Robert McKee makes the argument in Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Pricnples of Screenwriting that “the writer must master classical form” before experimenting.
Simply put, McKee believes screenwriters must learn and master traditional story forms (the Archplot, in his terminology) before they attempt unstructured film making (the Antiplot). The writer must understand the Archplot (“You’ll know you understand it when you can do it.“) in order to play off the audience’s expectations. He points to the dues Bergman, Fellini, Godard and Altman paid making genre films, playing by the commercial rules—preparation for their rules-breaking movies.
McKee’s “mastery first” approach is mirrored in other art forms: Picasso started as a representational painter before adopting minimalism/modernism; Martha Graham performed in a vaudeville revue as a prelude to her career as America’s premier modern dance choreographer; jazz pianist McCoy Tyner had classical training.
Writing
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