Who Needs to Know the Spine of Action?
Robert McKee discusses whether the audience or the characters need to be aware of the story’s spine of action.
WONDER WOMAN (2017)
Before she was Wonder Woman she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained warrior. When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, she leaves home to fight a war to end all wars, discovering her full powers and true destiny.
What Are the Four Image Systems in Chinatown?
Robert McKee suggests that the masterful use of multiple image systems is what makes Polanski’s film CHINATOWN so powerful.
Who Is Maya Deren and Why Does She Matter to Your Screenwriting?
Maya Deren, the mother of the avant-garde cinema and its movement, greatly influenced some of the most respected filmmakers of our time.
Keep Your Audience Engaged Over the Span of an Entire TV Series
In this short lesson, McKee explores the best way to keep an audience involved with the spine of action of a long-form TV series: character desire.
THE NIGHT OF
After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.
BIG LITTLE LIES
Tells the tale of three mothers of first graders, whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder.
VIKINGS
The world of the Vikings is brought to life through the journey of Ragnar Lothbrok, the first Viking to emerge from Norse legend and onto the pages of history – a man on the edge of myth.
GET OUT (2017)
A young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s mysterious family estate.