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Creating, thinking and writing screenplays today

Tools and Techniques for Screenwriting and Film Project Development.

In our world where artificial intelligences create films directly from the desires of their authors expressed in very few words, in this world where 3.5-hour films in dark theaters coexist with 10-second videos on social networks—which of these require screenplays, why, and what is a screenplay?

Is a screenplay still useful in an era where everyone carries in their pocket audiovisual creation tools of nearly professional quality? What is the purpose of a screenplay?

For writers, directors, producers, and especially content creators, as they are most often called today, I believe that the screenplay, its methods of creation, its writing techniques, and its ways of telling stories, is an extremely powerful tool to help us create the most impactful audiovisual works possible—works that will best connect with their audiences today and tomorrow, across their respective distribution platforms, whether in movie theaters, on television screens, on SVOD platforms, on community video sites, or on new media built exclusively around collaborative video like TikTok.

This guide does not claim to be exhaustive, but it is based on concrete experiences—those I have lived and those I have facilitated. For over 30 years, I have supported thousands of people in making films of all genres, founded and directed several film festivals, created numerous innovative events around audiovisual media, and also served on creative funding committees. What I share here is therefore subjective and practical, drawn from my journey and my observations in practice.

The Principle of Consequences and Oppositions
The Principle of Consequences and Oppositions

How two words can transform the narrative power of a screenplay.

Replacing “then” with “therefore” or “but”: this might be the simplest and most powerful advice for bringing meaning and emotion to stories. The power of logical connectorsTo captivate the viewer’s attention in screenwriting, there are many (…)
20 July 2025
  2 min
Scientific research and scenario
Scientific research and scenario

Scientific rigor guarantees script quality.

Rigorous scientific research, whether it concerns the hard sciences or the humanities, anchors the screenplay in reality and generates singular ideas born from the encounter between imagination and reality. Documentation, Experimentation, and (…)
30 March 2025
  3 min
Writing on screen
Writing on screen

Work on the relationship between text and image.

Let us explore and work on the potentialities of the text-image relationship in cinema. Present since the silent era with intertitles, the written word has diversified with digital technology, facilitating the integration of texts and graphic (…)
29 March 2025
  2 min
The non-fiction character
The non-fiction character

Reinventing narratives on social networks.

Social media influencers have created a new audiovisual genre: neither fiction nor documentary, but rather constructed characters that they portray and interact with their audience. This phenomenon redefines the codes of storytelling through its (…)
18 March 2025
  6 min
Making memories
Making memories

Make the film sticky.

By creating scenes in a setting and then returning to it with other characters unaware of what happened there, the screenwriter generates intimacy with the viewer, because they remember. This mnemonic complicity fosters emotional attachment to (…)
14 March 2025
  2 min
The trompe l'oeil technique
The trompe l’oeil technique

To make the film’s universe credible.

The trompe l’œil technique, used in the old special effects method of “matte painting,” can be transposed to screenwriting to expand the film’s universe by suggesting a broader world around the main characters. Star Wars in the Heart of Paris? (…)
13 March 2025
  2 min
For a balanced consideration of characters
For a balanced consideration of characters

The art of creating physical sensations in the viewer.

The visual comparison of weights carried by different characters creates a physical sensation in the viewer. These burdens, whether material or symbolic, reveal power dynamics and engage our sensory perception of the film far beyond mere (…)
10 March 2025
  3 min
Subjectivized reality
Subjectivized reality

The intelligence of tilting reality.

Subjectivized reality, a cinematic technique where the viewer experiences as real what is only the inner fantasy of a character, creates a disturbing empathy and transforms the film into a waking dream with multiple possible interpretations. A (…)
9 March 2025
  3 min
Use Chat GPT to structure your ideas
Use Chat GPT to structure your ideas

The proper use of machine reasoning.

Generative AIs excel at organizing information thanks to their logical reasoning capabilities. By submitting our ideas to them, even in a scattered manner, they can reveal coherent structures and unexpected connections, often very useful. Obvious (…)
8 March 2025
  3 min
Information retention
Information retention

Manipulation or narrative tension?

Information withholding, a narrative technique that deliberately hides information known to the characters but not to the audience, creates tension and curiosity that drives us to piece together the story, raising ethical questions about the (…)
7 March 2025
  2 min
The investigation process
The investigation process

Why so many cops on screen?

The investigative approach fascinates and structures many narratives. Beyond police officers, convenient characters because they are legitimate to investigate, what if we explored other approaches inspired by the humanities to renew our (…)
6 March 2025
  3 min
Contactless application
Contactless application

To anchor emotions in the spectator’s body.

Narrative technique aimed at creating a physical and emotional connection between the viewer and the characters by evoking a shared sensory experience, despite the absence of direct contact with the screen. A subtle method to anchor bodily (…)
5 March 2025
  2 min
The snake charmer's trick
The snake charmer’s trick

To build the rhythm of emotional breathing.

Temporarily neutralizing narrative tension with a “charm” that lulls the opponent allows for the creation of an emotional rhythm akin to breathing. This technique avoids numbing the audience by alternating moments of danger and relaxation, (…)
4 March 2025
  2 min
Finding inspiration in scenery
Finding inspiration in scenery

For films that are both realistic and ambitious.

Unlike pure imagination, writing directly in a real location allows you to draw from its unique details. The settings then become sources of inspiration, facilitating the writing of realistic, cost-effective, and deeply rooted scripts. Imagining (…)
4 March 2025
  2 min
See a film or have it told to you?
See a film or have it told to you?

Take into account the actual location of the film after viewing.

The screenwriter must consider not only the direct viewers, but also those who will be told about his work. These secondary stories, which have become multiple interpretations, contribute to the life of the film in the collective memory, and (…)
3 March 2025
  3 min
Replacing characters
Replacing characters

Touching the viewer’s subconscious.

Cinema has the power to transgress the notion of fixed identity in characters. Works like Lost Highway or The Matrix reveal that a character can be replaced, multiplied, or divided, shaking our certainties about identity and reaching into the (…)
2 March 2025
  2 min
Playing with narrative reconstruction
Playing with narrative reconstruction

Taking into account the viewer’s neural connections.

Narrative reconstruction is a cognitive process in which the viewer actively creates neural connections to make sense of a story. This playful and particularly rewarding space represents one of the richest interactions between a work and its (…)
1 March 2025
  3 min
The emotional elevator
The emotional elevator

Ethics and manipulation in screenplays.

The emotional elevator is a psychological manipulation technique that alternates between positive and negative moments to maintain control over the other person. This phenomenon, exploited by manipulators, can be used in screenwriting to explore (…)
24 February 2025
  3 min
Are dialogues essential?
Are dialogues essential?

Method for (un)useful dialogues.

Should all dialogues in a film be essential? I believe that every dialogue, every word spoken by an actor in a film, just like every shot, must be essential. There is no room for filler. Otherwise, it will immediately bore the audience because (…)
23 February 2025
  5 min
A film in the past
A film in the past

Details on film running times.

There are far fewer nuances in time in cinema than in literature. Cinema tells its stories mainly in the present tense, even if the past can intervene, notably through flashbacks. Let’s explore the finer points and potential of working with (…)
22 February 2025
  4 min
Going down the stairs in reverse
Going down the stairs in reverse

The art of reverse flashback.

The reverse flashback technique allows for exploring the origins of a situation by gradually moving backward into the past, enriching the understanding of the present through a quasi-archaeological approach. The Flashback as a System of Deepening (…)
22 February 2025
  3 min
Motion blur
Motion blur

An animated film technique at the service of the screenplay.

The “motion blur” technique, essential in animation to create fluid, natural transitions, can be applied to screenwriting to make moments of narrative transformation more organic. Fluid motion techniqueWhat makes the movement of a cartoon (…)
22 February 2025
  2 min
The trick of telepathy
The trick of telepathy

For a rhizomic scenario.

The narrative trick of telepathy proposes to integrate unexplained transfers of information between characters into the scenario, creating a rhizomic dimension that reinforces the sense of reality through its very complexity. Beyond rationality (…)
22 February 2025
  2 min
Distant editing
Distant editing

A powerful formal concept at the service of the script.

The Armenian filmmaker Artavazd Pelechian, who has directed documentaries with a highly powerful and emotional form, such as « We », « The Seasons », or « Our Century », among others, explained his primary editing method, « distant editing », in (…)
21 February 2025
  4 min
Taking narrative capillarity into account
Taking narrative capillarity into account

Consider your scenario in relation to other scenarios.

Contemporary audiovisual narratives are no longer perceived in isolation but as part of a network, creating a narrative capillarity where each piece of content resonates with others through the viewer’s experience and their viewing practices. How (…)
20 February 2025
  6 min
What is a story?
What is a story?

On narrative fractality.

A story is defined as the transformation of an initial situation into a final situation through a series of events. This change of state manifests itself at all scales of the narrative, from major story arcs to individual scenes. The Basic (…)
19 February 2025
  3 min
The Push Button
The Push Button

For moments of boost at key stages of the story.

In screenwriting, the “push button” is an action that triggers an irreversible mechanism, propelling the story into a point of no return, like a ticking timer. Used sparingly, it gives the narrative a strong energy. A Magical SwitchWe know how (…)
17 February 2025
  2 min
The key in the lock
The key in the lock

A tool for building narrative levels.

Like a key in a lock, each narrative element must perfectly adapt to the context of the story to move it forward. A new character, setting, or prop possesses characteristics that must fit into the existing narrative to create fluid and credible (…)
16 February 2025
  2 min
What is the purpose of a screenplay?
What is the purpose of a screenplay?

A transient and unlocatable object.

A screenplay serves two functions: to convince and to organize. AI challenges this transitional format by enabling more flexible and interactive creation, without eliminating traditional methods. Paths for experimentation, to renew cinema, so (…)
16 February 2025
  5 min
Film Your Scripts Instead of Writing Them !
Film Your Scripts Instead of Writing Them !

A Method for Writing and Creativity.

Faced with a blank page, ideas are hard to come by. I propose a method that involves filming guided improvisations with friends, to generate authentic, inspiring material rooted in reality. The Unreality of the Blank PageWhen facing a blank (…)
15 February 2025
  7 min
The specifics of screenwriting
The specifics of screenwriting

How to write a screenplay?

The role of the screenplay is to help people imagine a film and organize its production. It is for this reason that there are certain characteristics and formal specificities of screenwriting, shared by professionals in the audiovisual sector, so (…)
14 February 2025
  6 min
The character identification process
The character identification process

Exploring the depths of fictional characters.

How is it that we identify with fictional characters? In some films, the main characters are deliberately insipid, while the secondary characters, especially the villains, are more polished, far more interesting, complex and profound. This seems (…)
13 February 2025
  3 min
The webbed finger technique
The webbed finger technique

To move stories forward in a powerful way.

The technique of webbed fingers in writing links each narrative element to two others, creating a collective force that pushes the story and its coherence, like the membranes on a duck’s legs, which powerfully push the water to produce forward (…)
11 February 2025
  2 min
The closing door theory
The closing door theory

Play on the viewer’s frustration to create narrative tension.

The technique of suspense keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat by creating an information gap between them and the characters in the film. But it’s far from the only effective narrative technique. Here’s another one, which I’ve named the (…)
11 February 2025
  4 min
The script's little bike
The script’s little bike

For the rhythmic mechanics of writing.

A screenplay is a narrative mechanism, like a bicycle: the energy of the characters and the story move forward in time, guided by precise gears. A useful metaphor for spotting weaknesses and building harmony in writing.A screenplay is a (…)
9 February 2025
  2 min
The importance of nature in a scenario
The importance of nature in a scenario

For an organic dimension in our relationship with films.

How and why involving the natural elements in a script anchors the film in a deep relationship with the viewer. Our nature mobilizedWe are living beings who are an integral part of nature. In an unconscious, intuitive and intrinsic way, we all (…)
8 February 2025
  2 min
The idea bank
The idea bank

A treasure chest for the scriptwriter.

Build a very simple, scalable and efficient tool to solve all types of problems in scenarios. What makes up storiesStories, mainly human ones, organize sequences of situations, emotions, sequences and effects, each one unique, but in which (…)
7 February 2025
  2 min
The sieve technique
The sieve technique

A solution for lack of inspiration.

The sifting technique helps to overcome lack of inspiration. By collecting ideas unfiltered, then “sifting” them, the ones that shine like gold emerge, revealing treasures hidden in a shapeless mass. A method for finding nugget ideas.When (…)
4 February 2025
  2 min
Anthropomorphism and scenario
Anthropomorphism and scenario

Situating ourselves in the living world.

Anthropomorphism dominates cinema, attributing human traits to non-humans. Faced with the Anthropocene, it is crucial to move beyond this perspective to tell the world differently, by exploring non-anthropocentric narrative logics. An invitation (…)
3 February 2025
  2 min
Dreams, psychoanalysis and scenarios
Dreams, psychoanalysis and scenarios

To work with the audience’s subconscious.

Cinema and psychoanalysis, born together, explore the unconscious. The dream, at the heart of films, acts as a powerful narrative engine, blending reality and fiction, and deeply touching the viewer. Exploration of mysterious narrative (…)
2 February 2025
  3 min
Scriptwriting and artificial intelligence: towards new subjects?
Scriptwriting and artificial intelligence: towards new subjects?

Anthropology of contemporary writing.

Since ChatGPT in 2022, generative AI has been transforming our ways of creating and thinking. These technologies, linked to artistic forms, are reshaping our worldviews. I invite you to explore, in an unconventional and perhaps slightly (…)
25 January 2025
  6 min
Scenario and psychology
Scenario and psychology

Overcoming the psychologization of characters.

Screenwriting often relies on the psychological depth of characters to evoke emotion and foster audience identification. But what if this approach, while relevant, isn’t the only path? By exploring other perspectives, such as the psychology of (…)
21 January 2025
  4 min
Viewer freedom
Viewer freedom

For an ethics of the relationship between film and viewer.

Screenwriting often relies on narrative mastery to control the viewer’s emotions. Yet this quest for control can conflict with an ethic of viewer freedom. Why not consider film as a space for sharing knowledge, where viewers are free to think and (…)
20 January 2025
  3 min
Alternating day and night
Alternating day and night

For organic scenarios.

As a filmmaker, I often wonder what makes a film organic and captivating. The alternation between day and night, a natural rhythm of our existence, is a powerful tool for creating believability and anchoring the viewer in the story. I suggest (…)
19 January 2025
  2 min
Scenario and architecture
Scenario and architecture

An essential underlying structure.

Cinema, often perceived as an art of image and sound, is deeply connected to architecture. Through spaces, movements, and scales, it shapes immersive environments. From the screenplay stage, integrating this architectural dimension enriches the (…)
18 January 2025
  3 min
Our emotions as the source of the scenario
Our emotions as the source of the scenario

Encouragement to take risks in writing.

A captivating screenplay draws from the author’s lived emotions. By exploring their own fears, joys, or sorrows, the writer creates authentic and powerful situations that resonate deeply with the audience. Writing then becomes an introspective, (…)
16 January 2025
  2 min
Serendipity and screenwriting
Serendipity and screenwriting

Disorganize the writing.

A screenplay, structured and the result of extensive work, is the visible part of an iceberg.Serendipity, the art of discovering the essential by chance, enriches writing by bringing unexpected connections. Embracing the unexpected creates (…)
15 January 2025
  2 min
Scenario ontology, part 1
Scenario ontology, part 1

Isn’t screenwriting the opposite of cinema?

Cinema, according to André Bazin, captures reality through mechanical recording, creating a fascinating trace of what has existed. In contrast, the screenplay, crafted with words, does not rely on this ontology of reality. Yet, cinema can film a (…)
14 January 2025
  3 min
The art of pitching
The art of pitching

A method for building film projects.

“Pitching” is most often understood as the act of summarizing one’s project in a very concise manner, with the goal of convincing a partner to finance it, participate in it, contribute to it, etc. Thus, the pitch is generally considered the art (…)
8 January 2025
  5 min
What is a scenario?
What is a scenario?

Introduction to a philosophical vision of a technical and artistic object.

The screenplay, traditionally seen as a technical tool of cinema, is in reality a complex concept that deserves to be questioned in its essence. Both a practical guide and a creative act, it reveals different facets depending on cinematic (…)
8 January 2025
  2 min
The exhibition scene
The exhibition scene

Constraint or opportunity?

The exposition scene in a film or series is a key element that provides the audience with the necessary information to understand the story, characters, and stakes. It introduces the dramatic situation and offers context without which the (…)
7 January 2025
  3 min
Mastering suspense
Mastering suspense

Using Alfred Hitchcock’s method.

The proper application of suspense techniques allows for the creation of a strong bond between the viewer and the film. I will present the method described by Alfred Hitchcock in the book Hitchcock-Truffaut, a collection of interviews between (…)
6 January 2025
  6 min
Drawing for writing
Drawing for writing

Technique for freeing the brain.

Drawing to write: a key to unlocking writing. Drawing, often perceived as difficult, frees the mind and offers a new perspective. By sketching shapes, cards or emotions, you take a step aside to better organize your ideas and boost your (…)
3 January 2025
  2 min
The “truth” of a script
The “truth” of a script

Creativity method.

Truth“is not realism or verisimilitude. The”truth“is a perception of the spectator, which can be very powerful: it is the sign of an anchoring of the film in oneself, of the meaning that a work takes in our life, of the deep enrichment that it (…)
1 October 2021
  5 min
Take sound into account when writing scripts
Take sound into account when writing scripts

The materiality of cinema, right from the script stage.

’A scenario that gives, on reading, the sensation of the soundtrack of the film, will have a rare, extremely convincing evocative power. Physiological thinking of the scenarioA film is, physiologically, an object that addresses only two of our (…)
7 March 2019
  3 min
The voice-over: friend or foe of the scenario?
The voice-over: friend or foe of the scenario?

Against preconceived ideas, for diversity of expression.

Voice-over is often discouraged in academic scriptwriting textbooks, which focus on the dramatic situation rather than on an interiority considered potentially boring. And yet, many films, and even “mainstream products”, successfully use (…)
6 March 2019
  3 min
Test your scenarios with your mobile phone
Test your scenarios with your mobile phone

Why go without?

A very simple use of the mobile phone can speed up the scriptwriting work. PrototypesIn many fields prototypes are made, which can also be called drafts, diagrams, wireframes, mockups... The prototype makes it possible to partially simulate (…)
4 March 2019
  3 min
“Scrivener” to write a script
“Scrivener” to write a script

An atypical and very powerful tool.

Scrivener is probably today the best software to write a script. Synthetic discovery of this tool. Why a specific software to write a screenplay?Why would we need specific software to write a script? Don’t we just need a pen or a word (…)
15 July 2018
  4 min
Orally present his film to a commission
Orally present his film to a commission

Being prepared and meeting expectations.

I am very regular member commission to award financial aid to film production. In my experience, what are the best practices and pitfalls? Why oral presentationAll commissions do not offer the ability to project to make an oral presentation. (…)
16 August 2013
  4 min
Mind mapping to build a script
Mind mapping to build a script

Tool-based practice of intellectual agility.

One of the first difficulties in screenwriting is macroscopic construction, i.e. the overall sense of the narrative. Mind mapping is a practice that opens the door to macroscopic agility. Forget Syd FieldThere are, of course, the famous (…)
30 July 2009
  3 min
Screenwriting software
Screenwriting software

Tools that format or emancipate us?

Script software standardizes page layout, automatically applies styles and numbering, and frees up time for creativity. From Final Draft to Celtx, they have become invaluable tools for scriptwriters. Why use special software to write a screenplay (…)
31 January 2007
  3 min
The writing of the screenplay in terms of the DVD
The writing of the screenplay in terms of the DVD

New technologies, new ways of writing.

The digital age is transforming the traditional screenplay into a more complex, modular object. In cinema as in institutional works or for social networks, the anticipation of multiple uses, already on DVD since the late 90s and now in streaming, (…)
27 April 2006
  2 min
How to write a screenplay ?
How to write a screenplay ?

First leads.

Scriptwriting confronts all authors with a fundamental challenge: to organize creative chaos efficiently. Between spontaneity and structure, each develops his or her own method, but all face the same need to balance the overall vision with the (…)
8 April 2006
  2 min
Writing the script of a documentary
Writing the script of a documentary

Tracks for a balancing act.

Issues and approaches to documentary writing. Initially questions What is literature ? A look at the real ? A meeting between a filmmaker and a reality ? What is the value of a documentary ? In the quality of spontaneity, the truth of this (…)
21 March 2006
  3 min