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“Want drives plot, need drives theme” Damn, man. Nice.

Funny, when i watched Rocky as a kid i didn't realize he didn't win. He was still standing, the bell rung, everyone cheered, the music swelled and he got the girl. I thought he had won

So, Aang in "Avatar: The Last Airbender" *wanted* to just be a kid but he *needed* to accept his role as the Avatar if he was gonna end the war.

This is an eye-opener. Big help to fiction writers out there. Thank you so much.

It's that "Dig a little deeper" scene from Princess and the frog. You *want* to become human, but you are blind to what you need.

"If you need me, but don't want me, I'll stay, but if you want me, but don't need me anymore, I'll go." Nanny McPhee 😄

“Now we listed the 5 known differences, but what if a film doesn’t meet one of the standards.” “BuMbLe BeE sToP lUbErCaTiNg ThE mAn!”

Thanks, this was great. It's all about that internal vs external battle. And to add to this, sometimes what they want is actually what gets in the way of their need, and their journey can be about letting go of the want, in order to fulfil and realise the need. Just another way to play it. Cheers!

This is the reason why side character are more appreciated than the main character. The main character can often time revert to their old ways and hinder there more than the viewer realizes.

"What you want isn't the same as what you need" _(Disney's Princess and the Frog,_ 2009).

Like how you began and ended on that rocky note

Literally every time a lotr clip plays I start to cry and then it ends immediately and I’m fine. Then more clips play. The lotr movies are just that amazing

The WANT / NEED connection to your viewing experience with Rocky is absolutely brilliant!

This was very well put together!

You should have mentioned that in Manchester by the Sea the absence of WANT is an essential part of Affleck's character. He is in depression, he suffered a lot and can't move past that suffering. It is a true portrayal of a mental breakdown. You really can feel it when you follow him in situations which are not related to his WANTS or NEEDS.

Too well written, edited, read, and spoken to pass up. KZfaq recommendations rarely work for me but here I’ve found gold

You’ve explained this concept better than anyone ever has.

THANK YOU! This was incredibly insightful and eyeopening for me. As an amateur, screenwriting enthusiast/hobbyist (yes, that's how I categorize myself) I sometimes jumble and mix up the need and the want and their symbiotic roles in creating a complete character and story. Thanks for the super clear explanation. I'll let you know if helps lift my screenplay off the runway! Mark - Columbus, Ohio

I just write my stories and characters based on my experience of watching movies and reading books I’ve loved, but it was interesting to watch the analysis you present. I didn’t even know I was writing that way already. Well done, I took notes. Thanks.

Nice ending with rocky freeze frame effect.

Definitely something I'll think more about in my writing from now on! I have a character who wants to be free, but needs to be selfless. Which means giving up on freedom, because his desire for freedom is selfish, it's something that he has to hurt others to achieve, and something that would require him to follow in the footsteps of the man who took his freedom away in the first place. He would become like the man that he hates, something that would hurt himself as well as others.

I'm learning about storytelling so that I can figure out how to tell my own story. Currently working through the "Pixar in a Box" course on Khan Academy and I came here to learn more about "Wants vs Needs." Not only did this video help me understand it from a storytelling perspective, I also managed to create a wants/needs list for myself. Thank you for such a good video!

Truly excellent distillation of the difference between these two concepts. Been looking at lots of videos to help me clarify them and this one really nailed it! Well done! Looking forward to more!

I've always loved writting but I always find my characters weak, this video will be a great help to improving that. Thank you!

This was extremely helpful! I'm currently struggling in developing characters. I've struggled with this concept for a while. But now I feel like I have a good understanding! Thank you for this video!

Just wanted to say how helpful this video was for me. I've been wanting to write a story since I was a kid and having this sort of semi guideline for how to structure characters around their needs and the plot is super helpful. Great vid thanks again

Great work guys. I've watched a ton of stuff about characters and this is right up there. Very clear and easily understood.

This is such a good essay, no words wasted. I wish I could write essays like this.

I was 8 first time watching Rocky. And loved it, because he did not won, like in any other stereotypical hero story. He lost but he was a hero. I dont understand people watching movies for a positive outcome. Its the journey that counts.

i have never seen such a complex topic summed up so simply. you really know your stuff. thank you!

I read John Truby but this essay gave a whole new level of information.. You helped me a lot with my characterization for the Screenplay I'm working on.. Thank you

The best explanation of Want vs. Need I have ever heard. Thank you!

Awesome video, and more importantly, a great lesson. This was so well structured and I found it very easy to see how each aspect of the two columns aligned with the previous ones. Thank you so much!

This formula TRULY explains WHY I hate a lot of the movies I hate. You actually put it into words for me. This has been most insightful. Thank you

Writing a good story is call life. That's what make a good character. I do comics and this will help me even more

just found your channel, very insightful, i have been researching storycraft and movies for personal interest for a year or so and these vids are perhaps the most concisely put and insightful breakdowns of story.

Writing for assignments always stressed me out because I wouldn’t know where to take the story or conflict. Videos like these really help. Thanks, man.

rocky isnt about winning what i wanted was to see rocky win what i needed was to punch people more often

Love this video! Very glad I found it. I'll never think of stories in the same way again. I'm an aspiring writer, and this video has seriously helped me in writing my characters. Thanks for making this video!

I wrote two pages of notes for my novel from this vid. Thank you for a very interesting and helpful explanation of this

5:38 Such a great reference to 'The Room' amongst what has been a very insightful analysis of the importance of 'Wants' and 'Needs' in character development. Comparing the bad amongst the good here, made it very funny. Thank you.

It's so exciting to realize ways you could implement these things into your plot. By coincidence, I've already laid down a fitting scenario for wants and needs. My main character's want is to overthrow a tyranny in order to help the common folk (which in itself will be very ambiguous), and he needs to realize that he's someone special who has the ability to do so with the help of others who put trust in him.

Thank you - your five key points of Want vs Need was just what I needed for that aha moment in planning my novel!

Thank you for clarifying the distinction between "want" and "need".

I love this video so much, I don’t plan to write my first story anytime soon because I want to improve my art and storytelling in a lot of ways, but I feel like I just improved my character 100 percent, he may not be the best but I’m proud of it, thank you

I’m not sure Manchester by the Sea was a good example. He has a clear want: to move on from his traumatic past, which he thinks he’ll achieve only in solitude. What stands in his way is actually his need in achieving his want: having to finish raising his nephew. It ties in perfectly with your final statement in this video. “What we need might be right in front of us and we don’t even realize it.” The distraction of a responsibility as high as raising a high school kid and the closeness of family could help him regain his sense of purpose. I don’t wanna spoil the ending for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but essentially, he finds a middle ground between his want and need, which I think makes for a pretty excellent and somewhat satisfying ending to a mostly depressing film. However off the top of my head, I can’t think of a movie with too much need and too little want. Overall, this video offers an incredible insight to what makes for good character writing.

This was really helplful, especially explaining plot vs. theme in wants vs. needs, which I didn't understand before.

okay so i suck at understanding things when people tell me something, but this was really detailed yet easy to understand for me :)

Most clearly explained and well presented video on WANT Vs. NEED - Must watch all beginner story writers. Thanks for the upload.

Beautifully explained...We can identify our needs for our wants in our own life..Besides in storytelling....Thank you

Thank you so much for the informative video :D I'll have to keep these in mind while developing my characters in the future.

This video was very helpful. I'm in the process of writing a story and I learnt a lot thx to you :)

Very informative and practical; thank you for sharing this!

Just what I wanted. Crisp information, easy to understand

Thank you for making this video. I learn a lot! Keep up the good work 👏👌

1:34 that’s so true and I feel that there are a lot of media that forgets that and you hardly even see any true noticeable internal conflict. But one thing you for to mention with that is that both are necessary and important. And usually with an internal conflict there’s an external and vise versa. (Doesn’t mean that the vise versa gives a good internal conflict to the external one) And another thing with that want is that people want to (normally fan work and mostly Gacha) do is give their character all these external conflicts and all these awful things that happened to them. I think an important trait for a writer is to know when it’s enough and adding something will make it too much. 4:00 personally they’re both needs. You can’t write it without a basic understanding on what’s gonna happen. Therefore without even a little bit of an idea for plot. (You don’t even need to have it all planned out) you can’t develop on themes. 4:06 this one is complete fact all the way. What makes something amazing is it’s heart. Teen titans and teen titans go. There are a lot of reasons why the original is better but one of the most important and possibly overlooked reason is the amount of heart that’s given into the original. You can see how well written the characters are you could see that there was a lot of thought in it They are making an original vs go but in all honesty is it really the original coming back. By the trailer it’s obvious it doesn’t have the heart that made the original the original. What Go seems to aim for is the nonsense and silliness, hoping this “fun” aspect will appeal to kids. And the thing is it can be fun and silly but it needs to have heart and meaning.

Great video but I will also say that theme is equally important in stories and most of the times the characters both embrace and define the variants of the theme. LFTS did a brilliant video about it.

You create strong characters by giving them strong emotions. A character seen losing his temper is gunna be known for his anger...But when the reader or audience sees a character that was once known for his anger be 'humbled' this instills an emotional response between them and your character. This is because instead of expecting them to be normally a certain way, a dynamic situation has changed them to respond differently. Plays do a good job at displaying how a protagonist can shift his personality over time as he ages through the story. Usually tragedies can show this too.

I love this video! Thank you so much for this it’s really helpful.

Great video. Your channel has really helped me in my writing process!

This. This is the kind of content i've been looking for.

Love that you use some of my favorite movies for the video!

I agree with many other comments. Thank you for this insight. I hadn't thought of quite like this.

Good stuff. The comment about Manchester by the Sea is exactly how I felt watching it: great acting, and... ? Perplexed at it winning so many awards.

Thank you for sharing. Great explanation on the point. Wish you flows and inspiration for your writing

Wow thank you for this! You explained it so well.

That was great and super helpful,thank you!!💕🙌🏻✨

This makes so much sense now. It motivates me to write!

Thank you! This video is very well done! I loved it!

This really helped me and made me rethink things.

Excellent video and fantastic channel, look forward to more content

This video is a masterpiece that helped me plan my English project. Thanks!

What an important video - Very well-researched and highly informative.

Gonna have to watch this a few times, good stuff

This was very insightful. As a writer, I'm thankful

I have no words to describe how much I liked this video

I can't believe how much I learned from this single video......🤗😍

this video carries a new insight to me .. thank you

Super helpful. I had my “💡” when you said OBSTACLES of WANT vs OBSTACLES of NEED.

4:07... literally almost cried there. i mean you were talking about emotional moments and I- YOU FOUND ONE. ETA and again with 4:41 DUDE, MAN YOU GOTTA STOP SHOWING ME SAD LOTR CLIPS I JUST DID A REWATCH AND MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS.

*”Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man.”*

Great channel, just subscribed! Could you make one about high and low concept films? Such an important thing to have on your list..

I wanted this video and half way through I realized I needed it

Honesty this kind of fantasy analysis makes it easier to hurt people because they have unrealistic expectations. You put people like me in business. Grats.

Amazing. Thank you for posting!

thank you for this wonderful explanation.

Holy shit dude, this helped me a lot with what I was missing from something I'm writing. Thank you!

This video makes me want to read Anatomy of Story more thoroughly. I will definitely watch this again as well.

this is very helpful. thank you so much!

The image at 2:30 is so, so helpful!

Thank you so much! This video was a tremendous help. (New subscriber)

Holy crap, this is fantastic. I just subscribed.

This is actually very valuable advice.

GREAT EXAMPLE. I LOVED THIS VIDEO... THANX 4 UR TIME. PAMMIE FROM CHICAGO IL

My teacher used this video in our class, good job.

Excellent video, very well explained.

I love this so much! Such an amazing video honestly. But! I need to ask: obviously here we're talking about protagonists, how do you think secondary characters fall on this? Per example: The Joker from the Dark Knight is my favourite character/person/performance ever on screen, we know what the joker wants -PURE CHAOS- but we don't really need to know his internal needs to overcome whatever is in his way, as a matter of fact there aren't any. So my question basically is: how does one write a strong villain? Or better: how would you put a villain on the same format as this video?

Imma be honest. This video is a semesters worth of knowledge. I should know I just did a semester in screenwriting.

Many thanks. This is so helpful 👍.