Screenwriting

<Make a list, and analyze!>


High-concept <premise-description + hook>

3 Act  8 Sequences (each 15min)

1. Act 1 (30min/100p) 2 sequences

• opening image
• meet the hero/ine
• Here/ine's (inner and) outer desire
• Hero/ine's arc
• Inciting incident/Call to Adventure
• Meet the antagonist(and/or introduce a mystery, which is what you do when you're going to keep your antagonist hidden to reveal at the end) (villain often has the same purpose  but via a different way)State the theme/what's the story about
• Allies
• Mentor (possibly. May not have one or may be revealed later in the story)
• Love interest
• Plant/Reveal
• Hope/Fear
• Time clock (possibly. May not have one or may be revealed later in the story)
• Sequence One climax
• Central Question
• Act One climax

Climax

2-A. Act 2 (total:60min /200p) 4 sequences
Part ONE (30 min /100P)

• Crossing the Threshold/ Into the Special World (may occur in Act One/ Matrix<a red pill>)
• Threshold Guardian/ Guardian at the Gate (possibly)
• Here/ine's Plan
• Antagonist's plan
• Training Sequence
• Series of Tests
• Picking up new Allies
• Assembling the Team
• Attacks by the Antagonist (whether or not the Hero/ine recognizes these as coming from the antagonist)
• In a detective story, Questioning Witnesses, Lining Up and Eliminating Suspects, Following Clues

The Midpoint

• Completely changes the game
• Locks the hero/ine into a situation or action
• Can be a huge revelation
• Can be a huge defeat
• Can be a "now it's personal" loss
• Can be sex at 60 - the lovers finally get together, only to open up a whole new world of problems

Part TWO(30min/ 100P)

• Recalibrating - after the shock or defeat of the game-changer in the midpoint, the hero/ine must Revamp The Plan and try a New Mode of Attack
• Escalating Actions/ Obsessive Drive
• Hard Choices and Crossing The Line(immoral actions by the main character to get what s/he wants)
• Loss of Key Allies (possibly because of the hero/ine's obsessive actions, possibly through death or injury by the antagonist)
• A Ticking Clock (can happen anywhere in the story)
• Reversals and Revelations/Twists
• The Long Dark Night of the Soul and/or Visit to Death (also known as: All Is Lost)

The Second Act Climax

• Often can be a final revelation before the end game: the knowledge of who the opponent really is 
• Answers the Central Question

Act 3 (20min/ 60p) 2 sequences
       The third act is basically the Final Battle and Resolution. It can often be one continuous sequence - the chase and confrontation, or confrontation and chase. There may be a final preparation for battle, or it might be done on the fly. Either here or in the last part of the second act the hero will make a new, FINAL PLAN, based on the new information and revelations of the second act
       The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist. It is often divided into two sequences:
       1: Getting there (Storming the Castle)
       2: The final battle itself

• Thematic Location - often a visual and literal representation of the Hero/ine's Greatest Nightmare
• The protagonist's character change
• The antagonist's character change
• Possibly ally/allies' character changes and/or gaining of desire
• Possibly a huge final reversal or reveal(twist), or even a whole series of payoffs that you've been saving
• RESOLUTION: A glimpse in the New Way of Life that the hero/ine will be living after this whole ordeal and all s/he's learned from it.
• Closing Image

Hero/ine 's change of Motive (to inner ones)
Antagonist's change (turns out to be an ally of hero/ine)
Make it Universal motive


<Tech>

1. Visionally Story telling (Study from movies < an Establishing shot & a Master shot >, Setpiece scenes)
2. Creating suspense (insects-esque scene, naked, water, when you are not prepared for attacking, "who is doing this?" question-hanging approach)
3. Plants and Payoffs (a picture in Back To the Future , a rose in Beauty and Beast/ often inserted later)
4. Big twist (big secret, misleading narrator, antagonist turns out to be an ally)
5. Character Introductions (irresistible character introduction)
6. Fairy Tale Structure  (kind to readers/ three fairy tale theory. Three-task structure, Three-sibling structure, Three-magical ally structure)
7. Meta Structure (energia / "story designing principle"// "sometimes there is just a perfect way to tell a story"). 
8. Top things I know about Editing (Cut,cut,cut; Read your book aloud. All of it. Cover to cover; Find a great critique group; Do several passes; Whatever your genre is, do a dedicated pass focusing on that crucial genre element; Know your Three-Act structure; Do a dedicated desire line pass; Do a dedicated Emotional pass; Do a dedicated sensory pass; Go back through your story grid and check for all the story elements we've discussed in this book )