Hey what are your favorite films/scripts that don't follow any typical structure beat sheet? Or what are some more obscure structures you like outside of the mainstream stuff we're always being told to follow like Save the Cat or The Hero's Journey?
I know it's just an extrapolation of The Hero's Journey, but I'm pretty fond of Dan Harmon's Story Circle when it comes to writing comedy. So I guess that doesn't count.
I've been having a hard time thinking of outside the box films when it comes to structure, as I'm a genre nut and don't typically dive into the artistic/indie realm very often, so I'm basically drowning in studio which mostly all follow those structures. Would like to step outside of it for a bit and see what else I can learn, so very open to recommendations here.
Ha, yeah. I don't know why but all of his films just slipped out of my memory for this post.
Hey Barry, not talking about the "rules" here. Though my feelings on those are everyone should learn them before breaking them. I'm talking about story structure. Most films traditionally follow one or the other, and I'm curious what films out there don't or bring something new to the table. Essentially wondering if the next evolution is already out there floating around in front of our faces before somebody decides to write a book about it then everyone starts using it for twenty years.
No worries Barry, but if you have any recs I'll take 'em!
"The Usual Suspects" comes to mind first. That is still a great movie.
Nick, my advice (worth what you pay for it) is to just write your tale however you want. Pay more attention to your vision and let the structure fall where it will. In the end, you will find that your story has followed/developed its own structure. There are a few basic truths (not rules) about human storytelling; from epochs to basic rim-shots that are common to all - it's called the three act structure; beginning, middle & end. Snyder's beat sheet, Harmon's story circle, The Hero's Journey, Aristotle's Poetics and many others fall into a simple three act structures in the end. That's not to say that many tales don't wander down blind alleys, reverse themselves, arrive at an unintended destination or just aimlessly wander off into the weeds. Happens all the time.
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Hey Nick, this example isn't a feature instead it's an awesome crime/international thriller series on Netflix. I was advised to watch Giri/Haji and it was so worth it. Gir/Haji breaks some norms but the story weave of the characters and their connectivity is some of the best intrigiuing and engaging writing I've seen yet. Check it out.
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Memento
Run Lola Run
12 Monkeys
Doug I do write how I want, or how I feel the story needs to be written. I'm not looking for writing advice on this thread all, just looking for some film or script recs that break the molds :)
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watch indie films by writer-directors. Jim Jarmursch, Hal Hartly, Greg Araki. Anything "out of ordinary" is by auteur filmmakers. More film narrative than screenplay structure. Maybe read Charlie Kaufman, he seems to do his own thing; his scripts are a chore to read.
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https://artofnarrative.com/2020/07/08/kishotenketsu-exploring-the-four-act-story-structure/
Not my favorite as I like the save the cat method.
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Rocky 1 to me the inciting incident is when he gets offered the fight against Apollo which from memory is about 40 minutes in.So doesn't follow any of the 3 act structures or the 4 act Freytags pyramid structure commonly used in tragedies.Anything written by Greta Gerwig , Tarintino & Noah Baumbach is not going to have a traditional structure.
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I like foreign language films as a reference -
Touki Bouki (1973 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touki_Bouki) is one that simultaneously intrigued me and infuriated me
The Conformist (1970 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conformist_(1970_film)) is freaking amazing
La Haine (1995 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Haine) is also up there, although it would be hard to watch right now with everything that is going on
Fire (1996 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_(1996_film)) is one I adore
BUT if comedy is your jam, I HIGHLY recommend Going by the Book (2007 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_by_the_Book) although I'm having a hard time finding it now. It used to be on Netflix!
Of course, I could be mistaken - it could be pacing (editing) and not structure (writing) that is different. Totally still worth checking out, though!
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Max Mad Fury Road
The open shot does not reflect the last shot.
In the first ten minutes we don’t have a call, a refusal of the call, a mentor, an accepting the call or a cross of the threshold. We have a 13 minute action scene.
Then we have Max tied to a car for the next 10 minutes.
Final our protagonist doesn’t drive the story the second character does (I would argue duel leads).