CataUniversity | Story Tips from the Big Screen

STORY TIPS #12 – PLOTTING VARIATIONS

By Alice ⋅ December 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

It’s been a year! How could that be? Sheesh.
Over the last twelve months, we’ve looked at the most common story structure: Three Act Structure. We’ve looked at outlining and at the Hero’s Journey Structure. In this last column for the year, I’d like to give you an overview of a few plotting variations. As you’ll [...]

STORY TIPS #11 – HERO’S JOURNEY ACT III

By Alice ⋅ November 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Thank goodness we’re almost done with this topic. If I’d known when I started this Hero’s Journey series how long four months really were….. Well, anyway, we’re to the end.
Act III – we’ll get your trusty hero out of that tree now – the Vogler way – with the final three steps.
Step Ten – The [...]

STORY TIPS #10 – HERO’S JOURNEY – ACT II

By Alice ⋅ October 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Last month, we covered the first five steps of the Hero’s Journey; those that take place in Act I. That left us crossing the threshold into Act II, with the steps that make up the middle half of the book.
Step Six – Tests, Allies and Enemies (oh, my.)
This is the special world of the adventure/quest, [...]

STORY TIPS #9 – HERO’S JOURNEY ACT I

By Alice ⋅ September 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Last month I gave you an overview of the Hero’s Journey. This month, we’ll look at the first section of that mythic structure. For the most part, the steps we’ll work with this month are those that make up Act I in our story.
Review: Do you remember the pattern – get your hero up a [...]

STORY TIPS #8 – MYTHIC STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTION

By Alice ⋅ August 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

This month, and for the next few months, we’re going to take a look at structural variations of stories. Of course, these variations are not the sole property of the screenwriting world any more than three act structure is. However, many of the screenwriting sources talk about these variations and I hope they’re helpful to [...]

STORY TIPS #7 – EIGHT BASIC STORIES

By Alice ⋅ July 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Shakespeare said that there’s nothing new under the sun. That was Shakespeare, wasn’t it? Or is that in Proverbs? No matter. Whoever said it was right. And Shakespeare managed to come up with some great stories, didn’t he? There really are no new stories, only new people playing out the age-old patterns.
Michael Hauge (Writing Screenplays [...]

STORY TIPS #6 – THE TICKING CLOCK

By Alice ⋅ June 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

The ticking clock. . .
As authors, we are always looking for ways to crank up the dramatic tension within our stories. One of the best ways to do this is with what is known as a time lock.
Time locks set a deadline for the hero to get what he wants and inject urgency into the [...]

STORY TIPS #5 – OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL – THE SCRIPTWRITER’S WAY.

By Alice ⋅ May 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Last month we learned the two minute movie and now we have a four-page treatment of our story. The next step is the outline, or the Step Outline. A Step Outline is simply a skeletal version of the story, your two minute move played out scene by scene.
Robert McKee in his wonderful book Story, defines [...]

STORY TIPS #4 – THE TWO MINUTE MOVIE

By Alice ⋅ April 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Hello again from altitude. This month, as promised, we’re going to make a two minute movie. At least on paper we are. I know you’re all asking “What the heck is a two minute movie?” Be patient – we’ll get to it. First, just a quick review of three act structure.
Last month we did a [...]

STORY TIPS #3 – Three Act Structure

By Alice ⋅ March 15, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Did I wear you all out last month? I hope not. This month, I promise to be a bit more reasonable.
Screenwriters learn early on that most screenplays are based on three act structure, a paradigm that goes back to Aristotle’s Poetics, written in 350 B.C.
The simplest restatement of three act structure is Beginning, Middle and [...]

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Story Tips from the Big Screen