The REAL Reason House of Dynamite's Ending Fails
Is ambiguity always artistic, or can it ruin a film? In this screenwriting breakdown, I examine A House of Dynamite to reveal the difference between an "open ending" and a "missing ending." Learn how to use the little-known Zeigarnik Effect to your advantage as a scriptwriter and master the art of the narrative payoff.
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Screenwriting , Storytelling , Writing Carl T. Rogers November 23, 2025 cinematic writing , Screenplay , netflix , A house of dynamite , Katheryn Bigelow , Noah Oppenheim , How to write a screenplay , how to write endings , storytelling , story techniques , story experience
How to LEGALLY Copyright Your Screenplay
How do you actually copyright your screenplay? You might wonder what counts as being copyrighted, and when you need to copyright your script. I will show you step-by step-how to copyright your screenplay with the US copyright office!
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Visual Screenwriting: How to Write Better Action Lines
How do you write cinematic action lines? How do you make your scene descriptions better? I’ll breaks down an often-misunderstood technique you can use to make your action lines more visual and cinematic!
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How to Submit Your Screenplay to an Agent
I don’t have an agent, but how can I send my script to an agent to see if they’ll represent me or sell my script?
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Film , Writing , Screenwriting , Filmmaking Carl T. Rogers June 14, 2023 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , sell screenplay , selling screenplays , how to sell a screenplay , how to sell a script , how to get an agent , how to get a manager
How to Write Screenplays with Artificial Intelligence
What happens when you ask artificial intelligence to write a movie idea or screenplay outline ? Here’s how you can use AI to help you brainstorm your story and scripts.
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Film , Writing , Screenwriting , Filmmaking Carl T. Rogers February 22, 2023 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , AI , Artificial Intelligence , How to write a screenplay , how to brainstorm , brainstorming , how to use AI to write screenplays
How to Sell Your Screenplay Even If You Don’t Have an Agent
If you don’t have an agent — and don’t know how to get one — you think, how can I sell my script without an agent? More importantly…should you even try?
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Film , Writing , Screenwriting , Filmmaking Carl T. Rogers September 30, 2022 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , sell screenplay , selling screenplays , how to sell a screenplay , how to sell a script , how to get an agent , how to get a manager
Amazon’s Rings of Power: How Source Material Affects Storytelling
Public domain, story copyright, and intellectual property laws affect the stories about Middle Earth that Amazon can tell. Could this explain why the show is suffering?
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Screenwriting , TV Carl T. Rogers September 28, 2022 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , rings of power , the rings of power , lord of the rings , lord of the rings: the rings of power , amazon's the rings of power , intellectual property , story rights
Why “The Secrets of Dumbledore” Fails at Storytelling
3 Reasons why Fantastic Beasts 3 was disappointing, and how you can avoid similar story issues in your own screenplays.
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Screenwriting Carl T. Rogers May 22, 2022 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , script , screenplay analysis , script analysis , Fantastic Beasts , Secrets of Dumbledore
Edgar Allan Poe on Creativity - Screenwriting Advice
Originality for storytellers is always attainable, according to the master of macabre. Here’s why.
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Screenwriting Carl T. Rogers January 14, 2022 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , script , poe , Edgar Allan Poe , creativity , originality , writer's block
Final Draft Review 2022: Pros & Cons
Love it or hate it, Final Draft is considered the industry standard in Hollywood. Why is that, and should you consider switching?
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Screenwriting Carl T. Rogers January 6, 2022 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , script , Final Draft , Highland screenwriting software , Final Draft software , Final Draft software review , how to switch to Final Draft , Final Draft 12 , Final Draft new features
Screenplay Scene Analysis: Die Hard (1988)
The screenplay for this action hit and Christmas favorite has a lot to teach us about characterization!
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Screenwriting Carl T. Rogers December 23, 2021 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , script , Die Hard , Bruce Willis , John McClane , Allan Rickman , screenplay analysis , script analysis
Reality vs. Storytelling - Edgar Allan Poe on Screenwriting
Where do you draw the line between fiction and reality, especially with the modern medium of screenwriting? Poe says this.
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How to Write a Screenplay According to Edgar Allan Poe
By analyzing what Poe says about how to tell stories, screenwriters can learn from his timeless wisdom.
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How to Write a Phone Call in Screenplay Format
If you’ve got two characters talking on the phone in a scene of your script, then you’ll need to follow one of these methods of properly showing the conversation.
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Screenwriting Carl T. Rogers December 2, 2021 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , script , screenplay formatting , scriptwriting , phone calls , phone call , phone conversation , intercut
Screenplay Scene Analysis: Alien (1979)
As one of the best screenplays ever written, growing screenwriters can learn a TON from the first few opening pages of the Alien script.
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Screenwriting Carl T. Rogers December 2, 2021 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , reverse engineering a movie , alien , ridley scott , aliens , script
How to Reverse-Engineer a Classic Film
Ever wondered what it would be like to re-write a movie you love? This is how you do it, using “The Maltese Falcon” as an example.
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Theology , Philosophy , Screenwriting Carl T. Rogers December 1, 2021 Movies , screenwriting , screenplay , The Maltese Falcon , Humphrey Bogart , Maltese Falcon , Rewriting a classic movie , old hollywood , reverse engineering a movie
Screenwriting Lessons from Indiana Jones
The Raiders of the Lost Ark has a lot to teach screenwriters about storytelling — and not always in ways you’d expect.
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Film , Storytelling , Writing , Theology , Philosophy , Screenwriting Carl T. Rogers February 22, 2021 Movies , Ark of the Covenant , Raiders of the Lost Ark , Indiana Jones , Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark , Spielberg , Kasdan , screenwriting , screenplay
The Worst Film of 2020
What’s the most awful film you watched in the weirdest of years, 2020?
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How to Use Parentheticals or Wrylies in Screenplays
How do you use wrylies / parentheticals in screenplays? That's what I'll explain in this scriptwriting tutorial.
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Screenwriting , Storytelling , Writing Carl T. Rogers October 7, 2020 Screenplay , screenwriting , screenplay formatting , How to write a screenplay , Screenwriting , grammar , wrylies , parenthesis , parentheticals
