Chapter 1. The Story Arc

You might be asking yourself, why are we starting with a film’s story arc? Isn’t this the writer’s job? Yes, it’s certainly a concern for the writer or the person conceptualizing the story for your film. However, if you’re reading this book, nowadays chances are you have your hand in all aspects of filmmaking. You come up with the ideas. You shoot the footage needed to assemble the film. You know a little bit about lighting. You’re editing, color correcting, and mixing audio. You might even be visiting third-party websites to find music to score your film.

If this is you, you’re certainly not alone. This scenario is a sign of the times—and of technology. In the past 5 to 10 years, high-quality filmmaking has gone from ...

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