The StoryAlity High-RoI-Film Screenwriting Textbook

The STORYALITY™ Screenwriting Manual – or, PLOTTING PROFITABLE PICTURE$ – A Screenwriting Manual based on The Common Patterns and Practises in the Top 20 RoI (Return on Investment) Films of the Past 70 Years – by JT Velikovsky (2013). (Subject: Feature Films, Motion Pictures, Screenplays, Screenwriting).

STORYALITY™ Screenwriting Manual

What’s the Point Of Difference to the other 2500+ Screenwriting manuals out there on Amazon.com?

Science meets The Arts – in Film Screenwriting

KEY POINTS OF DIFFERENCE:

• The STORYALITY™ Screenwriting Manual is the first screenwriting manual that frames Screenwriting within the proven scientific research on Creativity (Csikszentmihalyi, Sawyer, Simonton, etc.) In other words, scientifically: What is Creativity, and How Does It Work?
• Shockingly, the book also shows Why: notions of “Aristotelian 3-Act structure” are misconceptions, based on misreadings of Aristotle’s Poetics. Forget everything you `know’ about so-called “3-Act Structure.”
• A wealth of diagrams, charts, graphs and empirical data – clearly illustrating all the key points of the work.
• Exists at the intersection of Science and The Arts. Almost all other Screenwriting Handbooks do not use an empirical and scientific method, in their story/screenplay “principles”.
• Combines unique research on: creativity, narratology, screenwriting, memetics, evolution and holons.
• So important and unique – that this is worth mentioning twice: The research in the book is Scientific and Empirical. (Almost all other Screenwriting Manuals merely use individual `illustrative and selective’ examples of their so-called Story “principles” – which is: neither empirical, nor scientific, as a method.) In other words, this work is based on empirical real-world evidence, and not just speculation.
• Directly addresses the real-world problems that every Screenwriter faces: 98% of screenplays go unmade, and 7 in 10 films loses money. The book gives you the tools to enable you to avoid these problems.
• Challenges – and corrects – almost everything you think you know, about Film Screenwriting, and the existing `screenwriting convention’. (The existing 2500+ handbooks, on Screenwriting.)
• Enables you to use scientific evidence and probability theory to enable your own film story/screenplay/film to reach the widest possible audience, for the least film production budget.
• In other words, How to create a film story that has a higher probability of going viral.
• Written by: a professional film story analyst, screenplay reader for major film studios, who is also a million-selling transmedia writer, award-winning film screenwriter, and judge for the national writer’s guild.
• In short – read the book that is a scientific revolution in Screenwriting and Filmmaking.

WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?

This book is for – aspiring – or even experienced:

• Screenwriters
• Directors
• Producers
• Actors
• Movie Studio Executives
• Film Financiers
• Film Distributors
• Professional Story Analysts
• Agents
• Anyone in the Film Business… (from Gaffers to Grips to Best Boys to: anyone at all, in the Cast and Crew – in Pre, Production and Post)
• and also, Film Audiences – and Film Fans.
• And also – especially for Screenwriting or Film students (and including anyone in either Academy, i.e. in Academia, or even, in AMPAS, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences).

In other words, it’s really for: anyone who has anything to do with Movies.

This Means YOU

The book is divided into 2 parts:

Part 1 – Presents an Analysis of the Top 20 RoI Films, including:

• What is RoI? (Return on Investment)
• What are the Top 20 – and also, the Bottom 20 – RoI Films?
• On Scientific and Empirical research in Story/Screenplay/Film
• On Scientific paradigms
• On Story `paradigms’ – versus Story `syntagms’
• On the Frequency of Top 20 RoI films
• The 3 Biggest Problems in Film (for any Screenwriter and/or Filmmaker)
• Ten Common Story Elements of the Top 20 RoI Films
• The 10-Act StoryAlity™ screenplay syntagm
• On Genre in the Top 20 RoI Films
• Premise, Theme, Character, Structure and Stakes in the Top 20 RoI Films
• On `Villain Triumphant’ Endings in the Top 20 RoI Films
• On Character `Arcs’ (or the lack, thereof) in Top 20 RoI Films
• Why the new scientific knowledge in this book contradicts `the current screenwriting convention’

The Film RoI (Return on Investment) bell curve

Part 2 of the book – Shows you how to use the StoryAlity™ system – to increase the probability of your own story/screenplay/film going viral.

• Frequently-Asked Questions (and: Frequently-Given Answers)
• How to write a screenplay using the StoryAlity™ Screenplay System
• The 30 Guidelines for any aspiring writer of high-RoI (i.e. viral) Films
• The archetypal `High-RoI Film’
• On Creative Practice Theory
• On Creativity

The book is not merely a representation of the information on this, the StoryAlity™ weblog, but Part 2 of the STORYALITY™ Screenwriting Manual includes instructions on how to use the STORYALITY™ Screenplay System to create your own screenplay and film that given the scientific and empirical evidence from the Top 20 RoI films of the past 70 years, has a higher probability of going viral – or in other words – reaching the widest possible audience for the last film production budget. 

For more About The Author, see this page.

The above Kindle EBook is 200 pages.

For more on The STORYALITY™ Screenwriting Manual – or, PLOTTING PROFITABLE PICTURE$, see this post.

Note – There is also, a much longer (888-page) version of the same empirical and scientific research currently in preparation for publication as a hard-copy paperback, titled STORYALITY™ – THE SCIENCE OF STORY. A sample of this book is below.

STORYALITY™ – THE SCIENCE OF STORY – A textbook on: Writing the High-ROI Feature Film – or: Plotting Profitable Picture$, for students and even experienced professional writers/filmmakers, alike.

StoryAlity – The Science of Story: a screenwriting/filmmaking method bombshell

And – most importantly of all – finally: a screenplay/film story analysis methodology that is empirical and scientific, as opposed to all the other screenplay guru manuals (i.e. such as `Story‘ (1997) by McKee, Screenplay (1977) by Field, and, Writing Screenplays That Sell by Hauge etc…. – None of which, use an empirical and/or scientific method, as does the StoryAlity Film Story System.)

This is a watershed moment in the global history of narrative entertainment: The domain of Film Screenwriting has now officially emerged from its former pre-scientific-paradigm state.

BEFORE: Screenwriting has been in a pre-scientific paradigm state, up till now (2012). See this StoryAlity post for exactly Why.

Based on my scientific and empirical doctoral research on The Top 20 ROI (Return-on-Investment) Feature Films, `STORYALITY: THE SCIENCE OF STORY: The Common Film/Screenplay Elements ‘in the Top 20 ROI Films of the Last 70 Years’ (2012) is an 888-page feature film Screenwriting Textbook.

AFTER: Screenwriting now has a scientific and empirical paradigm. – At last! The sky is now the limit for Film Storytellers worldwide.

STORYALITY: The Science of Story – The first – and last – Screenplay `How-To’ Manual that anyone ever needs, whether you are: a first-time filmmaker, a middle- or even late-career film storyteller (writer, filmmaker, producer, of even just someone curious about How Successful Film Stories Work) – this is the book that reveals the answers you seek.

The STORYALITY Textbook Manuscript is currently being reviewed for publication by various international publishers. Watch this space, for updates…

Watch this space…

Meantime the Chapter Headings for the 888-page StoryAlity Screenwriting Manual are below.

And: I wish you the best in all your filmmaking / film storytelling endeavours.

Best,

JT Velikovsky

High-RoI Film/Screenplay Analyst

https://storyality.wordpress.com/

The StoryAlity Syntagm (Velikovsky 2012)

From: STORYALITY: THE SCIENCE OF STORY (2012) by JT Velikovsky

——————————————————————————————————————————-

My previous Screenwriting Textbook is available here (free): It is a summary of approximately 100 books on Film Story/Screenwriting:

The Feature Screenwriters Workbook: a summary of 100 screenwriting texts. (Velikovsky 2003-2011)

Which is essentially, a prequel / background / literature summary, to the forthcoming:

——————————————————————————————————————————-

STORYALITY: THE SCIENCE OF STORY

About the Author

JT Velikovsky – Million-selling Transmedia Writer-Producer-Director – and: High-ROI-Film Story/Screenplay Guru – 2012

In A Treatise On Rhetoric (322 B.C.), Aristotle says, the 3 “keys to persuasion” are: ethos, pathos and logos (or – credibility of the author; appeal to emotion; and arguments from reason).

So – in this, the “ethos” section – here are my

Credits/Professional Experience:

• For 10 years I was a professional Script Reader / Story Analyst for various major film studios (Fox, PolyGram, Universal, etc.) and also for government film funding bodies, and for various independent Film Producers. Like Syd Field, Linda Seger and Robert McKee, I have professionally analyzed thousands of feature film screenplays. Also – TV and Game screenplays – as I am also a working professional Transmedia Writer.
• Professional Script and Story Assessor, and Judge for the Writers’ and Directors’ Guild
• Writing Mentor for the national Council For The Arts
• Screenwriter of the multi-award-winning feature film, Caught Inside (2010)
• Story/Script Editor/Script Doctor/Creative Consultant on various feature films that I currently can’t talk about (for `commercial confidentiality’ reasons)
• I was also the national Videogames Market Analyst (which is also why, I like to analyze statistics and graphs, and, is also why I consider: R.O.I. / Return On Investment important in the real world of Screenwriting/Filmmaking)
• Game Writer & Designer, on million-seller games (e.g. Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, and others)
• I have sold or optioned more than 10 screenplays (one optioned by Robert Watts, producer of the first 3 Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies)
• Made over 30 short films, many of them award-winning (e.g. Rocket Man).
• In 1995-2011, wrote The Feature Film Screenwriter’s Workbook, a summary of 100 books on Feature Film Screenwriting (by McKee, Seger, Field, Truby, etc.)

Anyway, so that’s an overview of my professional Credits / Credibility.

For more, please see my official Transmedia Writing site.

And/or Google: “joe velikovsky” and, also “jt velikovsky screenwriters workbook”

But – importantly, all of my past credits and professional experience are in fact moot, as – the study is scientific and empirical anyway. Anyone who conducted a similar study to the StoryAlity study of the story/screenplay/films of the Top-20-ROI and Bottom-20-ROI Films of All Time would get the same result.

Consequently, I would also strongly urge anyone to go ahead and closely examine these Top 20 ROI films for yourself… See if you can find anything I didn’t, in terms of: Common Story/Film Elements/Structures, across all of these  phenomenally-successful films, including the common story structure underneath all of them: The StoryAlity Screenplay Syntagm.

As this is the first study of its kind (looking at, this specific data set of The Top 20 ROI films of all time) I am always interested to know more, so that we may all share and use this invaluable knowledge.

Storytelling can only evolve as a result..!

And – that is – truly – very exciting for the future of human culture indeed.

And most importantly, for YOU – means, you get to discover all the key secrets of super-successful screenwriting and filmmaking.

Isn’t it  just exactly all that every Storyteller ever wants? i.e.:

For your story – and film – to reach the widest global audience possible..?

Strap yourselves in for a wild ride, folks – we’re going to see some truly amazing sights – and discover some shocking new knowledge – that will only make You a more successful storyteller…

 Now, Sit Back – and Enjoy The Ride-!

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT.. 3

PART 1 – The 1-Page Summary of the Entire Book.. 5

1. The One-Page Summary.. 6

About the Author. 7

CONTENTS.. 10

THE TOP 20 RETURN-ON-INVESTMENT FILMS.. 26

THE BIZARRE STORY BEHIND THIS BOOK.. 27

PART 2 – ON THE DUALISM OF “SCIENCE VS THE ARTS”. 38

ON FORM AND FUNCTION… 39

1.     INTRODUCTION – THE SHORT STORY ON HIGH-ROI FILMS.. 41

ON PHILOSOPHY, M-THEORY – AND MODEL-DEPENDENT REALISM… 46

AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION: 52

PART 3 – THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK.. 55

MY THESIS – IS AS FOLLOWS.. 67

WHY FILM STORIES ARE MEMES.. 71

ABOUT LEONARDO FIBONACCI. 83

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GOLDEN RATIO.. 85

PART 4 – ON THE HISTORICAL STUDY OF STORY.. 94

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NARRATOLOGY.. 95

1.     A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STRUCTURAL STUDY OF STORY.. 96

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SCREENPLAY INSTRUCTIONAL MANUALS.. 102

2.     A BRIEF HISTORY OF SCREENPLAY INSTRUCTIONAL MANUALS.. 103

3.     AS A SCREENWRITER / FILMMAKER – WHICH BOOK/S TO READ?. 108

4.     ON THE OTHER SCREENPLAY GURUS’ LACK OF empirical OR SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY.. 112

5.     A COMPARISON OF THE 8 MAJOR STORY STRUCTURE SYSTEMS/ SCREENPLAY “PARADIGMS”. 119

6.     SCREENPLAY PARADIGM #8: BLAKE SNYDER.. 127

7.     DEFECTS OF THE PRESENT VIEW – RE: THE ABOVE NARRATOLOGY STUDIES AND SCREENPLAY STUDIES BY THE SCREENWRITING “GURUS”. 131

8.     HOW HOLLYWOOD TELLS IT – THE “RULES” ACCORDING TO THE SCREENWRITING “GURUS”. 137

9.     THE STORYALITY™ PARADIGM: THE 10-ACT STRUCTURE.. 139

10.       But – WHY ONLY STUDY FILMS FROM “THE LAST 70 YEARS”? Why not THE TOP-20 roi FILMS OF all time?. 140

SO – WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES A MOVIE SUCCESSFUL?. 141

PART 5 – A SIDE NOTE ON SUCCESSFUL NOVELS.. 143

A SIDE NOTE ON: TOP TEN COMMON ELEMENTS IN BEST-SELLING NOVELS.. 144

THE TOP TEN COMMON ELEMENTS IN ALL BEST-SELLING NOVELS.. 144

A BRIEF LOOK AT “HIT LIT: Cracking the Code of the 20th Century’s Biggest Bestsellers”. 149

WHY STUDY THE MORPHOLOGY OF FILM SCREENPLAYS SO CLOSELY?. 151

PART 6 – AGENCY AND STRUCTURE.. 155

1.     A BRIEF SIDE NOTE ABOUT THAT WEIRD SYMBOL – THE MANDORLA.. 156

2.     AGENCY AND STRUCTURE.. 157

MORPHOLOGY OF THE 20 MOST POPULAR/FAMOUS PAINTINGS.. 160

The 20 most Popular/Famous Songs.. 165

WHAT DOES ALL THAT “AGENCY AND STRUCTURE” STUFF MEAN?. 168

PART 7 – THE RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY.. 169

THE RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY.. 170

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER (PREVIOUS) RESEARCH STUDIES..?. 172

THE KEY FLAWS IN THE TWO WHARTON SCHOOL OF MARKETING STUDIES ON ROI IN FILM STORY.. 174

THE STRUCTURE OF THE QUESTION – AND ITS 3-LEVEL ANSWERS.. 179

PART 8 – What does “R.O.I.” actually mean?. 180

1.     WHAT DOES R.O.I. (RETURN ON INVESTMENT) ACTUALLY MEAN?. 181

2.     WHAT ARE THE TOP 20 R.O.I. (RETURN ON INVESTMENT) FILMS?. 183

3.     WAIT – HOW COME THIS LIST IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TO THE-NUMBERS.COM?. 185

4.     WAIT, THERE IS STILL A FILM MISSING…? (i.e. THE DEVIL INSIDE). 189

5.     HOW OFTEN DO “TOP 20 ROI FILMS” COME ALONG?. 191

6.     WHY IS THIS LIST OF “THE TOP 20 ROI FILMS” WORTH STUDYING?. 196

7.     ANOTHER LIST: THE HIGHEST-GROSSING FILMS OF ALL TIME, CHRONOLOGICALLY (INFLATION ADJUSTED). 200

8.     THE REALITY: ONLY 2 in 10 FILMS ACTUALLY MAKE MONEY.. 202

9.     HOW HARD IS IT TO “CRACK” HOLLYWOOD? (TO GET A SCREENPLAY / FILM MADE THERE?). 204

WHY HOLLYWOOD SHOULD ALSO READ THIS REPORT.. 206

OTHER SUCCESSFUL “VILLAIN TRIUMPHANT” FILMS.. 207

PART 9 – A study of the Story & Scripts of the Top 20 ROI Films. 215

1.     THE COMMON STORY ELEMENTS – IN THE TOP 20 ROI FILMS.. 216

PART 10 –SCREENWRITING QUESTIONS & ANSWERS – FROM THE TOP 20 ROI FILMS.. 218

1.     What Story should I tell? And – Why?. 219

2.     The STORY PREMISES – and their INSPIRATIONS – behind the Top 20 ROI films. 221

3.     Should I tell my story with a Linear – or a Non-Linear structure?. 225

4.     Once the screenplay is written, How will I get it financed and made?. 227

10.       The role of The Writer-Hyphenate in the Top 20 ROI films. 228

11.       THE WRITER-HYPHENATES BEHIND THE TOP 22 RETURN-ON-INVESTMENT MOVIES.. 229

PART 11 – ON CREATIVITY.. 231

1.     CREATIVITY – “CONNECTING THINGS”. 233

PRACTICE THEORY NARRATOLOGY & GEOMETRY = STORYALITY.. 234

2.     How Feature Films emerge from a system in action.. 235

ON HOLONS AND HOLARCHIES.. 236

3.     How `Creativity’ actually works. 245

Fig 1- Csikszentmihalyi’s Systems Model of Creativity (Csikszentmihalyi, 2001, p. 11). 246

How Big Is “The (Playing) Field”?. 257

THE CREATIVE PERSONALITY.. 263

3.     Example Table Of The Systems Model – George Lucas And Key Influences on American Graffiti 265

4.     Wallas and the Creative Process. 266

5.     What all that means for you, the Writer-Filmmaker. 273

Part 12 – THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE HIGH-ROI SCREENPLAY.. 275

A Brief Overview Of Some Statistics From The Top 20 ROI Movies. 277

1.     How long should the Film Shoot be?. 281

2.     Number of Locations versus Film Shoot Duration. 282

3.     What Genre should I tell it in? (Horror? Comedy? Or even… “Drama”…?). 284

4.     How long should it be, and – How many Scenes?. 287

5.     Screenplay Pages (i.e. Movie Minutes) vs. Number of Scenes. 288

6.     What exactly is an “Elliot Wave”?. 289

7.     The Structure of the Scenes in each Screenplay/Film… 291

8.     How should I Structure the Story? In 3 Acts – or, what?. 292

9.     How many Main Characters are there, in a typical High-ROI film?. 294

10.       What are the typical Occupations of the Main Character/s in High ROI films?. 296

11.       What are “The Story Stakes” in the High-ROI movies?. 298

12.       What are the typical “Character Arc/s” in a High-ROI film Story?. 300

13.       How High-ROI Film Stories “end”: THE VILLAIN TRIUMPHANT.. 303

14.       What about the `Story Arcs’ / Goals of the Hero and Villain?. 306

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Paranormal Activity.. 308

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Mad Max.. 309

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – The Blair Witch Project. 310

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – El Mariachi 311

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Night Of The Living Dead.. 312

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Rocky.. 313

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Halloween.. 314

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – American Graffiti. 315

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Clerks. 316

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Once.. 317

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Napoleon Dynamite.. 318

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Open Water. 319

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Friday The 13th.. 320

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – SAW…. 321

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Primer. 322

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – The Evil Dead.. 323

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial 324

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – The Full Monty.. 325

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – Star Wars. 326

StoryAlity™ Story Chart – My Big Fat Greek Wedding.. 327

15.       How long should each Scene in my Screenplay (and, Film) be?. 328

16.       Is there any common/consistent Theme in High-ROI movies?. 330

17.       Is there always a “Love Story” in High-ROI movies?. 333

18.       Do I need: Sex scenes, chase scenes, shootouts, fistfights? (And, if so – structurally, when should they occur?). 336

19.       What types of Main Locations / Settings should I use?. 339

20.       How many Exterior vs. Interior scenes?. 341

21.       What Time period should it be set in? Present? Past? Future?. 343

22.       What about using Voice-Over in my high-ROI screenplay?. 344

23.       What is the key `Point of Difference’ / `Unique Selling Points’ of the FILMMAKING in these Top 20 ROI films?. 349

24.       How truly “fresh/original/creative” were/are these Films?. 351

25.       What about the Critics, and Reviews?. 354

26.       What about Oscars?. 355

27.       What tropes / memes can I use, when I set out to write my own high-ROI feature film?. 356

28.       What about the zeitgeist? How can I use it? (or, even – predict it?). 358

29.       What sort of MPAA Rating should I aim for, when I write my high ROI screenplay?. 360

30.       How can I control what MPAA rating my film (resulting from my Story/Screenplay) gets?. 363

31.       The “Look” of the film: B&W vs. Color, Film vs. Tape/Digital 366

32.       How many of these films have MONTAGES?. 367

33.       A note on DIALOG STYLE.. 368

34.       A note on VOICE – in the Writing/Filmmaking.. 369

35.       How many of these Top 20 Films are a classic Hero’s Journey `monomyth’?. 370

PART 13 – THE STORYALITY™ PARADIGM: THE 10-ACT STRUCTURE.. 371

STORYALITY™ BREAKDOWN –PIE GRAPH… 372

Do these 10 Acts correlate to the “classic Hollywood 3-Act” structure?. 373

“THE LAST 34 MINUTES”: 21 MINS and 13 MINS.. 375

THE UNIFICATION OF ALL STRUCTURAL NARRATOLOGY.. 377

MODEL-DEPENDENT REALISM – and THE STORY & SCREENPLAY PARADIGMS.. 378

STORYALITY™ STRUCTURE – for all Top 20 ROI Films. 383

1.     PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – STORYALITY™ STRUCTURE.. 384

2.     MAD MAX.. 385

3.     THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.. 386

4.     EL MARIACHI. 387

5.     NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.. 388

6.     ROCKY.. 389

7.     HALLOWEEN… 390

8.     AMERICAN GRAFFITI. 391

9.     CLERKS.. 392

10.       ONCE.. 393

11.       NAPOLEON DYNAMITE.. 394

12.       OPEN WATER.. 395

13.       FRIDAY THE 13TH… 396

14.       SAW…. 397

15.       PRIMER.. 398

16.       THE EVIL DEAD.. 399

17.       E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial 400

18.       THE FULL MONTY.. 401

19.       STAR WARS.. 402

20.       MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING.. 403

PART 14 –ANALYSIS OF/COMPARISON TO: the BOTTOM 20 ROI Films. 404

1.     WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST MONEY LOSER MOVIES? (based on RETURN ON INVESTMENT). 405

2.     HOW OFTEN DO “BOTTOM 20 ROI FILMS” COME ALONG?. 406

3.     WHY LOOK AT “BOTTOM 20 ROI FILMS”?. 407

4.     ATTRIBUTES and CHARACTERISTICS: THE BOTTOM-20 ROI FILMS/THE BIGGEST ROI-LOSERS.. 408

4.     WHY DRAMAS – AS A GENRE – ARE THE HIGHEST RISK.. 409

THE OSCAR-BOOST EFFECT ON BIG-BUDGET DRAMAS.. 411

5.     COMPARISON OF ATTRIBUTES: TOP 20 ROI FILMS VS. BOTTOM 20 ROI. 424

PART 15 – THE High-ROI Film Story / SCREENPLAY Checklist. 425

1.     THE HIGH-ROI FILM STORY & SCREENPLAY CHECKLIST.. 426

2.     Screenwriting Guidelines – for any aspiring Writer of High-ROI Films. 429

3.     THE ARCHETYPAL FORMULA FOR “THE PERFECT HIGH-ROI FILM”. 433

PART 16 – DETAILED SCENE BREAKDOWNS the Top 20 ROI Films. 434

1.     Scene Breakdown – Paranormal Activity. 435

2.     Scene Breakdown – Mad Max. 447

4.     Scene Breakdown – The Blair Witch Project. 461

5.     Scene Breakdown – El Mariachi 472

5. Scene Breakdown – Night of the Living Dead.. 486

6. Scene Breakdown – Rocky.. 502

7. Scene Breakdown – Halloween.. 514

8.     Scene Breakdown – American Graffiti 534

9.     Scene Breakdown – Clerks. 543

10.       Scene Breakdown – Once. 555

11.       Scene Breakdown – Napoleon Dynamite. 563

12.       Scene Breakdown – Open Water. 575

13.       Scene Breakdown – Friday the 13th.. 591

14.       Scene Breakdown – SAW…. 605

15.       Scene Breakdown – Primer. 617

16.       Scene Breakdown – The Evil Dead.. 633

17.       Scene Breakdown – E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial 651

18.       Scene Breakdown – The Full Monty. 667

19.       Scene Breakdown – Star Wars. 683

20.       Scene Breakdown – My Big Fat Greek Wedding.. 702

PART 17 – ON FRACTAL GEOMETRY – and fractal Storyality™.. 719

ON FRACTAL GEOMETRY.. 720

3 x Examples of FRACTAL STORYALITY™.. 721

1.     Fractal Scene Breakdown – El Mariachi 722

2.     Fractal Scene Breakdown – Halloween.. 736

3.     Fractal Scene Breakdown – Friday the 13^th. 755

PART 18 – STORYALITY™ 10-ACT FILM STORY STRUCTURE – WORKSHEET.. 769

STORYALITY™ 10-ACT FILM STORY STRUCTURE – WORKSHEET.. 770

ACADEMIC SECTION… 771

PART 19 – CREATIVE PRACTICE THEORY NARRATOLOGY – A MANIFESTO.. 772

PART 20 – LITERATURE SURVEY SUMMARY – ACADEMIC STUDIES OF CAUSAL FACTORS IN FILM SUCCESS.. 789

SURVEY OF PREVIOUS ACADEMIC LITERATURE, SEEKING THE CAUSES OF FILM SUCCESS.. 790

A LITERATURE SUMMARY – THE ECONOMICS OF MOVIES.. 815

APPENDIX.. 822

PART 21 – `Opening shots’ of the Top 20 ROI Films. 823

1.     Introduction of the Hero – and Villain in the Top 20 High-ROI films. 824

1.     Paranormal Activity (2009). 825

2.     Mad Max (1980). 826

3.     The Blair Witch Project (1999). 827

4.     El Mariachi (1993). 828

5.     Night of the Living Dead (1968). 829

6.     Rocky (1976). 830

7.     Halloween (1978). 831

8.     American Graffiti (1973). 832

9.     Clerks (1994). 833

10.       Once  (2007). 834

11.       Napoleon Dynamite (2004). 835

12.       Open Water   (2004). 836

13.       Friday the 13^th (1980). 837

14.       Saw (2004). 838

15.       Primer (2004). 839

16.       The Evil Dead (1983). 840

17.       ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). 841

18.       The Full Monty (1997). 842

19.       Star Wars (1977). 843

20.       My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). 844

PART 22 – LIST OF THE TOP 100 SCREENWRITING BOOKS on AMAZON.COM… 845

LIST OF MOVIES WITH BUDGETS LESS THAN $2M (NOT INFLATION-ADJUSTED). 857

PART 23 – BIBLIOGRAPHY.. 872

PART 24 – APOLOGIA.. 874

AN APOLOGY.. 875

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.. 877

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS – ON THE TOP-20 ROI FILM STORIES.. 879

PART 25 – THANKS / CREDITS / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.. 882

Table of Contents – from: `STORYALITY: THE SCIENCE OF STORY: The Common Film/Screenplay Elements ‘in the Top 20 ROI Films of the Last 70 Years’ (2012) – an 888-page feature film Screenwriting Textbook manuscript by million-selling transmedia writer-director-producer, JT Velikovsky.

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