Elements
A two-part long-form show: the audience names a movie genre, provides 20–30 typical elements, and the cast plays a collage of scenes before building a full movie from the audience's favorite.
Players
4–8
Duration
20-25 min
Difficulty
Intermediate
Full description
Setup and Launch
Ask the audience for a specific movie style. "Action movie" is too broad — push for something with a clear identity: "superhero movie," "disaster movie," or a director with a distinctive voice like Tarantino. Avoid directors with too wide a range (Spielberg, for example, has done everything). Once you have the style, have the audience call out every element they associate with it — character types, settings, recurring situations, props — until you have 20–30 written down where everyone can see them.
Flow
Part 1 — The Collage. Play a series of standalone scenes, each inspired by one or more elements from the list. These scenes don't need to connect. Explore the genre freely — play the tropes, subvert them, find surprising angles. The audience is watching to see which world they want to live in longer.
Intermission. The audience votes for their favorite scene from Part 1.
Part 2 — The Movie. Replay the winning scene to lock in its details — the audience helps you remember anything you missed. Then build a full movie around it. The original scene doesn't have to open the movie; place it wherever it fits best (middle, climax, even the finale). Weave in other elements from the list as the story demands.
Key rules
Each element from the audience list should inspire the qualities and content of scenes — use them as specific jumping-off points, not vague themes.
Format structure
Context
What to try next
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