Chapter 9

Mid-Point, Change of Focus to

Active Role, Scene-Sequel/Romance Genre

 

What important event happened at your Mid-Point? That is a vital question to maintaining the momentum of your story. Lots of people think the Beginning and the Ending are the most important parts of a story . . . and they would be wrong. How can you understand the meaning of those two without the struggles and climb in the middle? And how can you achieve the progress without an understanding of the building blocks of story, the elements of each scene?

 

MIDPOINT’S EPIPHANY

So far you have had your character responding to the new world, gradually attaining insights and skills. Now it is time to swing the hammer that hits him or her right between the eyes with the meaning of the journey. The drama of Mid-Point is equal to the power of the ending’s climactic battle. This is the point where the main character’s mental, spiritual, emotional and physical powers explode on the screen. The main character now takes charge of his or her role in the new world. 

You’ve lived with your character for going on eight weeks (if not longer). By now you should be familiar with how this person thinks and reacts. Mid-Point is the payoff for that knowledge. You must create a stunning moment of revelation for the character. Start with a list of “what-ifs” to be sure you are choosing the most dramatic and not the easiest or most obvious. How will the character show the audience that internal intensity and motivation has changed and he/she is now ready for greater challenges? 

Related to the above question, ask yourself “How vividly dramatic a scene can I create that will be a pivotal experience for both the actor and the director?” That is no small thing. This excitement for this scene will be proportionately as invigorating for the audience as it will be for the cast and crew. The camera’s eye picks up on flagging energies. If the cast and crew believe this to be a pinnacle moment in their careers, the audience will be aware of the power of the scene they create. You-the-Writer have to give them that scene. 

Example: One of the best Mid-Points that stays with me is in the original KARATE KID. Daniel leaves a party and goes to Mr. Miyagi’s house. His mentor is very drunk. On the low table is an almost empty bottle of booze, a box displaying the Medal of Honor, a newspaper with headlines of the Japanese-American interment camps of WWII, a photograph of a very pregnant young Japanese woman and a telegram stating “We are sorry to inform you of the death of your wife and son in childbirth.” Daniel helps Miyagi to bed then returns to the table to look over the material. There is no Voice Over. He frowns as he reads the telegram then reverently puts it down. Daniel then walks to the bedside of the sleeping Miyagi, puts his palms together and bows to him. He gets his significance to his teacher just as the audience gets it . . . without one word of dialogue. From that point on Daniel is motivated to do his very best without Miyagi nagging him. He has taken responsibility for his own actions. 

 

IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH INTO ACT II

The challenge does not stop with the Mid-Point but leads directly into the consequences of that scene. The main character is now motivated to act, to make things happen, to live up to the potential of his or her inherently dramatic personality. The second half of Act II has to be a series of more intense scenes than those played out before. The writer needs to tighten the tension of the screws. Make each scene riskier than the one before. Create more desperation in your antagonist, more heroic effort (and confidence-to-the-point-of-over-confidence) in your protagonist. Take the internal struggles and manifest them in actions. 

 

ONE SCENE AT A TIME

Dwight Swain thoroughly explains Scene (and Sequel) in his book Techniques of the Selling Writer. Swain lectures to the novelist, but the logic of the concepts translates perfectly to screenwriting. By breaking down the parts of the scene into these units, you can identify where you need what to happen in the most succinct form possible and where you can “break away” to a contributing subplot and maintain optimal tension—and forward progression—without confusing your audience. Understanding Scene and Sequel will change the way you write. 

First, you must understand that we are not talking about the theatrical “French Scene” concept of a live theater stage play where a scene begins with the entry of any character and ends with any character exit. Obviously, that convention is for the convenience of rehearsals. X-Actor is needed for these so-many scenes. In screenwriting it refers to an “Action Scene,” a unit of time.

 

SCENE 

“Scene is a unit of conflict lived thru by character and audience/reader.” The Scene’s purpose is to depict interesting character action, where the character is confronted by opposition. This unit of time moves the story forward making your audience care about the outcome. 

The Scene formula is G + C + D

From moment one, the character appears with a short-term, immediate Goal in mind. It can either be one of Achievement “I am going!” or one of Resistance “I refuse to go!” The Conflict is created by whoever or whatever opposes the character. That opposition can be vastly over-powering and important or it can simply be a common daily routine annoyance. Obviously the character anticipated some kind of problem in confronting the situation with a specific goal in mind. However, the next element comes as a surprise. Disaster is delivered in the form of new information the Character had not anticipated but is forced to deal with. End of Scene. 

A scene can be one paragraph or one page/minute of screen time. The whole grouping of Scene and Sequel related to one major event is a screenplay Beat. Those Scenes related to the agenda of one character or one subplot is Sequencing.

The next movie you watch, studiously look for these microcosms. As you identify them, you will also come to understand how a cast and crew film a movie scene by scene and can film out of sequence. (Usually that is done because of limited actor or location availability.) 

 

SEQUEL

“Sequel is a unit of transition that links two scenes.” Where the Scene left off, the Sequel takes up. Its purpose is to transition the events of one scene through what happens because of that scene, moving through those events, conversations, whatever to the consequence that is the Goal of the next full Scene. Sequel presents information (exposition) the character needs in order to figure out what to do next. It can telescope reality by jumping over the mundane and getting to the important stuff. The depiction of what transpires in the sequel—ruminating, emotional outbursts, suffering, etc.—and the passage of time provide an element of pacing. The Scene lives the moment, but the Sequel creates leaps of logic to the next important Scene. The audience is carried along this bridge of logic from one Scene to the next.

      The essence of Sequel is that it provides exposition. One technique of compressing exposition here is the use of MONTAGE or SERIES OF SHOTS. The audience glimpses the information of settings and action they need to bridge to the next full scene. Even those action glimpses are still exposition and not full-out living of the moment.

       First in the Sequel is the Reaction to the Scene’s disastrous new information. That Reaction will be consistent with the character profiles and the character’s normal coping mechanisms. Audience interest is high here. That is followed by the presentation of choices, whether depicted, stated or implied. The more unsatisfactory those choices, the greater is the Dilemma the character faces. Ultimately the character must make a Decision of what choice or option is best. That Decision provides the motivation for the Goal of the next Scene.

The formula for the Sequel is R + Di + De

An entire Sequel can be accomplished in one paragraph (brief depiction) or it can take a couple of pages (moving through various encounters). A valuable tool in Sequel is “implication.” The astute audience (and you will always assume your audience is intelligent) can connect the dots of what happened bridging two major scenes. Example: The couple is in the back seat of the car, sweaty and passionate. War Zone Slug Line. An explosion and a helmet rolls across the ground. Smoke drifts over the body glimpsing the male’s face as he dies. Hospital Slug Line. A middle age woman hurries down the hall and slams open the door of the room where the young woman labors to deliver a child. Not one word of dialogue, but the visuals skipped from Scene to Scene to Scene taking the audience on that fast roller coaster ride of action-consequences. Reactions, Dilemmas, Decisions of what happened in between the Scenes were all implied. 

 

 

WRITING THE SCENE-SEQUEL UNITS

At the outset of a Scene you establish time, place, and circumstance, then demonstrate the POV character’s Goal through actions. Don’t write small. Choose power words. Live in the moment, not in an irritating flashback. Don’t accidentally summarize. Your character deserves his or her time to “shine” in the throes of drama, intent on something, denied whatever and delivered a blow that will lead to Sequel’s reaction. 

In Sequel is the time to compress the trivial and mundane. Focus on dominant emotions the character will experience (and the actor will interpret). This is where you will prove your credibility as a writer, because you must weave into the scene important choreography and relevant subplots as they play on the character’s responses and external emoting. Choreographing external evidence of thought is a tough thing in screenwriting, but a necessary one, as well. You can’t talk the thoughts to death but must show them in action. V.O. or Voice Over gets tiresome because it is dictating what the audience should be thinking. 

Think of the Scene as a big square. Inside that square you write an uppercase G followed by an uppercase C in the middle and that D at the other side of the square. Draw a line from that box to another box. That line is Sequel. Atop the Sequel line an uppercase R then “Di” in the middle and “De” at the end. Next Box G-C-D. Line with R-Di-De. There you have a schematic of cause-effect storytelling that you can use to create viable scenes, tight sequels and ultimately identify when and where to plug in your subplots. You will also be able to identify when you insert something that doesn’t contribute to that scene or where you skipped a piece of logic the audience (and characters) needed.

 

HOW TO BREAK AWAY TO ANOTHER SUBPLOT

Trust your audience. Give them credit for the ability to “get the logic” of what is most likely going to continue on when you cut away to another series of events in another subplot. After hitting Goal and Conflict in a Scene, if you cut away to another subplot, you may confuse your audience. A better moment is right after Disaster. Better yet is to cut away in Sequel’s Reaction that leaves the audience hanging. That’s the most common place episodic network TV cuts away to commercials. It is also how an ensemble cast living their own stories is juggled. Cut to another character’s Scene with Goal-Conflict-Disaster then return to the first storyline at the point of Decision into Scene with Goal-Conflict-Disaster . . . and so on. The audience is led back and forth for the hour episode of the TV series and the character’s own storyline is advanced. 

This ability for the audience to figure out what happened while away “living” another series of events is exactly how those episodic TV shows carrying 2-3 character stories can jump back and forth between them. The audience assumes the abandoned story is going on simultaneously so when they are returned, they make reasonable assumptions about what transpired. The more intense the scene, the greater the tension created in the audience. That means the “pay-off” eventually has to be pretty darn good or your disappointed audience will be frustrated. On TV that means they switch channels. In a screenplay being read by an agent or producer, it can mean the difference between a “Pass” or “Consider” or “Recommend.” 

Can you see how you can “pace” a story by how much you dwell on any one part of either Scene or Sequel? Can you see how it is preferable in a screenplay to hit the action high points of an important scene then tighten the exposition of character depiction and story information in the Sequel? Consider how many times visuals immediately supply information the audience needs to “get it.” 

 

CREATION OF A BEAT SHEET

In this context a “beat” could be seen as those scenes and their sequels related to one event in the plot. A Beat Sheet provides the outline for those scenes that need to carry the story from Act I throughout Act II culminating in Act III. A beat sheet consists of approximately 36 to 48 “groupings” broken into Act I, Act II and Act III. These provide the “spine” of the story for your screenplay. Note: Many Movie DVDs come with a scene list that is similar to a beat sheet, if you need coaching. 

 

ROMANCE GENRE

Since my Romantic Screenplays 101 examines and explains in-depth the multiple complexities of this genre, the following information will only touch on essentials and highlights. Romantic relationships are definitely one element that can be woven into any other genre story. 

Romance addresses the human need for someone to share life with. Once-upon-a-time, that meant only the male-female pairing, but here at the beginning of the 21_st century we are seeing stories of nontraditional, same sex relationships. They all depict people in search of a partner. At one time it was the female making the male aware of his need for her. Now, it can be stated “A romance is the story of a couple struggling through life’s changing saga until one transforms the other’s awareness of the need and value of life with the other.” They start out as separate human beings and end up committed to being a couple, facing the world and its problems together. 

A love story is not necessarily a romance. People can experience the gamut of emotions attraction ignites from curiosity to obsession, from want to lust. A romance is different in that the two end up as one. Love story examples: The movies SOMERSBY, LOVE STORY, and BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. In each of those the people were alone at the end. In SOMERSBY the male sacrificed the relationship for the laudable cause of principle. She died in LOVE STORY. BRIDGES was a story of attraction and succumbing to adulterous lust then separating for the sake of social morality. 

Most definitely each of these stories depicts the evolution of a loving relationship, but the relationship did not culminate in a commitment that completed the cycle and created a unit into the After-Story. Yes, they all ended logically for who and what the characters were, but the relationship did not win. In a true romance, the relationship moves forth into the after-story as the unit of the committed couple.

An aficionado of romance knows the couple will be together in the end, so to find out the ending is not the purpose of a romance. Devotees of this genre seek how the couple comes to that commitment point. Period. 

Note to the groaning males: Here’s the biological generalization. Women are inherently nest builders seeking a mate to create family, whereas males may desire the security of a relationship but are more concerned about the world, not the nest. They seek the challenge of “spreading it around,” attracting as many females as possible . . . as a side-line hobby, not as a vocation. The human male is about survival (jeopardy), whereas the female is about assuring the continuation of the species (consequences of sex). That’s the lowest common denominator in our biology. 

 

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF ROMANCE 

1. Plot moves through meeting, misunderstanding, separation, commitment 

- So, yes that is a formula, but the twists and turns can be orchestrated as uniquely as each human life! Examine the Relationship Plane that is woven into the three-act structure to help meld this concept into you script. (Note the elements of this diagram will be pointed out in the Romance Film Analysis in this chapter and in subsequent films where relevant.) You already have Linda Howard’s 12-steps of Intimacy to help you choreograph the growing relationship.