Back in my college days, I took a class that turned out to be a game-changer for me. I had this incredible professor at USC named Peter Exline, who was like a walking encyclopedia of film knowledge. He taught a Script Analysis course that focused on dissecting scripts to figure out what makes a movie great. You might not have heard his name, but he played a crucial role in inspiring films like The Big Lebowski. I often reflect on the invaluable lessons I learned from him, particularly about how to captivate an audience from the very first moments of a film. Have you ever wondered what it takes to hook viewers right off the bat? Well, in this article, I’ll take you through some of those essential insights that still resonate with me today and are instrumental in my screenplay writing journey. If you’re curious to dive deeper, LEARN MORE.
That I learned from my favorite film school professor
Back when I was an undergrad, I took a class at USC entitled Script Analysis taught by Peter Exline, a name you likely haven’t heard of, but who partially inspired The Big Lebowski.
The purpose of the class was to teach us how to read screenplays and determine if they’d make good movies or not. Through that process, we learned to write script coverage.
Mostly, though, anyone who took his class walked away with a clear idea of story and how to keep an audience member glued to the screen. Even though it was twenty years ago, I never forgot the lessons he taught me and continue to use them when writing my screenplays today.
1. Grab them in the beginning
One week, Exline brought in a series of movies that we watched the first five or ten minutes of. These movies included Bonnie and Clyde, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Léon: The Professional (my memory can’t recall any of the other ones he brought that day — sorry).
It was nearly impossible to watch the beginnings of Bonnie and Clyde and The Professional without wanting to see more. There was a collective groan when he turned them off.
