Tag Archive for: star wars

Before Rian Johnson directs Star Wars Episode VIII, check out Looper (free Story Map download)

 looper-script-analysis

My buddy William Robert Rich (co-author of Story Maps: The Films of Christopher Nolan) over at Screenplay How To has put together a fantastic Story Map for Rian Johnson’s 2012 sci-fi action film Looper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. It’s a great way to study the screenplay structure and screenwriting techniques used by Rian Johnson to create one of the most compelling Science Fiction features of the last decade. Read more

TRILOGY BUILDING Part III: The Star Wars and Halo Sagas

You will be...you will be.

The trilogy (of articles) is complete!

Here’s the third part of our analysis of the story structure behind great Science Fiction and Fantasy sagas, using the original Star Wars Trilogy and the Halo Trilogy as focus points. I’d like to thank James Robert Martin for his fantastic work on these essays, and I invite you to revisit Part I and Part II and to post a comment below.

TRILOGY BUILDING PART III: The Saga

by James Robert Martin Read more

TRILOGY BUILDING PART II: The Characters and Worlds of Star Wars and Halo

 

James Robert Martin returns for the second part in his guest blog series about the structure of a trilogy, using my Story Maps method to break down the Halo game universe and the classic Star Wars trilogy. [Part I here] Read more

TRILOGY BUILDING Part I: Story Mapping the Star Wars and Halo trilogies

Photo credit: AP Copyright LucasFilm Ltd.

Some of you may remember a video I made back in 2008 talking about the concept of “Trilogy Building” and the connections between one entry in a trilogy and the trilogy as a whole. In terms of story mapping, it’s basically using the Story Maps beat sheet to break down a trilogy as if it were one movie narrative. My buddy James Robert Martin and I originally developed this material with the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movie universes, but we eventually made the decision to sideline Rings in favor of Halo, to acknowledge the increasing importance of story in games. We believe that this analysis can be used to construct a trilogy of screenplays, books or video games, depending on your interest.

James is here for an exclusive guest blog series that contrasts and compares the most popular movie series in history with the most popular video game in history. Enjoy.
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J.J. Abrams, you’re my only hope.

It was announced recently that J.J. Abrams has been hired to direct the first Star Wars feature film since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, joining Academy Award-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) who has been hired to pen the screenplay. They are both top talents and I’m hoping they can rekindle my interest in the Star Wars universe. Read more