Chris Heckmann is a Professor of Media & Communication at Roger Williams University and graduate of UCLA’s Cinema & Media Studies Master of Arts program. When he’s not writing or teaching, he’s probably playing video games (or thinking about the next great Boston sports trade).
Narrative ElementsOpen menu Antagonist Catharsis Motif Plot Protagonist Theme Narrative DevicesOpen menu Deus ex Machina Foreshadowing Irony Personification Plot Twist Red Herring Write Your Script For Free → What is subtext? The age-old adage says that subtext is what’s inferred by reading between the lines, but how do we know what to look for? In… Continue reading What is Subtext — How to Use Subtext in Screenwriting
EssentialsOpen menu What is Sound Design Sound Editing vs Sound Mixing What is Voice Over What is Diegetic Sound What is Non-Diegetic Sound What is a Film Score TechniquesOpen menu Ultimate Guide to Sound Recording Filmmaker’s Guide to Sound Effect Techniques What is a Sound Bridge What is The Shepard Tone How to Design a… Continue reading What is Non-Diegetic Sound — Definition and Examples
EssentialsOpen menu What is Sound Design Sound Editing vs Sound Mixing What is Voice Over What is Diegetic Sound What is Non-Diegetic Sound What is a Film Score TechniquesOpen menu Ultimate Guide to Sound Recording Filmmaker’s Guide to Sound Effect Techniques What is a Sound Bridge What is The Shepard Tone How to Design a… Continue reading What is Diegetic Sound — Definition, Examples & How It Works
Storyboard EssentialsOpen menu What is a Storyboard Best Storyboard Examples How to Storyboard Ultimate Guide to Storyboard Rules Best Storyboard Software Storyboard TemplatesOpen menu Storyboard Templates Pack How to Make a Storyboard Template How to Use a Storyboard Template Music Video Storyboard Template Commercial Storyboard Templates Movie Storyboard Template Create Your Free Storyboard Here →… Continue reading Storyboard Classes Online — Lessons, Reviews and Fees
Interrogation scenes are some of the most utilized scenes in all of screenwriting – but how does one write an interrogation scene? Fret not, we’re going to show you how to write an interrogation scene by looking at examples from Prisoners, Shrek, and more. We’re also going to show you how to format your interrogation… Continue reading How to Write an Interrogation Scene — Guide for Screenwriters
Amazon Prime Video is chock-full of great movies but it’s a nightmare trying to find them. Unlike Netflix which offers strong curated playlists, Prime Video does a poor job of highlighting all the amazing movies on its service. Don’t fret though, we’ve scoured the depths of Prime’s film catalogue to deliver our list of the… Continue reading The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (January 2021)
What is tone? To answer that question we have to place tone in an appropriate context. Tone can refer to the intonation/pitch of acoustics, the meeting of light and shadow, the firmness of muscles, etc. — but we’re going to focus on what tone means in storytelling. Tone is how an artist feels towards the… Continue reading Tone in Writing: Definition and Examples
Amazon Prime Video is chock-full of great movies but it’s a nightmare trying to find them. Unlike Netflix which offers strong curated playlists, Prime Video does a poor job of highlighting all the amazing movies on its service. Don’t fret though, we’ve scoured the depths of Prime’s film catalog to deliver our list of the… Continue reading The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (July 2020)
Amazon Prime Video is chock-full of great movies but it’s a nightmare trying to find them. Unlike Netflix which offers strong curated playlists, Prime Video does a poor job of highlighting all the amazing movies on its service. Don’t fret though, we’ve scoured the depths of Prime’s film catalog to deliver our list of the… Continue reading The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (June 2020)
Amazon Prime Video is chock-full of great movies but it’s a nightmare trying to find them. Unlike Netflix which offers strong curated playlists, Prime Video does a poor job of highlighting all the amazing movies on its service. Don’t fret though, we’ve scoured the depths of Prime’s film catalogue to deliver our list of the… Continue reading The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (October 2020)
Amazon Prime Video is chock-full of great movies but it’s a nightmare trying to find them. Unlike Netflix which offers strong curated playlists, Prime Video does a poor job of highlighting all the amazing movies on its service. Don’t fret though, we’ve scoured the depths of Prime’s film catalog to deliver our list of the… Continue reading The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (May 2020)
Narrative ElementsOpen menu Antagonist Catharsis Motif Plot Protagonist Theme Narrative DevicesOpen menu Deus ex Machina Foreshadowing Irony Personification Plot Twist Red Herring Write Your Script For Free → What is an epilogue? It’s a term that we hear often but we don’t see it in every story. So why are epilogues so commonly talked about… Continue reading What is an Epilogue — Definition & Examples
Amazon Prime Video is chock-full of great movies but it’s a nightmare trying to find them. Unlike Netflix which offers strong curated playlists, Prime Video does a poor job of highlighting all the amazing movies on its service. Don’t fret though, we’ve scoured the depths of Prime’s film catalogue to deliver our list of the… Continue reading The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (December 2020)
What is HEVC Codec? HEVC Codec, or High Efficiency Video Coding, is a video compression format that was designed in tandem with the MPEG-H project. HEVC is the successor to the H.264 codec format and the second most popular codec in the world behind Advanced Video Coding, or AVC. Before we dive too deep into… Continue reading HEVC Codec — How it Works & Free HEVC Codec Download
Amazon Prime Video is chock-full of great movies but it’s a nightmare trying to find them. Unlike Netflix which offers strong curated playlists, Prime Video does a poor job of highlighting all the amazing movies on its service. Don’t fret though, we’ve scoured the depths of Prime’s film catalogue to deliver our list of the… Continue reading The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (November 2020)
Plot TropesOpen menu What is a Trope What is a Cliche Flashback MacGuffin Plot Twist Red Herring FREE Movie Scripts: StudioBinder Screenwriting Library Write Your Script for Free You’re watching a movie, getting invested in the characters, watching the tension build, and then boom—just as you’re about to get to the emotional payoff, a frown… Continue reading What is a Cliche? Definition & Examples
Storyboard EssentialsOpen menu What is a Storyboard Best Storyboard Examples How to Storyboard Ultimate Guide to Storyboard Rules Best Storyboard Software Storyboard TemplatesOpen menu Storyboard Templates Pack How to Make a Storyboard Template How to Use a Storyboard Template Music Video Storyboard Template Commercial Storyboard Templates Movie Storyboard Template Create Your Free Storyboard Here →… Continue reading Storyboard Ideas, Examples, and Techniques Explained
Narrative ElementsOpen menu Antagonist Catharsis Motif Plot Protagonist Theme Narrative DevicesOpen menu Deus ex Machina Foreshadowing Irony Personification Plot Twist Red Herring Write Your Script For Free → What is an antagonist? The simplest explanation is that an antagonist represents the opposite of the protagonist. But there’s much more to the term than that. They… Continue reading What is an Antagonist — Definition & Examples
Types of CharactersOpen menu Protagonist Antagonist Hero Anti Hero Tragic Hero Foil Character Character TropesOpen menu Common Character Types Types of Villains Femme Fatale Mad Scientist Mary Sue Damsel in Distress Write Your Free Script → What is an anti hero? We’ve all heard that characters like Walter White and Thomas Shelby are anti heroes,… Continue reading What is an Anti Hero — Definition, Examples in Film & Literature
Screenplay Structure 101Open menu Three Act Structure Freytag’s Pyramid Story Mountain Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey Save the Cat Dan Harmon’s Story Circle 5 Stages of A StoryOpen menu Exposition Inciting Incident Rising Action Climax Falling Action Denouement Write Your Script For Free → Denouement is one of the most important aspects of a script, yet… Continue reading What is Denouement — Definition and Examples
