How to Talk Australians - Ep.4

The Delhi College of Linguistics presents How to Talk Australians, an introduction to Australian characters, with special reference to Pauline Hanson. Maharaji Davo takes us through the car used by Mel Gibson in Mad Max. The students also partake in a dress-as-a-famous-Aussie day.

Here's Episode Four, "Famous Australians."

Brian Helgeland: Screenwriters Lecture

Writer Brian Helgeland (42, Robin Hood, Green Zone, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Man on Fire, Mystic River, A Knight's Tale, Conspiracy Theory, Payback, L.A. Confidential) explains what it feels like to win an Oscar and a Razzie on the same weekend, why he thinks writer's block is a myth, and reveals Clint Eastwood's unique powers of persuasion.

Sex and the Cinema

Nicholl Fellowship winning screenplays

As you probably already know, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences administers the annual Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. They are the top of the pops when it comes to screenwriting competitions worldwide. 

Notable past winners include: Max Adams, Allison Anders, Doug Atchison, Richard Cray, Destin Daniel Cretton, Susannah Grant, Ehren Kruger, Andrew W. Marlowe, Mike Rich, Creighton Rothenberger and Bragi Schut. 
 
In an enlightened move, the Academy have now made available some of the winning screenplays:

Gabrielle Burton: The Imperial Waltz
John Ciarlo: Bend in the River
Destin Cretton: Short Term 12
Greg Dawless: One Hour Development
Jodi Johnson: Mama & Me
Ehren Kruger: Arlington Road
Daniel Lawrence: The Gaza Golem
Jason Micallef: Butter
Dawn O’Leary: Island of Brilliance

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Time Lapse - Los Angeles

'City Lights' is the final chapter from Colin Rich's "Trilogy of Light" series that began a couple years ago with 'LA Light' and then followed up with 'Nightfall'. It was an nightly adventure that took him to almost every angle of Los Angeles.

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How to Write a Logline

Writing a logline is a vital part of the screenwriting process and one of the most effective ways of selling your script. A logline is the essence of your screenplay (character, want, and obstacle) written in a clear, concise and creative way - ideally between 20-30 words.

In this video, Michael Schilf uses the Oscar award-winning film, Argo, as an example.

After watching this video, continue on to their website for more instruction and hundreds of examples.

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Advice on writing - Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut was an American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor, and science fiction. He was a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union and a critical pacifist intellectual. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.

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Here are Kurt Vonnegut’s eight basic rules of writing:

• Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.


• Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.


• Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.


• Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.


• Start as close to the end as possible.


• Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.


• Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.


• Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

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