January, 2021 - The 15 Minute Movie Method

Defining the Importance of Your Scenes

January 29, 2021

The purpose of every scene is to advance the story. A second and equally important purpose is to reveal something about a character. This revelation...

Kurt Vonnegut’s Story Tips (Applied to Screenwriting)

January 26, 2021

Kurt Vonnegut wrote several popular books including “Slaughterhouse-Five” and “Cat’s Cradle.” Before he wrote novels, he wrote short stories. Since he studied stories most of...

Find the “Fun” in Your Story

January 23, 2021

Read many screenplays (even by experienced screenwriters) and you’ll often run into scenes that serve no other purpose than to introduce information either background exposition...

Why Characters Never Go to the Bathroom (Or Manipulating Time in Your Screenplay)

January 20, 2021

You rarely see characters in TV shows or movies going to the bathroom. That’s because that action is irrelevant. If an action has no affect...

Make the Audience Feel Emotions in Every Scene

January 17, 2021

Scenes represent the building block of your story. Although the purpose of every scene is to advance the story, a secondary purpose of every scene...

Make Each Scene Interesting and Emotional

January 14, 2021

Here’s what many novices do when writing a screenplay. They write a handful of compelling, exciting scenes. However, the rest of the screenplay consists of...

Knowing the Purpose of Action in a Scene

January 11, 2021

Action acts like visual eye candy to keep us entertained. Unfortunately, action by itself is ultimately pointless. After you see the fifth car crash or...

Creatively Revealing Exposition

January 8, 2021

Exposition is nothing more than crucial information needed to understand the story. In the old days, stage plays used to begin with two servants talking...

Character vs. Plot: Which is More Important?

January 5, 2021

Many storytellers debate on which is more important, characters or plot. Although both are interconnected, the answer is that characters are more important. If you...

Comedy is About Serious People Pursuing Absurd Goals

January 2, 2021

The two cheapest types of movies to make are horror and comedy stories. That’s because both horror and comedy rarely rely on special effects or...

The 15 Minute Movie Method

January 2021