As a lecturer and scholar in the field of screenwriting, one may grow frustrated with the hegemony of classical dramaturgy, which lays like a wet blanket over the creative writing and carries imbedded patriarchal values which inevitably rub off on the content. This article will show that the story structure method reduces film writing to a mere narrative process without regard or humility for the multimodal qualities and capabilities of cinema to create sensual experiences for a participating audience. It will point out the risks of this alignment for cinema, making the film stories predictable but at the same time estranged from everyday life. Hence, the article will propose an alternative method to the screenplay template: cinematic world-building, based on artistic processes in a hermeneutic framework and a phenomenological approach to the experience of the film world, which transforms the viewer - from voyeur to co-creator. The purpose of the method is to give the screenwriting students a greater understanding of the abilities of the audio-visual elements - as units and as cooperating constellations - to build moods, content, themes and to develop their stories from cinematic spaces with alternative narrative structures. The article will display a trial of the first step of the method performed in a BA scriptwriter course with a very good reception from the students. Their work and their reflections on their writings and on the method are presented. Some shortcomings are discovered, but above all, the method is perceived to have good potential for further development.