Brent Dunham earned his B.A. from USC and an M.A. from Chapman University in Film Studies. He has taught various film courses to students from 7th grade to undergraduates.
A masked killer with a signature weapon. A group of victims anchored by a Final Girl. And a structure that evenly disperses the death and mayhem. Even people who don’t watch slasher movies know the game. The look and feel of these movies have become baked into pop culture. This has happened to such a… Continue reading The Best Slasher Movies (That Aren’t Slasher Movies)
Best Shyamalan MoviesShyamalan’s Style ExplainedThe Return of M. Night Shyamalan When you think of the most iconic film directors, you can often discount their first couple of films — few filmmakers are geniuses out of the gate. Other directors start strong but end their careers with a painful series of flops. But almost no other… Continue reading Best M. Night Shyamalan Movies, Ranked for Filmmakers
Dramatic IronyOpen menu Types of Irony What is Tragic Irony Stages of Dramatic Irony Verbal IronyOpen menu Sarcasm Understatement Overstatement Socratic Irony Situational IronyOpen menu Cosmic Irony Poetic Justice Structural Irony Historical Irony There are many types of irony out there. Within the main branch of situational irony lies a version with a supernatural twist⏤cosmic… Continue reading What is Cosmic Irony? Definition and Examples For Screenwriters
Best Shyamalan MoviesShyamalan’s Style ExplainedThe Return of M. Night Shyamalan I’ve been a fan of M. Night Shyamalan for years, and that includes the 9-year gap between Lady in the Water and The Visit when it was challenging for everyone involved. I don’t love every Shyamalan movie, but I don’t despise his misfires either —… Continue reading Welcome to the Shyamalan-aissance — What a Twist!
Sidney Lumet directed feature films and television for over 50 years. In other words, we can learn a lot from his perspective about the film business and film directing. We were lucky enough that Lumet decided to share these thoughts in book form. “Making Movies” by Sidney Lumet is an invaluable resource for any filmmaker.… Continue reading What We Can Learn from “Making Movies” by Sidney Lumet
Best Tarantino MoviesQT’s Directing StyleQT Directing Tips QT DialogueOnce Upon a Time AnalysisBasterds Breakdown Speculation about Tarantino’s last movie has now reached full tilt — but are we really ready for Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek? There is only one final film to go before we find out if QT was bluffing or not. But what… Continue reading Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek: Should This Be Tarantino’s Last Movie?
The second and concluding chapter in director Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of Stephen King’s It is here. The Losers Club are all grown up as they return to their childhood town to battle inner and outer demons. The cast is impressive, the visuals are stunning, and the imagination on display is undeniable. But that doesn’t translate to… Continue reading “It Chapter Two” Review: Bigger Not Better
For filmmakers, Netflix is an invaluable resource. With this library of movies at your fingertips, you can watch just about anything. The problem is sifting through the seemingly endless titles to find the really good stuff. If it doesn’t pop up on the main page, you’ve got to search. Fear not, intrepid explorer, we’ve got… Continue reading 10 Best Movies on Netflix — A Playlist for Filmmakers (September 2019)
Proper screenplay format is a necessary evil. Some rules are set in stone while others can be left up to a writer’s preference–the lack of consensus can certainly be frustrating. So, what’s a writer to do? The first step is to use a screenwriting program, like StudioBinder. This ensures that most of your formatting concerns are dealt… Continue reading How to Format a Script with Keyboard Shortcuts
Scenes numbers are extremely important in any project. Keeping the original numbers intact will save any pre-production work you’ve already done. But there are times when renumbering scenes makes sense. How is this done and what are the negative aspects of this process? The good news is that renumbering your scenes in super simple. The only… Continue reading How to Renumber Scenes in StudioBinder
Eating, drinking, sleeping, and sex are elements of human behavior we all share. The difference with sex is that it has been deemed taboo for centuries. That moral standard has been loosening for decades now, and sex has become a more significant part of mainstream entertainment. But just because we CAN show sex in movies doesn’t… Continue reading How to Write and Direct Sex Scenes
Scripts are constantly evolving. That’s just what they do. New scenes are added and old scenes are deleted throughout pre-production and production. How do these new changes affect your project? In StudioBinder, making script changes is easy and your project is kept intact. We’re going to walk through the process of how to make script changes, syncing… Continue reading How to Make Script Changes in StudioBinder
Whether you’re writing the first draft or sharing the final draft with your collaborators, taking notes is critical. Keeping these thoughts, suggestions, or inspirations organized can be a difficult task. But we’ve solved the problem. Script Notes is an extremely valuable resource that will help keep your ideas intact and accessible so you can stay productive. We’ve created… Continue reading How to Write Script Notes in StudioBinder (with Industry Examples of Script Notes)
