On Screen
Adapting a book means deciding what the book was actually about
A faithful adaptation is not a transcription. The medium changes what can be interior, what can be compressed and what has to be…
On Screen
Performance, structure and what a scene is doing while you watch it.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
On Screen
Subtext is not a hidden meaning, it is a gap the audience closes
A scene works below its dialogue when the situation supplies information the words refuse to. The technique is structural rather…
On Screen
An antagonist is a structural device before it is a person
Opposition exists to force a protagonist to make costly choices. Whether it wears a face is a design decision, not a requirement.
On Screen
Voiceover is a second author arguing with the picture
Narration adds a voice that knows things the camera does not. Whether that enriches a film or apologises for it depends on when it…
On Screen
Rearranging the timeline changes what the audience has to do
Telling events out of order is not decoration. It moves the work of assembly from the storyteller to the viewer, and that transfer…
On Screen
Where people stand is the first draft of the scene
Blocking decides what the camera can see, what an audience infers about power, and how long the day will take. It happens before a…
On Screen
A payoff lands only if the setup was doing something else
Planting information so it registers without announcing itself is one of the hardest technical problems in screenwriting. Most…
On Screen
Improvisation on camera is a rehearsal method, not a free-for-all
Letting actors invent dialogue produces usable material only inside tight constraints. The constraints are technical as much as…
On Screen
Tone is a promise, and breaking it costs the audience something
A film teaches viewers what kind of thing it is within minutes. Changing that contract later is possible, but it has to be prepared…