Before "Lights! Camera! Action!" there's one thing a film must have: a good story. In this first lesson, Angus. Fletcher introduces you to the importance of story. See how the earliest stories shape the ones we create today. You may be surprised to discover how cognitive science can shed light on how humans experience stories.

The first question any writer must ask is: Where do I want to take my audience? Prof. Fletcher shows you how to reverse-engineer stories to pinpoint their cognitive effects and put those tools to use in your own writing (and viewing) experiences.

Every script has a setting, both a time and a place where the story occurs. Understand the value of the rules that underlie your story and see how genres allow you to use pre-existing structures while enabling you to embrace a multitude of possibilities. Then look at the "big three" genres: tragedy, comedy, and heroic.