Whether it's Toy Story or Schindler's List, every movie has a basic concept at its core. This idea, known as the "Controlling Idea," is what drives and reveals the entire movie to you.

Paddy Chayefsky, known for "Network" and "Altered States," would attach the main idea of his movie to the typewriter. This ensured that every element in the movie, in some way, reflected the core idea.

They begin. Then things happen. Then they end. Often they begin by making us care about a person. Usually this person wants something. We watch them struggle to achieve it. It turns out they first have to learn something. Then they achieve it. Or not. The end.

The Three Act Structure goes back all the way to Aristotle. It’s so deep in our western culture, that stories that don’t follow them irritate the casual viewer.

The heros journey - often also called the monomyth - is a pattern that was popularised by Joseph Campbell. The hero goes on an adventure, faces and overcomes a crisis, and then returns home transformed.

It is made up of 12 stages (there's other versions, too). And even when a movie seems wildly original, it may still follow this pattern perfectly.