I Write American

Article written by Bulent Ozdemir
(Disclaimer: This article may contain words and phrases that some people may find offensive. Please do not continue if easily offended)

I'm a Cypriot Man who grew up in London, with British values... But I write AMERICAN Scripts.

I don't write Cypriot.
I don't write British.
I write American.

Most of my childhood movies ranged from The Goonies, Back To The Future, Indiana Jones all the way up to Rocky, Pulp Fiction and Se7ven to name but a very, very few. Though I didn't have a clue back then, they've been the predominant backbone of everything I've written and aimed to capture since I left my day job in 2010. Trouble is, when it comes to story and structure, I feel very much at at odds with my homegrown peers who, understandably, embrace storytelling native to this country (UK).

Now how do I say this without sounding like a self indulgent prick...

I believe in a 3 act structure of start, middle and an end with at least two plot points that anchor the story. I enjoy watching/writing films that catch the audience off guard with twists, turns and shock reveals somewhere along it's timeline. The best example I can give is M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense:

That film is the epiphany of "Ho. Lee. Fuck."

Write What You See

Article written by Bulent Ozdemir
(Disclaimer: This article may contain words and phrases that some people may find offensive. Please do not continue if easily offended)

The thing with click bait is that they very rarely give you the answers to the statements/questions they're posing. I call it the Politician Syndrome aka No Shit, Sherlock! This applies to a lot of filmmaking articles I come across, but a typical screenwriting example would be:

5 Things You Need To Write A Great Story

- Writing software (or pen and paper)
- A story that's worth telling
- Characters we can relate to
- Something bad that happens
- An ending your audience can remember

How you do this is completely up to YOU! At the end of the day, you're the one who's telling the story. It's your voice that counts!

Click this
Click this
Click this
Click this...

No Shit, Sherlock!

I mean, really? Do people really need to be told this stuff? It's like saying you need money to buy a house. Show me the money, mutha fackers!

I'm not sure who said it, but one of the best pieces of screenwriting advise I've personally come across in the diarrhetic bull-shit-sphere known as how not to write, how to write click bait is this:

"Write What You See" 

THE SOLDIER - Did That Just Happen?

Article written by Bulent Ozdemir
(Disclaimer: This article contains words and phrases that some people may find offensive. Please do not continue if easily offended)

Directing Actor Oliver Park

Where to begin...

OK, let's take it from the top. The Soldier is a script I originally wrote for the Virgin Media Shorts competition (2013). I'd entered my previous short film 30 Seconds 2 Late in 2012 but had zero intention of entering this year. That is until around 4 weeks before competition deadline. I suddenly had this idea about a lone British soldier who makes a last stand against enemy forces. I knew I could make it work, shit, even make the tight deadline if I just kept things super simple. One location. 2 actors, max.