What craft tools make a low-budget, contained, period drama riveting?

Explore how narrative POV, interweaving relationships, hooky dialogue, and even the screenplay format itself make the script for BLUE MOON - that runs largely in real time about an obscure songwriter in the 1940s - one that attracts world class talent and Academy Award nominations.

While Stu is still on show and we are between the 2026 Oscar nominations and the actual ceremony, our patreons selected BLUE MOON for this one-shot and boy are Mel and Chas glad they did. They dive into many lessons learned in previous episodes, like our character-driven episode… or analysis of French scenes in Adolescence… or the story-telling power that comes from the audience knowing the ending from biopics.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 - BLUE MOON
00:02:19 - Summary of Key Learnings
00:13:34 - Controlling narrative POV
00:27:49 - Using screenplay FORMAT to reflect the emotional story
00:39:27 - Interweaving relationships
00:56:46 - Repetition and pop culture references in dialogue
01:07:54 - Key learnings in full
01:16:02 - Patreon thanks!

LINKS

Read the script for BLUE MOON on Script Slug

See the slug line breakdown at https://melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/blue-moon-scene-headings-breakdown

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-01: Do screenplay gurus win you Oscars?
• DZ-68: Using narrative POV to structure KNIVES OUT
• DZ-118: Adolescence and tension through questions
• DZ-90: Raising (a different kind of) Stakes
• DZ-35: Driving Characters or Character-Driven?
• DZ-63: Tools for Better Dialogue - Hook and Eye

More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter.
You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

How does Film Noir show us terrible people doing terrible things without endorsing it?

Mel and Chas continue to explore what Noir (the genre) can teach writers of all other genres. In particular:

• how to keep the audience on side of characters doing reprehensible things
• how to control your audience understanding of those reprehensible actions
• distinguishing between characters undergoing transformative arcs against discovering their true natures

In finding the common craft tools of Noir over 100 years, this Part 2 looks at two modern noirs - DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1995) and WOMAN OF THE HOUR (2024) - after Part 1 looked at the classic DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE LONG GOODBYE.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

Despite Chas claiming to have edited this episode it was, in fact, Chris Walker who saved the day and got this done. Thanks Chris.

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 - Using noir as a lens

00:01:56 - DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS

00:31:33 - WOMAN OF THE HOUR

01:04:30 - Key Learnings

01:08:50 - Thank you Patreons!

LINKS

Shot Zero on the noir-set of noir shots in WOMAN OF THE HOUR

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-123: Flawed characters & noir
• DZ-03: Making unlikeable protagonists compelling
• DZ-110: Voiceover

More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter.

You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

What can Film Noir teach us about character arcs and audience engagement?

In this two part series, Mel and Chas use Noir (the genre) as a lens to interrogate flawed characters. How can characters doing reprehensible things still engage audiences? How can you ensure representation isn't endorsement? And whether these characters undergo transformative arcs, or simply reveal their true natures?

Part 1 focuses on two (now classic) noirs: DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE LONG GOODBYE.

While Part 2 looks at two more contemporary examples DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESs and WOMAN OF THE HOUR.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

CHAPTERS

• 00:00:00 - Cold Open
• 00:00:17 - Flawed Characters and Noir
• 00:16:40 - Double Indemnity
• 00:53:38 - The Long Goodbye
• 01:21:15 - End of Part 1

LINKS

• Mel's A Brief History of Queer Coding in Film: Part 1 - https://melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/a-brief-history-of-queer-coding-in-film-part-1

More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter.

You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

What happens when a group of filmmakers play a ragtag group of filmmakers in a gritty sci-fi horror?

"Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory" - Werner Herzog.

This episode is unusual, even by Draft Zero standards. It's an "Actual Play Podcast" where Chas, Stu, & Mel are joined by Kim Ho and Luke Clark to play MOTHERSHIP, the sci-fi horror game we talked about in episodes DZ-121 and DZ-122. Stu is the GM while everyone else is a ragtag crew of freelance filmmakers. We debrief the experience (so far) at the end of the episode)

Mel plays Zara, the glamorous face of the operation. Chas plays Winston, the cynical and egoistical "photojournalist". Kim is Cal, the scrappy scrounger and sound recordists, while Luke is Tarsos the steadfast producer of the group. The crew are enlisted to record a sensationalist report on a missing corporate president before the mercenary retrieval team arrives.

And yeah, this means we're soft-launching yet another project that's called 1d0, which looks at how we can use tools from ttrpgs in screenwriting… and vice versa.

To get future episodes go to: http://www.1d-zero.com/

CHAPTERS

• 00:00:11 - Intro for DZ Listeners
• 00:01:51 - Meet the Snortin' Betsy
• 00:06:22 - A Mansion Most Vile (Ep 1)
• 01:52:32 - Debrief through TOMBS

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-121: Escalating Antagonism 1: Sinners
• DZ-122: Escalating Antagonism 2: Rebel Ridge + Meet the Parents

LINKS

• Tuesday Knight Games
• Joshua Kramer: A Mansion Most Vile
• Alewood Games: Arkyvr
• Nobody Wake the Bugbear
• Campaign Supplies

More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

SUBSCRIBE TO SHOT ZERO via Substack

SUBSCRIBE TO 1DZERO via Substack

ACKNOWLEDGES via our website: https://draft-zero.com/2025/1dz-01/

How can you apply horror ideas to action and comedy?

In this episode Chas, Stu and guest Kim Ho continue their exploration into the power(s) of antagonism and how focusing on them can develop story.

While Part 1 looked at the horror film SINNERS, in Part 2 we venture into genres beyond horror with the action-thriller REBEL RIDGE, and the comedy classic MEET THE PARENTS.

To both these films we apply the generative story framework TOMBS* (Transgression - Omens - Manifestation - Banishment - Slumber) and are surprised at just how well it maps. *TOMBS comes from the MOTHERSHIP sci-fi horror table-top role-playing game. Which we love.

We explore how TOMBS, and thinking about antagonism in general, allows writers to deepen their understanding of their characters, their relationship of the heroes with the antagonists, and generate story fuel in a way that escalates the story.

We discuss how thinking of your hero as the horror for your villains helps everything become more dynamic.

Oh, and we talk about launching an actual play podcast. Which is happening. Stay tuned!

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

CHAPTERS

• 00:00:12 - Escalating Antagonism Part 2
• 00:03:29 - Rebel Ridge
• 00:45:30 - Meet the Parents
• 01:30:29 - Key Learnings & Wrap Up
• 01:41:38 - Thanks to our Patreons

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-121: Escalating Antagonism
• DZ-49: Antagonists! (Part 1) - vs Humans

LINKS

• Kim Ho on IMBD
• Mothership
• The Philosophy of Final Destination by the Morbid Zoo
• The Philosophy of Horror by Noel Carroll
• GinnyDI: "This Game used 5 steps to scare the crap out of me" - https://youtube.com/watch?v=AUXc8hjaBQw

More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

SUBSCRIBE TO SHOT ZERO via Substack

How do the antagonistic forces in your story escalate distinctly from the protagonists' journey?

We often struggle to develop the middle stages of a story. Could this be because we focus on our protagonists' journeys and plot structure more than on how the antagonistic powers are awakened, wronged, discovered, gathering strength and revealing themselves?

In this episode, Chas and Stu are joined by professional screenwriter and playwright Kim Ho to explore how a generative story cycle (from tabletop role-playing game MOTHERSHIP) can be used to develop stories, not just write them better. This cycle is TOMBS: Transgression - Omens - Manifestation - Banishment - Slumber. Kim also contrasts this cycle with the Onset, Discovery, Confirmation, Confrontation cycle identified by horror philosopher Noel Carroll, as well as the philosophy of the FINAL DESTINATION franchise as analysed by The Morbid Zoo.

By applying the TOMBS cycle to Ryan Coogler's amazing 2025 original feature SINNERS, we discover how focusing on the rising power of the various sources of antagonism can generate narrative fuel (and make your second Act sing); force your protagonists to Survive, Solve or Save (pick one); and how this escalation in antagonism can be mapped quite separately from your protagonists' character arcs.

To prove that TOMBS does not just work for horror stories, we polled our patreons for which other genres to explore. Stay turned for our next episode where we apply the TOMBS cycle to thriller REBEL RIDGE and comedy classic MEET THE PARENTS.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

CHAPTERS

• 00:00:18 – What is TOMBS?
• 00:31:04 – SINNERS
• 01:17:51 – Key learnings & wrap up
• 01:23:51 – Patreon thanks

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-49: Antagonists! (Part 1) - vs Humans

LINKS

• Kim Ho on IMBD
• Mothership
• The Philosophy of Final Destination by the Morbid Zoo
• The Philosophy of Horror by Noel Carroll

More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

SUBSCRIBE TO SHOT ZERO via Substack

Or, how focusing on good drama will result in good subtext.

We often hear how subtext is important for good screenwriting. We're here to tell you it isn't. Good subtext is a result of good drama, and your focus should be on creating that good drama. But how?

In this episode, Chas Fisher and Stu Willis are joined by screenwriter+teacher, Tom Vaughn (Winchester) to delve into the world of subtext.

We kick off the discussion by talking through Tom's article "Why Subtext is Overrated" and break down his core idea that subtext is a byproduct of character goals, tactics and fears.

We explore this further through close examination of "the other way" scene from MICHAEL CLAYTON, "the strudel" scene INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (both known for their subtext) and the "new years" sequence from THE SUBSTANCE.

Inevitably discussion also terms to the relationship of subtext to emotional truth, theme, symbolism, dramatic irony and filmmakers subtext (?!).

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

CHAPTERS

• 00:00:20 - Intro: What is Subtext?
• 00:00:21 - Cold Open
• 00:18:59 - Michael Clayton
• 00:42:59 - Inglorious Basterds
• 01:13:48 - The Substance
• 01:46:13 - Wrap up & Key Learnings

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-40: Tactics and Scenes
• DZ-108: The Emotional Event with Judith Weston
• DZ-119: Final character choices & great endings

LINKS

• The New Literalism Plaguing Today's Biggest Movies: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/critics-notebook/the-new-literalism-plaguing-todays-biggest-movies
• Emotional Truth Over Subtext: Unlocking Compelling Scenes in Your Screenwriting: https://blog.storyandplot.com/why-subtext-is-overrated-8502a501aff8
• Story and Plot - https://storyandplot.com/
• Raising the Stakes - "What is subtext?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-jILeLdfEw

More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons. Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

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