Blake Snyder was a successful screenwriter, selling screenplays to Hollywood. He was so successful in fact that he decided to write a book on how to write screenplays. I and countless others have found it useful in breaking down the key moments in a story and figuring out how to more easily write good screenplays.
His tactics have been used in writing novels as well, and there’s several books taking his original book and adjusting it for the novel medium.
One thing that his book mentions is how every movie can be broken down to 15 basic story beats. I’ve recently finished writing and illustrating Hani and Huda volume 2 and am waiting for the publisher to do their thing. In preparation for writing my final volume in the series I thought it would be good to study some stories so I can make my final volume as amazing as possible.
Below I’m sharing story beats for the movie Raya and the Last Dragon by Disney. Personally I’m not a huge fan of the movie. I found some characters generic (boun), and most of the characters were very flat. The story wasn’t exactly compelling and the lesson didn’t land very well in my opinion. The lesson being to trust others, but the person they end up trusting isn’t very trustworthy. It doesn’t seem like a meaningful lesson. Maybe if Namaari apologized, reformed herself and so on, then it would make sense to trust her. But that didn’t happen.
Another issue was there wasn’t a real villain. Just a purple blob of angst called Druun. It wasn’t explained where they come from, how they grow, and exactly what they do and why they do it. They weren’t a villain but a force of nature that was not easy to understand. There have been movies with that. They tend to be disaster movies like Armageddon, but this movie just came off as weak in my opinion.
Also from the Islamic perspective there was a lot of shirk like rituals in the movie. Lots of bowing and placing hands on foreheads. It appeared they worshipped the dragons.
Blake Snyders 15 Story Beats for Raya and the Last Dragon:
Opening Image
0:00 minute mark – The opening image is of a fountain looking thing. Having watched the whole movie I have no idea what it’s importance is. Soon after we follow Raya the main character sitting on Tuk Tuk as it rolls in an empty desert land with statues of people. We then get a short exposition of the background of this world.
Theme Stated
10:50 minute mark – “If we don’t stop and learn to trust one another again it’s only a matter of time before we tear each other a part. This isn’t the world I want you to live in. I believe that we can be Kumandra again. But someone has to take the first step.”
Set up
1:00 to 10:00 minute mark. A world divided due to jealousy and infighting. The dragons of old sacrificed themselves to save the people. The people were saved but 500 years later there isn’t peace. If nobody does anything about it, this conflict will continue forever. Chief Benja, Raya’s father, hopes to change that.
Catalyst
11:00 minute mark – Chief Benja brings the leaders from the different nations together for dinner, in the hopes of lowering tensions and bringing about unity.
Raya follows her father’s guidance and trusts Namaari by revealing the location of the Dragon Gem. Raya basically takes her father’s teachings and takes them to their extreme. He most likely wasn’t going to reveal the location of the Dragon Gem on this initial visit. He most likely had a plan for further visits to build positive relationships. However Raya being a child just reveals their biggest secret to the daughter of their greatest nemesis. It’s really foolish but I guess the story wouldn’t continue unless they did.
Debate
The debate is when the character “debates” whether or not he’ll continue with his journey through the unknown, or go back to his normal life.
I’m not sure where the debate would be in this story except where Raya decides to share the location of the Dragon Gem. That isn’t where the journey begins, but that is a decision she actively makes.
Otherwise it would be when her father gives her their piece of the broken Dragon Gem and throws her into the river. But that isn’t a decision Raya actively makes.
Another spot where the debate might be is off-screen over the course of 6 years where she decides to save her father.
Break into Two
“The act break is the moment where we leave the old world, the thesis statement, behind and proceed into a world that is the upside down version of that, its antithesis.”
This happens at about the 20 minute mark.
B Story
“The B story gives us a breather.”
We’ve left a world that was vibrant and beautiful to a desolate desert land. It’s the same desert landscape we saw at the beginning of the movie. 6 years has passed, and our protagonist has grown cold. She’s no longer the starry eyed child, ready to trust others. Now she’s a cold hearted woman looking only to steal back the broken Dragon Gem pieces and save her father.
Before doing that however she’s looking for the last dragon, who could power the Gem and revive her father.
What I’ve learned from studying Blake Snyder’s book along with analyzing different stories is that they’re at their essence an argument. The movie has a message to deliver which is usually the theme. The main character is reluctant or incapable of learning this theme/lesson until they’ve gone on this journey. It’s through this journey, where they meet new people, and go to new lands that they discover the lesson they should have known all along.
The B story is where the start of her new journey begins. New characters including a mentor are introduced to get her closer towards understanding the theme.
Fun and Games
“The fun and games section is that part of the screenplay that, I like to say, provides: The promise of the premise. It is the core and essence of the movie’s poster.”
25:00 minute mark – We’re introduced to Sisu. Might I add, I had a hard time getting used to the voice actor. They didn’t fit the look of the character and were way too American sounding. The dragon is supposed to be this ancient mystical creature, but they sound like an annoying 20 something Starbucks Instagrammer.
In any case this is where the first B story characters are introduced. It is also where a lot of fun happens. In this case they go to distinct looking lands, and make new allies. And this continues till around the 50 minute mark.
Midpoint
If you split your story in half, the midpoint is the threshold between the two halves. The midpoint is where the fun and games ends and the stakes are raised. The midpoint will be a false victory or a false defeat. Meaning it will appear to the audience that the characters has achieved a large step towards his eventual victory, or he’s had a set back. Blake says, “The rule is: It’s never as good as it seems to be at the midpoint and it’s never as bad as it seems at the All is Lost point.”
It’s honestly hard to gauge where the midpoint would be for Raya and the Last Dragon. Oftentimes in movies it’s very clear where the midpoint is, but that’s not the case here.
If I had to guess I would place the midpoint at around the 55:00 minute or 1 hour mark where Raya and Sisu are having a discussion over what their goal should be. Raya wants to save her father and couldn’t care less about anyone else or achieving her father’s dream of unity. Raya’s methods involve thievery whereas Sisu wishes to simply discuss with the different leaders and agree to work together. Sisu like Raya’s father is for unity and trusting people, whereas Raya chooses to trust no one, except her close allies. Sisu decides to take matters into her own hands and runs off with a piece offering for the leader of Spine.
The leader of Spine, Tong, captures them, but then ends up captured himself. The gang and Tong are soon surrounded by Namaari and her Fang troops. In order to escape they must all trust each other, including Tong. Raya decides to free Tong and work with him.
Raya sacrifices herself by fighting Namaari in a duel, which gives Tong and the others a chance to escape. Raya however loses in the fight and it appears Namaari might finish her off until Sisu reveals herself as a dragon, saving Raya and escaping together.
Raya has learned to trust people a little, but still cannot trust others fully.
This marks a shift in the story. Rather than Namaari chasing after Raya and the gems, she’s chasing after Raya and the last dragon. This is signficant because it shows that Raya could bring about unity and destroy the Druun for good. Up until now it appeared that Raya may be collecting the gems out of selfish reasons, as far as Namaari was concerned.
Bad Guys Close in
“This is the point where the bad guys decide to regroup and send in the heavy artillery. It’s the point where internal dissent, doubt and jealousy begin to disintegrate the hero’s team.”
This is between the 1 hour mark and the 1 hour and 15 minute mark. The heroes have all the gem pieces except the last one that’s with Fang. They discuss how they’ll take it back. Either A) they’ll beat up everyone and take the gem or B) they’ll negotiate and work together.
Initially everyone is for plan A. Plan B seems immature and risky. But Sisu manages to convince Raya by telling her how Sisu and her siblings defeated the Druun 500 years prior. They all trusted each other and especially trusted Sisu.
All is Lost
“The All is Lost beat is the opposite of the midpoint in terms of an “up” or a “down.””
“But here’s my little trade secret that I put into every All Is Lost moment just for added spice, and it’s something that many hit movies have. I call it the whiff of death.“
“All is Lost is the place where mentors go to die, presumably so their students can discover “they had it in them all along.” The mentor’s death clears the way to prove that.”
This happens at the 1 hour and 17 minute mark – Raya and the gang meet up with Namaari who has her piece of the Dragon gem with her. In agreement Sisu comes out in her dragon form for Namaari to see. At this point Namaari takes out her crossbow to threaten or kill Raya. Sisu tells Raya to stand down so she can talk Namaari into putting away the crossbow. Raya doesn’t believe Sisu can get to Namaari and thus flings her whip sword to knock the crossbow away, unfortunately Namaari in advertently shoots her arrow at Sisu and Sisu seemingly dies as she falls off the cliff.
It’s a tough scene to animate, and I think they did a good job. Later in the film Namaari blames Raya for Sisu’s death which seems dumb, since it’s Namaari that betrayed Raya’s trust (AGAIN) and shot the dragon.
Dark Night of the Soul
This is from the 1 hour and 17 mark until the 1 hour and 22 minute mark. Raya as a result of Sisu’s death goes back to her cold hearted self. With Sisu dead the rivers have receded and whatever little defense that kept the Druun back has decipated. Now the Drunn are attacking the city of Fang. Raya doesn’t care about saving anyone however and just wants the last gem and to kill Namaari.
She’s seemingly forgotten all that she’s learned up until now. She’s just in a blind rage. I actually really liked this and it seemed fitting for the character.
Break into 3
“…Hazzah! The solution!”
The whole team except for Raya is trying to save everyone in Fang. It honestly seems pointless to me since the Druun can effectively go anywhere and so how exactly are you taking them to safety? In any case they’re guiding as many people as possible outside of the city and holding back the Druun with what remains of the broken dragon gems.
Raya continues to fight Namaari and has the upper hand this time. She’s about to kill Namaari when Namaari points out the fact that Raya stopped trusting Sisu and that’s why they’re all in this situation. I honestly don’t like that statement, especially coming from Namaari. I mean YOU SHOT THE DRAGON. YOU AIMED THE CROSSBOW AT THEM. YOU BETRAYED THEIR TRUST AND NOW YOU WANT TO BLAME THEM FOR WHAT YOU DID?
Finale
Anyways, for whatever reason this wakes Raya up and she joins her friends in saving the people. Even Namaari eventually joins in as well. I wouldn’t trust her to be honest and this is where I think the lesson fails. This lady betrayed you Raya twice and both times it resulted in the death of someone close to them, and yet they’re choosing to trust them a third time? “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
In any case they all trust Namaari and the whole “team” gather together. The ground breaks beneath them and they fall into an underground cavern and fend off the Druun. It’s a losing battle however and they’re barely surviving.
Raya remembers what Sisu told her about trust. How Sisu’s siblings made the Dragon Gem, infused it with their powers and trusted Sisu to destroy the Druun. Raya now decides to trust her allies including Namaari. Her allies are rightfully against it, but Raya gives her gem to Namaari, and the Druun turn Raya to stone. The rest of her teammates do the same, following her example.
Namaari finds an escape route. She has all the Dragon Gem pieces and could escape, leaving her allies behind. I don’t know what would happen if she did, considering the gems are losing their powers. it would be pretty pointless to run away, and so she turns back, and puts the broken pieces together.
The gem is finally whole again, but the powers completely leave the gem. They all turn to stone. It appears they’ve lost. A flicker of life appears in the gem, due to their trust of one another (the power of friendship) and the gem blasts away all the Druun and turns everyone back to life. Including the dragons (how and why?).
The rivers return, the dragons return, and Sisu returns.
The team returns back to their nations, and Raya returns to hers, Heart. She sees her father and when they both turn around they see that the leaders of the other nations have come in unity. Her father’s dream has finally come true. They have all learned to trust each other.
Final Image
The final image is everyone heading into the nation of Heart and Sisu happily flying towards the camera.
I think this was an interesting movie. It wasn’t great for many reasons. My main reason is I don’t think they did a good job of teaching the lesson. Why should we blindly trust others, especially those who betray us multiple times. It’s a terrible lesson in my opinion. Yes there’s wars and conflict in the world, but the solution isn’t blindly trusting each other. The solution really is for righteous nations, of which there aren’t any, to fight against the aggressors. There are oppressors, there are the oppressed and there are those who stand and watch. If we want to bring about change then we need to stop the oppressors, help the oppressed, and live by righteous morals. Not blindly trust people who’ve backstabbed you multiple times resulting in the death of your father and mentor. Just a wild, wild lesson.
Otherwise it was a good movie. But for the sake of analysis, it was useful to watch and break it down. I did like how we followed Raya and Namaari and how they are the same character just in different roles. I didn’t like how it was basically a feminist movie. All the important characters are women and visually appealing, while the male figures are either ugly, or weak looking. The only strong male character was Chief Benja.
I hope this was a helpful explanation on how to structure a story. When thinking of your own story this is a good place to start. What’s the theme? What is the new world the hero will be in? How will he learn his lesson? How will he change? What are some defeats that will occur along the way? What are some victories? There’s a lot to think about when constructing a story, so any tool that can be used, should be used. Stories are very complex with many characters, many of which are going on their own story arcs. Much like in our own lives, every character should think he/she is the protagonist of their own story.
You don’t have to follow this story structure, or any story structure for that matter. But kind of like in sports, you need to first learn the basic fundamentals, before you can decide how to form your own style.
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A fun moral comic for kids