Dan O'Bannon's Guide to Screenplay Structure: Inside Tips from the Writer of ALIEN, TOTAL RECALL and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD [Paperback]

“Dan O’Bannon’s Guide to Screenplay Structure” often tends to read more like a memoir of a man who worked with the legendary late great director and writer, and less like an instructional book. Author Dan O’Bannon is able to build a book that’s outside the norm of your typical screenwriting book. Author O’Bannon stresses the importance of writing a book that stands out from the shelves of screenwriting books, and while demonstrating how he sought to break the formula of screenwriting in his days of making movies, he tries to break the formula of screenwriting books in general.

Much of “Dan O’Bannon’s Guide to Screenplay Structure” is based around Dan O’Bannon’s writing experience with screenplays, and co-author Matt Lohr’s experience working with Dan O’Bannon and how he changed his life. In the process, author Dan O’Bannon hopes to change the aspiring screenwriter’s life by assisting them in breaking free from formulas and clichés and attempting to re-mold stories no matter how old hat they may be. O’Bannon took what were traditionally cheesy and clunky premises and with his own sense of style and unique storytelling, reshaped them in to classics and hit films.

Author Dan O’Bannon hopes to instill this upon the reader by exploring all angles of creative writing and what you can hope to learn from him by his anecdotes and thoughts on storytelling in general.

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Director Patrick Rea and his Gallery of Nailbiters

Patrick Rea is probably one of my favorite independent directors at the moment and while all of his films may not be home runs, he’s created a veritable gallery of short horror and darkly comedic films that have stormed the worldwide web and spawned a following of folks just waiting his newest yarn that always ensure surprise twists and turns, sharp storytelling, and top notch performances. Ambitious and enthusiastic about his art, director Patrick Rea first started sending us his short films after we began reviewing the shorts we discovered on the net and since then has remained a contact for Cinema Crazed.

In the midst of directing his new feature length horror film called “Nailbiter,” a film that’s remained under wraps and mysterious to most online entities, Patrick Rea took the time out from his hectic shooting schedule in scorching heat to indulge us in an in-depth interview to learn where Patrick Rea honed his skills and how he went from film school student, to Fangoria filmmaker, to co-founder of SenoReality Pictures. If you haven’t seen any of Patrick Rea’s short film we suggest looking for them as they present a keen eye for detail and dark tones while always ensuring a surprise or two that will leave you wanting more.

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Lensing with Love: Interview with Documentarians Stephanie Silber & Victor Zimet, Part Two

How has the reaction been toward your documentary “Random Lunacy”?
Stephanie:  That’s a good question, and one we’re constantly asked.  People tend to be polarized by the extreme life that Poppa lived with his family; they seem either to get it or not.  There is often a very angry reaction from people, while others are completely enamored, blown away by the notion of such absolute freedom, which of course comes with its own price.

I do think there is a middle ground – we cannot all live completely outside of the conventions of society as the Neutrinos so successfully did, but we can adapt some of the philosophies to our own lives, and be the better persons for it.

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Lensing with Love: Interview with Documentarians Stephanie Silber & Victor Zimet

I was introduced to directors Victor Zimet and Stephanie Silber in 2007 when I reviewed their film “Songs and Stories.” Though I didn’t give it such a glowing review, the professionals I now consider close friends didn’t waver in their persistence on winning me over in their talents and unique subjects for focusing their documentaries on and sent me “Random Lunacy” in 2007. Suffice it to say after watching that film I was won over by the filmmaking duo whose entire filmography has been strictly documentaries.

And after chronicling the legendary Poppa Neutrino and his life as a family man journeying across the world with his band of sons, daughters, and enduring wife, I had to keep seeing what the pair would put out there, and I had to pick their brains. The devoted and fiercely loyal married couple are known Victor Zimet and Stephanie Silber, a twosome of talented and humble filmmakers who love what they do, and they do it with a devotion that is admirable and true to the indie spirit. Also, it helps they’re both loyal classic rock buffs like I am. The two took the time out of their busy schedule to let us pick their brain and here’s what resulted out of random lunacy, the roads less traveled that they traveled for a reason, and some genuine good humor.

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It’s Sally’s World: We’re Just Living In It – Interview with Director Jimmyo Burril

jimmyoHello Mr. Burril thanks for your time!
My pleasure.

So, the question on everyone’s mind is: Where did the idea for Chainsaw Sally come from?
Sally was a horror hostess April and I created for my show Silver Scream.  It’s a horror musical..and it’s pretty cool.  The downside is that it’s very hard to get the right audience to come.  So, we created Sally to help get the attention of the horror crowd… and it worked.  Within a year Sally has far surpassed Silver Scream in every way.  So, before you know it, a killer was born.

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Director Alexandra Fisher of "Desert Wedding"

A most recent earner of the Cinema Crazed’s coveted Indie Spotlight, “Desert Wedding” is a wonderful short drama about a materialistic woman on the verge of marriage who suddenly gets a lesson in appreciating what’s really important in life while you have it. Simultaneously, it’s also a commentary about the fuss and chaos women work themselves up in during weddings, so intent on sparing no cost, that they forget why they’re getting married in the first place, and director Alexandra Fisher provides a gripping dramatic short film that conveys this interesting undertone rarely ever put to the screen. Multi-talented, and multi-lingual, Fisher sheds some insight in to her hectic life and tells us about the experience making her short.

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Director Larry Longstreth is full of "Bullcrank"

I always say, if you want to know what filmmaking is like, ask an actual fucking filmmaker. Any filmmaker will do. But probably the best tool is a filmmaker recounting what their experience has been like. Whether through the hilarious “Dirty Condoms, Anxiety Attacks, Road Trips, and Reality Shows: Filmmaking 101.” or basically stalking a random filmmaker, you can learn a lot from the indie filmmakers. Larry Longstreth is one in a group of sheer madmen that lurk over at Bullcrank.com. Bullcrank is the comedy group that creates critically acclaimed and rather popular short comedies that range from animated homages to the video game age, to a musical about zombies.

Longstreth and co. have been featured on many websites including Ifilm, their films have ranked high in popularity in both sites, and currently Longstreth recently entered in “The Lot” contest. We here at Cinema Crazed, love the group at Bullcrank after watching “Zombies in my Neighborhood” over a year ago, but we’re only one of many folks that follow the exploits of the Bullcrank crew and their productions. Their website has something for every comedy lover, and you’ll find at least one thing that you’ll be laughing about for days.

Longstreth along with his equally talented brother Aaron, both pop culture and comic book junkies, have managed to build much clout in the independent circuit, and so far they’re making immense progress building a cult following. We decided after a few years of jabbering with the hilarious, odd, and frank head Bullcranker Larry Longstreth, that we’d sit down and get him to spill his beans about his productions, and life. We know that after sampling a few of the short films, and reading this interview, a few new Bullcrankers will be born.

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