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| Foreword | |
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| Preface | |
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| Introduction | |
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| History and Theory | |
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| Premises and Values | |
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| Uses of "Premise" | |
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| Lajos Egri's Premise | |
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| Message vs. Theme vs. Moral Premise | |
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| Conflict of Values | |
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| Identifying Values | |
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| Premise Genres and Conflict of Values | |
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| Exercises | |
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| What Socrates and Seinfeld Have in Common | |
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| Webster | |
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| The Bible | |
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| Aesop | |
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| Socrates | |
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| English Classics | |
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| Criticism | |
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| Modern Stories | |
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| Exercises | |
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| The Moral Premise in Modern Writing Guides | |
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| Robert McKee's Controlling Idea | |
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| Michael Tierno's The Action-Idea | |
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| Michael Hauge's Theme | |
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| Syd Field's Interior Life | |
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| Field's "Context" | |
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| Field vs. Egri | |
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| Other Authors | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Storytelling's Natural Law and Processes | |
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| A Natural Law | |
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| Natural Processes | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Structure of the Moral Premise | |
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| Form of the Moral Premise | |
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| Themes vs. Moral Premises | |
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| The Physical and Psychological Nature of Spines and Quests | |
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| Moment of Grace: A Movie's Fulcrum of Meaning | |
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| Comedy Arcs | |
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| Tragedy Arcs | |
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| More on the Moment of Grace | |
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| The Moral Premise in Multiple Story Lines | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Identification and the Moral Premsie | |
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| Suturing the Audience into the Story | |
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| Physical Suturing | |
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| Moral Suturing | |
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| Identification Patterns | |
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| Audience/Filmmaker Value Alignment | |
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| What the Movie is Really About | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Application | |
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| Strategic Processes | |
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| Begin with the End in Mind | |
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| Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind | |
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| Tactical Steps | |
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| Step 1. Determine the Controlling Virtue | |
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| The Story's Virtuous Theme | |
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| Step 2. Determine the Controlling Vice | |
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| The Virtue's Antagonist | |
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| Step 3. Determine the Moral Premise | |
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| The Story's Ultimate Message | |
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| Step 4. Determine the Movie's Genre | |
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| The Arc of Cultural Conflict and Resolution | |
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| Step 5. Determine the Protagonist's Physical Goal | |
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| The Movie's Physical Spine | |
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| Step 6. Determine the Protagonist's Physical Obstacles | |
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| The Movie's Physical Conflict | |
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| Arc Plots and Major Dramatic Beats | |
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| The Major Plot and Turning Points | |
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| A Character's Dramatic Arc | |
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| Character Arc Plots | |
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| Multiple Goals | |
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| Step 7. Determine the Major Dramatic Beats | |
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| Arc Depths | |
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| Keep It About One Thing | |
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| Later | |
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| Step 8. Sequence the Dramatic Beats | |
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| The Plot Timeline | |
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| Beginning, Middle, and End | |
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| Plotting Rules and Decisions | |
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| Virtual Card Tricks | |
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| Behavior Ramps | |
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| Turning Point Characteristics | |
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| Serendipitous Occurrences | |
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| Three-Act Element Discussion | |
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| Braveheart: A Capstone Example | |
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| Braveheart's Moral Premise | |
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| Braveheart's Arc Plots | |
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| Braveheart's Major Dramatic Beats | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Epilogue | |
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| Research Abstract | |
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| Films Cited | |
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| Texts Cited | |
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| Index of Moral Premises and Themes | |
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| Topic Index | |
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| About the Author | |
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| List of Tables | |
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| Benjamin Franklin's Virtues and Precepts | |
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| Franklin Quest's Survey of Governing Values | |
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| Laurie Beth Jones' Core Values | |
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| Movie Genres | |
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| George Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations | |
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| The Original Moral Messages: The Ten Commandments | |
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| Physical vs. Psychological Story Descriptors | |
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| Virtue-Vice Pairs | |
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| Good-Guy Arc Plots | |
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| Bad-Guy Arc Plots | |
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| Alternate Bad-Guy Arc Plot | |
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| Bruce Nolan's Arc Plots | |
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| The Incredibles Good-Guy Arc Plots | |
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| The Incredibles Bad-Guy Arc Plots | |
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| Braveheart Protagonist Arc Plots | |
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| Braveheart Other-Guy Arc Plots | |
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| List of Figures | |
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| Comedy Spines | |
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| Tragedy Spines | |
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| Nonaligned Moral Realities: Invalid Audience Identification | |
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| Aligned Moral Realities: Valid Audience Identification | |
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| Three-Act Structural Parts | |
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| Three-Act Structural Parts | |
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| Three-Act Structural Parts | |
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| Film Validity Equation | |