Month: December 2017

In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. What makes great holiday movies stand apart from the rest? We’ve covered the Seven Essential Ingredients to Writing a Successful Holiday Movie: Nostalgia, Magic, Family, Atmosphere, Tropes/Cliches, Hope, and Redemption. That’s not to say holiday movies have… Continue reading First Draft: Five Must-Read Classic Holiday Movie Screenplays — MovieMaker Magazine

“Building suspense is an intuitive process that is hard to verbalize.” – editor Saar Klein When I teach suspense workshops a common topic that comes up is the use of music. Should a tense scene be accompanied by music, or is silence a better option? In my new book Suspense with a Camera: A Filmmaker’s… Continue reading Suspense with a Camera: Jeffrey Michael Bays Talks Building Suspense with Oscar-nominated Editor Saar Klein — MovieMaker Magazine