This Clickable Periodic Table of Tropes is the Holy Grail of Storytelling...
Attention everyone: We have found it. We have found the Holy Grail of online screenwriting/storytelling resources. If you're a screenwriter and/or a complete glutton for geeking out, you need to stop...
View ArticleWatch: How is 'It's Always Sunny' Still Funny?
After 12 seasons, the sitcom remains one of the funniest shows on TV. Here's why. In two more seasons, FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will officially tie with Ozzy and Harriet for the longest...
View ArticleWatch: 5 Modern Horror Staples Established by Classic Slasher Flicks
It's officially Shocktober, and time to revisit where horror's most terrifying tropes were birthed (in hell!) As the night of All Hallow's Eve draws nigh, overpriced candy vanishes from discount store...
View ArticleHow Chekhov's Gun Will Help You Achieve Bulletproof Foreshadowing
Understanding Chekov's Gun is essential if you want to write a screenplay that is exciting, entertaining, and economical. How many times have you watched a character in a film escape certain doom...
View ArticleHow to Avoid the 'White Savior Trope' in your Writing
Never fear, the white savior is here! Maybe you, as I, noticed that as Green Book took the stage to collect its Academy Awards, there was an anger in the room. The movie had undergone its share of...
View ArticleTV & Film Genres List: A Comprehensive Study and Guide
Film and TV genres affect who watches your work, how it's classified, and even how it's reviewed. So how do you decide what you're writing? And which genres to mash-up? The secret is in the tropes....
View ArticleAnalyzing Jim and Pam From 'The Office': Will They or Won't They?
The "will they or won't they" trope has been in sitcoms for years. So how did "The Office" do it best? In the early 2000s, America was obsessed with whether or not Jim and Pam would get together. From...
View ArticleWhy the 'Fish Out Of Water' Trope Is So Valuable to Screenwriters
The "fish out of water" trope is one of the most valuable storytelling techniques. Here's why. Do you have trouble finding a narrative device that helps you get all your exposition out while also...
View ArticleHow 'Zombieland' Subverts Zombie Tropes in its Storytelling
Zombieland was an instant classic that came in and flipped tired horror tropes into an enthralling and exciting movie that delivered laughs, chills, and a huge box office return. How can you learn...
View ArticleThe 'Cool Girl' Trope: Real Life Fantasy, Screenwriting Nightmare
The "Cool Girl" is a trope we've seen overused, subverted, and lampooned. Let's do a deep dive together. Sometimes when you're writing a new screenplay or pilot, you want to develop a character you...
View ArticleWhat Are Movie Tropes and How to Use Them in Your Writing
Tropes in movies and television can help balance your writing and allow you to control the tone. When I sit down to write a film or television show I try to watch as many shows or movies in a similar...
View ArticleHow Does Bong Joon-Ho Break Genre Conventions?
When it comes to translating tropes and genres, Bong Joon-Ho is an expert. I love watching foreign movies because they often have different interpretations of characters and situations that you don't...
View ArticleA Deep Examination of the Final Girl Trope
Calling all Sidney Precotts... we need you! I love slasher movies. I think they're so much fun. they have all the trappings of an Agatha Christie murder-mystery and all the excitement of an action...
View ArticleDo Iraq War Movies Have a Specific Genre?
Is it possible to make dozens of movies about something but have it not create another genre? The war in Iraq officially began on March 20, 2003, and has been going ever since. The conflict in the...
View ArticleBorn Sexy Yesterday: Why Does This Male-Fantasy Trope Need to Go?
The "Born Sexy Yesterday" trope is a troubling recurrence in the sci-fi genre. Why is it still being written? It is in every science fiction film and TV show. There's a gorgeous girl that fell from...
View ArticleFollow the Map to the Fantasy Genre in Film and TV
Want to go on an adventure with magic and mayhem? The fantasy genre might be right for you. Have you ever looked out the window and wished you were anywhere but here? Maybe suddenly that dreary day...
View ArticleThe Manic Pixie Dream Boyfriend Must Die
Let me introduce you to my cool and very attractive boyfriend who isn’t relatable and wears a cape as a metaphor. We all know about the manic pixie dream girl trope that has been played out over and...
View ArticleLearn How ‘Loki’ Writer Michael Waldron Subverts the Villain Trope
Even in the midst of impending doom, Loki and Sylvie are there, hand-in-hand, accepting their newfound fates together. Marvel's limited series, Loki, has proved once again that Marvel loves to switch...
View ArticleGirlhood to Monstress: How Women in Horror Have Always Been the Hero and the...
Horror has never been shy about discussing sexuality, body, and gender, and women happen to love that a lot. Since the dawn of cinema, women have often been looked at as symbols rather than complex...
View ArticleThe ‘True Romance’ Script Is the Blueprint for All of Tarantino’s Films
Quentin Tarantino’s script for True Romance holds important reference points for all of his work in the past 30 years. It is hard to imagine the world without the humor and violence of Quentin...
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