Beating Myself Up

So we have contracts and the waiting continues. It's a step, I suppose. A step.. Towards doom!

So anyway, there's this other script we're writing. More homework (What, you thought it ended when you finished college? Heck no!). Here's where we are right now.

Act One: Pretty well written. About 30 pages filled with thrills, spills, chills, and Stephen Stills.

Act Two: Uhm.. we wrote some pages.. they're OK. Maybe five or ten that are usable. We got these characters... Uhm..

Act Three: Ah Hell, how does this thing end, anyway?

Who can spot the problem?

Correct, structurally, our script resembles Jurassic Park III too closely.

So first we bandied Act Three ideas about. Got some good stuff. Handed it over to Charlie to iron everything out and come back with a "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS IN THE END, SO SAYETH THE LORD" email. Me? I'm doing beats.

No, it's not a new drug, though it should be.

Act Two is where the characters change. Where events happen that shape them, mold them, drive the story forward. Act Two is filled with huge action sequences that define our movie. Act Two is about 60 or 70% of the movie.

I'm breaking it down into beats.

What happens here? Then what happens? Then what happens? Why do these things happen? How do our characters grow from these events? Who lives, who dies? What drives this movie forward, forces us to stay and watch, instead of turning it off and catching up on the MythBusters episode we TiVo'd last week?

Want an insight into how I work? Sure you do. So does Charlie. First, I look at Act Two. Not much to look at, actually. Lots of white space. Then I say "OK, first there's a big action sequence."

See? A beat.

Now I say "Because of that sequence, X happens."

Cause and effect.

Next I say "Then there's another action sequence. During which the midget explodes."

Another beat.

"After that, there's a tense, character-driven moment between the porn star and the Republican."

A quasi-beat.

And it goes from there. Next, I go back over my list and say "OK. So I said an action sequence happens here. What is that action sequence? And how does the Midget explode?"

It's a tedious process, but when all is said and done, it makes for a fine script.

Trust me.