Body Heat was one of the very first scripts I re-read and broke down etc... heck, I even did a little warm up exercise rewriting it with all men characters calling it Buddy Heat ha

Body Heat has one of the best thematic openings ever. The first two lines of scene description are:

"Flames in the night sky. Distant SIRENS."

Sets the tone right away. Sirens are like warning signals to the Protagonist Ned Racine (William Hurt)... but will he pay attention? And, of course, foreshadows the climax of the movie, where Racine thinks his lover has just been blown up:

"Racine knows horror. He struggles to his feet and stumbles toward the fire. His body is silohuetted against the leaping, ROARING flames in the night sky."

Perfect symmetry.

Scott -

I thought his process of writing was interesting - he chose not to outline but just to plow carefully forward. Perhaps its just so ingrained he does it unconciously.

Thanks!

Julie :)

Great post, Scott. I LOVED reading about how a writing stud like Lawrence Kasdan works his magic.

Thanks.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA