Hurt Locker won best picture. I was hoping the director, James Cameron’s ex-wife, would hoist trophy and say “I’M THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!”

(via David Press)

We get it. Yes, you’re clever for pointing out that it’s just Dances with Wolves in space. Now click through and listen to an interview with James Cameron at the Writers Guild.

One of the articles discussed the poor quality of Australian screenplays, which tend to lack character transformation. According to the author, the central character’s personal journey and ultimate change is what makes the audience relate to the film. I don’t totally agree.

And you’re right. The idea that a screenplay or story is broken if the Main Character doesn’t change simply represents the mindset of the uninformed. Characters need to grow as the acts turn, but that does NOT have to result in a complete transformational change. Need proof? Watch the video.

[A great movie] is a collaboration, a collaboration between handsome, gifted people and sickly little mole people.

Robert Downey Jr. on the Oscars (memory jogged by Cynthia Closkey)

Snark the Reader, another script reader who blogs about what they read, offers up some good thoughts on why his most recent read was a success:

The main character is open and vulnerable because something close to him, or something he values, is always in jeopardy. It MATTERS to him. This is such a gift! It keeps the story pushing forward to the climax because he’s got to figure out problems, and one problem begets five related ones. We’re never bored.

Reading through the first couple of pages on Snark’s site, it becomes clear that what is missing the most from the scripts he or she is unlucky to read is the absence of a well-defined Main Character throughline. When you’re not engaged emotionally, as in say Avatar or the animated 9, the problem can always be traced to the lack of or broken development of this key throughline.