DZ-02: Do the Screenplay Gurus score big at the Box Office?

Listen if you need to know which guru frameworks actually deliver in Act Three. Part 2 of our Screenplay Gurus series takes the same lens from Part 1 — Vogler, Snyder and Hauge — and points it at the two highest-grossing original films of 2013: GRAVITY and FROZEN. No franchise, no sequel. Just the two films that audiences went to see in the biggest numbers that year, and the question of what their scripts actually look like when you run them against the guru formulas. The short answer is: both films cleave much more closely to these structures than the award-season dramas we looked at in Part 1. Which is interesting — but not as interesting as how they deviate when you look more carefully. GRAVITY maps onto Vogler's Hero's Journey in surprising depth: the umbilical tether as threshold crossing, Matt Kowalski as Obi-Wan, the hallucinated ghost in the pod giving the "use the Force" instruction. The structure isn't just present — it's legible, almost mythological. FROZEN brings a genuine dual-protagonist puzzle (who is actually driving the story — Anna or Elsa?) and a third act that plays out under its own rules rather than anybody's formula. What starts to emerge is that the frameworks are more useful at some points than others. Vogler has real things to say about Act 3; Snyder's "finale — finish it" turns out to be pretty thin guidance for actually generating that emotional hit. And as Chas lands at the end of the episode: the three-act model itself might not be the useful unit. Sequences might be. Though you'll have to wait quite a few episodes until we tackle them! The craft questions in this episode: When a framework beat is present but compressed — a half-page refusal of the call, three lines of dialogue — what is it actually doing for the story? FROZEN has a protagonist who barely changes and a secondary character who changes enormously. Who is actually driving? Does it matter? If the three-act model makes Act 2 and Act 3 feel like a single blob, what happens if you think in sequences instead? We also go deep on the frameworks' different coverage of the Dark Night of the Soul — which Stu argues is less a formula beat and more a question every writer should be able to answer for their character. What is the lowest point? What does it take to get out of it? That turns out to be something these frameworks are, and aren't, equipped to help with. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily. → Read the transcript for this episode. ——— "I think as soon as you are stretching them in any way, they're losing their value as a rigid tool." — Chas Fisher @ 00:00:57 ——— CHAPTERS 00:00:00 – Cold Open 00:00:14 – Do Blockbusters Follow the Guru Formulas? 00:00:22 – › Why tentpole films suit archetypal structures better than biopics 00:02:18 – › How animation's iterative process shapes story before the page is final 00:07:20 – GRAVITY 00:10:37 – › Opening and closing images as the survival-rebirth mirror 00:14:13 – › The catalyst as herald announcement and its limits as a call to adventure 00:19:54 – › Debate sequence as escalating refusal to acknowledge danger 00:24:45 – › Where Act 1 breaks and why both Vogler and Snyder readings are valid 00:33:48 – › The mentor's tether as umbilical cord and threshold crossing 00:39:44 – › Midpoint: Ryan assumes Matt's voice and starts driving the story 00:44:12 – › All is lost, Dark Night of the Soul, and the ghost-of-Obi-Wan solution 00:48:56 – › Road back, resurrection in the water, and return with the elixir 00:54:40 – FROZEN 00:57:45 – › Who is the protagonist when the secondary character has the bigger arc 01:00:01 – › Long first act, dual characters, and the coronation as catalyst 01:04:34 – › Tests, allies, and the promise of the premise in the mountain sequence 01:07:06 – › Midpoint: Anna struck in the heart and the false peak of the plan 01:12:05 – › Where Vogler's ordeal and Snyder's bad-guys-close-in diverge 01:17:08 – › Resurrection, the act of true love, and the elixir Elsa receives 01:21:45 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up 01:23:45 – Next Episode Preview & Sign Off FILMS GRAVITY (2013) — (w) Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron (d) Alfonso Cuaron FROZEN (2013) — (w) Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Shane Morris (d) Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee SCRIPTS Study the script: GRAVITY (2013) — Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron Study the script: FROZEN (2013) — Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Shane Morris LINKS Read: The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith: Iron Man 3 Q&A YouTube: Framestore's jaw-dropping Gravity Show and Tell (YouTube) Read: The Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith on Frozen Read: Scriptnotes Podcast - Frozen with Jennifer Lee EPISODES IN THE SCREENPLAY GURUS SERIES DZ-01: Do Screenplay Gurus win you Oscars? DZ-02: Do the Screenplay Gurus score big at the Box Office? ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2014/dz-02/ Download episode: DZ-02.mp3