Do all good screenplays fit the paradigm? Yes. But just because a screenplay is well structured and fits the paradigm doesn’t make it a good screenplay, or a good movie. The paradigm is a form, not a formula. Structure is what holds the story together.

A formula, however, is totally different. A formula never varies; certain elements are put together so they come out exactly the same each and every time.

If we wanted to take a screenplay and hang it on the wall like a painting, this is what it would look like:

It is the paradigm of dramatic structure. A paradigm is a model, example, or conceptual scheme.

The paradigm is a model, an example, or a conceptual scheme; it is what a well-structured screenplay looks like, an overview of the story line as it unfolds from beginning to end.

Good structure is like the relationship between an ice cube and water. An ice cube has a definite crystalline structure, and water has a definite molecular structure. But when the ice cube melts into water, how can you separate the molecules of ice from the molecules of water? Structure is like gravity: It is the glue that holds the story in place;

So what is character? Action is character; a person is what he does, not what he says. Film is behavior. Because we’re telling a story in pictures, we must show how the character acts and reacts to the incidents and events that he/she confronts and overcomes (or doesn’t overcome) during the story line. If you’re writing your script and sense your c

When you can express your idea succinctly in terms of action and character—my story is about this person, in this place, doing his/her “thing”—you’re beginning the preparation of your screenplay.

The paradigm is a form, not a formula; it’s what holds the story together. It is the spine, the skeleton. Story determines structure; structure doesn’t determine story. The dramatic structure of the screenplay may be defined as a linear arrangement of related incidents, episodes, or events leading to a dramatic resolution.