Master Class In Screenwriting About Structure

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Master Class In Screenwriting About Structure

    It's 90 min long but def worth a look even if you do it in pieces.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iywvNIWKbPI

  • #2
    Re: Master Class In Screenwriting About Structure

    Thanks Cyfress, I'll check it out.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Master Class In Screenwriting About Structure

      I really like the Film Courage channel. Whoever is behind it curates it well. I'll listen to this one, looks interesting.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Master Class In Screenwriting About Structure

        The teacher really takes a mathematical/cookie cutter approach to structure which was surprising to me.

        He claims that stories are told in Hero/Goal situations. These situations can be 2 - 7 pages long. He claims 7 is about as long as he's seen in scripts. There's 6 of these situations in Act 1 with the 6th one being the Act 1 climax which he calls "Stunning Surprise One-. He says life has to change in a moment for the hero at this point. There's no build up. It has to be a draw dropping moment so to speak.

        There's 6 more hero/goal situations in the first part of Act 2 with the 6th one being the midpoint. He says the midpoint works in the opposite way of Stunning Surprise 1 in that the midpoint involves development followed by a reveal or a reversal.

        There's six more hero/goal situations in the 2nd half of Act 2 with the 6th one being the Act 2 climax which he calls Stunning Surprise 2. This surprise must ruin the plans of the hero in an instant. This is a moment of bewilderment and defeat for the hero.

        Act 3 has no more than 5 Hero/Goal situations. He's never seen more than 5 and the norm is three.

        That's 21 - 23 hero/goal situations that tell a story. He said if you look for this in any script you will find it.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Master Class In Screenwriting About Structure

          It's important to note that he is specifically speaking about mainstream, commercial Hollywood movies, with a single Hero, which is also what Michael Hague's work, and some of Christopher Vogler's (he goes more into mythic story structure) work is based on.

          The reason he focuses on these type of films is because their success shows that audiences made an emotional connection to them.

          It's an important distinction, because he is not saying that this applies to all films, rather that you can see this structure within this type of film.

          It's good so far. There's more to it than just structure, he talks about first organizing the elements that are necessary to tell the story. Three things that need to be established:
          • A sympathetic, active Hero
          • Physical visible, high stakes goal
          • Powerful adversary, committed to stop Hero and creates conflict


          So, there is a lot more to this class than just beating out structure. If you are a writer that enjoys instruction and insights on story and structure, you might like this video.

          I do.
          FA4

          POST EDIT:
          I thought it was a great video. The "Hero Goal Sequence" is new for me, but I can see how well it works and the example of Gravity's first act is terrific. All ties into character arc.
          Nice.
          Last edited by finalact4; 08-04-2020, 08:40 AM.
          "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

          Comment

          Working...
          X