Story Structure

Showing 1211 - 1220 of 1516 results

The Ambiguous Ending

August 23, 2013

Hollywood loves definite endings where good clearly triumphs over evil, or in rare cases such as tragedies, where the hero clearly loses. What Hollywood often...

Inherent Conflict

August 18, 2013

Think about your movie idea and ask if there’s inherent conflict right from the start. For example, in “Warrior,” the hero’s father trains him to...

Music Videos and Commercials

August 9, 2013

Watch any commercial and you can see a mini-story being told. First there’s a problem. Second, there’s a solution. Third, there’s a satisfying conclusion. In...

Give Them What You Promised

August 3, 2013

Before you start writing your screenplay, make sure you know the type of story you want to tell. You can tell a straight action, horror,...

Converging Subplots

August 2, 2013

Rarely will any story consist of a single story. Most likely, the hero will be pursing the main story while multiple other minor characters (including...

Understanding Act IIb — Negative Rising Action

July 24, 2013

The second half of Act II is where the hero starts losing and the villain starts winning. By knowing the purpose of this second half...

Experiencing Irony

July 22, 2013

In the movie “About Schmidt,” Jack Nicholson plays the hero, a retired insurance agent who has lived a relatively dull existence most of his life...

“The Sting” — The 15 Minute Movie Method

July 16, 2013

To get a clear idea how the 15 minute movie method works, watch the 1973 movie, “The Sting,” starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Without...

“Die Hard” Analysis

July 1, 2013

How the movie “Die Hard” taught me the importance of mini-goals. Whether you like action movies or not, the 1988 “Die Hard” movie is one...

Action and Meaning — What Movies Are Really All About

June 28, 2013

What a movie is really all about isn’t what you usually notice in the ads or trailers. The 1996 movie “Independence Day” will never be...

About Wallace Wang

First place winner in Scriptapalooza’s 2023 screenwriting competition for the supernatural horror screenplay titled “Nightmares From a Past Life”. Author of “The 15 Minute Movie Method”, “Story Starter”, and “Writing Scenes for Screenplays” in addition to over 50 computer books. Writer of “Three of a Kind”, a situation comedy produced by San Diego State University’s film class that won a student Emmy award. Designer of the board game “Orbit War”, published by Steve Jackson Games, that simulates satellite warfare in the near future.