Story. Screenplay. Sale.
A properly structured screenplay must have three acts… Or four? I have said before that the model you use to improve your screenwriting is your own choice. At the end of the day it is all academic. Whatever works for you. The Dept Revisited – A rerun of the best of the Story Dept. A … Read more
I am a fan of Ridley Scott’s flamboyant visual style of filmmaking. Although he has had numerous box office successes, in my view he has never equalled the overall excellence of THELMA & LOUISE (1991). It is a fabulous movie and an outstanding debut script by first-timer Callie Khouri. Here is an attempt to analyse … Read more
Following UNK’s publication of his post on The Mid Point and to the benefit of the students in a recent HERO’S JOURNEY workshop, I have updated the article of 20 April last year about this important turning point. Since writing the below post, I have come to realise that the mid point may well be … Read more
Because the first shift of POV in a film may jolt the audience’s experience, it works best where this brief ‘disconnection’ doesn’t hurt the story: after a climax. The start of Act Two is a good place to move to the antagonist’s POV. We have just seen that our protagonist is ready to take on … Read more
Question: When McKee talks about the conscious desire being a contradiction of the unconscious desire, would you relate this to the mid act 2 reversal / change in approach? Or would this be true from the very start of the story, script or life of the protagonist? Answer: Let’s start with quoting exactly what it … Read more