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Lecture 5:Lecture 5:What’s the Point?What’s the Point?

Professor Christopher Bradley

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)Screenplay by Ted Tally

Previous LessonPrevious Lesson

• First Act-- The beginning

• Midpoint-- The Preliminary Solution

• Climax-- The True Solution

The Towering Inferno (1974)Screenplay by

Sterling Sillaphant

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In this LessonIn this Lesson

• Designing a Scene

– PURPOSE

– Turning Points

– Transitions

The Turning Point (1977)Screenplay by Arthur Laurents

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In this Lesson (Continued)In this Lesson (Continued)

• Exposition

– Show, Don’t Tell!

– Conflict

• Assignments

Return of The Pink Panther (1975)Screenplay by

Frank Waldman and Blake Edwards

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Designing a SceneDesigning a Scene

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How to Murder Your Wife (1965)

Screenplay by George Axelrod

Lesson 5: Part I

Designing a Scene - 1Designing a Scene - 1• Write freely the first time through.

(That’s what a rough draft is for!)• When you have a few scenes (such

as, say, your first ten pages) take a look at what you have.

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Designing a Scene - 2Designing a Scene - 2

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• Every scene is a story unto itself, with a beginning, middle and end.

– Your protagonist should be better off or worse off at the end of each scene

– Four Aspects of Turning Points

– Emotional Transitions – Take the audience through the experience that causes the emotion

Designing a Scene - 3Designing a Scene - 3• You already know your protagonist’s

goal. The PURPOSE of every scene is to bring your protagonist closer, or knock him back further from his or her goal.

• Everyone in the scene has a goal, and everyone in the scene should be in conflict, though not all conflict is on the surface.

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Choose Me Choose Me - 1- 1

• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Choose Me.

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Choose Me Choose Me - 2- 2

• Finding the love in the scene• Are the characters closer to their

goals or further away at the end of the scene?

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Choose Me Choose Me - 3- 3• PURPOSE

– What does each character want in the scene? (Scene Objective)

– How does that work in with what they want in the whole story? (Story Objective)

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Choose Me Choose Me - 4- 4

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• Turning Point

– What is the climax of the scene?– How does this represent a Turning Point

for the characters?– What does each character hope for or

expect?– What did each actually get?– How do they contrast? (McKee’s “gap”)

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Choose Me Choose Me - 5- 5• Surprise: What was unexpected in the

scene?• Increased curiosity: What new

questions were raised?• Insight: What did you learn about the

characters?• New direction: How did the story

change?

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ExpositionExposition

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Screenplay by Tennessee Williams

Lesson 5: Part II

Exposition - 1Exposition - 1

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• Exposition Serves 2 Purposes:

– Deepen Conflict– Provide Information

• Expositional dialog that doesn’t deepen the conflict is boring!

• Expositional dialog (or voiceover) that tells you what’s happening or what just happened belongs in a novel, not a film!

Exposition - 2Exposition - 2

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• Show, Don’t Tell

– Take the audience through an emotional experience, don’t tell them about it.

– Tell your audience what the characters have to lose.

Silence of the Lambs Silence of the Lambs - 1- 1

• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from The Silence of the Lambs.

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Silence of the Lambs Silence of the Lambs - 2- 2

• Rather than simply telling you information about them both, the conflict necessitates the revelations.

• How does this scene deepen the conflict between Lechter and Clarice?

• What information do we gain about Lechter? About Clarice?

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Silence of the Lambs Silence of the Lambs - 3- 3• Emotional Violence — How does

Lechter injure Clarice with just words? How does she fight back?

• How is Lechter’s violence different from the other inmates? What does that say about him?

• What does each have to lose?• Why does Lechter help her in the

end? What does that say about him?

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Silence of the Lambs Silence of the Lambs - 4- 4

• Turning Points happen on:

– Action

– Revelation

• Backstory

– Why not use flashback here?

– Voiceover Narration

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Silence of the Lambs Silence of the Lambs - 5- 5

• Scene Design– Goals of Each?– The love in the scene (as sick as that

might seem here…)– What has each gained or lost?

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Silence of the Lambs Silence of the Lambs - 6- 6• Surprise: What was unexpected in the

scene?• Increased curiosity: What new

questions were raised?• Insight: What did you learn about the

characters?• New direction: How did the story

change?

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AssignmentsAssignments

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Screenplay by R.C. Sherriff and Claudine West and Eric Maschwitz

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Lesson 5: Part III

ReadingReading

• Read Chapter 10 in Story, “Scene Design”

• Read Chapter 15 in Story, “Character” • Do the Reading Review to be sure

you’re clear on what you’ve read

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E-Board Post - Part 1E-Board Post - Part 1• Scene Design

– Choose a scene from your screenplay (one you have actually written or one you are planning) and state:

• What that characters want and expect• What they actually get • Contrast these

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E-Board Post - Part 2E-Board Post - Part 2

• Exposition– For the same scene, state:

• What the conflict is between your characters• What the audience will learn about your

characters through that conflict

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End of Lecture 5End of Lecture 5

Next Lecture: Subtext or Bust!

Double Indemnity (1944)

Screenplay by Billy Wilder

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