by Marei Annis There are so many stories about life in LA that it seems hard to imagine that all of them could be true at the same time. And yet there is so much to see, experience and discover in the “city of stars” that you may find yourself surprised after all to find […]
by Mathew Allen Many people say that the secret to good dialogue is subtext. But many of those same people also struggle to identify exactly how to create these elusive layers of meaning. I’ve attempted here to elucidate and distinguish between what I think are the four kinds of subtext, and identify precisely what makes […]
by Mathew Allen Emotion lies at the heart of the filmic experience, and people always talk about how to make characters relatable or likeable. Below are six techniques each for building empathy and sympathy in your scripts. I believe this to be an exhaustive and refined list—both in that it covers every possible kind of […]
Many years ago at the Cannes Film Festival I was discussing the story of my next film with a producer. “So, feature?”, he asked. “No, short”, I responded. “Why? Shorts are a waste of time, you can’t make money with them”. “But, that’s the length of the story” was all I could counter with, and […]
This will be an on-going series where I hope to introduce newcomers to the amazing, eclectic world of Japanese cinema. Obviously to those who have been watching Japanese films for a while many names will be well known, but I hope there will be some new treats to investigate for everyone. I came late to […]
by Mathew Allen One thing I get asked a lot is how one goes about finding the motivation to actually sit down and write (and complete) feature screenplays. I hesitate to teach this element of screenwriting—as there seem to be as many different ways in terms of what writers call their “process” as there are […]
Following on from the success of Kore-eda’s ‘Shoplifters’ at last years Cannes Film Festival, we might have hoped for further Japanese films in the 2019 edition, which started on the 14th May. Sadly there are no Japanese entries in any of the official selections. Miike Takashi’s UK-Japan co-production ‘First Love’ screens in the Director’s Fortnight, […]
By Mathew Allen There are countless books out there about screenwriting. Each has its good and bad points, but I figured I’d give you a run-down of the best, most useful things I learned from reading many of them. In this case, I’m gonna focus on five (as that’s a catchy number) and try to […]
The acting profession is, at the best of times, an extremely challenging one, faced with a constant search for the next job, rejection, irregular finance and pressures of family, society and self doubt. The rewards, however, can be great for those who wish a life full of new experiences and challenges. So it is no […]
In United States, where I grew up, October is the month for Halloween, which also means it’s the month where people choose to spook themselves with horror films. I wonder if that is catching on in Japan, where summer is the traditional season for scary movies. In case you’re in the mood for some award […]