February, 2021 - The 15 Minute Movie Method

The Hidden Motivation That Underlies the Hero’s Motivation

February 28, 2021

Watch most movies and you’ll often miss the hero’s motivation. Yet it’s clear right from the start. Most people think “Independence Day” is about the...

The Progression of the Villain’s Goal in Four Acts

February 25, 2021

Divide a 120-minute screenplay into four equal segments of 30-minutes and you can plot your villain’s story. In Act I (the first 30 minutes), the...

The Structure of Act IIa: Revealing the Villain’s Power

February 22, 2021

Divide a two hour (120 minute) screenplay into four Acts and you get four 30-minute segments. In Act I, you introduce your story. At the...

Put the Same Idea in a Different Setting

February 19, 2021

Forget about trying to come up with an original story. You won’t and you’ll simply waste your time. However, what you can do is come...

The Pitch Opens the Door But Your Execution of the Story is the Key

February 16, 2021

Nobody has time to read a complete screenplay. You could write the best screenplay in the world but nobody will want to read it. Since...

Increasing the Tension and Suspense in a Scene

February 13, 2021

Here’s the wrong way to look at writing a scene. Slap together a handful of exciting scenes and then spend the rest of your screenplay...

Shatter Each Character’s Expectations in Every Scene

February 10, 2021

Far too many novices write scenes that simply convey information. This is boring. Audiences (and readers) don’t want exposition. They want something that grabs their...

Don’t Tell a Story, Be Interesting Instead

February 7, 2021

Here’s the number one mistake novices make in writing a screenplay. They fill their script with lots of scenes that serve no purpose other than...

The “Catch” In Act IIa is Irony

February 4, 2021

When in doubt, rely on irony to spice up your story. In “Titanic,” there’s irony that a woman feeling suicidal is stuck on the Titanic,...

Understand the Purpose of a Scene

February 1, 2021

When writing any scene, ask yourself three questions: Why today? Why this person? Why this location? In the opening scene of “The Matrix,” there’s a...

The 15 Minute Movie Method

February 2021