The Flexible 4 Act Structure

Howdy campers, don't forget your booties cause it's cold... uhh wait, that's not what I meant. I guess I write too much while reading.

Anyway, today's topic was inspired by our good friend UNK.
He is a stickler for using a 4 Act structure rather than traversing that long second act in the 3 Act structure. I whole-heartedly agree.

Especially since the 2nd Act midpoint is always desirable. I like to look at the movie(script - but we are writing movies) from the end to the beginning and back so that I can map points of interest(conflict - whether it's setup, build up or payoff) to the desired ending. This actually helps maintain tone and theme, I find.

To help me look at it abstractly, I borrowed from The Hero's Journey to develop a more flexible course through the circle (nearly all movies are circular arcs in that the hero usually ends up at or near where he started in the regular world). Of course the negative arc doesn't, though (Leaving Las Vegas).

Rather than using four sections, I use 8 so that you have more chances for change, disruption, conflict and resolution and also because this abstraction doesn't tie you to page numbers.

The first section is "At Home or Work," which is where every story starts. Sometimes this is as simple as a character preparing for her day or rescuing someone from the bad guy or hell even going to sleep after a hard day's work. This is the chance to START to intro your main characters (the order isn't as important as the reason for it). I say start because giving too much info too quickly will come out on-the-nose and expository. It's best, in my opinion to show a few images that show mind-set or social status and move on to the "problem at hand."

As you can see, it doesn't start at 0 degrees because this is reserved for the hero and you may intro the villain first. Sometimes, it increases the tension to imagine who will stand up to "Villain X who is so heartless and cruel." This section more so establishes location, genre, etc. rather than in-depth personality traits(that should come with the various conflicts). Some stories don't have an actual McGuffin so the goal is an accomplishment rather than a possession(graduate Cum Laude, break the hot dog eating record, get married before next week, etc.)


The next section is "Start Of Decision." This section usually begins the trip to the "new world of conflict" and includes the incident which moves the hero to take on the challenge or not. By this point, you have intro'd what the villain wants and it should be perfectly juxtaposed to what the hero wants(graduate Cum Laude, break the hot dog eating record, get married before next week). Of course those are simplified cases but they speak to the abstract notion of "implied conflict." You aren't the only student, hot dog eater or person desirous of marriage). Here we really expand on the hero's personality and show the contrast between their perspective allies\enemies. The Act 2 incident will be what cements the relationships whether they be for the better or the worse and should occur in this section.


The next section is "Meeting Allies and Discovering Enemies." This is where the rubber hits the road so to speak and the hero is truly in the midst of conflict. After the answer of the call, those who want to help and those who want to hinder are brought into view. Depending on the genre and story they could be peers, underlings, or just intimate with the hero or villain. Of course, the McGuffin becomes the total reason for everyone's existence by this point, no matter what it is. This section takes you around the halfway point as everyone jockeys for position and feels out their adversaries. Once again this flexible structure means that things aren't exact time-wise as scenes\sequences take as long as they take.

This section gets us even closer to the inner-desires and conflicts of the hero and villain and their supporting cast. Again, never give to much too fast. Let it happen in conflict. It may never be relevant that the hero is afraid of dogs or cheated with his best friend's wife while drunk. I guess that's an extension of it's "on the page" that I'd call it's "in the story."

As an example, if a story takes place on a boat, the hero should be unable to swim. Or if it takes place in the desert, the hero should have trouble in the sun, etc. Let the story find the flaws rather than developing them in what I think is a vacuum. Any back story is well-placed here but again, be careful as you don't want to tell whole stories. So if the hero is afraid of dogs, have them walk by one that startles them or even tries to sniff them.

Ex: Indy falls into the pit near Marion. The hissing rises with him as he grabs is torch. His eyes light in horror as the moving ground reveals itself.

Indy
Not snakes. God, anything but snakes.

I had to use that example with the Darabont Indy 4 script making waves lately.

What I like to do with back story is to use a dream. That way you can be "abstract" and very visual without the usual, "When I was young" technique.


But I digress. The next section is called "In the thick of things" and carries through Act 2 into Act 3. This section brings most of the twists, big reveals, and sets up the final Act. More enemies reveal themselves in the build-up from their intro. This section is where sub-plots and story threads are concluded (depending upon their "closeness" to the goals of the hero) The lead supporting character usually continues their story\arc beyond this point, but underlings get wacked here A LOT. Never to return.

By a lot I mean, multiple underlings, be they on the good guy's side or the bad guy's. The level of their "destruction" is also story and genre-dependent though as poignant dramas don't work well with murders just as action movies don't have people flunk out of school(unless it's a "SEAL" movie).
This section also elevates the conflict between the main characters and will contain the 2nd Act midpoint so used in 3 Act structure.


The next section is called "Give up or go on" and occurs near the end of Act 3. It's when the hero is becoming weary of the fight after others are "wacked" out of the story and the villain just keeps coming. You can really show what your hero is made of here as this is also a good time for a "duplicitous reveal" or double-cross if you will. You are grinding closer towards the McGuffin and the villain usually gets it by this point but can't manipulate it without the help of the hero. Kidnappings or threats to those close to the hero usually happen here as the desperation of the villain becomes greater. "Why didn't she give up?" syndrome. The hero normally will have to accomplish some feat to retrieve the McGuffin and\or ensure the safety of those closest to her. Again, this is story and genre dependent and has no exact structure, just an abstract idea. (If you really want abstract read "Deleuze on Cinema")

The next section is called "Bleak as night" and usually occurs when the hero has the most personally destructive thing happen to them. Their HQ is bombed; their dog is killed; they get kidnapped, etc. and it is the point where we all think the hero is a psycho for enduring all of this (you could have given up in the other section), but this is also where we find out why this person is a hero. They handle this in stride, though obviously their heart is heavy.


The last section is called "The final battle" and usually happens because fo the kidnapping, dead dog, etc. The hero's back is against the wall and they usually "flip out" becoming for a moment like the villain and doing something against their code. This is also the final straw for the villain and the villain's last chance to win the McGuffin. This section can be a surprise in terms of who the real villain is or it can just be the natural progression of the struggle. Thrillers pull the twist, action and comedy usually doesn't and drama can go either way.

Here we determine once and for all who gets the McGuffin and who is the last person to be wacked. This is usually the villain but movies like "No Country" break the mold (OK it's not really a mold, more like a "mold concept."). This is also the point where everything in the hero's arsenal is required as many times it's tiered (in the vein of Game of Death) where the hero has to get by the last of the underlings (like a lot of video games) before confronting the lead villain. Sometimes they must face both at once. Again this will be story\genre-dependent and to some extent character-dependent. Back to the flaws, it takes place on a boat when the hero can't swim. There are dogs everywhere. It's really cold or too hot. Perhaps an old friend who was turned long ago is the last underling. It's up to you. BE CREATIVE.

The battle with the villain must have more at stake than any other, so that's why I write from the end so that I don't go above the ending in the beginning or middle. Continuity is a bitch.

That brings us to the EIGHTH and final section, "The return to life at home." This is just when the hero settles back into her routine to wait for her next challenge or just to continue living life, having retrieved the McGuffin, protected those closest and vanquished the villain. This is the place where you set up a continuing franchise or just a sequel. You can have some mysterious stranger show up with some startling info or have something happen in the home life.

An example is the ending of Iron Man where Nick fury mentions the Avengers. A lot of franchises rely on standalone stories but the ending of Matrix Reloaded made certain everyone would see the Revolutions. In other words, leave a string untied or a thread hanging. Stand alone features should realistically tie up all loose ends and close out all threads.

Anyway, that's our description of the 4 Act flexible structure. If anything the key is don't count pages count events, emotions and images. Most viewers don't realize "structure" in the movie, they just expect certain things to happen at certain times. Though by that I mean in relation to other events.

Example: The killer appears in the mirror, we expect a murder. Or the villain can't get the McGuffin to work, he kidnaps the hero.

This of course all goes to the duree and the Six Movement Images which imply that all images should relate to all others and all actions should be extensions of others.

Wow, this is fun. I wish I had decided to do this years ago. It's truly invigorating to be able to use everything I've noticed in my travels.

So remember
Keep Writing as Writing is the Revealing of the Soul

Six Images of Dissemination

Thoughts are faster than the structure of typing.

Great News for a Tired Writer

Yes, after a serious funk and being at the end of my rope (fortunately perhaps, I'm the homicidal type), some really good news came this weekend. I actually got involved with a writers group a few months ago and last weekend, we did a 5 page script read of my well underway Political Thriller.

Everyone loved it. Out of the 10 or more read, mine got the best feedback on pacing, dialogue, white space and readability. I guess my crazed PhD program is working pretty well. I managed to even keep my job.

Also, I have THREE, count em, THREE ProdCos waiting on scripts, so my schedule seems to be good. My goal is to start a movie this year, whether it be an indie or a sale or an assignment.

I found out about a federal program (Section 181 of the Jobs Creation Act of 2004) that allows private investors to write off 100% of their investment as the money is spent. I'm thinking about finding some investors and filming a horror film.

I may even start blogging again. WooHoo!

An Image of a Moment

Howdy writers,
We've been away in the library, but we're back with a look at the philosophy of Henri Bergson through the analysis and theorems of Gilles Deleuze.

What does that title mean? Well, Bergson defines what he calls the duree, which is the infinitely divided slice of time, dependent on that before it and after but existing as its own qualifiable instant.

With any cinematic attempt, small moments can be large parts of a movie. The slow step towards a door, the slight smile of acceptance, or the look of fear at an encounter with the unknown. All of these moments add up to create a chronological series that isn't dependent upon the measure of time but the measure of the passage of time.

This is seen in movies like Memento which happens backwards or Pulp Fiction which happens out of order. It can also be seen in films where the passage of time is greater than the film length - which is basically every movie. Different films and creators handle time differently as different stories may compress or expand time by years or hours.

Anyway, that's a taste of duree. I'll post more when I finish the books.

A Countenance Worthwhile - Neo-Real Character Studies

As soon as we get around to it.

The Saga of the Anti-Hero

Howdy fellow writers,
We're back because of the holiday. I thought I would do a new post on directors next but an interesting topic came up in a post from UNK
which talks about a definition of different story scenarios.

It was an interesting list of contradictory goals and immediately made me think of "anti-heroes." You know the guy who is forced to do something he wouldn't normally do to "save the day" as it were.

This is a very difficult character to write as you have to be careful to not put the "hero" in the position of violating that covenant at the wrong time, nor fulfilling the covenant at the wrong time.

The anti-hero though can be a very exciting character as he will not do the expected but the unexpected; such as torturing a villain or shooting a running criminal in the leg rather than chase.

These characters are also interesting as they can be "non-heroes" like the hacker who has to commit a crime to get his daughter away from a porn star mother or a hitman who has to save his target. Amazingly, I picked two stories from the same author, Skip Woods. The films are Swordfish and Hitman, neither of which were heralded though Swordfish had a pretty good BO run.


I, though, would rather have the quintessential hero; the family man who is used to trouble but takes on the job because he has to protect those he loves and what he believes in. He doesn't turn down the call. Sorry Mr McKee. I disagree. Sure you can add a few minutes of regret and soul-searching but you are still limited to how you actually construct the intro and the inciting incident.

You're stuck with the same old speeches as to why the hero won't do it at first. This type of hero is limited to the military or some derivative as the person can choose to refuse, so their life is not in danger.

If you look at perhaps the most famous modern hero, John McClane, he can never turn down the call as it is his job. In history there was one hero that comes to mind who does at first turn dwn the call and that's Wyatt Earp. But looking at the back story, it's clear that he is in the same position as the recent "Rambo" where he was "retired" from the hero game and doesn't want to get involved.

Non-Acting Characters

Yes, we're back after a long hiatus. Today's topic is strangely enough, characters in your movie with no lines.

You may say, how can you have non-acting characters in a movie. Well, these characters don't say anything because they don't need to. They are light breaking through shadow, the object of everyone's desire, the wind that threatens the town, etc.

The camera itself is also a character in that its placement can determine the effectiveness of a conversation, argument or even a love scene. Props can also be used as characters - or sometimes the extension of character.

Indy's whip, or Neo's sunglasses speak volumes about their characters. Even something as simple as lip gloss can be an effective character if it's used during times of stress or even times of happiness. You would just merely change the character's expression and hand movements.

Light and shadow are also great characters as they can set the tome for a scene or relate danger.

For example, you can have several different meetings in the same bar, but slight changes in lighting or camera placement make a totally different location.

Ex.1 - Man is meeting his girlfriend for dinner where he plans to pop the question.

INT. DOWNTOWN BAR - NIGHT

Pat strolls into the dimly lit establishment, his eyes squint to adjust. The bar has booths around the perimeter lit by candles while a pool table occupies the center area. A smiling bartender dries glasses as a scantily-clad waitress saunters up with menus in hand.

WAITRESS
Good evening sir. Table for one?

PAT
I'm meeting someone. There she is.

Pat moves excitedly towards a booth in the middle of the wall. His girlfriend's face shimmers in the candlelight.

----------------------------------

Ex. 2 - Man meeting a drug dealer

INT. DOWNTOWN BAR - NIGHT

Pat strolls into the dimly lit establishment, his eyes squint to adjust. The bar has booths around the perimeter lit by candles while a pool table occupies the center area. A smiling bartender dries glasses as a scantily-clad waitress saunters up with menus in hand.

WAITRESS
Good evening sir. Table for one?

PAT
I'm meeting someone. There he is.

Pat moves cautiously towards a booth in the back corner, his eyes squint in tension. A leather-jacketed ruffian sits in the corner of the booth, his face obscured by shadow.

------------------------

That's a rather rudimentary example but shows how light and shadow can change the tone of a scene. Camera angle can also be a character as it can change the tone of the scene in different ways. For example, a person's tear can say a lot about the scene or character.

Ex. 1 - Man trying not to hurt a woman's feelings.

EXT. BEACH HOTEL PATIO - NIGHT

On Pat, as he paces back and forth, trying to find the words. Sheila sits apprehensively, her eyes follow Pat with anxiety. She stands, abruptly.

SHEILA
Just say it.

PAT
Well, I...I mean we...

SHEILA
It's OK.

Pat and Sheila stand facing each other. Sheila raises her hands to his supportively. A tear streams down the right side of his face.


Ex. 2

EXT. BEACH HOTEL PATIO - NIGHT

On Pat, as he paces back and forth, trying to find the words. Sheila sits apprehensively, her eyes follow Pat with anxiety. She stands, abruptly.

SHEILA
Just say it.

PAT
Well, I...I mean we...

SHEILA
It's OK.

Pat turns and faces her. His face a mask of pain as tears cover his cheeks.

------------------------------

With these two examples we can see that in the first scene, it's a minor issue that hurts him, while the second one shows a man tormented with a horrible secret. In both we can see the love in the relationship.


Other non-acting characters include the sun:

Ex. 1 - Man dying in the desert


EXT - DEATH VALLEY - DAY

The sun blazes brightly in the sky as Hank lies face down in the sand. His breathing slight, his lips chapped and burned. He struggles to rise, the fierceness of the heat saps his every energy.
He finally drags himself to his feet, his sand-scuffed arms meekly attempt to block sunlight as he sees his goal shimmer before him, shade cast down onto the sand by the welcome SUV.


Ex. 2 - Man waking from a hangover on the beach


EXT. CABO BEACH - DAY

The early-morning sun shines warmly against a beautiful blue sky as Hank lies face down at the edge o the tide. He snores heavily, his lips and face covered with cheap lipstick. The tide awakens him with a shove and he struggles to rise, his hangover making the task difficult.
He finally rises unsteadily, his tanned arms hide his face from the brightening day. He makes his way toward a barely visible goal, a row of small cottages with similarly overcome college students laying next to bottles on the patio.


In these cases the sun goes from being a deadly phenomenon to being a backdrop for a vacation. But in both cases, it is merely the use of a visual non-acting character. This technique can be used for weather, time of day, exact location in a city, etc.

Non-acting characters are also scene transitions as they can link two disparate scenes with a common thread such as an action, an emotion, an object or a sound. As writers we need to think about these non-acting characters as they provide a more interesting read.

Another way of thinking about is the simplistic, "good action lines." That is so generic a term as to make it nearly inconceivable. Again, the key becomes study or doing. Something I've found good practice is writing the first ten off a "sequence map" for different genres and heroes (I quit saying antag\protag as I interchange them too much), which is to say "end result" and "personality-type."

The aforementioned can perhaps be the most powerful non-acting character and is simply "a dissemination of concepts such that you can define them in your terms." Every filmmaker has their own starting point for the cinematic journey. Some begin with story, some with concept, some with character. Some start at the end, and some at the beginning. None are right or wrong, just more efficient for each individual.

But the constant is the toolset at your disposal; the eye, the word, the sound, the emotion, but it all starts with the eye. Directing the eye is the basis of the art, controlling the other elements is the defining of genre.

It's a circular dependency though as emotion can control sound (speaking vs. yelling) and sound can control emotion( startling vs. involving), just as the word can control the emotion and vice-versa. Your acting characters MUST interact effectively with your non-acting characters to create the most effective story.

An excellent example of this use is the poster (tear sheet) for The Exorcist. Though only one character has a speaking part the streetlight effectively describes the tone of the movie: a light shining in the darkness. A solitary figure surrounded by darkness. The use of rose petals in American Beauty also lend a hand in describing mental state and perception. In the "bathtub scene" there was an interesting use of POV as when at Lester's POV, a song is playing, but not when at Angela's.

Another excellent example is the Jaws theme (score), as it defines the way the shark attacks, tension building and the strike. Or the "stabbing violins" of Psycho. Or the theme to Shaft, which represents a character and a description.

Of course the most obvious non-acting character appears in every horror movie and that's sounds. Sounds can take a scene from being just "a dark room" to being "an eerie darkness, drips and clanks echo in the background, a dragging sound seems to come from everywhere."
Of course, sounds can be used effectively in any genre, such as; "soft cries are heard from the other side of the door," or "the click of the hammer stops him in his tracks, inches from his ear," or "the sound of crashing cabinets is heard as Jack glides into the cupboard on his skateboard."

This NAC can represent nearly every emotion; "The sounds of props and bombs cause screams of relief from the small band of beleaguered troops."
"They can hear each other heart beats as they embrace tightly."
"His shouts are heard from the rooftops."
"The roar of the creature signals its presence, just yards away."
"The clank of the metal door is a somber sound, defining the truth of your captivity."

Those are examples from actual successful films:
Saving Private Ryan
The Matrix Reloaded
Network
The Edge
Shawshank

Well, that's all for this episode of "Somewhat Untitled Musings." Our next topic will either "Theme vs. Story" or "Hitchcock to Mamet."

See ya then and,

Keep Writing as Writing is the Revealing of the Soul.

The Dangers of Backstory

Hi again,
Today's topic is back story; when do you use it, when don't you include it? While we were procrastinating about this post, we actually realized a nifty way to introduce back story without flashbacks or boring exposition.

After all, back story usually comes out like "when I was a kid we had to...."

In my mind the best way to cover back stroy is through a dream. Why a dream you ask? Well, because a dream has no "structure" you can put anything in you want - just make sure it's filmable - and it can be a precursor to an event, the reaction to a previous event or even a look into the psyche without dialogue or exposition.

As usual I used this in my favorite script, South of La Brea (Ascha's Song - new title). I changed it because I may be able to get the whole budget by using Louisiana instead of Los Angeles (get it - South of La Brea).

At any rate, there are two places where I use a dream to reveal story or character. The first is near the middle and the character is just getting used to being on her own.

She had a kind of bad day (almost everyday after the near-rape of a virgin) and as mos people know what is on TV while you sleep may affect what you dream about. Anyway, the idea is that we wanted to show that her mother died in a car accident so we give her a dream about it while her roommate is watching "Days of Thunder."

DREAM SEQUENCE
Lights fill the void, screeching tires break the silence.
Metal crunches.
Spinning.
A car horn.
Darkness.
END DREAM
AWAKE.




The next one comes later in the film and we use it for several things. The first is that the protag's grandmother died, so we show an old lady reaching out. The second is we want to show that the protag now understands what "gay" is - she has a friend that is gay. I also use this dream as a look back at her college life and how she's changed.

Anyway, so that's out spiel about back story. I hope it is of use to the two of you.

Au revoir,

"Keep writing as writing is the revealing of the soul"

On a side note, I have lost my fucking mind today. I hate being the good guy. Sometimes I wish just once I could be the asshole that only cares about himself, but then I remember that I like being me. A LOT!!

Situation vs. Dialogue : TV vs. Cinema

Howdy strikers,
Just to stay sharp we are talking about the difference - as we see it - between TV and Film. It's a simple concept. Basically if you think about ads for TV, you will see more situations ( maybe that's why it's called "situation comedy") and most people who refer to a TV show will say do you remember the episode where.....

Now with film, it will be remember when the bad guy said...

It's interesting and there really isn't a lot to say about it other than it's somethign to take into account if you are going from one to the other.

That's not to say that dialogue doesn't attract people to TV or situations don't attract people to film, but in the long run, you will see that they are separated by this. A lot of the reason is because TV usually happens in a much smaller "area" than film.

I mean, look at Seinfeld or Frasier, two of the most popular sitcoms. They both occurred almost totally in one room. But even a small comedy like "Clueless" will take place over a much wider area.

Another good example is Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David. He starts out with a situation every episode. Don't confuse these situations with plots. His stories have no plots, just people reacting badly to situations.

I can't remember many of the lines but I do remember the show where he had the black guy staying with him take a baseball jersey from some guy. Or the one where he has to take the head off of a doll to replace another doll's head.

Now if you take "Clueless" the first thing that springs to my mind is not how hot Alicia and Stacey looked in those short skirts but when Alicia says "As if" to the guy trying to hug her in the beginning. or when Brittany says, "you're a virgin that can't drive."

Even though I can't remember the situation I do remember the line. or perhaps the most famous line of all "I'll be back." If you think for a second you can remember that he's in the police station but the line itself reminds you of that not the police station reminds you of the line.

There are tons of examples of this if you compare genres in TV and film. Another reason for this discrepancy is that TV is usually much shorter. The average sitcom is only about 24 minutes of air time, while a drama may be about 49 minutes. A film on the other hand will be a minimum of 90 minutes and may stretch to over 120 minutes.

This allows the writer to think less about the situation and more about the conflict in the situation. Added to that is the fact that TV is recurring and you can leave something unsaid at the end but with film, it has to be said\done in the time allotted.

Even if you start out with a plan for sequels, you have to definitively END each segment, whereas with TV you want to leave something hanging so that people will tune in the next time. So I guess that's another difference, the way you end it.

Well, that's it for today. We hope our ramblings are at least worth reading and at best help out a writer or two - which coincidentally is how many visitors I usually have. It's OK, though I'm the consummate writer who would rather stay home and write and then spend time in compromising positions in my favorite club than to have any friends.

Anyway, see ya and remember,

Keep writing as writing is the revealing of the soul.

The funny thing about the strike

Howdy bloggers,
We're back and we finally have word one to say about the WGA strike on this blog. It'll be a quick word or several and I think shows why the WGA was right.

What is the issue at hand? New Media. Why is it important? I get Universal On Demand emails. Why is it not an issue? If they don't get any revenue, they don't have to pay residuals. Deal, schmeal. There are already horror stories about actually receiving residual checks. Just continue with that and at least writers will still work.

That's it. My next post will be - interestingly enough - about the difference between TV and features.

And remember,

Support your fellow writers. Chip in for coffee on those cold NYC streets. Take a day off and join them.