8 Sequence Story Structure | Why It's My Favourite Tool for Writing Features 

Thank you for commenting. This 8 sequence story structure always helps me simplify things whenever I feel overwhelmed by a particular story. 🙂🫶

I hope you find it useful! Thank you for watching 🫶

Thank you for watching and thank you for offering your own interpretation of how to use the 8 Sequence Structure. :)

Thu=is is helpful, thanks

That is great to hear. I’m glad this video could help. 🙌

I couldn’t agree more.

I’m glad you found it helpful. The 8 sequence structure has helped me on numerous occasions. 🫶 Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for watching! It's great to hear you're working on a story right now. Remember, the sequences in the video are guidelines, not strict rules. If you want your entire last sequence to be a big epic finale instead of a winding down 'Resolution,' that absolutely works. The biggest benefit of using 8 sequences is breaking down a large story into smaller, more manageable pieces. 😄 What kind of story are you working on?

Thank you for commenting. I’m glad you found some value in this video. Hopefully this helps you with your screenwriting. 🙌

That is definitely a unique perspective I haven’t heard before. I want to read more about the chakras now. Thanks for sharing! 🙌

That is great to hear. Always a great tool to have on hand. Thank you for watching 🫶

Thank you for watching. I’m glad you found some value in this video.

Thank you for commenting. I hope you found this video and this writing tool useful! 🫶

I’m glad you found this tool useful! Thank you for watching! 🙌

Thank you for watching 🙌 I hope you find this writing tool useful ❤️

That’s absolutely right. The 8 sequence structure should be able to work with almost any kind of feature film. Are you working on an idea at the moment?

Thanks for your question! Sequence 5 is a pivotal part of the story. The start of Sequence 5 or the end of Sequence 4 is where the protagonist's main objective is turned on its head. For example, if the protagonist was sent to confront someone, the midpoint might reveal that the person who sent them on this task is actually the one they're after. This twist changes everything, raising the stakes and forcing the protagonist to rethink their journey. That is just one very simple example though. In Sequence 5, the stakes are heightened, and the protagonist must reassess everything they've been through. While the reveal isn't always about the past, there is almost always a significant revelation of some kind that shifts the story. It's also a great opportunity to explore side stories, as long as they contribute to the main story. For instance, if there's a big dramatic revelation at the midpoint, you might redirect to a side story, making the audience wait for the answers they desperately need. This can add tension and depth to your narrative. What type of story are you working on?

@@filmindustrygateway missed you answering, thank you so much! It's a sci-fi/fantasy combination story. Do you want to hear more about it? I'd love someone to brainstorm with

@@LAL7887I’d love to hear more. Feel free to reach me at adon@filmindustrygateway.net and we can try finding a time to chat. 🫶

Thank you for watching. I hope you found some value in this video. Let me know if you find this screenwriting tool useful. 🙂🙌

Thank you for commenting. Thats correct. If the climax (sequence 7) of your film is a catastrophic loss then sequence 6 would typically be a big win. There may be various other wins and losses throughout the film. But these 2 points are the biggest win and the biggest loss. Taking a classic Western as an example. Sequence 6 is typically where the main character is wounded to the point of near death. The character then returns in sequence 7 for a big win. That big loss creates even more tension in sequence 7 and helps make that big win even bigger. For an opposite example you could look at films like Wolf of Wall Street. The main character is rich and successful right up until the end of the film where everything is completely unraveled and everyone goes to jail etc. A big win just before a big loss creates a lot of contrast between these 2 points and ultimately creates a fall from grace for the protagonist, which then creates a significantly more dramatic and impactful climax. All of that being said, it’s also important to remember that these structures are more focused on making marketable stories and it is perfectly fine for you to break any of these ‘rules’, especially if you are mainly just looking to learn and experiment with your own unique style of storytelling.

Thank you for pointing that out. I might go and have another watch of MI: Fallout to see if I can spot the different sequences. :)

Thank you for watching. I hope you were able to find this tool useful.

Thank you for commenting. There are definitely elements of this tool that you could use for a TV script especially depending on the duration of each episode. These days, some TV episodes can be quite long. The most beneficial part of using the 8 sequence story structure is the idea of breaking down a larger story into many smaller stories. You each episode might not necessarily have 8 sequences, but you could still break it down into something more appropriate. Alternatively if all of your episode are extremely short then you could use the 8 sequence story structure, except each of the 8 sequence becomes it's own separate episode entirely. What type of TV script are you trying to create?

Thanks for watching ✌️ It definitely has some similarities. Although I think the main takeaway with the 8 sequence structure is the idea of breaking down one large story and thinking of it as several smaller stories. This personally helps tackle projects that might initially feel a bit intimidating. 🙌

Thank you for commenting. It's great to hear that you recently read 'Save the Cat'. It is a great book and offers a lot of helpful tips. I believe I read it around 8 or so years ago. And while it is certainly quite helpful, for my personal writing style, I found the 8 Sequence Story Structure more suitable. 'Save the Cat' provides instructions on how to write the story step by step. Although for me, the best part of the 8 Sequence Story Structure is that it aims to specifically break a feature down into 8 short films. The main benefit of this structure is in finding a way to make an intimidating feature film appear much more manageable. Although it makes perfect sense if you prefer the 'Save the Cat' method as every writer is different and may find certain tools more suited to their writing style over others. Thank you again for watching. 😀

8 sequence story structure is not mentioned in Save the Cat.

Isn’t “fun and games”?

@@ayrengreber5738 Yes, in this entire video, the only concept from save the cat is "fun and games", which he even puts in air quotes as a nod to the ubiquitous phrase.

I think where you're getting confused is that most stories use the same overall structure which Save the Cat and 8 Sequence are both based on. The big difference here to me is the concept of splitting things into short stories. It's an interesting idea that I think can work in parallel to the descriptive Save the Cat beats.

I don't know what your comment is trying to say. But either way, thank you for taking the time to be here. 🙌