Deluxis Entertainment: The Blog

There’s no denying it. Twilight (and consequently vampires) are hot right now. With the upcoming theatrical release of the much-anticipated Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, we take some time with a true fan to explore why the Twilight Saga is so popular with so many people. For storytellers, there are plenty of insights here regarding creating a compelling story for a target audience. (Mild spoiler warning with the last question.)

Why do you love Twilight and what got you reading/watching it?

I’ve always been interested in vampire novels ever since I read the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles. I had not heard of Twilight until a friend of mine recommended it to me. What I love about Twilight is that it’s a classic “boy loves girl, girl loves boy but something is keeping them apart” kind of novel. This theme harkens back hundreds of years, but a classic example is Romeo and Juliet (no I’m not comparing the two ;-)), but there’s a twist because the male protagonist is a vampire. As soon as I started reading the novels, I was completely immersed in Stephanie Meyer’s setting. These books are geared for teenagers (specifically female teenagers), so the writing is very easy to read and the storyline moves quickly. I wouldn’t say I love these books but I’m definitely a fan of the stories.

What are some noticeable attributes of Stephanie Meyer’s writing style?

As stated above, her audience is a typical teenage girl. The writing is easy to read with a lot of dialogue and it moves quickly. I think this appeals to anyone looking to escape into a book that has a good story and is an “easy read.” She’s very good at describing the emotions of the characters as well as developing a scene. She thinks of every aspect which helps create a full picture in the mind of the reader.

How do you think the writing could be improved?

This is a hard question to answer. I have no issues with her writing style. I think those who claim to not like these novels dislike it because of the storyline, not because of the writing.

How does the Twilight experience differ on paper than on screen?

I think the directors have done an excellent job of recreating the stories so far. It’s challenging to bring a story to film when so many people have already read the books. They imagine certain characters and scenes as being a specific way. There’s also always way more information in a book than there can be in a film. And the film is really the director and screenwriter interpretation.

Are you looking forward to Breaking Dawn?

Of course. It’ll be interesting to see how the deal with a half vampire child that ages rapidly. ;-)

The best way to learn is often by example. Whether you’re an aspiring screenwriter or a veteran looking for some inspiration, reading through scipts of established films and television shows is a great way to learn more about your craft. 

Here are five great sites for free downloadable screenplays. I looked for sites with healthy content lists and functional site design. If you don’t see a particular script in one site, go down the list and try another. You never know what you might find.

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Handling Rejection.

I think this is going to be the shortest in this series, because all I want to do is provide an introduction to someone else’s post.

Rejection is something that everyone faces in their life. People in creative fields must face it more often. People in highly coveted creative fields, even more so.

The best advice in the world is that you must face rejection with grace and dignity. In a rare glimpse into what it is like to fail on a large and public scale, one of the credited screenwriters of Conan the Barbarian recently wrote an eloquent personal description of what massive rejection feels like:

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Films and shows, as outrageous as they can be, still operate under believable human motivations. If a character’s reasons for acting don’t translate understandably to the viewer, the story could be disregarded as unbelievable, even if it’s set in a galaxy far, far away. 

But what can a screenwriter do to compel the audience that a character’s motivations are strong enough to motivate momentous action? What could make our hero leap off cliffs, face dragons and take down space tyrants?

In Robert McKee’s Story, the established screenwriter describes this subject as “the principle of antagonism”:

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Writing Movies For Fun and Profit from Thomas Lennon

We’ve listed five of our favorite screenwriting sites below. We focused on quality content and informative advice. Did we miss your favorite screenwriting sites or blogs? Please let us know in the comments below! Also, the video up top is pretty funny.

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“All the most powerful ideas in history go back to archetypes. This is particularly true of religious ideas, but the central concepts of science, philosophy, and ethics are no exception to this rule. In their present form they are variants of archetypal ideas created by consciously applying and adapting these ideas to reality. For it is the function of consciousness not only to recognize and assimilate the external world through the gateway of the senses, but to translate into visible reality the world within us.” -Carl Jung

Archetypes are universal symbols, the most basic representations of behavior and personality. Think of them as prototypes, primal forms from which all characters are derived. How are they useful to a storyteller or screenwriter? Archetypes help us understand a character’s role in terms of his or her placement in relation to the story.

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