『Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast』のカバーアート

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

著者： Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis
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Two emerging screenwriters – Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis – try to work out what makes great screenplays work. Discovering what it takes by analysing what successful writers put on the page.Presented by Chas Fisher & Stuart Willis. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. アート エンターテインメント・舞台芸術
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  • DZ-128: What even is a Character Arc?

    DZ-128: What even is a Character Arc?
    2026/06/28
    Listen to separate the three layers of an arc -- does the character change? How do they feel about it? And how is the audience positioned to feel about it? Stu, Chas and Mel finally begin their long-awaited journey into CHARACTER ARCS. In this "primer" episode, we try find some learnings and analytical lenses that we can then apply in future breakdowns. In this episode, we explore differences between a character learning something and a character fundamentally changing, how to dramatise that, and how the show teaches the audience to perceive that transformation (whether positively or negatively). Throughout the discussion, we skate over A NEW HOPE, BLUE MOON, BREAKING BAD, BETTER CALL SAUL, the French real-time thriller FULL TIME, A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS, THE GREEN KNIGHT, ALL OF US STRANGERS, PREDATOR BADLANDS, FIELD OF DREAMS, MEG 2, and Stu's receding hairline. Ultimately, this discussion synthesises into a series of questions to ask of a story and the main point-of-view character living through that story: Does the audience enter the story with an expectation that characters will change?How does the story teach the audience to expect characters to change or not?Do the characters change? Is it experiential change or internal value change? How is that dramatised?Is the character aware that they changed? How do they feel about that change? Does that matter?How does the story want the audience to feel about that change? If different to the character’s perception, how does the story pull that off?How does the story world punish or reward the change?What are the values explored by the arc? How does this relate to the theme?How is contrast vs affinity/unity portrayed through the characters’ journey? Order vs disorder vs inertiaWhat is the emotional event created between the character and audience as a result of the journey? Does the character end up more intimate or distant from the audience? In upcoming episodes, we intend to apply these lenses to stories with STEADFAST/RESILIENT arcs, POSITIVE arcs, NEGATIVE arcs and - potentially - a “WTF is this?!” arc. Please check out our homework discussion on Patreon. And if you want to vote on the stories we're gonna breakdown, sign up! As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Discuss with our Patrons on Patreon.Join the discussion on Reddit.Watch and comment on YouTube.Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre & Natalie and Lily. → Read the transcript for this episode. ——— "Character arcs are really difficult to talk about because they're not just in isolation. Rarely is a film only about one character, right? So we're actually talking about how we harmonize other characters around them." — Stu Willis @ 00:12:16 ——— CHAPTERS 00:00:00 – Cold Open00:00:17 – Character Arcs: A Primer on What We're Really Asking00:03:13 – › Three layers of an arc: character, self-perception, audience00:07:04 – › The four-quadrant map: change, no change, better, worse00:10:15 – › Why calling it an arc is already a misnomer00:13:35 – What We Each Want to Learn from This Series00:19:56 – › Whether emotional authenticity is becoming more valuable than spectacle00:23:37 – › Why stories let us safely inhabit experiences outside our own00:30:04 – The Deep Question: Can Characters Actually Change?00:35:49 – › Contrast and affinity as the design logic of transformation00:41:40 – › The rock metaphor: external forces versus intrinsic change00:46:43 – › Order, disorder, and inertia as the spectrum of arc types00:50:29 – Three Layers of Judgment: Character, World, and Audience00:56:45 – › How the filmmaker positions the audience relative to the character01:00:01 – › Do audiences enter stories expecting change at all?01:06:09 – › Mapping the inner journey against plot beats01:09:28 – › Why low points exist to make the climax feel earned01:12:09 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up01:26:47 – Thanks to Our Patreons! FILMS STAR WARS (1977) — (w) George Lucas SHOWS A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS — (w) George Rr Martin, Ira ParkerBETTER CALL SAUL — (w) Vince Gilligan, Peter GouldBREAKING BAD — (w) Vince Gilligan LINKS Website: Bruce Block's The Visual Story EPISODES IN THE CHARACTER ARCS SERIES DZ-128: What even is a Character Arc? RELATED EPISODES DZ-04: Catharsis and the Post-Coital CigaretteDZ-108: The Emotional Event with Judith Weston ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-128/
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    1 時間 30 分
  • DZ-127: Secrets and Clues 2 - The Cost of Revelation

    DZ-127: Secrets and Clues 2 - The Cost of Revelation
    2026/05/27
    Listen to learn the emotional impact of revealing secrets vs discovering them. In this episode Stu, Chas and Mel apply the Landmark–Hidden–Secret framework (from DZ-126) across two very different genres: the thriller SIDE EFFECTS (2013) and the tragicomic pilot of SHRINKING. SIDE EFFECTS is a film of two genres. The first half plays as a drama about depression and over-medication; the second half is a 90s thriller. We talk about how every time Dr Jonathan Banks uncovers a new piece of information, it puts him in danger — and that danger motivates him to uncover more. In SHRINKING, we see a different use of the framework. "What are psychologists but detectives of the mind?" Rather than the cost of finding secrets, it's about the cost of sharing them. Chas also comes out of this with a paradigm he's been building toward (but we're keeping what that is secret until you listen!) And inevitably we go on some tangents: whether SIDE EFFECTS should even have been an erotic thriller! As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Discuss with our Patrons on Patreon.Join the discussion on Reddit.Watch and comment on YouTube.Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily. → Read the transcript for this episode. ——— "Every time Dr Jonathan Banks uncovers a new piece of information, it puts him in danger -- and that danger motivates him to uncover more." — Chas Fisher @ 00:26:04 ——— CHAPTERS 00:00:00 – Cold Open00:00:16 – Intro: Secrets and Clues 2 - the Cost of Revelation00:01:03 – Previously on Secrets and Clues (Recap of Part 1)00:04:24 – Flashforward Insights00:09:29 – SIDE EFFECTS00:20:18 – › The First Half: Push and Misdirection00:28:41 – › Genre Shift: Banks Becomes the Detective00:48:06 – SHRINKING01:00:02 – › The Inverted Paradigm: When Everyone Knows01:07:47 – › The Cost of Sharing01:22:02 – › Power Through Honest Acknowledgement01:35:37 – The Key Tool Chas Learned01:39:28 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up01:50:48 – Many Thanks to our Patrons! FILMS SIDE EFFECTS (2013) — (w) Scott Z Burns (d) Steven Soderbergh SHOWS SHRINKING — (w) Brett Goldstein, Jason Segel, Bill Lawrence SCRIPTS Study the script: SIDE EFFECTS (2013) — Scott Z Burns LINKS Website: DIY & dragons: Landmark, Hidden, SecretWebsite: The Alexandrian » Advanced Node-Based DesignWebsite: Ascii Dreams: The Quest for Quests (Part One)Website: Ascii Dreams: The Quest for Quests (Part Two) EPISODES IN THE SECRETS AND CLUES SERIES DZ-126: Secrets and CluesDZ-127: Secrets and Clues 2 - The Cost of Revelation RELATED EPISODES DZ-90: Setups & Payoffs in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-127/
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    1 時間 52 分
  • DZ-126: Secrets and Clues

    DZ-126: Secrets and Clues
    2026/05/05
    Listen if you want to understand how hidden information drives character motivation and plot structure! “Getting information puts your character in danger. And danger rewards your character with information." — One of three ideas we steal from game design in this episode. In this two part series, we talk about how secrets, clues and hidden information motivate characters and may (or may not) help you plot from a character perspective. Part One (this episode) looks at WAKE UP DEAD MAN; while Part Two looks at SIDE EFFECTS, and the pilot episode of SHRINKING. The other two (related) ideas are: Landmark information (characters just have it), Secret (they know it's there, need to unlock it), and Hidden (invisible until they pay the cost)Narrative velocity — are characters pushed forward or are they pulled forward? To that end, in this episode Stu, Chas and Mel start with the murder mystery (ostensibly the easier deep-dive): Rian Johnson’s WAKE UP DEAD MAN. But this is a complex film made even more complex by being a dual-protagonist film. Uhuh. Benoit Blanc is pulled through the story by his need to solve the case; Father Judd pushed through, against his will, to prove his innocence. Breaking down how that plays out — and why it matters for the kind of escalation each character can sustain — is the heart of the episode. And inevitably we go on some tangents: pointers, plants, and underpinnings (from our Everything Everywhere All At Once episode) fair play in locked-room mysteries, Narrative POV (as always) and node-based plotting and what dungeon-crawl game design has to do with writing a web of clues. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Discuss with our Patrons on Patreon.Join the discussion on Reddit.Watch and comment on YouTube.Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily. → Read the transcript for this episode. ——— "Information puts players in danger and danger rewards characters with information, right? That's kind of the loop with like thriller game design." — Stu Willis @ 00:05:40 ——— CHAPTERS 00:00:00 – Cold Open00:00:18 – What do we mean by Secrets and Clues?00:04:17 – › Landmark, hidden, and secret information defined00:08:10 – › Narrative velocity as push and pull for characters00:13:22 – WAKE UP DEAD MAN00:17:56 – › Key learnings preview: push-pull and narrative velocity00:32:33 – › Mapping character awareness of secrets through WAKE UP DEAD MAN00:58:21 – › Distinguishing secrets, clues, and hidden information01:13:17 – › Benoit Blanc's character arc and the choice of grace01:22:50 – KEY LEARNINGS & WRAP UP01:24:22 – › Character drives how secrets are hidden and revealed01:25:34 – › Narrative velocity and escalating stakes reveal character FILMS WAKE UP DEAD MAN (2025) — (w) Rian Johnson SCRIPTS Study the script: WAKE UP DEAD MAN (2025) — Rian Johnson LINKS Read: DIY & dragons: Landmark, Hidden, SecretRead: The Alexandrian » Advanced Node-Based DesignRead: Ascii Dreams: The Quest for Quests (Part 1)Read: Ascii Dreams: The Quest for Quests (Part 2)Read: Mel's KNIVES OUT: A Rose by Any Other Name Would Not Clue Us In EPISODES IN THE SECRETS AND CLUES SERIES DZ-126: Secrets and CluesDZ-127: Secrets and Clues 2 - The Cost of Revelation RELATED EPISODES DZ-90: Setups & Payoffs in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-126/
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    1 時間 29 分
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