• Home
  • Analysis
    • Action
    • Comedy
    • Crime / Gangster
    • Drama
    • Epic / Historical
    • Horror
    • Thriller
    • Best Original Screenplay
  • Beats
  • Blog
  • Contact

How To Write a Screenplay

Learn how to write a screenplay through detailed analysis of feature films.

  • Screenwriting Tips
  • How To Write A Screenplay

Man of Steel

June 24, 2013 By William Robert Rich Leave a Comment

Man of Steel Beat Sheet

Screenplay by David S. Goyer
Story by David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan
Directed by Zack Snyder
Running time: 133 minutes
Year: 2013

LISTEN TO OUR MAN OF STEEL PODCAST

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Read more…]

Memento

June 16, 2013 By William Robert Rich 8 Comments

Memento Beat Sheet

Screenplay by Christopher Nolan
Based on the short story, Memento Mori, by Jonathan Nolan
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Running Time: 110 minutes
Year: 2001

Listen To Our Memento Podcast

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

For a thorough analysis of Memento, including two detailed story maps (both narrative and chronological) please support this site by purchasing my book, co-authored with Dan Calvisi of Act Four Screenplays, Story Maps: The Films of Christopher Nolan. Click here to download a FREE SAMPLE (PDF).

[Read more…]

Casablanca

April 8, 2013 By William Robert Rich 2 Comments

Casablanca Beat Sheet

Based on the play Everybody Goes To Rick’s by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison
Written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Running time: 103 minutes
Year: 1942

[Read more…]

The Shawshank Redemption

March 10, 2013 By William Robert Rich Leave a Comment

The Shawshank Redemption Beat Sheet

Written and Directed by Frank Darabont
Based on Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
Running time: 139 minutes
Year: 1994

Listen to our Shawshank Podcast

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Read more…]

Looper Beat Sheet

February 24, 2013 By William Robert Rich 4 Comments

Looper Beat Sheet
Written and Directed by Rian Johnson
Running time: 111 minutes
Year: 2012

Click here to download the Looper script

Lessons From Looper: The Difference Between World-Building and Story

[Read more…]

Fight Club Beat Sheet

December 9, 2012 By William Robert Rich 7 Comments

Fight Club Beat Sheet Screenplay How To

Screenplay by Jim Ohls
Based on the novel by Chuck Palahnuik
Directed by David Fincher
Running time: 137 minutes
Year: 1999

[Read more…]

Back to the Future Beat Sheet

November 5, 2012 By William Robert Rich 4 Comments

Back to the Future Beat Sheet Story Map

Written by Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Running time: 112 minutes
Year: 1985

[Read more…]

Midnight in Paris Beat Sheet

September 9, 2012 By William Robert Rich 4 Comments

Written and Directed by Woody Allen
Running time: 91 minutes
Year: 2011

[Read more…]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Beat Sheet

September 5, 2012 By William Robert Rich 5 Comments

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Beat Sheet

Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,
‘Apple seed and apple thorn;
Wire, briar, limber lock,
Three geese in a flock.
One flew east,
And one flew west,
And one flew over the cuckoo’s nest.

 

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman
Based on the novel by Ken Kesey
Directed by Milos Forman
Running time: 132 minutes
Year: 1975
[Read more…]

Vertigo Beat Sheet

August 13, 2012 By William Robert Rich 1 Comment

 

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Get on the SHT List

Sign up for email updates and exclusive content.

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent SHT

Breakfast Club Statue 004

Breakfast Club Sculpture

File this one under closing image masterclass. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the Breakfast … [Read More...]

Good Will Hunting Climax

What’s the Climax of Good Will Hunting?

People email questions from time-to-time. I've always answered these questions. I've also always … [Read More...]

Jurassic World Jurassic Values

Jurassic World, Jurassic Values

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CofZ7xjGyI8 If there’s one thing to learn from this video, and … [Read More...]

More SHT

Recent Analysis

LA Confidential Beat Sheet

L.A. Confidential

Director Curtis Hanson and his co-writer, Brian Helgeland, have taken a massively complex novel by … [Read More...]

Vertigo Analysis

Vertigo

At the very beginning of the movie, we see Scottie vaulting across rooftops, struggling to keep up … [Read More...]

The Shawshank Redemption Script

The Shawshank Redemption

Frank Darabont has often compared The Shawshank Redemption to a Rorschach test. Written and executed … [Read More...]

More Analysis

Copyright © 2020 ScreenplayHowTo. All rights reserved.