DZ-124: Making the despicable compelling

How does Film Noir show us terrible people doing terrible things without endorsing it? Mel and Chas continue to explore what Noir (the genre) can teach writers of all other genres. In particular: how to keep the audience on side of characters doing reprehensible things how to control your audience understanding of those reprehensible actions distinguishing between characters undergoing transformative arcs against discovering their true natures In finding the common craft tools of Noir over 100 years, this Part 2 looks at two modern noirs - DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1995) and WOMAN OF THE HOUR (2024) - after Part 1 looked at the classic DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE LONG GOODBYE. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. Despite Chas claiming to have edited this episode it was, in fact, Chris Walker who saved the day and got this done. Thanks Chris. CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Using noir as a lens 00:01:56 - DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS 00:31:33 - WOMAN OF THE HOUR 01:04:30 - Key Learnings 01:08:50 - Thank you Patreons! LINKS Shot Zero on the noir-set of noir shots in WOMAN OF THE HOUR RELATED EPISODES DZ-123: Flawed characters & noir DZ-03: Making unlikeable protagonists compelling DZ-110: Voiceover More Draft Zero is brought to you more often by our awesome Patreons . Especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis, and Khrob. Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

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DZ-124: Making the despicable compelling is an episode from Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast by Stuart Willis.

This episode is 01:10:35 long.

This episode was published on Jan 30, 2026.

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