Screenwriting Hacks for Building Tension – Free Storytelling Sessions Webinar on September 29th

MZed Education

by Mascha DeikovaToday

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When your viewers don’t want to take a toilet break in order not to miss anything… When their eyes are glued to the screen… When the reactions become visceral… This is what we usually want our movies to achieve, isn’t it? There is a great variety of ways to build tension in films, but the basic level (and the one where everything starts) is located in the script itself. That’s why it became the topic of our next free “Storytelling Sessions” webinar, hosted by MZed on September 29th. Save the date, and look below for the registration link!

Tension and suspense aren’t really about big explosions or loud reveals. More often, they are about what you hold back, and when you finally let it go. That’s the craft we’ll dive into together during the webinar. And no, we won’t talk about classic three-act structure or story beats that each of your scripts should have. (That is something people study for years.) Instead, we will learn from masters of cinema by analyzing their works and handpick some clear hacks and tips for building tension that you can implement in your projects straightaway.

What are Storytelling Sessions on MZed?

“Storytelling Sessions” is a webinar series on our educational platform MZed, where we look at the tools and techniques that all serve one purpose: great storytelling. Each session focuses on a different area of filmmaking, and we always combine key theory with interactive scene breakdowns from masterful films and series. Live attendees also actively participate, ask questions, and share their own thoughts along the way.

So far, we’ve covered a poetic concept of “Silence in Film,” “The Mighty Cut“, a topic on editing that enhances a story, and “Breaking the Framing Rules” on visual composition and how to make it more impactful. All three are now available as recorded courses on MZed. This time around, we turn to screenwriting.

Building tension: what we’ll talk about

In the upcoming session, we’ll touch on tools and concepts like:

• The difference between “surprise” and “suspense” and Hitchcock’s legendary bomb under the table;
• Why “not showing” something can sometimes work even better than the classic “show, don’t tell” advice;
• Cliffhangers, and how to end a scene or a character’s storyline at exactly the right moment;
• Why raising the stakes is important and some shortcuts for that;
• The dance of tension and release;
• …and a few more tricks for keeping your viewers on the edge of their seats.

As in the previous sessions, I will host the webinar and invite you to join, participate, and exchange your insights within our filmmaking community. Believe me, it’s a lot of fun!

I need to include the disclaimer, though! As we’re going to break down plot points of different films and analyze how their creators build tension, we can’t avoid major spoilers sometimes. So, please be aware of this.

How to participate in the webinar?

Participating in this webinar live is free of charge. All you need to do is head over here, register for the session, and save the date. “Screenwriting Hacks for Building Tension” will be hosted on Microsoft Teams and will start at 10 AM EDT / 4 PM CEST on September 29th (Tuesday). Thank you, and I’ll be thrilled to see you there!

However, if you can’t make it live, no worries — the recording will land on MZed afterward, as always.

What tension-building tricks do you rely on in your own scripts? And in general, in your projects? Which ones would you like to know more about? Let us know in the comments below!

Full disclosure: MZed is owned by CineD.