YAFAP (Yet Another Film Analysis Paradigm)

This is the world's third or fourth oldest joke, depending upon your source.

Jones is in the city on business and decides to visit his old friend Smith. Smith is happy to see him and invites Jones to a meeting of his comedy club. Soon Jones and Smith and thirty or forty other people are sitting in a meeting room. The meeting gets underway but it's a bit strange. A man walks up to the podium, says, “17,” and the audience bursts out laughing. A woman follows, stands at the podium and says, “22,” and the audience is in hysterics. Jones is baffled and asks Smith what's going on. Smith says, “We've all heard these jokes so many times, now we just give them numbers and say the number. It works just as well” Jones watches three more people follow in suit - just saying the numbers and getting big laughs - so he decides to give it a try. He strides up to the speaker's podium, confidently looks at the audience and says, “29.” DEAD SILENCE. There isn't a sound from the room. Jones slinks back to his seat and asks Smith, “What happened? How come nobody laughed?” Smith says, “You told it wrong.”

One of my favorite writing books is, “The Tools of Screenwriting,” by Howard and Mabley. H & M say, “...viewers go to movies not just to see the stories but to see the stories well told.”

It's not enough to have a good story: you have to tell it well. TOS (The tools of Screenwriting) provides a tool set that writers can use to help them tell their story well. It's yet another paradigm with which to analyze your script. Future posts will list the tools and concepts from the book.