↓ Skip to main content
DRAFT ZERO
§ RESOURCES / TOPICS / Plot Questions

Plot Questions

Every episode covering Plot Questions.

"In The Bourne Identity, Bourne deliberately relinquishes agency. The plot question is, will Clive Owen, the professor, get Bourne? It’s not, will Bourne do whatever."

— Chas Fisher  |  DZ-43: Driving Sequences - Character and Plot Intensity

DZ-43: Driving Sequences - Character and Plot Intensity

What gives your sequences their intensity?
AI✦Stephen contrasts plot-driven sequences (“Will she defuse the bomb?”) with character-driven alternatives to show how question type fundamentally alters story structure and pacing.✦
⏱ 3h 16m
8 JUL 2017
Listen to understand how dramatic questions shape audience engagement and pacing through sequences.
▶ More Info
Chas and Stu are joined for the fourth time by the inestimable Stephen Cleary - this time to take a deep dive into sequences. A real deep dive. A 3+ hour deep dive… →

DZ-126: Secrets and Clues

How can Secrets and Clues motivate characters?
AI✦A murder mystery demands the audience ask what happened and who did it, and the episode analyzes how Johnson structures clue distribution to keep those questions driving both character investigation and viewer engagement.✦
⏱ 1h 28m
30 APR 2026
Listen if you want to understand how hidden information drives character motivation and plot structure!
▶ More Info
“Getting information puts your character in danger. And danger rewards your character with information." — One of three ideas we steal from game design in this episode. In this two part series, we talk about how secrets, clues and hidden information motivate characters and may (or may not) help you plot from a character perspective. Part One (this episode) looks at WAKE UP DEAD MAN; while Part Two looks at SIDE EFFECTS, and the pilot episode of SHRINKING… →

DZ-99: Scene Questions

How do audience questions shape scenes?
AI✦The episode treats plot questions--what happens next, what’s at stake--as one pillar of scene structure, distinct from but interweaving with character and thematic inquiry.✦
⏱ 1h 34m
1 MAY 2023
Listen if learn how to structure individual scenes through the questions you pose to your audience!
▶ More Info
Inspired by our earlier episodes on sequences, Chas and Stu narrow their focus to look at the atomic unit of screen storytelling: the scene. In particular, we breakdown how question and answers prompted in the audience structure individual scenes… →

DZ-69: PARASITE & Audience Questions

How can you use audience questions to heighten emotional investment?
AI✦Parasite’s architecture depends on withholding and revealing information that makes viewers constantly ask what happens next, a technique Chas and Stu break down.✦
⏱ 1h 22m
10 JUN 2020
Listen to understand how refusing to give your audience moral clarity can deepen their investment in character fates.
▶ More Info
Draft Zero return with their next YouTube livestream! Stu and Chas take a deep dive into PARASITE and how its mastery of audience questions elevates the film. They then answer listeners questions on PARASITE and much more… →

DZ-54: Thematic Sequences

How does removing character and plot question force your audience to engage with theme?
AI✦Thematic sequences work by eliminating plot questions as the organizing principle, allowing audiences to sit with ambiguity about what happens next.✦
⏱ 2h 49m
10 OCT 2018
Listen if you want to make theme your primary driver (for a sequence)
▶ More Info
Chas and Stu are joined, once again, by the inestimable Stephen Cleary. This episode is a spiritual sequel to our last episode with Stephen, the one on sequence structure. That episode explored how sequences could be broken into plot, character, and plot/character sequences… →

DZ-10: Midpoint Reversals and The Ride

How can the middle of your film pivot so much that it pulls the rug out of your audience?
AI✦The episode tracks how midpoint reversals generate new plot questions that pull audiences forward by destabilizing their assumptions about where the story is headed.✦
⏱ 1h 19m
8 JUL 2014
Listen when your second act sags and you need a structural jolt to accelerate audience engagement.
▶ More Info
Stu and Chas embark on the first of a series of explorations into the dreaded Second Act. Their first stop is midpoint reversals or shifts, a plot point bang in the middle of ACT II that changes the protagonist’s goal, raises the stakes and potentially leaves your audience leaning forward and asking “How the hell is this going to end?&rdquo… →