When a movie only focuses on the emotional change of a single character (the hero), you’ll likely get a mediocre or bad movie. That’s the problem with “Maleficent.” Angelina Jolie is perfect as Maleficent but beyond her perfect appearance as the character, the script lets her down Watch any good movie and you’ll notice that […]
In the movie “Dune,” there’s a scene where a narrator tells us that the hero and a woman are falling in love. As we watch the hero and the woman kiss, the narrator tells us, “And their love grew.” Seeing them kissing is enough. We don’t need to have a narrator tell us that their […]
One reason why novels provide a more engaging experience than movies is that with a novel, the author can let you feel how characters think, which is impossible to do in a movie. Not only can a novel put you into the thoughts of a character, but novelists can also let you see, hear, touch, […]
If possible, watch a stage play that’s later turned into a movie. “Jersey Boys” started as a stage play and will later appear as a movie. The reason to study both the stage play and the movie is so you can see how the different mediums affect the way you tell the story. With stage […]
For my own curiosity, I decided to study several popular movies and analyze them to see what made them work. Although every script is different, the one constant feature is that every great movie tells little mini-stories that have their own audience grabbing beginning, a problem, a solution, and a cliffhanger ending. The intriguing beginning […]
Here are two ways to make a boring story. First, create a problem. Second, solve the problem right away. That’s boring because there’s no suspense or conflict. Watch any bad movie and you’ll see this lack of suspense and conflict. In “Maleficent,” there’s a scene where a boy becomes friends with Maleficent. Then he stops […]
Sometimes the beginning of a movie needs to give the audience information about the story before the story even begins. “Star Wars” did this in a visually appealing way with text that slowly scrolled away. While simply stating background information can work, it’s not the most exciting way to learn anything about any story. “Maleficent” […]
The opening of your screenplay should grab the audience’s attention and make them wonder what’s going to happen next. In Act II, this is where your hero starts making things worse. Why make things worse? Let’s imagine a story where things don’t get worse. Then you don’t have much suspense. What if a story suddenly […]