Screenplay Structure For Beginners - Shannan E. Johnson

Shannan E. Johnson, a native of Houston, TX, is a former creative executive at The Syfy Channel turned CEO of the first black-owned script consultancy in the entertainment industry, The Professional Pen. The Professional Pen is a writer-centered service provider helping emerging and established creatives develop their stories for the screen.
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#writing #screenwriting #screenplay

[@seanferguson5460]

Shannan's great. Smart, passionate, and she knows her stuff.

[@tymartin2293]

Great breakdown! I can listen to her talk all day about screenplays...

[@TheBitzr]

Wow! Shannan's view on teaching is so refreshing!!! Love her already!

[@filmcourage]

Shannan is great!

[@reginayfavors]

Setup, journey, and resolution is such an effective strategy for understanding structure. Thank you for being objective in your teaching and discussion style. I could listen to Shannan all day. I also love the interviewer. Your questions are always engaging. Thank you.

[@WakeAndBakeWithUncleRay]

What a time to be alive, where one can sit in the comfort one's home, and listen in on a master class, Bravo.....

[@akilahetep3821]

Shannan is truly one of a kind in her articulation and understanding of the craft. It's such a privilege to have access to her well of wisdom via Film Courage. Thanks for always curating quality discussions!

[@geminiy2t]

This was so on point!!! Loved it!!!

[@filmcourage]

Thanks for watching!

[@geminiy2t]

@@filmcourageI will definitely tune in next time too.

[@joshuatownsend1075]

One of my favorite guests on this show.

[@Sweetdude64]

Shannan is amazing.

[@ShannanEJohnson]

🙏🏽💚

[@askingwhy123]

I could learn from her all day. Fantastic guest.

[@ActorsReal2Reel]

She’s good. My mom and I have shot over 100 reel scenes like short films and everytime we shot one I learned on the technical side of filming it and she learned more about writing. Your always learning and learning in your own way and style. I like that she encourages that and doesn’t try to steer everyone towards a standard everyone has to follow. I break so many rules when filming and usually people will ask me about things and be like what??? That’s crazy and it worked. Be uniquely you but it doesn’t hurt to know the rules first, understand and then know how to break them.

[@Kim-ze7cp]

Wow, so I'm a Portuguese speaker and I started writing screenplays in English, first as a way to practice my writing, then because it was incredibly fun! I'm an extremely objective person and here I was, forcing myself to write the way we learn in books just because is the rules. And here we have it, an amazing teacher telling us is ok to write how we want to. Thank you Film Courage for posting all these videos. I don't think I would have access to so much knowledge about screenplays if it wasn't for this channel!

[@filmcourage]

Cheers Kimmy!

[@danieljackson654]

Another wonderful analysis from Our Shaman

[@ShannanEJohnson]

💚

[@angelabertrand9684]

You are awesome, thank you!

[@MariMay_o]

she is the best ❤

[@magic80just14]

I also liked the way you broke things down very professional thank you

[@cblackford315]

Been listening to her videos basically on a loop since I've found them. Film Courage is such a great find. Shannan is so easy to listen to. Really great teacher.

[@filmcourage]

Thanks Chris, great to see you finding value here!

[@johncrouch1868]

Thanks for sharing.

[@RTL2L]

Great, thank you!

[@NasColdChainNCC]

This Woman Is AMAZING.

[@FathomlessJoy]

She was the consultant on Twilight. So top tier storytelling right there, folks.

[@Will-bn9km]

stop complaining and get writing

[@FathomlessJoy]

@@Will-bn9km Back at you chief.

[@jinxwithcrazymind]

Yes

[@robertholmes12]

Excellent stuff! A fishing rod, reel and pole beats the fish everytime.

[@posefile8873]

Love Shannan!! Always so much great information!

[@filmcourage]

Thanks for watching!

[@drawingwithme112]

Good stuff

[@Saengard]

If she isn't an editor, she'd be perfect at it.

[@billarybanks2725]

GREAT video!! I just love her ❤️ please full interview soon!

[@filmcourage]

Have you seen our previous interview with Shannan? - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKGToXegi92Bb7c Definitely more coming soon!

[@izzy4el]

Shannan's fantastic!

[@filmcourage]

Indeed!

[@KameronIWhite]

Love this channel and this woman!

[@filmcourage]

Cheers!

[@filmcourage]

How was this video helpful to you?

[@geminiy2t]

I'm not a writer I'm an actor but I do have friends that write and I help from time to time and I will show them. You can tell she has alot of knowledge just on the way she was talking, I really loved it and it was inspirational.

[@elfhririn]

She's well spoken and got gr8 perspective. Loved it. Her talk will help me do more by worrying less

[@Battleganz]

When she started talking, I felt better because my screenplays were very clear about what the movie was about. Mostly, they were rejected because I didn't follow Hollywood's "rules".

[@isingomavictortibayungwa2418]

Ooh, I really feel it now😶

[@smilewrinkles4917]

She does sound objective👍

[@user-zd1jh5zz9n]

Wow! What a beautiful lady.

[@fraseralexandertoms]

I've been thinking about the 3rd act a little bit and it seems like it doesn't even need to be 'it's own thing' ... like in the Matrix - once Neo realizes he's the one and see's in code and gets the bullets to drop - it's over. So in a 2hour movie, the '3rd act' would often be about 5-10min. Many films ruin themselves for going on too long as well. So if we were dividing the 3 acts into 10 pieces, I'd probably say 3-6-1 or 4-5-1 ... does that seem fair? I think by saying 3 acts I've felt like by default it's like 3-4-3 (relatively even). But to me the resolution is the least interesting and almost doesn't deserve it's own destination as an 'act'.

[@KayFlowidity]

00:55 👌👌👌 3:35 6:10 Less is More 7:05

[@sunriseeternity300]

Slightly off topic, but i really like this womens charisma #3step #journey #storytelling #structure #filmcourage #greatconversation

[@seanferguson5460]

Question. Shannan describes well-crafted screenplays but also that people break rules and still get made. Can an obvious flaw in a screenplay (deliberate or not) help sell a story by giving the people who buy them a sense of agency? That is, they see the flaw, know how to correct it, and feel creatively engaged. Or is it just a case where there are so many submissions sitting on desks gathering dust that, like resumes, buyers are just looking for any excuse to reject them?

[@ShannanEJohnson]

It's the latter. Buyers have all of the creative agency whether there are flaws present in your story or not. It's a part of the process/their job to give notes/request changes, etc. 💚

[@seanferguson5460]

@@ShannanEJohnson Thanks, Shannan. You're awesome!

[@osw330904]

I love the bukowski question but poetry and screenwriting are VERY different mediums

[@ninjaryusenpai4868]

Shannan sounds like she would be an Amazing Mentor! 😁

[@QualityEJC]

Number 1 rule, show don't tell. It's called motion picture for a reason.

[@shanybiran468]

"Not everyone's a teacher. Just because you know how to write, doesn't mean you know how to teach people how to write". Truth. That goes for EVERY field of study. Teaching is an art and a science. Never understood why there is no 'teachers college' for people who teach past highschool 🤦‍♂

[@someblaqguy]

She's purdy 😍 and she makes a good point lol

[@plisskenetic]

11:30 - Tarantino got in through someone knowing Tony Scott directly. Tarantino couldn't get pass the readers coz of his structural style

[@lowlowseesee]

i love that she doesnt know Tarantinos story lol. shows she has been busy creating and teaching because most of us know how QT got put on lol

[@jeravincer]

Umm no they don’t.

[@EricGraham94]

The title changed lol

[@jeravincer]

@@EricGraham94 ping!