I believe that a more informed audience raises the bar for storytelling. That examining the techniques used to tell great stories makes your own writing better and your appreciation for the stories deeper. With Lessons from the Screenplay, I make videos that analyze movie scripts to examine exactly how and why they are so good at telling their stories. Part educational series and part love letter to awesome films, Lessons from the Screenplay aims to be a fun way to learn more about your favorite films and help us all become better storytellers. I’ll be releasing new videos every couple weeks,
Watched Lessons from the Screenplay? Tell other learners what you think below, or read the discussion around the channel.
1:00:0171K views · 3y ago · 1:00:01
Guest: John Truby
John Truby (author of one of our favorite screenwriting books, The Anatomy of Story) joins us to talk about his new book, The Anatomy of Genres. We chat about movies and breakdown why people don't talk enough about genre, if they talk about it at all.
Topics: Episode start
📖 Mentioned book: The Anatomy of Genres (Affiliate )
20:32320K views · 5y ago · 20:32
In this video we explain why Mass Effect has the potential to be "the next Game of Thrones" and pitch our vision for a Mass Effect TV show adaptation. Listen to our podcast episode where we discuss Mass Effect with Mark Brown of @GMTK
Topics: Game of Thrones · Mass Effect
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · Track on diegorojas.bandcamp.com
16:33381K views · 5y ago · 16:33
Get 30 days of great cinema for free at In this video we do an in-depth breakdown of the midpoint scene of Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Listen to our podcast episode on Portrait of a Lady on Fire Unofficial English Translation of Portrait of a Lady on Fire Screenplay
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · Track on diegorojas.bandcamp.com
13:37954K views · 5y ago · 13:37
Listen to our podcast episode on Soul In this video we examine two fundamental elements of character design—want and need. Pixar's film Soul puts these aspects of story structure right on the surface, and demonstrates why they're so critical to creating a compelling, emotional character arc.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · Track on diegorojas.bandcamp.com
14:59100K views · 5y ago · 14:59
We look at how Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" is a simple, memorable example of five-act story structure. Listen to the LFTS team discuss A Christmas Carol in-depth on our podcast Written by Michael Tucker Become a channel member here on YouTube
🎵 Mentioned music: Thanks to Diego Rojas for composing original music for this video. more of work
14:40336K views · 5y ago · 14:40
Listen to our podcast episode on A Few Good Men We look at how screenwriter Aaron Sorkin constructs a battle by examining how the script establishes compelling stakes and defines both the battleground and weapons used to fight, and we dissect how increasing the pressure on the central characters results in an unforgettable climactic explosion.
Topics: Compelling Stakes · A Well-Defined Battleground · Increasing Pressure
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · Track on diegorojas.bandcamp.com
11:58275K views · 6y ago · 11:58
Listen to our podcast on Coraline Coraline borrows elements from some of the most ancient forms of storytelling itself. In this video, we examine how Coraline uses an underlying fairy tale structure to shape the protagonist’s journey, dissect how the film also incorporates grotesque imagery and classic ghost story elements, and discover how utilizing all these ancient forms lends power to the story by reinforcing one of its central themes.
🎵 Mentioned music: Thanks to Diego Rojas for composing original music for this video. more of work
10:23214K views · 6y ago · 10:23
This video examines how the unique tone of Stranger Things—a blend of sci-fi horror and 80s coming-of-age nostalgia—is conveyed in the show’s pitch deck, in the script, and on the screen. Listen to our podcast episode on Stranger Things
🎵 Mentioned music: Thanks to Diego Rojas for composing original music for this video. more of work
15:36397K views · 6y ago · 15:36
This video examines one of Christopher Nolan's trademark techniques—the crosscut—by dissecting The Dark Knight, Inception, and Interstellar. Written by Michael Tucker Become a channel member here on YouTube LFTS Recommended Reading List
🎵 Mentioned music: Thanks to Diego Rojas for composing original music for this video. more of work
▶️ Mentioned videos: our podcast episode where talk about Interstellar in-depth
12:57271K views · 6y ago · 12:57
Get a full month of MUBI FOR FREE With the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl showcases the best of the adventure genre by using key genre elements as fundamental building blocks of the story and character design.
📖 Mentioned book: Romance Adventure Historical Studies Popular
🎵 Mentioned music: Thanks to Diego Rojas for composing original music for this video. more of work
9:19190K views · 6y ago · 9:19
Guest: One X-Cellent Scene
Start your 2 month free trial of Skillshare by going to The One X-Cellent Scene playlist X-Men: First Class thoughtfully utilizes the setting of its midpoint sequence, Sebastian Shaw’s attack on Division X, to heighten the scene’s emotional impact on the audience. In this video, the LFTS team breaks down the design of the young mutant’s archetypal “warm house”, the roles it helps establish, and why the scene feels so dramatic as that sense of safety is stripped away.
🎵 Mentioned music: Thanks to Diego Rojas for composing original music for this video. more of work
15:131M views · 6y ago · 15:13
Guest: Mad Men
Start your 2 month free trial of Skillshare by going to Listen to our podcast episode on Mad Men Written by Michael Tucker Become a channel member here on YouTube LFTS Recommended Reading List Translate this video TwinSmart's Marxist Arrow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license ( Artist
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · Track on diegorojas.bandcamp.com
12:13117K views · 6y ago · 12:13
Start your 10-day free trial of Campfire Pro Listen to our podcast episode on Jaws A well-designed team of characters enables the story's protagonist to achieve their goal, and at the same time keeps the story interesting by providing a constant source of conflict. In this video we examine the team tasked with hunting down a great white shark in Jaws to see how each individual’s character traits create the ideal balance of harmony and dissonance.
🎵 Mentioned music: Thanks to Diego Rojas for composing original music for this video. more of work
16:57744K views · 6y ago · 16:57
Go to and find out how you can get 3 months free. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, also known as the Infinity Saga, features multifaceted, three-dimensional characters. In particular, Iron Man and Captain America have compelling and complete arcs that span the series’ impressive run.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com
15:58290K views · 6y ago · 15:58
Start your 2 month free trial of Skillshare by going to Listen to our podcast episode on Sunset Boulevard Celebrating its 70th anniversary, the Hollywood classic Sunset Boulevard tells a story that follows an uncommon trajectory. Instead of containing a "positive change arc" as so many films do, this is a story of disillusionment.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
13:431.8M views · 6y ago · 13:43
Get free access to my new streaming platform Nebula plus a 31 day trial of CuriosityStream! Listen to our podcast episode on Parasite Parasite a tense social satire about a poor family, the Kims, who con their way into becoming the servants of a rich family, the Parks. In February 2020, it made history by becoming the first non-English language film to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · Track on diegorojas.bandcamp.com
📰 Mentioned news: Article on theatlantic.com
9:50597K views · 6y ago · 9:50
Guest: Casino Royale
The freerunning chase in Casino Royale serves as a great example of how an action sequence can reveal character, and how to introduce the world to a new James Bond. Listen to our podcast episode on Casino Royale Get FREE access to my new streaming platform NEBULA plus a 31 day trial of CuriosityStream!
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
22:51591K views · 6y ago · 22:51
In this video we chat with writer and creative director Neil Druckmann to learn about some of the techniques game designers use to tell their stories. Start your 2 month free trial of Skillshare by going to Many people might not associate video games with "storytelling," but video games can tell deeply emotional stories with rich character arcs that you don’t simply watch unfold, you participate in.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
13:06366K views · 7y ago · 13:06
Start your 2 month free trial of Skillshare by going to Listen to our podcast on Aliens Listen to our podcast on Terminator 2 Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day are generally regarded as two of the best sequels ever made. In this video we explore some reasons why.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com
10:39534K views · 7y ago · 10:39
Listen to our podcast episode on The Matrix feat. Patrick (H) Willems Get your first 2 months of Skillshare for free by going to In this video we explore how The Matrix expertly conveys exposition by making the audience curious and embedding it in thrilling action.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: Matrix (Revisited) · s video on The Matrix
16:47469K views · 7y ago · 16:47
Listen to our podcast episode on Before Sunset The “Before Trilogy" is, in my opinion, one of the greatest gifts of modern cinema. Three films, each separated by nine years, that together tell a beautiful and brutal story of what love means as we progress through life. All three films have an unusual form—comprised almost exclusively of lengthy conversations between the two central characters, Jesse and Celine.
Topics: Act 1 · Act 2 · Act 3 · Act 4 · Act 5
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
11:04555K views · 7y ago · 11:04
Guest: Minority Report
Listen to our podcast episode in which we dive deeper into Minority Report Get your first 31 days of CuriosityStream for free by going to Phillip K. Dick is well known for inspiring some of the greatest story worlds ever put on screen, and Minority Report is no exception. But the design of the technology isn’t the most important part of the story world.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com · Video on youtube.com
9:31911K views · 7y ago · 9:31
Guest: One Marvelous Scene
Get 2 months of Skillshare for free by going to One of my favorite scenes in the MCU is the car ride to homecoming in Spider-Man: Homecoming. At first glance, this scene could be straight out of any high school comedy, especially since the film was intentionally modeled after the John Hughes high school comedies of the 80’s.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
18:50220K views · 7y ago · 18:50
Start a 30-day trial with Audible and get your first audiobook for free by going to or texting “LFTS” to 500 500! Listen to our podcast episode where we discuss the process of making this video Adaptation does a fantastic job of portraying the insanity of the writing process.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com
10:45617K views · 7y ago · 10:45
Start a 30-day trial with Audible and get your first audiobook for free by going to or texting "lfts" to 500 500! Listen to our podcast episode in which we dive deeper into The Silence of the Lambs The Silence of the Lambs is filled with compelling, tense scenes between Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. In this video, we look at the anatomy of a scene. How each follows a three act structure, and plays a larger role in the narrative.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
9:22238K views · 7y ago · 9:22
Listen to our new podcast “Beyond the Screenplay” wherever you get podcasts From the first frame of Searching to the last, everything the audience sees happens on a computer or phone screen. While the plot of Searching is fairly conventional, this storytelling approach is used to enhance the mystery and elevates the film to a nail-biting thriller.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
9:47668K views · 7y ago · 9:47
Guest: Groundhog Day
The first 500 people to use this link will get 2 months of Skillshare for free Listen to our podcast episode where we dive deeper into Groundhog Day The premise of Groundhog Day is expertly constructed to drive natural, organic character change.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
10:45689K views · 7y ago · 10:45
Start a 30-day trial with Audible and get your first audiobook for free by going to or texting "lfts" to 500 500! Every genre brings with it a set of expectations that shapes the kinds of stories it can tell and the themes it can explore, and science fiction is perhaps the best genre to openly explore fundamental ideas of existence. So in this video, we investigate how Annihilation takes biological, existential concepts and translates them into narrative elements.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: Alex Garland Interview w CNET
12:53987K views · 7y ago · 12:53
Guest: Good Will Hunting
Get 2 months of Skillshare for free by going to Listen to our podcast episode where we dive deeper into Good Will Hunting Good Will Hunting is a film that puts the psychological aspects of story structure right on the surface.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
9:47811K views · 7y ago · 9:47
Listen to our podcast episode on The Devil Wears Prada Get 3 months of Audible for $6.95 by going to or texting "lfts" to 500 500! The Devil Wears Prada does a great job of setting up its story in a very fun and efficient way. This video goes on a tour of the first ten pages of the screenplay to see how it concisely sets the stage for the entire film.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
10:48864K views · 8y ago · 10:48
Listen to our podcast episode on Shaun of the Dead Get your first two months of Skillshare for free Edgar Wright films are always full of flashy, fun style, but what makes them so memorable is their equal focus on substance. This video looks at how everything in Shaun of the Dead—from supporting characters to the rise of zombies—is designed to enhance character.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
12:09406K views · 8y ago · 12:09
Listen to our podcast episode on A Quiet Place Sound always plays a particularly important role in the horror genre, but A Quiet Place takes this a step further, making sound itself a key element of the story. So in this video I talk to the sound designers of the film, Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, to learn more about the ways sound can be used in storytelling.
Topics: Chapter 1
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: John Krasinksi Interview
12:192.7M views · 8y ago · 12:19
Listen to our podcast episode in which we do a deeper dive into No Country for Old Men Get your first two months of Skillshare for free No Country For Old Men is a film that challenges the audience in the best possible way. It never condescends and refuses to spell things out—instead compelling us to connect the dots and participate in the storytelling. This video examines some of the ways it achieves this.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · Track on diegorojas.bandcamp.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: Andrew Stanton TED Talk
12:16468K views · 8y ago · 12:16
The Mission Impossible franchise is full of great examples of how to construct a compelling heist sequence. This video examines the heists from the original film and Mission Impossible — Rogue Nation to reveal the anatomy of a heist.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
9:16604K views · 8y ago · 9:16
Guest: Black Panther
Listen to our podcast episode on Black Panther Killmonger is a great example of how an antagonist can challenge the hero not just through confrontation and violence, but by representing something that affects the hero emotionally.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
11:34531K views · 8y ago · 11:34
Guest: Jurassic Park
Listen to our podcast episode on Jurassic Park Start your free 30-day free trial today at or by texting “lfts” to 500500! Jurassic Park is a great example of how theme can be used to design a cohesive and powerful story. Author Michael Crichton and screenwriter David Koepp use the theme as the DNA of the story, creating interesting characters with opposing viewpoints that explore the question at the heart of the film: Is everything we call “progress” actually progress?
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
12:11952K views · 8y ago · 12:11
Guest: Forcing Change
Listen to our podcast episode on the modern Star Wars films The first 500 people to use this link will get their first 2 months of Skillshare for free Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a strange movie. The things it does well, it does very well, and the things it drops the ball on, it really drops the ball on. In this video I look at the character arcs of Finn and Kylo Ren, comparing what works and what doesn’t.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: SXSW Q&A With Rian Johnson and Mark Hamill
11:30671K views · 8y ago · 11:30
Michael Mann’s 2004 thriller Collateral is a great example of how a protagonist’s facade is slowly stripped away as their inner self is forced to rise, and what happens when these two sides of the character collide at the midpoint of the story.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: UCTV Interview with Stuart Beattie
12:44819K views · 8y ago · 12:44
Guests: Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker
Get your first two months of Skillshare for 99 cents at The USS Callister episode of Black Mirror is a bit of an anomaly amongst the nineteen episodes of the series. It cleverly introduces the antagonist in an unconventional way, brings the premise of an old Twilight Zone episode into the near future, and manages to constantly be doing multiple things at once.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: British GQ interview with Charlie Brooker
13:231.6M views · 8y ago · 13:23
Guest: Get Out
Start your free 30-day free trial today at or by texting “lfts” to 500-500! Get Out takes a situation that is universally relatable and adds a specific and unfamiliar protagonist. In doing so, the film unlocks new ways of creating tension and establishing trust. This video examines the new storytelling techniques Jordan Peele applied to 2017’s Get Out.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
15:42829K views · 8y ago · 15:42
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an exciting thriller about an unlikely pair of misfits trying to solve a forty-year-old crime, but it’s also interesting from a structural perspective. It uses a non-conventional, five-act structure. This video breaks down the anatomy of an act, to examine how the film breaks the rules while following them at the same time.
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
▶️ Mentioned videos: Watch the previous video on The Avengers and traditional act structure · David Fincher quote
14:44731K views · 8y ago · 14:44
David Fincher recently implied that the MCU is "lassoed and hogtied" by three-acts, so I wanted to investigate this statement. This video begins this process by examining how to define an act using Marvel’s The Avengers.
📖 Mentioned books: Screenplay · Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story · Story · The Anatomy of Story
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · DelicTrips — Like Water
▶️ Mentioned videos: Watch part two · David Fincher quote · Lindsay Ellis video
12:48389K views · 8y ago · 12:48
Guest: Hidden Figures
Listen to our podcast episode on Hidden Figures The first 500 people to use this link will get a 2 month free trial of Skillshare 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.
📖 Mentioned books: Story · The Anatomy of Story · Hidden Figures Blu-Ray
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com · Track on soundcloud.com
11:24657K views · 9y ago · 11:24
Listen to our podcast episode in which we do a deeper dive into Children of Men Examining how Logan and Children of Men begin their stories and send the heroes down the path of redemption. 7 Day Free Trial of Videoblocks by Storyblocks
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
10:06602K views · 9y ago · 10:06
Guest: Blade Runner
Listen to our podcast episode where we do a deeper dive into Blade Runner Listen to our podcast episode on Blade Runner 2049 The first 500 people to use this link will get a 2 month free trial of Skillshare Blade Runner was the first film to take the thematic elements of classic film noir and bring them into a sci-fi, dystopian future.
📖 Mentioned books: A Panorama of American Film Noir (1941-1953) · Special Features were used the Blade Runner Blu-ray
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
10:20680K views · 9y ago · 10:20
Watch "The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan (Part 1) Analyzing Christopher Nolan's film Memento, and how he manages to tell a compelling story when most of it happens in reverse chronological order. Translate this video Special Features were used from the Memento Blu-ray
📖 Mentioned book: Special Features were used the Memento Blu-ray
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
11:091M views · 9y ago · 11:09
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. Listen to our podcast discussion of Game of Thrones with YouTube creators Alt Shift X and Sage from Just Write
📖 Mentioned book: Game of Thrones Season 6 Blu-Ray
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
12:51757K views · 9y ago · 12:51
Listen to our podcast episode on Inside Out 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.
📖 Mentioned book: Inside Out Blu-Ray
🎵 Mentioned music: Track on soundcloud.com
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