Just viewed a short clip on Film Courage featuring Jill Chamberlain speaking on the method she created to teach writers, screenplay story structure. You can view the clip here: https://youtu.be/_AH1aw60hDA
An example of the worksheet illustrating the technique can be seen in the pic attached, where Chinatown was used as an example.
Me personally, I'm not particularly fond of anything that tries to place storytelling into a schematic format like this. I find it stifles the creativity, but that's just my take, and it's an opinion made without reading her book, so it could very well be beneficial to writers to use the technique.
Have you heard of the Nutshell Technique? Read her book? What are your thoughts about it, and things of the like?
2 people like this
I haven't no, but it looks just like every other "technique" ever created. I'm sure it's helpful, It looks a well formed character arc/plot outline for China Town. At some point every writer has to understand how to plot a story but after it's learned it's learned. There's no more secrets. If this is the first "how to" a writer comes to it probably fulfils the brief. I don't see anything new though, because there's nothing new in any of them. They all do the same thing in a new draft, wrapped in a different sleeve.
1 person likes this
On a side note, I'd rather listen to screenwriters who have a strong body of work. David Mamet is one of those people who I find compelling. As is Aron Sorkin. Both have very good podcasts on Masterclass.
1 person likes this
I don’t think this adds anything meaningful to the existing canon of technique commentaries. If anything, it’s just an oversimplification of how a character arc relates to three-act structure.
1 person likes this
Jill Chamberlain gets a lot of great reviews and testimonials from successful and popular show runners, writers and producers, and teaches a great in-person class, too. Some of her students have given her major credit for making them better writers and getting them over the hump from "aspiring amateur" to "optioned screenwriter". She also works as a script doctor for producers and studios.
I'm all for anyone who helps some/many writers - from aspiring to professionals - become better at what they do. I think some people who are down on certain teachers or techniques feel like they're being constricted by structures. What I've found to happen is quite the opposite, but to each their own.
Best fortunes to you in your creative endeavors, Imo!