At the 30 minute mark in a typical 120-minute screenplay, the hero makes a decision to leave an old world and leap into a new world. In “Star Wars” that occurs when Luke sees that storm troopers have killed his aunt and uncle so there’s no reason left for him to stay on the farm. […]

What bad movies do is they focus solely on the hero. This creates a flat, one-dimensional story. Better movies focus on multiple characters with multiple storylines. Then the movie becomes far more interesting as the various storylines intertwine and eventually resolve themselves at the end. Look at the original “Die Hard” to see how each […]

The one crucial element of horror stories is that the main characters are trapped. If characters can freely leave, then that eliminates much of the horror since being trapped is part of the horror. Think of every horror story and it all involves characters being trapped with no outside help and few resources of their […]

If you want to destroy any chance of holding an audience’s interest, do what the movie “Skiptrace” does and jump around from scene to scene with no sense of continuity between each scene. If you watch the trailer for “Skiptrace,” you’ve basically seen the best scenes of the entire movie. The rest of the movie […]

Every hero needs a goal. When a hero lacks a goal, the story lacks direction and focus. That’s why the hero’s goal must be crystal clear right from the start. However, the hero’s goal may not always be specific. In “Star Wars,” Luke’s goal is to get off his uncle’s farm and leave his boring […]

Hollywood often thinks that good books can be made into good movies. Yet some of the best movies were either original stories or heavily adapted from the source material. In other words, a good book doesn’t always translate into a good movie. The latest misfire is “The BFG,” which stands for Big Friendly Giant. This […]

The reason so many screenplays and movies seem dull is because nothing seems to be happening. When nothing seems to be happening, it’s because the hero isn’t pursuing a goal and getting closer. What’s more exciting to watch? A race between two cars or a single car stuck in the mud, spinning its wheels and […]

There are two ways movies can fail. The most common way is to tell a story poorly where characters only appear to do things long enough to advance the plot and then they disappear again for no apparent reason. Bad movies often have plot holes and poor character development so it’s just a collection of […]

What makes Stephen King novels so enjoyable is that he fills each page with graphic details of gore, blood, and action. Novels need detail and the more detail that engages the sight, touch, smell, hearing, and even taste, the more the imagination takes over and pictures images far more terrifying than they could ever be […]