In this compendium episode, John and Craig look at two of the most fundamental building blocks of compelling stories – conflict and stakes.

We define six forms of conflict common in movies, and explore ways to sustain conflict within a scene and throughout a story. We also look for ways to find the root of your character’s stakes, pick the right stakes for the world around them, and the importance of making everything personal.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig look at Whiplash and how it finds conflict at the perfect tempo.

Links:

• John’s Video Game Job Posting
• Episode 179 – The Conflict Episode
• Episode 402 – How Do You Like Your Stakes?
• Snowpiercer – Left or Right by Every Frame a Painting on YouTube
• Star Trek: The Next Generation In 40 Hours by Max Temkin
• Harris’ or Harris’s? Apostrophe row divides grammar nerds from The Guardian
• The Heights Deli & Bottle Shop
• Cheerios Veggie Blends
• Special K Zero
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram, Twitter and Mastodon
• Outro by Tim Brown (send us yours!)
• Segments originally produced by Stuart Friedel and Megana Rao. Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.