Plot is what happens. The story makes us care. That’s what I wrote on coverage for a script that I read last week. This particular script was fairly well-structured with the act breaks happening relatively close to where they should. It had plenty of conflict between characters whose goals where well-defined. It also had a …
Category: Structure
Emotion: The Lifeblood of Your Screenplay
Emotion is the lifeblood of your screenplay. That might not seem like such a bold statement to make, but you would be astounded how many films are missing that key component. This is especially true in genre films, like action, horror and comedy. The writers of those scripts and the makers of those films are …
The Hero is the Hardest Part
I evaluated a script and provided coverage last week that made for an interesting read, as well as a couple of interesting dilemmas. The screenplay was entertaining enough. It was an action script that was well-paced, but not particularly well-structured. It had a very short first act and there was no discernible break between the …
The Hero’s Journey
Just a reminder. Thank you, Christopher Vogler
Three Mistakes Screenwriters Make With Subplots
I read a script for a client recently that had a lot of good things going for it. I enjoyed the story, I liked the characters and the dialogue was snappy, witty and smart. And yet, something was bothering me the entire time I was reading it. What bothered me even more was that I …
Film Noir and the Production Code: An Unlikely Alliance
For more than four decades the Production Code, otherwise known as the Hays code, controlled the content of American films. It was established in 1930 by William Hays with the blessing of the major studios, as well as conservative religious groups, and was initially released as A Code to Govern the Making of Motion and …
3-Act Structure in a Sequence – Jaws
A few weeks ago, I blogged about a scene from Children of Men in which the scene was structured in 3 perfect acts. Certainly finding or creating a 3-Act structure within a 4-minute scene, while not necessarily easy, is often necessary and is usually clear to discern. But what about an entire sequence of scenes? …
3-Act Structure in a Scene – Children of Men
Anyone who has followed this blog with any amount of regularity knows that I am an advocate of proper structure in screenplays, especially if you’re an unknown writer who is trying to break into the business with a spec script. Using proper dramatic structure when writing your script actually frees up your creativity by providing …
Character/Story/Theme: The Holy Trinity of Screenwriting
Much ink and many pixels have been spent over the years over how to write a quality screenplay. Many people with more experience than I have waxed on about structure, mythology, inciting incidents, plot points, subplots, twists, turns, and every other theory imaginable. I, myself, have written about many of those same things here in …
The Act 2-Act 3 Transition: Three Reasons it Trips People Up
As screenwriters of varying experience and success, we’ve all heard over and over again about 3-Act structure. I’ve written about the importance of structure in this blog many times, and especially how important it is for young and unknown screenwriters to demonstrate that they have a grasp for the structure before anyone will take them …