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Start here. A movie is a person plus something that happens to them. Name both. If you only have a place or a mood, you do not have a story yet.

TitleThe name on the title page. It can change. A working title is fine.GenreWhat kind of movie this is. Horror, drama, comedy, thriller. One or two words.Target pagesHow long the finished script should be. About 90 to 120 pages is a feature. One page is about one minute.LoglineThe whole movie in one or two sentences: who, what they want, and what stands in the way.

Subject

Two questions only. What happens, and who it happens to. Write events and a person, not a theme.

Action (what the story is about)The events. What someone does, or what is done to them. Not the moral.Character (who the story is about)Who we follow, and why we stay with them. One or two sentences, not a full life story.Dramatic premiseThe “what if” in one sentence. Example: what if a careful man had to break the law to save his kid.SituationOrdinary life before the trouble. Job, home, the problem that is already there.ThemeWhat the story is about underneath the plot. A short phrase, not a speech. Example: loyalty costs more than it pays.

Two incidents

Act I usually has two hits, not one. They are easy to write as the same moment. They are not.

Inciting incident knocks life off balance, often around pages 10–15. They can still say no and go home.

Key incident is the story you came to tell, often the end of Act I. After this, going home is gone.

The first opens a door. The second walks through it and shuts it. If both boxes are the same event, one of them is missing.

Inciting incidentThe first disturbance. What happens, and why they could still walk away.Key incidentThe commitment. After this event, what story are they stuck inside?How they connectHow the first hit forces the second. What changes between “I could leave” and “I can’t.”

First ten pages

The opening should show who they are, what kind of story this is, the situation they are in, and the first push forward. Check a box only when the pages actually do that job.

Introduces the main characterStates the dramatic premiseSets up the situationSets the story in motion

Opening imageThe first picture. It should set the mood and show who they are before anyone explains them.Ending image it should answerThe last picture. It should echo or reverse the opening so the movie feels finished.