10 Screenwriting Tips from Rian Johnson on writing Knives Out

Netflix purchased the rights to two Knives Out sequels Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3 from writer-director Rian Johnson in a deal worth a reported $470 million.

Rian Johnson is an Oscar nominated screenwriter and director. He is known for writing and directing movies such as Brick (2005), the comedy-drama The Brothers Bloom (2008), the science-fiction thriller Looper (2012), the space opera Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and the murder-mystery Knives Out (2019), the last of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

1. Plot twists shouldn’t come out of nowhere but should be connected to the theme of the movie and properly set up. They need to feel like a culmination of a few things we’ve seen earlier in the film.

2. Don’t start writing dialogue until your character is completed, bursting with words and you know everything about them, especially what that character wants in every scene that they speak in.

3. When your film is dealing with complicated topics like time travel, make the film a ride to enjoy, not a puzzle to solve. Make the time travel do its job but deviate the focus on the emotion.

4. Take character tropes from older movies you loved and modernize them to fit today’s culture and you will create something unique. Think about who an “old gruff colonel” could be in our times.

5. Misdirection in your film works in a similar way a card trick works; make your audience preoccupied with something else, while you slip a card in their pocket. For example making them like a certain character to throw their scent off.

6. Reading a screenplay while watching a film is like opening a watch and seeing how the mechanics work. Get ahold of the first draft of a movie you like and analyse the writer’s voice and how they engage the reader on the page.

7. Map out the whole plot before you sit down to write, but don’t set it in stone yet because no matter how much you plan, it always changes in the actual writing process.

8. In a mystery genre, don’t make the plot twist the main point of the movie. What is more important, is the relationship that the mystery has to your protagonist’s arc and how that unveils.

9. Find your voice and follow it. It sounds cliche, yet having a unique and talented voice is the main commodity in the film industry and what everybody is looking for.

10. When you finish your first script try to get it read by as many people as you can. Forget agents, managers, producers, just get the script to anybody who would read it. You need feedback and you never know who might like it and get it to the right person.

#rianjohnson #knivesout #screenwriting #screenwriter #screenplay

[JJSR_]

7:12 what I think is great about hearing Rian say this is that he actually posts the shooting script for all his films on his website so he wants to track down classic scripts but he is also helping people find his own witch I think is really amazing and something to thank this genius for

[Thisiscinemalist]

I love this channel.. I mean, the research you do to put together one video is incredible! Thank you so much for existing on YouTube. 💜

[mikeoxbig]

I envy Rian and I’m also happy for him. The ‘Knives Out’ sequel will earn him 100 million dollars, thanks to his contract with Netflix. Good for you, Rian. Bravo 👏

[zacegan]

Probably the best one of these I’ve watched. The most authentic and helpful info. Thanks!

[Yoda-wfbu]

I really hope he gets to make a Star Wars trilogy. I want to see it so bad.

[arthurfortes]

Please do Fernando Meirelles Next or Vince Gilligan.

[Thisiscinemalist]

Can I ask you a little question please? Just out of my curiosity -

So you have this hours and hours of footage to make a 10-20 minutes video. How do you choose what clips to include in the video and what to throw away?

Thanks in advance. :)

[bibhuranjandutta]

Please make video on django unchained screenwriting tips

[nrtjivl]

Да блеать, короче я микс Тарковского, Фелини, Тарантино. Что то попоробую замутить. Я слушаю советы, но в первую очередь себя

[theexpresidents]

Yeah, I'll be skipping everything this dude says and go read old Preston Sturges screenplays.

[BosnTV]

Rian ruined Star Wars. That's pretty hard to forget. Thanks Rian.

[DoomSplitta]

Wish you had put as much thought into STAR WARS, Last Jedi gave me Aids.