Lessons from the Screenplay

Sorkin's dialogue is famous for being rapid-fire and full of wit. In this video I look at the function of this style, how he uses non-linear structure to frame the story, and the critical role that collaboration played in the creation of The Social Network.

When Harry Met Sally takes the conventions of a classic from-hate-to-love story and flips them on their head, creating a unique and charming film.

Examining the elements of suspense that Quentin Tarantino put to use in the opening scene of Inglourious Basterds.

Breaking Bad is celebrated as one of the best TV shows of all time—but every series has to start somewhere. This video looks at how the structure of the pilot episode sets up everything the audience needs to know about the series.

In this video I examine some of the flaws and imperfections in Rogue One and The Force Awakens to extract the lessons we can learn about showing vs. telling, active protagonists, and meaningful consequences.

Examining how Arrival was adapted from the short story it was based on, how clever editing kept the focus on the protagonist, and why good science fiction is really a study of humanity.

Despite the dark and gruesome subject matters of True Detective and Se7en, the character arcs of the main characters tell a story of profound optimism.

Creating a story is often as much of a journey for the writer as it is for the characters. In this video I look at the writing process for Inside Out to examine how the powerful emotions in the film were inspired by the real-life experiences of the writers.

This video looks at how Game of Thrones—and the Battle of the Bastards episode in particular—evokes such strong emotions in its audience by making sure every scene has a compelling value transition.

Analyzing Christopher Nolan's film Memento, and how he manages to tell a compelling story when most of it happens in reverse chronological order.

Blade Runner was the first film to take the thematic elements of classic film noir and bring them into a sci-fi, dystopian future. This video analyzes those elements and examines why the private detective of classic film noir is the perfect fit for the world of Blade Runner.

Examining how Logan and Children of Men begin their stories and send the heroes down the path of redemption.

Hidden Figures is about three women, but it focuses mainly on Katherine Johnson's story, so the other two women are given their own subplots. This video looks at the elements of subplot and how to design a subplot that supports the main plot.