Endings: The Good, The Bad, and the Insanely Great
What Makes a Great Ending?
In this video (1.5 hours), Michael Arndt, the writer of Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, breaks down what makes some endings GREAT. He explains that in order to have a truly great ending there must be 3 things at stake in the final moments:
Internal stakes
External stakes
Philosophical stakes
He explores these three elements by analyzing three films:
Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope (1977)
The Graduate (1967)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
An hour and a half video? Really?
Yes. Really. After five years of writing, watching this one video changed the way I planned stories and made my endings better! Try taking the video in chunks. Watch the section on Star Wars one day, then next The Graduate, and finish off with Little Miss Sunshine. For bonus impact (and depending on your familiarity with the movies mentioned) I’d recommend watching the films before (or immediately after) watching Arndt’s breakdown.
