How to Structure Your Screenplay 

I got a question: Is the need in the story circle model, the same "need" as in creating a character when want/need is distinguished?

​@@philipgrigoleit6240😊😊😊😊😊😊aaa

A to the effing Men brother!

@@MacronLacrom Perfect, don't you dare stop.

I wrote my first great script in the last few months. It's my seventh and comes 20 years after my first attempt. I read Blake Snyder about ten years ago but found it too constrictive and largely ignored it save for the idea of making your protagonist immediately likable. Then after doing my polished first draft of this script (which I normally would have considered to be finished and sent off to competitions) in my usual way of just following my gut based on years of avid movie watching, I watched a few videos from Michael Hague and followed his structure and character arc guidelines. Through about four rewrites it created a far better script with better defined characters and a clearer structure. The story remained pretty much the same, but the characters really came alive and the story gained more impetus through focusing on constant conflict more than I usually would. I got the script to exactly 110 pages and my break into act two occurs on page 25, but these things happened quite organically rather than me trying to hit exact page numbers.

@@formulaic78 Good for You! Keep at it.

@@formulaic78 Good for you! Keep on going.

Very true!

Glad you found it helpful!

Tyler Mowery I appreciate how u made sure to make the distinction between story theory and A screenwriting template or methodology. I feel that’s incredibly insightful and very important to remember when looking at story theory and various methodologies

In a way that makes sense, Nemo’s dad feels lost without his wife and he ends up being an overprotective father to his son.

"A Guide to How to Write Shocking Twists, by me, atomicdancer" Part One of One: The 9 Point Model Welcome to my guide to teach you how to write the shocking twists in movie scripts. Here is a example from a movie who is call 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Again' (1981): *Dark Vader:* "Obi Wan should tell you. Don't you know who is my father?" *Luke Skypewalker:* "I know who is - is Obi Wan who is your father." *Dark Vader:* "No Luke. You is my father!" *Luke Skypewalker:* "Whu?!" *Audience:* 😵 As can see in example, classic twist has 9 point model: 1. back-up 2. set-up 3. question 4. certainty 5. denial 6. reverse 7. reveal 8. whu? 9. confuse. Now you too can create shocking twist with this amazing 9 point model. Thak you, don't forget to lick comment, and subscribe.

@@cavinb11 Yes, but that's not what the movie's story is about. If anyone is trying to find Marvin, it's Marvin.

You're actually right, Nemo's not trying to find Marvin. He's actually trying to find Marlin...

@@DavidBubarYT no it’s Batman who is trying to find Marvin in Marvels hit classic Sonic and knuckles 3

So well said, completely agree!

💯🙌

That makes the initial writing easier, but let me tell you, that first revision is a bitch!

@@KutWrite depends how well you know your characters and purpose of conflict

@@KutWrite On the script I just finished I wrote a three page outline of my story before beginning. Then I wrote the script and diverged about 30%. Then I analysed what I'd written and diverged about another 30% in the subsequent rewrites. I don't think I would be able to envisage exactly what happens in a finished story without attempting to write it because so many ideas occur to you along the way, but at the same time without having made an outline to begin with I could have gone off the rails completely and had to completely rewrite the first draft. Which incidentally is the feedback I've had on all my previous scripts where I wrote no outline at all: "Page 1 rewrite"!!

Thats amazing idea

Great idea!

Tyler Mowery Breaking Bad?

@@Laughterhouse5 game of thrones seems better

Better Call Saul 😎

Glad to hear it!

@@TylerMowery where did you learn to edit your videos?

@@TylerMowery Hi I am a new writer and I appreciate your helpful videos so much 😊 I am also a video editor I would edit two videos for you for free if you would like🧡 If you are interested tell me thanks 🤠

I find characters far harder. When I have a great high concept idea, I find I can follow that for 110 pages without too many issues. For me the hardest part is making my characters come alive because I don't really care about character, I like plot. For example I don't like Die Hard because of John McCain's pretty stereotypical rendition of a grizzled cop, I like it because of the situation the writer creates and how that unfolds. What I found really helped me with characters is the idea of them each having needs, goals, and psychological and moral weaknesses (which I think I got from Michael Hague). Especially just even being aware of the latter two helped me to bring my characters to life. For example in the script I just finished I gave my lead character a Toronto Blue Jays cap that he wears throughout. This actually belonged to his dead father and he has a mannerism of touching it whenever he feels threatened. The cap also represents his psychological weakness of not being able to trust people because his dad promised he would be back before running into a burning house and dying in the prologue. At the end of the movie he gives the cap to someone he has learned to trust, highlighting his arc of change from being distrustful to trusting. The cap is also a Canadian team cap because another aspect of the story is the struggle his Mexican immigrant friend has to go through to be accepted in America, while his Canadian family easily assimilated. In the past I just would have given him the cap to differentiate him, but not put any thought behind why THAT cap. Developing the characters in this way also really helped my plot though too. By putting greater conflict between them it allows the story to be naturally more interesting, even if it still ends up at the same place.

@@formulaic78 yeah, I can relate. I agree that you should have goals for your character, but make sure that it plays a part in the story. Remember, what your character believes controls a lot of what they do. That's why I started writing lots of character-driven stories, which moves forward by what the character believes. Here's an example of a plot: A man goes to the store to buy some milk. Boring, right? We don't know anything about the man. But here's a character driven plot: A man named Bob woke up on a Monday morning, feeling exhausted. He had spent all night working on a project that was due today, but he only started working on it the day before. He had gotten so little sleep, he was so tempted to go back to his bed and take the day off. Hell, he was tempted to just quit! But he knew he couldn't bear to lose his job for the fifth time this year. So instead, he walked to the kitchen and started brewing some coffee. Just to make sure he was fully awake and ready for the day, he made 22 shots of espresso and took a sip, then spit it straight out. It was way to bitter for his taste, since he always preferred to drink latte. Not bothering to clean up the mess, he walked to his fridge to get some milk, only to realize that it was completely empty. He had forgotten to go grocery shopping again. It was only then he really saw himself for who he was. A lazy man who's life was a complete mess and wasn't responsible at all. He didn't used to be like this. But ever since his wife left him, he changed. He knew, that he needed to get his act together. Of course, he knew he couldn't suddenly change his lifestyle at once, but he could start with little things. Like for example, going grocery shopping. Since he was just about to make some coffee, he decided to go buy himself some milk. So he drove to the store. But when he got there, there was so many snacks like chips and chocolate that he was tempted to buy. Yet, he walked passed the tempting snacks, knowing that he should take care of his health more, and went straight to the dairy section and grabbed the milk and came home and placed it in the fridge. Proudly, he nodded in victory as he knew, for the first time since his wife left, he had done something responsible. Yes, it was only milk, but this was the start of a new chapter for Bob. This was the day his life changed forever. From this story, we now know so much about Bob, although the story was literally just about a man going to buy some milk. That's the beauty of character-driven stories. Such simple plots can turn into a great story, because each of his action reveals something about Bob. Why did he spend all night working on a project? Why didn't he start earlier? Why didn't he just forget about it? And why didn't he just go back to bed and forget about his job? Why was he suddenly motivated to buy milk, and why did he refuse to buy snacks instead? All of these question should point back to the character, Bob, rather than the plot. But I guess you could say that this is a very character-driven story with not much plot. I think that even if their was a lot more to this story, it should in some way help the character to develop. For example, what if his car broke down on the way to the store? Would Bob just give up and go back, or continue to persevere and walk all the way to the store and reach his goal? And what if the store was all out of milk? Would he go back and forget about it, or would he be resilient and go to another store and look for milk there? The point is, the plot should not only move the story forward, but also reveal something about the character. Also, a way to tie in the plot with the character's inner conflict is to ask, 'Why does this matter to my character?' Bob is on his way to buy milk, when his car breaks down. Yeah, it's bad because no one wants this to happen to their car, but why is this specifically important for Bob? Because he believes that if he can't accomplish a simple task without breaking something, how on earth is he going to deal with big things? He starts to tell himself that he's an idiot that can't do anything and become depressed. that's how you make a simple sentence into a complex story.

@@formulaic78 Except with Die Hard, the reason you like the plot is because of the character. Imagine if, instead of a grizzled New York cop, it was an ex Navy Seal, who could dispatch terrorists with ease, and wasn't such an underdog. McLean's character is extremely important for tension. He's not in great shape, he's not a super soldier, he talks like a working class guy, smokes, his wife's more ambitious than him. He's out of his element both in the limo to the party, around his wife, at the party with the wealthy folks, and then totally out of his element with the terrorists. Even the terrorists are in $5000 suits, giving them more in common with the partygoers than McLean. Everything about his character makes that story. Right down to the tension between him and the FBI guys vs. him and the kinship he has with the street cop outside. That movie could have easily been a forgettable straight to video action movie - but his character, that constant contrast with his surroundings, and the allies he creates because of that working-class character are what drive the tension / emotion.

I struggle with plot it hard

Thanks, will do!

Glad you enjoyed it!

Yes, it's not just great content, well written and narrated, but the actual production, graphics and editing are top-notch, professionally done.

Glad to hear it! My goal is for this channel to be the home of the most clear, practical videos on screenwriting and storytelling

Yes!

I'll bet you could do it after watching this video. I think I can. BB is so precisely written, I'm sure it fits this structure at both a macro (whole show) and micro (each scene) level. That's why this structure seems golden to me. Thanks, Tyler!

It’s not about constant new information. It’s about getting fundamentals down and using new examples to deepen your understanding of a fundamental concept

@@TylerMowery OK but BTW what was the stop motion that u showed clips of?

More to come!

Glad to hear it! Keep writing!

Thanks! I don't want to come off as a braggart, but I'm happy where I'm at. The transition from traditional to digital (the new traditional) has been costly--and with a learning curve at that. It's fun though. Hope you keep on keeping on!

exactly, if you don't set the story up effectively everything that follows is at risk of being sloppy

@@rgkinghorn9178 it all comes with experience. I've been writing an Australian Action screenplay for the last five years. When it comes to story, it has potential because it's original. However, executing it perfectly is another matter, but I feel that I'm getting much closer. I'm on my fourth draft. Each draft gets better and better because you get to know your characters more and everything else should improve from then on.

Glad to hear it!

Glad to hear it!

Glad to hear it!

You bet!

Coming soon!

Sharaf share your contact profile ?

Hope you enjoyed it!

Glad to hear it!

Thanks!