‘Writers often get so focused on the details they can’t see the forest for the trees’. John Yorke Story course tutor Chelsea Morgan Hoffman looks at the process of developing a screenplay, and the power of 5 Act structure.
In his bestselling book on screenwriting Into The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them, John Yorke argues that all compelling stories share an underlying structure, no matter their format or genre. So what do the great storytellers of film and TV drama have to teach those who work in factual entertainment, current affairs, history/science/the arts, and documentaries – anything, in fact, that’s non-fiction? A new course explores what you can take from dramatic structure to create factual stories that resonate deeply with an audience.
How many times have you begun a script with dreams of grandeur, only for it to peter out, and end up half written with no direction? In the first of two Q&A sessions, students taking John Yorke’s Storytelling for Screen online course talk to tutor, director and editor David Roden about the importance of script structure, the necessity of passion, and Jackie Collins’ secret to success.
What role do scenes play in the larger purpose of your story? Aspiring TV drama producer Radica Anikpe has a eureka moment on the Storytelling for Screen course: scenes are the key to propelling a story forward and cracking character, and it’s as easy as maths!