Discover how the Coen brothers bend traditional narrative rules to create their unforgettable worlds.
Date: Friday, 25 April
Time: 12:30
Room: Tuke Hall
Filmed: YES
With 33 Academy Award nominations and 6 wins, Joel and Ethan Coen have built their legendary careers by following no one’s rules but their own.
In this fascinating session, Scott Myers deconstructs the unique narrative dynamics that make a Coen brothers film instantly recognisable, and shows how you can apply these principles to your own work.
Scott digs beneath the surface of classics like “Fargo,” “No Country for Old Men,” and “The Big Lebowski” to reveal the consistent storytelling patterns that drive the brothers’ distinctive vision:
- How they place ordinary characters in extraordinary circumstances
- Their masterful use of authority figures casting long shadows
- The seductive allure and inevitable collapse of grand schemes
- Their strategic deployment of violence as narrative punctuation
- The morally complicated universes they construct
- Their signature unresolved endings that somehow satisfy
This isn’t about copying the Coens’ style, it’s about understanding how they approach traditional narrative structure in decidedly non-traditional ways, and how you can bring similar creative autonomy to your own writing.
The Coens consistently push boundaries while still creating accessible, compelling stories. Learn how to identify your own unique storytelling sensibilities and develop them into a distinctive voice that, like the Coens’, breaks rules with purpose and vision.
Speakers In This Session
Scott Myers // Screenwriter, Blogger, and Educator
Scott Myers, screenwriter with 30+ Hollywood credits, best-selling author of The Protagonist’s Journey, and host of GoIntoTheStory, inspires writers globally.
