Article link at the bottom. Here's a refined prompt you could give an AI to perform a technical screenplay analysis based largely on Mamet's philosophy, but expanded into a comprehensive screenplay diagnostic. --- ## Screenplay Technical Analysis Prompt Analyze this screenplay as a professional story editor or script consultant. Focus on identifying technical weaknesses rather than rewriting the script. Evaluate every scene and identify places where the screenplay loses dramatic power. Be brutally honest and specific. Flag scenes where characters simply exist, converse, react, or observe without actively pursuing something. Flag scenes with vague or nonexistent consequences. Flag scenes lacking urgency. Flag scenes where everyone agrees too easily or exchanges information without resistance. Determine whether the scene functions as drama or merely information. Flag scenes serving only one of these purposes: * Explaining * Recapping * Mood * Setup without payoff * Filler Identify exposition that feels artificial. Specifically look for: * "As you know..." * Characters explaining things both already know * Dialogue written solely for audience understanding * Characters discussing absent characters instead of acting * Long backstory dumps * Worldbuilding replacing conflict ### 1. Scene Objective For every scene determine: * Who is the protagonist of the scene? * What does this character want right now? * Is the objective concrete, immediate, and actionable? * Is the objective strong enough to justify the scene? Flag scenes where characters simply exist, converse, react, or observe without actively pursuing something. --- ### 2. Stakes For each scene ask: * What happens if the protagonist fails? * Are the consequences immediate? * Are the stakes emotional, physical, professional, relational, or existential? * Are the stakes visible to the audience? Flag scenes with vague or nonexistent consequences. --- ### 3. Urgency Ask: * Why is this happening now?

A young Sicilian man immigrates to New York in the years leading up to WWII. After he enlists in the Army, he finds himself fighting against his own family. S1E1: "La Tartuca" Written by Max Russo SUPER: Cefalù, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 1919 Boats move on top of gentle waves A bird perches on La Tartuca, the family boat, savors the moment to dry his feathers and enjoy the view A rock flies at the bird, nearly missing him. The bird flutters away Luca, 11, teaches younger brother Marco, 8, how to use a slingshot, both giggle behind their partially ajar bedroom window facing the water INT. kitchen Niccolo (father) ceases pouring his coffee, rolls eyes He makes eye contact with Gloria (mother) and sighs They proceed to the boys' bedroom and open the door. Gloria yanks both of their ears and they wail The slingshot falls to the ground Gloria Wasn't planning on cooking seagull tonight, boys. She kneels down, grabs the slingshot and gently tucks it into her apron, gazes at the boys with equal parts pity and admiration. The boys nurse their ears on the floor Niccolo For Christ's sake! We're pescatori, not uccellatori. Luca Maybe you are, but I still haven't been out on the boat! Niccolo, smiling wryly Tell you what, Luca. I'll take you out on the boat right now. Luca Oh Papa, you mean it? Niccolo, emphatically leading his son out of the bedroom Sure! And you ain't coming off until that mark you left is well sanded and painted over. How does that sound? Luca It was Marco! Niccolo Right, he just taught himself I suppose. Niccolo nudges him out the door. Luca groans and glares at Marco Gloria, to Marco It wasn't the worst shot I've ever seen. Marco Thanks. Gloria Go on and see if those two could use some help. Marco eagerly makes his way to La Tartuca EXT. Dollhouse of Marco running through the threshold out onto the beach, joining up alongside Niccolo and Luca Luca I just didn't want that bird shitting all over our boat, Pop. Niccolo, swiftly tapping the rear of his skull

So I took yet another run at the script based on feedback from Claude. What was involved was a series of probing questions and edits. There's obviously no point in pleading my case to a machine. But in places where it was flat out wrong in it's evaluation, such in places where it missed set-ups Claude agreed, but pointed out that "a tired reader at page 100 might not catch it", which is a valid point. The collaboration with Claude proved to be quite useful in teasing out such things as tying up abandon plot lines, fortifying secondary character arcs, cleaning up character voice inconsistencies and making the ending land better. Most of its suggested edits were still hilariously awful, but these suggestions, as bad as they were, forced me to take a new perspective on given scenes, and in some instances, the improvements were far more than incremental tweaks. I still have some work to do, but 18 drafts later, I think I'm on to something... The Legend of Dragonfield — Story — 7.5/10. A dual-timeline epic that braids an 11th-century warrior-poet tragedy with a contemporary family drama, joined by a nine-century bloodline. The structure is ambitious and, in this draft, disciplined: two protagonist arcs resolve cleanly — Ali's coming-into-power and Alan's conversion from denial to belief — and the antagonist's pivotal choice to release the family is now properly motivated, driven by outside political pressure and his own recalculation rather than convenience. The ending delivers a genuine first reckoning: the bloodline and the beast make contact before the credits, so the film pays off its title threat instead of banking everything on a sequel. The remaining ceiling is that the full physical confrontation is deferred — but as a deliberate cliffhanger, not a dodge. Voice — 6.5/10. The strongest writing lives in the medieval register: Wyrtgeorn's refusal of immortality, Rowena's burned-queen ordeal, the courtship economy of their first scenes. The prose has real muscle and a distinctive cadence. The contemporary banter is serviceable and occasionally sharp. A dialect-caricature pass cleaned out the most circle-able liabilities, so the category sits more securely than the number alone suggests.

I'm going to use one of these in a query letter. Original Days after her family inherits a cursed castle, her brother disappears and her parents are imprisoned. Now the surviving daughter must embrace a dynastic inheritance and face the vengeance of a thousand-year-old necromancer that seeks to destroy them. Extra crispy When a spoiled influencer's family inherits a legendary English castle, a billionaire abducts her brother for the bloodline magic that will wake the dragon beneath it — forcing her to trade her selfie stick for a sword to get him back.

So sorry I won't be there tonight. I just found out about my husband's work party. He already RSVP'd. Miss you guys.