The Story Department | Screenwriting News, Tips and Articles

Structure: A Beautiful Mind

By Karel Segers on October 6, 2009 / Structure Analysis / 2 Comments

Tags: 3-act structure, a beautiful mind, akiva goldsman, brian grazer, hero's journey, john nash, Point of View, ron howard, russell crowe

A structural overview of A Beautiful Mind (2001). It took me a while to appreciate this gem by Akiva Goldsman and directed by Ron Howard. Not sure why. The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, so I had a good reason for looking into it.

Structure: Up

By Karel Segers on September 22, 2009 / Structure Analysis / 6 Comments

Tags: 3-act structure, disney, hero's journey, pete docter, pixar, story structure, structural analysis, theme, up

A structural overview of UP (Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Thomas McCarthy 2009 I’ve been a big Pixar fan since stupidly missing out on the theatrical run of The Incredibles. In 2008 the festival potential of my own short animation Tin Can Heart – wr/dir. by Rod March

That Mid-Point Thing

By Karel Segers on September 1, 2008 / Stuff / Leave a comment

Tags: act two, beat, character, climax, direction, drama, frank daniel, hero, hero's journey, mid-point, midpoint, movies, north by northwest, NSC, Point of View, protagonist, rates, resolution, reversal, scene, screenwriter, screenwriting, script, sequence, setup, story, syd field, turning point, UNK, workshop

Following UNK’s publication of his post on The Mid Point and to the benefit of the students in a recent HERO’S JOURNEY workshop, I have updated the article of 20 April last year about this important turning point. Since writing the below post, I have come to

Structure: Raiders of the Lost Ark

By Karel Segers on July 27, 2008 / Structure Analysis / 7 Comments

Tags: act one, act three, act two, george lucas, hero, hero's journey, indiana jones, NSC, philip kaufman, pov, rates, sequence, story, synopsis

The first film of the Indiana Jones quadrilogy, created by Spielberg and Lucas, the greatest filmmakers of their generation. A timeless piece of the very best entertainment. This is a typical Hero’s Journey and an excellent starting point for screen story study. Did I mention it is also

Structure: Ghost World

By Karel Segers on April 20, 2008 / Structure Analysis / 3 Comments

Tags: act one, act three, act two, adaptation, call to adventure, character, comic book, crisis, hero, hero's journey, movies, ordeal, Pitching & Selling, protagonist, scene, sequence, story, terry zwigoff, The Plot Point, UNK, zen

A cult comic, two charismatic teen actresses, an inspired director and a sparse score. Six pages of a comic book were turned into one of the coolest movies of the decade. A structural overview of Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World (2001). Because the plot points are often quite subtle, structurally this

The Story Revolution

By Karel Segers on February 18, 2008 / Guest Contributions / 1 Comment

Tags: actors, afc, aristotle, beginning, celtx, character, christopher vogler, conflict, die hard, direction, drama, first draft, format, formatting, frank daniel, hero, hero's journey, mckee, michael hauge, mystery man on film, NSC, obstacle, Pitching & Selling, protagonist, resolution, robert mckee, scene, screenplay, screenplay structure, screenwriter, screenwriters, screenwriting, script, script writing, scriptwriter, sequence, Short Film, slug line, software, story, subtext, synopsis, theme, UNK, workshop, workshops

Nafa – Choctops Meeting: 18/2/08 (Report by John Haly, Thank you to Tony Chu) Karel -a Belgian producer and script consultant – founded OZZYWOOD Films and The Story Department (which is a unique Australian blog and online resource for screen story theory). Karel headed production and programming

First, Break All the Rules

By Karel Segers on February 5, 2008 / News / Leave a comment

Tags: 3-act structure, act structure, antagonist, beat, beginning, character, christopher vogler, comedy, dialogue, die hard, drama, filmmaking, hero, hero's journey, linda aronson, michael hauge, scene, screenplay, screenplays, screenwriter, screenwriters, screenwriting, script, script editor, story, touch of evil, turning point, workshop, workshops, zen

When I asked this student which one thing she remembered above anything else, she replied: “That you can break the rules, and get away with it.” She was not my student. In itself there’s nothing wrong with trying, but it saddens me that Heath Ledger’s last Australian

Selected Bibliography

By Karel Segers on February 2, 2008 / Stuff / Leave a comment

Tags: adaptation, aristotle, comedy, david trottier, drama, hero, hero's journey, john truby, mckee, movies, Pitching & Selling, psychology, robert mckee, screenplay, screenplays, screenwriter, screenwriters, screenwriting, script, sequence, Short Film, story, storytelling, the tools of screenwriting

This bibliography I often include in my course notes. It contains publications that I regularly consult or quote from. Aronson, Linda: Scriptwriting Updated, Allen & Unwin Field, Syd: Screenplay, Dell Publishing Gulino, Paul: Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach, Continuum Hauge, Michael: Writing Screenplays That Sell, Harper Resource Howard,