Tuesday Links 11/16

I’m a little preoccupied focusing on my goals this week, but here are some items that were able to catch my eye nevertheless.  Below are this week’s collection of goodies as part of my weekly edition of Tuesday Links.  Hope you enjoy.

* I’m all over Go Into The Story’s screenplay reading program this week, which for the next 7 days is focused on Thrillers.  Yesterday was Jaws.  Today is Pulp Fiction.  Join me and read 7 thrilling scripts this week.

* It’s no secret that the new layout on IMDB sucks.  John August explains how to improve the layout to make it more user friendly.

* J. Cole released his incredible mixtape, Friday Night Lights.  To snag it up, visit 2dopeboyz.

* BAFTA launched a Screenwriter’s Lecture Series, which features a series of exclusive videos of successful and talented writers, such as David Hare, Peter Morgan, Simon Beaufoy, Ronald Harwood, Christopher Hampton and Aline Brosh McKenna, sharing experiences and offering up advice.

* The amazing Adele released the first single to her upcoming album, 21, which is entitled “Rolling in the Deep.”  Check out the song and studio footage in the video below.

Tuesday Links 10/5

Here are this week’s collection of Tuesday Links:

* Somebody (awesome) put together a collection of the 100 greatest quotes from perhaps the best TV show ever, The Wire.

* John August discusses the two important elements needed to write a successful romance script.  I found the post helpful since a love story is an enormous component to the script I’m currently developing.

* Julie Gray offers a piece from her upcoming book, which features an exercise to ensure that your script adequately addresses its theme.

* There are a couple quality documentaries recently released that cover the current status of the American education system.  Watch trailers for Race to Nowhere and Waiting for Superman.

* This post is ridiculously old, but it’s awesome.  Screenwriting Foxhole explains the work required to write a screenplay in 1 week.

Tuesday Links 9/14

I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose. (Stephen King)

Here is this week’s collection of educational/inspirational/random Tuesday Links:

* Do you listen to music when you’re writing?  Established screenwriter John August does and he explains why in a recent post.

* I recently came across the incredible photography work of 13th Witness.  Check him out.

* I love this video which features a 90 year old WWII veteran explaining how the power of music made an impact in the days following D-Day.

* Julie Gray updates her GASP List, which now features 177 films that an aspiring screenwriter would look like an idiot if they haven’t seen.  Great, more homework.

* Coverage Ink/CS Open have revamped their newsletter format and will now be featuring their updates on their own blog.  Keep up with them, here.

* Scott Myers at Go Into The Story discusses Joseph Campbell’s screenplay structural formatting tool, entitled “The Hero’s Journey.”

* Seth Godin recently discussed the danger of both self-delusion and self-loathing, which is something screenwriters may be interested in, as we tend to either be too hard on ourselves or delirious about our true abilities.

* Lastly, the trailer for Hereafter, which is the film I was able to sneak my way on set for when they were filming in the East Bay, has been released.  Roger Ebert likes the film.  Clint Eastwood and Matt Damon?  Yes, please.

“Writing better dialogue” by John August

John August, the writer of Go and Big Fish, recently put together a scriptcast on writing better dialogue.

John takes a scene from “Bluebird”, written by Lance Edmands, and goes through it, rewriting it while discussing his thought process as he makes improvements.

Watching this seriously made my day.  I would love to be able to learn from something like this every day.

Writing better dialogue from John August on Vimeo.

If you have a hard time keeping up with him going along, you can view the “before” and “after” scenes within John’s post.

Tuesday Links… 8/3

Holy crapper.  Today at 4 o’clock, we’ll be signing the loan documents to purchase our first house.  Dah!

Anyway, here is this week’s collection of Tuesday links.   Hope you enjoy.

Watch this incredible mash-up video, incorporating both the trailers for Inception and Pixar’s Up.  It’s entitled “Upception”.

Martin Scorcese explains the difference between plot and story.

Screenwriter John August discusses how to cope when the work you put your heart and soul into isn’t as well recepted as you had hoped.

I’ve got to make time this week to read the script for Casablanca and go through Go Into The Story’s write-up analyzing the script.

Tuesday Links

I’ve gathered a couple of links that I’ve found in my ventures online over the last couple of days that I’m hoping will help or inspire you as much as they did me.

The 99 Percent wrote a post on the “10 Laws of Productivity,” meant to encourage creative types to actually get stuff done.

Author Jane Friedman put together a list of the “Best Articles Writers Should Have Read” so far in 2010.

Screenwriter John August discusses the “Bechdel” test, which was originally put together by cartoonist Alison Bechdel to express the overall lack of real female presence in film.

It appears that Mystery Man, an individual who had a huge presence in the screenwriting online world and provided loads of inspiration and education about screenwriting, yet remained personally anonymous, has passed away.  Read more about it at Go Into The Story.

I love this cartoon by Hugh McLeod, which he put together to be on the back of a friend’s business card.

If you haven’t seen these images from AP photographer Charlie Ridel which display the horrible impact from BP’s recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, check them out at Kitsune Noir’s site.