Extended Edition: How Spider-Man’s Leap of Faith Makes Us Feel Triumphant

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Two editors break down how Spider-Man creates a transcendent moment of triumph that feels like story magic.
Last month, I asked a big question:
How do you make your readers feel?
See, the writers I work with are telling fantastic stories. But often, those stories are missing some essential piece, some spark of magic that captures my emotions and makes me laugh, cry, swoon, grieve, worry, or—well—feel anything at all.
So I turned to a scene that does make me feel. It’s a brilliant moment from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
First, I broke down exactly how that scene creates a sense of triumph so strong, it’s almost palpable.
Then, I laid out the three-step formula I’m using with my clients right now to help them do the same thing in their stories.
And when I finished recording those episodes . . . well, I still had more to say.
So I turned to my editor colleague Kim Kessler, who loves this movie as much as I do. And I invited her to grab a mic and join me for an intensely detailed breakdown of how exactly this scene creates story magic.
Kim and I cover:

• How this scene fits in the story as a whole—and why it’s so important
• Where the scene actually begins and ends (we had different takes on this!)
• What values shift in this scene (this was weirdly difficult for me to pinpoint!)
• The way that every single element, from the shots in the scene to the lines of dialogue to the colors and even the frame rate, contributes to the emotional experience we feel as viewers (and how writers can do this as well!)
• And more!

Consider this the uncut (or at least, much, much less cut) behind-the-scenes version of those previous two episodes.
In it, you’ll hear tons of editing concepts I’ve talked about on the podcast, all put into action and applied to a brilliant scene.
Kim and I had a blast breaking down every nuance of this scene, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. More importantly, I hope it helps you craft stories your readers love just as much.
Links mentioned in the episode:

Go deeper in this episode:

• Watch the scene we’re studying
• Get a breakdown of the important takeaways, including time stamps

Catch up on the previous episodes in this Spider-Man series:

• Ep. 32: How Spider-Man (And All Great Stories) Makes Us Laugh, Cry, and Feel the Feels
• Ep. 33: The 3-Step Formula to Evoke Emotion and Make Your Readers Feel

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