To see the story beats in Christmas story, let’s first look the story patterns found in both Holiday Inn and White Christmas. Both films are about a successful performer in show business who sees that community in a country setting is the better way of life. In Holiday Inn, the hero i

Spoiler alert: this breakdown contains crucial information about the plot of the film.  With Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen has returned to writing from strength. The film is founded on one of the great cinematic story techniques, the utopian world. Here the moment is 1920s’ Paris, wh

A lot has been made of the video game elements in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Video games are an important influence on current screenwriting. But you won’t find it here. Sure, there’s lots of flash, and some of it’s amusing and inventive. But it’s really vide

Spoiler alert: this breakdown divulges information about the plot of the film.  Most story failures go all the way back to the premise, even and including big budget epics like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Sometimes the failure occurs because the writer doesn’t develop t

I had no idea the entire musical oeuvre of ABBA was really about a girl looking for her true father before she gets married on a Greek Island. This is the storyline on which the writer hangs 18 ABBA songs in Mamma Mia! It gives you an idea of the immense popularity of ABBA’s music tha

Every genre has unique structural elements that make it a challenge to write well. But the most difficult genre of all may be the love story, especially the romantic comedy. The love story turns on two contradictory requirements. On one hand, a love story should take only ten minutes.

Spoiler Alert: this breakdown divulges information about the end of the film.  Sex and the City was a revolutionary TV show. Not because it showed women having lots of sex. That part was always unbelievable. Even young hip New York women don’t have that much sex with that many d

When you’re making an indie film, you’re always looking for ways to save money. And if you’re smart the first and foremost place to do that is in the script.  One great strategy is to make a virtue of having no money – the old turn-lemons-into-lemonade trick. Y

Music and Lyrics is an average romantic comedy. But compared to other recent films in the genre, it sparkles like a diamond. And, it has a few techniques that are instructive. Romantic comedy is extremely deceptive; it looks light and easy, but is incredibly hard. Part of the problem

The first requirement of any genre film is that you hit the unique story beats that define the form. Depending on the genre, you will have anywhere from 8-15 beats that you must include or your audience will be disappointed. The second requirement of any genre film is that you twist t