tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146461032024-03-15T18:09:27.368-07:00The Invisible Ink Blog"Invisible Ink is a powerful tool for anyone who wants to become a better screenwriter. With elegance and precision, Brian McDonald uses his deep understanding of story and character to pass on essential truths about dramatic writing. Ignore him at your peril."
—Jim Taylor (Academy Award?- winning screenwriter of Sideways and Election)
Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-84920408329789519912015-05-15T13:18:00.000-07:002015-05-16T01:18:32.980-07:00Enough already with the Raiders of the Lost Ark “Story Problem”
Okay, here’s the deal: I’m getting really tired of hearing
this idea that the character of Indiana Jones doesn’t matter in the outcome of Raiders of the Lost Ark. If I remember correctly the first time
I heard this was in a piece written by Peter David quoting something that MarvWolfman had said to him about how Raiders
of the Lost Ark would end the same way even if Indiana Jones did not Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com146tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-2109892909629836642015-02-20T13:55:00.001-08:002015-02-21T03:30:12.844-08:00Thoughts on Stewart Stern
91-year-old Stewart Stern dancing as he made his exit from a party
“I taught you to fight and to fly. What more could there be?”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan and Wendy
On February 2 my friend Stewart Stern died. Stewart was the legendary screenwriter of Rebel Without a Cause and the classic television movie Sybil. My guess is that you have read about his passing somewhere by now. News of his Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-50854277556639068142014-12-14T10:47:00.000-08:002014-12-14T11:48:06.748-08:00My Accidental Hiatus
Turns out I took an accidental hiatus. I kept thinking I would get back to posting, but things kept getting in the way. I was teaching and writing my own stories. I wrote a bible for a television show which took up a lot of time. I am working on a graphic novel as well as a couple of other projects. All of those things spread me pretty thin.
The other thing is that every time I tried to Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-58991875087899158902014-06-02T03:31:00.000-07:002014-06-10T03:03:06.905-07:00How Stories Work – Everything Old is New Again <!--[if gte mso 9]>
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A few months ago, I heard a
story on NPR about a study that found reading literary fiction, rather than
popular fiction, could help people be more empathetic. I have no doubt that this could be true. But I
Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-90472359818922623832014-03-24T09:41:00.000-07:002014-06-19T03:53:11.554-07:00Movies I Like: Ace in the Hole
final draft script writing screenwriting software screenwriting contests filmmaking books
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I am unsure just how many posts of mine mention legendary
writer/director Billy Wilder, but here is Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-79332520133467801092014-01-17T07:37:00.000-08:002014-01-22T17:31:43.698-08:00Why a deus ex machina doesn’t make a satisfying story.<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Before I start this post I want
to apologize for the long gap between this post and the last. I was deep in a project that took up a
lot of my time and mental energy. That project is more or less done—Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-55811013534093203552013-08-06T17:03:00.000-07:002013-08-07T02:46:24.444-07:00Yes, Documentaries Also Use Story Structure<!--StartFragment-->
One of the questions I get most is about story structure and
is, “Is it different for documentaries?” No. In fact one of the best
structuralists working in film of any kind is documentarian Ken Burns. I watch
his work in awe. If you want to know how stories work, you should become
familiar with what he does.
There is something I often urge people to do, but Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-28535395589015389752013-06-21T15:16:00.000-07:002013-06-21T15:16:53.994-07:00Movies I Like: Double Indemnity
“The two most
important words in motion pictures are Billy and Wilder”
– Alfred Hitchcock
“It was a hot afternoon, and I can still remember the smell
of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can
sometimes smell like honeysuckle?” – Walter Neff in Double Indemnity
I could have done an entire post by now on how cool Billy
Wilder is, Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-10932443204930354152013-04-22T15:30:00.000-07:002013-04-25T05:00:25.190-07:00 What I Learned From Reading E.T.
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Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-55700029806555036982013-04-16T14:38:00.000-07:002014-06-19T04:14:21.182-07:00Shows I Like: The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Not long ago I read the late legendary comedy writer and
teacher Danny Simon used to show episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show in his classes and talk about the writing
techniques. I loved hearing this because I, without knowing about Danny Simon
doing so, have been known to do this very thing. So I have at least one thing
in common with Danny Simon.
The show has been on my Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-71897091387557140712013-02-14T04:59:00.001-08:002013-04-11T03:30:16.530-07:00A Lesson from Andy Griffith
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font-size:12.0ptBrian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-2239426891402056502012-12-27T13:31:00.000-08:002012-12-27T13:31:24.277-08:00Time Travel: The natural way to tell stories
Ever since Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction was released, people have talked in awe about how
that film and others have played with traditional notions of story structure.
That film tells its story out of sequence and is therefore innovative, or so
the reasoning goes. This is a mistake. Telling stories out of sequence is
actually as traditional as it gets.
The idea that Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-3660562706970699342012-12-20T19:23:00.000-08:002012-12-21T06:59:32.119-08:00Movies I Like: Stalag 17
You can’t beat Billy Wilder—the guy was amazing, so good
that it’s almost scary. He was a screenwriter first, and if he had remained a
writer, he would still be a legend; he and his early writing partner CharlesBrackett wrote several hits for Paramount studios. Because of this success, he was able to convince the
studio to let him try his hand at directing. He went on to direct a Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-4137402885048640562012-12-03T18:39:00.000-08:002012-12-03T18:39:09.993-08:00 Why don’t people ask why?
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Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-81248191739938749512012-11-24T20:38:00.000-08:002012-11-24T20:38:58.195-08:00My Book INK SPOTS is now out.
This is not so much a blog post as
it is an announcement that my new book Ink Spots is now available at Amazon on
Kindle and paperback. Ink Spots is
a collection of my blog posts from over the years. Many of you may have read them, but I’m hoping that some of
you may want them conveniently on your Kindle or Nook. Or you might want an actual physical
book to pop on the shelfBrian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-59948131338468873772012-10-26T18:12:00.000-07:002012-10-26T18:24:31.696-07:00What 33 years of teaching taught Charles Johnson about writing students
Charles Johnson National Book Award winner and author of Middle Passage
For the first time in the history of The Invisible Ink Blog I have asked someone to "guest post" -- if that's what it's called? My guest is friend and distinguished author Dr. Charles Johnson. He was awarded the 1990 National Book Award for his novel Middle Passage, the American Academy of Arts and Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-30035620758646391682012-09-25T17:41:00.000-07:002012-09-25T19:09:26.860-07:00A history lesson and an answer to a question about Star Wars
I have met, in my travels, younger people who are interested
in film, but they have seen almost none of the classics. Sometimes they have
never heard of them. Not only is this sad, but it could stop them from becoming
the best filmmakers they could be.
A sadder thing is that it is not just students but working
professionals who know little of film’s past. I once spoke with a former film
Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-20977356602184449592012-07-21T05:38:00.000-07:002012-07-21T05:38:27.314-07:00King Kong – They All Laughed
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font-size:12.0pt;Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-27158992509240306882012-05-17T18:01:00.001-07:002012-05-17T18:03:56.622-07:00D'oh! I forgot something.
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font-size:Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-49902448446457630402012-04-25T01:07:00.000-07:002012-04-25T16:31:10.833-07:00Don't be Afraid to Grow (Even when it hurts)
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Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-51272151508879176912012-02-21T03:13:00.001-08:002012-02-21T03:14:15.236-08:00"The Godfather," how to find the Theme and other things you may have missed.These are just a few links to things that some of you may have missed. So, in case you are interested, here they are.
I recently gave an interview to Henry Sheppard for his blog Adelaide Screenwriter. He asked me a question about The Godfather and its theme. This was my answer:
http://adelaidescreenwriter.blogspot.com/2012/02/brian-mcdonald-godfather-and-how-to.html
I also did a Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-82876889916404779752012-01-31T17:30:00.000-08:002012-01-31T17:30:05.473-08:00Movies I Like: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
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Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14646103.post-6886489198065171232011-11-29T20:56:00.000-08:002012-05-20T13:07:13.615-07:00Movies I Like: Rear Window
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Brian McDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725832940943503641noreply@blogger.com8