the last minute, after you’ve revised the hell out of the outline.

Conflict is your power source; without it you have no drama and hence no script.

The DSM 5 is a wonderful character compendium.

What could be the result if I block a covert narc back after he said blocks were going back up, maybe we try this again?

Your primary job is to create situations. Modern actors will fuck up your dialogue, despite whatever your contract says.

Make sure to pack enough explosives into the rocket.

A scene should change valence from beginning to end. Up to down, down to up.

Michigan Cup starting lineup: Chase Briscoe wins third pole in a row - NBC Sports

Cut everything that is not a payoff, or a setup for a specific payoff. “Omit needless words.” Think about the sparseness of joke telling, or Grimm Brothers.

Primary characters must change polarities. Secondary characters can change less.

Get up there yourself. Be in a movie. Take some acting (not writing) classes. Learn how a trained actor approaches a text. Learn why actors take roles. They do as much if not more than the writer does.

Nonreciprocal light speed control achieved using cavity magnonics device - Phys.org