ScreenplayHowTo | Screenplay analysis and beat sheets
Screenplay Analysis. From the Script Up.
Structure. Theme. Character. Craft.
Beat sheets, film structure breakdowns, and the Deep SHT books. Learn how to write a screenplay from the films that already work: free, and sourced from the scripts themselves.
Three depths | Pick your entry point
01 | The Map
Beat Sheets
A screenplay beat sheet shows where the story turns, minute by minute: the shape of the film before anything else.
02 | The Mechanism
Screenplay Analysis
Why each turn works, read against the script, the drafts, and the on-record accounts.
03 | The Excavation
Deep SHT Books
One film, opened all the way down. The full structure from page to screen, in a book.
01 | The Map
Beat Sheets
Save the Cat beats and other structural paradigms are the clearest way to detect the patterns that hold well-built films together. Each screenplay beat sheet maps the full structure so you can see exactly where the story turns and why.
2008 | Nolan
The Dark Knight Beat Sheet
Fifteen beats with minute markers, and why defeating chaos ends in a noble lie.
1999 | Fincher
Fight Club Beat Sheet
The five-act structure, the major plot points, and the Narrator’s arc.
1994 | Darabont
The Shawshank Redemption Beat Sheet
Inciting incident to Red’s coda, across a timeline that spans decades.
02 | The Mechanism
Screenplay Analysis
Detailed structural analysis of theme, character, plot architecture, and the lessons embedded in the story. Each film structure breakdown goes beyond what happened, into why it works.
1974 | Towne, Polanski
Chinatown: The Complete Film and Screenplay Analysis
Towne’s drafts, Polanski’s ending, and the case Jake solves completely and correctly.
2007 | Coen Brothers
No Country for Old Men: The Complete Screenplay Analysis
The coin, the dream, Chigurh’s code, and why Llewelyn had to die.
1987 | Parker
Angel Heart Ending Explained
Five foreshadowing systems hide that Harry Angel is Johnny Favorite, from frame one.
2017 | McDonagh
Three Billboards Ending Explained
A shotgun in a trunk, two people who can’t agree on Idaho, and the choice the film stages but never settles.
Everyone tells you to study Chinatown. Nobody tells you how.
Deep SHT | Book One
03 | The Excavation
The Book on Chinatown.
Deep SHT: Chinatown is the full excavation: every structural move in Towne’s script traced from the page to the screen, sourced from the drafts and the on-record accounts. One of the most revered films ever made, opened up so you can see how it runs.
The book is almost here. Leave your email and you’ll get it the day it launches, pay what you want.
One email when the book drops, occasional analysis after that. Unsubscribe anytime. Next in the series: No Country for Old Men. See the Deep SHT series.
04 | Perspective
Craft. Industry. AI.
Opinion, analysis, and news from the front lines of screenwriting.
Craft | Format
Shot Headings: Shot Types
CLOSE ON, INSERT, WIDE SHOT, POV, and the write-don’t-direct tightrope.
Craft | Transitions
When to Use CUT TO: (and When Not To)
When the transition earns its line, and when it is only habit.
Industry | AI
Martin Scorsese AI: What the Backlash Gets Wrong
The backlash is four objections stacked into one word. Only one survives a close look.
Craft | Reading
Best Screenwriting Books: An Annotated Reading List
The books worth the shelf space, and what each one is for.
