The Purpose of Conflict 

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Genius. When it comes to the purpose of conflict, I am no longer conflicted.

This feels like it applies to much more that screenwriting

You're the mentor figure

This channel needs (and will likely get) WAY more subscribers. This is one of the few channels I’ve seen that actually makes me look at things in stories in a new way rather than regurgitate stale, and by now quite obvious, talking points.

My notes: 4:28 4:38 The purpose of story is to give you an understanding of a possible way to live life. Meaning produces emotion

6:45 "The destruction of the ring is a philosofical triumph of good over evil..." Well, not really. Frodo (good) didn't throw the ring (evil) into Mordor (he bowed to its power), the corrupted Gollum (evil) did. LOTR's philosofy is more like "Good will not always prevail, but evil will always destroy itself."

This video was very timely for me. I'm in the middle of a screenplay, and I've been thinking about the importance the role conflict plays in story to no end. But, could never come to a solid conclusion as to why that is, other than it being "more interesting than no conflict." This gives me a better understanding of where the source of conflict in a good story flows from, and is actually a pretty great litmus test in and of itself as to whether you have a good story on your hands. Thanks for uploading!

Keep on pumping out this type of content. Great stuff.

This is amazing stuff! I am working on a 7 book series and this helped me a lot.

Dude how does this only have like 2k views,,,,, it’s amazing

I'm writing a story that has a definitive outcome Without need for conflict and I have to put conflict into it to make it more interesting according to what your saying

Jesus Christ, this video just gave me a whole new perspective on not just on why stories are fundamentally told but just about morality and the values of it.

I like the idea. Also, the conflict will be resolved either in a tragic way or a happy ending way, and it will depend on wether the character follows the moral principle or succumbs to the conflicting force

Pretty good video, very clear and straightforward. Thank you. Cheers form Brazil

Clarifying and very engaging. Thanks so much for that!

Thx Tyler, i am in the middle to writing a story, and this video bring knowledge for me. Really Appreciate this 🤝

Thanks to this video, whenever I talk about themes, I will always talk about how the main thematic message is called the philosophical conflict. Because a story CAN have multiple themes, but usually those themes have to be intertwined into a web that is driven by the philosophical conflict. Like, my favorite book series is _"Percy Jackson & The Olympians"_ and that series displays themes on family, friendship, loyalty, perception, war, identity, morality, faith, and hope. And the perceived philosophical conflict is the debate on whether or not you are willing to support your family, even if you feel they have dishonored you.

Good. I've been trying to write screenplays. Just starting, but not as a writer overall. I keep hearing "conflict." And I think, "OK. Conflict. Action. But where is the deeper meaning?" Excellent video. Thanks for sharing it!

You're a wonderful teacher. Thanks for putting these videos together.

Excellent video. I am going to cite this in a class presentation! :D

The quality of your videos skyrocketed in recent times. It was already very good, but now it's amazing. I also feel that the lack of the knowledge you presented here is why the recent huge screenwriting phenomenon was received so badly. The great story of our time basically went out and said to us that fighting, sacrificing for freedom of others will result in you going batshit insane and getting killed by your loved ones. Great.

Wow I am learning so much! Paradigm shift!

Thank you for offering your views on this. They resonate far more with the process of writing I'm hoping to develop/find than many other interpretations I've seen.

Great video.

Ooh, really nice video. Thanks for this - it helped me understand conflict more than before, in addition to the many aspects of conflict

I've been using your videos to help aid in writing, thank you.

Great video! What you talked about reminded me of the dinner scene in Jurassic Park. Each character has a different worldview and are arguing over what to do with the dinosaurs.

Thank you for bringing more current movies to explain the conflict, especially, mentioned in John Truby books which used old movies to describe it.

Great video. As a novice writer, I found your video very helpful in my writing journey. Thank you. 😊

Very well explained. Thank you for this.

This is the best Video on conflict I ve ever seen. You always have such great multiple examples to illustrate the point!

Well said! Thanks for sharing this. I'm often annoyed, when a film has too much of what I call "filler action": action (chase, fight...) which adds nothing to the story - except work for stunts and FX team etc. That is probably because such action has no value for the philosophical question or for the character growth etc., which gives meaning to the story

This is so good. Very clear and helpful, thank you

oh wow this video is eye-opening. Looking forward to seeing the next video!

Thank God we are finally getting good videos on the depth BEHIND the concepts. This is a great step for youtube screenplay type advice in general as rather than just relating popular fiction to common storytelling concepts, the concepts themselves are being broken down and analysed. This kind of ask questions mentality makes things soooo much more understandable. Bravo.

Very well made and thoughtful video~ This was something I felt about conflict in movies but couldn't put into words before this. :)

It doesn't help my understanding that I've had that "So what" feeling after seeing several "classic, masterpiece" films...

This is so hard to actually understand for me. I keep watching it over and over again but it's never fully clear in my mind. Now there I have a conflict...

Really learned a lot from this content. Thanks Tyler and keep 'em coming!

AmZING WORK, WHAT YOU ARE DOING. kEEP IT UP MAN. It helps a lot

This is an amazing video and an underrated one, it deserves more than 1M of views. Thanks man, i learned a lot.

Great video, Tyler! Keep up the great work.

Hey dude your playlist is really helpful and interesting

This is tremendously insightful. Kudos.

I feel like I've seen a few art-house films that wouldn't agree with this video. (All joking aside, this was a great video).

Thank you so much for your analysis, great job !!!

More learned in 17 minutes then my whole Autumn term on my MA

Awesome video! I've watched it 4 times, as I work to develop some basic writing skills.

Well done.

Your videos are amazing. Subscribed!

Great video!

Tyler, this video is amazing. I would like to know whether the philosophical conflict is still applies to short film. If so what is the philosophical conflict in "Stutterer" short film, you used in one of your videos.

This is such a great video! Thank you!!!!

Well Done, Tyler Mowery!

Thank you for the video

Thank you.

Good video! It helps!

GREAT VIDEO!!!!

I proud to have seen this video!

a very well earned thumbs up

Hi, I would really appreciate if you could explain the difference between conflict and adversary in a story ? I am having a hard time to differentiate the two. Thanks

well done!

This is good shit. Thanks

thank you. just thank you

Conflict is also a context delivery mechanism

the purpose of conflict is to show conflict of values, ok. love this clever smart simplicity. although the fire from the stove may be the transformative energy that bakes the cake, the purpose of the cake... it is not to be cooked, but eaten. hence the purpose of storytelling is a wee-beet beyond conflict. so the conflict may reveal values but the story character is not only a list of values entrinched in a philosophical ideology amalgama. flavour, emotional and kinetic forces also enhance storytelling for the audience. thanks ! cheers from Rio.

Very epic

on point

Great point not often heard about philosophical conflict informing the internal and external conflicts.

I was really loving the video ,then the spoilers started coming in and I had to stop.I guess I am off to watch 5 movies.Be rights back!

So...desirability draws us near, conflict keeps us captivated, and we are satisfied by seeing the change from state A to state B realised...

COOL VIDEO :)))))

Here for my uni paper

Conclusion : While the more peripheral characters have less of an impact on the philosophical conflict. They still stand as a point of conflict that challenges or affirms what the main characters believe. The characters in these films don't just exist to make the world more interesting and they don't simply exist to be allies or to simply create roadblocks for the main character. Their purpose in the story is deeper than that, each of the characters push the other characters and the audience deeper into the philosophical conflict at the core of the story. The philosophical conflict at the center is what gives the story its meaning. The characters internal struggles and external plot may be interesting but it is only engaging because of the deeper conflict happening on the philosophical level. Writing teachers might tell you that you need conflict in every scene, and while you do need conflict in your scenes. This type of advice is missing the point of how stories actually work and what makes them great. Sure scenes need conflict but what kind, a story filled with simple external conflict in every scene will be unengaging. All of the external and internal conflict exists under the umbrella of the ultimate conflict which is the philosophical or moral conflict. Doesn't this cause stories to be preachy or bash you over the head with a worldview, no bad writing causes preachy films. All great films quote-unquote preach at you in the sense that they deal with philosophical conflict just may not realize it at the time. Write stories with deep meaning Find the Meaning in the Deep Conflict Between Differing Philosophies and Worldviews. That is the purpose of story and That is the purpose of conflict.

Wow, at the end I understood

I'm trying to find the quotes you used from Robert Mckee but can't find them, what chapters or page numbers did you get them from?

You are the best

I don't think people realize that the ending of Snowpiercer (intentionally or not) is a lot bleaker than it first seems, the appearance of a polar bear is supposed to somehow suggest that life is returning to the frozen world and that's supposed to be a good thing (it's a running side-plot in the movie), but as a matter of fact polar bears are predatory carnivores and they would surely attack and eat humans, which means the two surviving kids are as good as dead (and if you think about they are dead even if there wasn't a hungry polar bear nearby) ... considering the views of the movie director i'm not sure what he is trying to say here, this ending makes it look like "destroying the system" is a terrible idea, whether that was his intention or not I can't really tell especially since some people still seem to think that it's somehow a positive ending.

Great video! Was it voluntary to have different sizes at 9:01?

Hi Tyler, Your explanation of conflict has transformed the way I talk with my writing students about character and story. QUESTION FOR YOU: towards the middle of this video a trailer plays promoting the movie Gender Transformation: Untold realities. This film is affiliated with Exodus Institute that promotes Christian values which target trans people. The trailer is really alarming for those of us who care about the safety of all people, including queer and transgender people. My question is whether you share these values, and if not, is there something you can do to remove it. Thanks for your efforts.

Fantastic. I can apply everything you've layed out here on paper, creatively. Which should be the point of such videos. Those who speak in vague and generalised terms don't seem to realise this. Thank you.

I can't find the link to go in the facebook group

Loved the analysis of the Lord of the Rings. Maybe you could do something to do with Harry Potter next. :P

16:40 is so true. I get so tired of people complaining about the supposed “preaching” of a film when there isn’t anything wrong with the writing, it’s the audience member just not liking the ideas presented. It bothers me when people dishonestly present their complaints by pretending to be rationalists who have an objective problem with the film writing or structure when in reality they just have a subjective distaste for the ideas presented. Right wingers complaining about the supposed “left leaning preaching” coming from the new Star Trek series is a great example of this. It’s like they didn’t watch the old Trek series or saw them but didn’t understand them enough to realize that the older Trek series were just as left leaning as the new ones in the ideas they present.

Very cool story, but do these kinds of ideas work toward book writing as well as screen writing? or is there a different sent of principals to bring to writing a story

Regarding the McKee quote that "to be alive is to be in seemingly perpetual conflict", I wonder if there has been any theory on storytelling for those who do NOT see life as conflict?

You forgot about Frodo and Sam's love conflict.

Very helpful, thanks. Could you please watch your sound levels? Your voice is low, the clips are much higher. It's jarring. If you have a Mac, and record your track as an mp3, you can use the free program "Levellator." Just run your track through it and all will be the same level. Voila!

Matt believes the ends justify the means... just like someone we know. **wink**

✌✌

There are a few things I agree with Sacario and many things I don't agree with. I wouldn't mind taking justice into my own hands, but I ONLY destroy those who have wronged people and not the families of my enemies who have done no wrong.

Replace “conflict” with “theme” and everything still fits.

What about movies that are often hailed as great works of cinematic storytelling and yet have no deep philosophical conflict underlying them? Movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jaws come to mind as possible examples of what I mean by this. Certainly, one could argue that there are some philosophical messages beneath the surface of these seemingly simple, action-filled stories. But ultimately, those messages don't have enough depth in them to develop a full philosophical conflict that plays out throughout the whole story. There are no deep philosophical or moral dilemmas at the heart of Indiana Jones, Jaws, and other similar "B movies". They're mostly just pure fun and entertainment with lots of great moments of tension and excitement. So what are we to think about movies of this kind? Are they really as great as people say? Or does this lack of philosophical content harm the quality of these films in a significant way? I honestly don't know what the answer to that question is, so I'd be curious to know Tyler's thoughts on it.

Ok, but HOW? How to figure out the different views.

Maybe with the point of s Sicario

Good channel, but I'm not as impressed by your argument in this one. It seems like you're saying stories need to tell you how to live your life to be good, but plenty of horror movies have no such message and are still great (Scream comes to mind- I guess the message is 'don't get killed by a serial killer'?), likewise you're putting a big emphasis on conflict while many shows in the slice of life genre purposely avoid conflict as much as they can (usually they have conflict episode by episode, but it's often trivial and the characters aren't particularly motivated by it). I feel like you should have prefaced by making it clear that this video is for Hollywood blockbusters, which became clear when you were talking about hero's journey stuff (e.g. Gandalf as mentor).

Agree and disagree about the point of Philosophical and conflict

Okay I disagree about the internal conflict I think it has nothing to do with relationships more like doubting yourself or putting your self or etc. just stuff that make feel bad

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