Since I’m juggling ten different concepts and have to choose two for our next project lineup, I have to find quick ways to organize them and present them to interested parties. I’ve developed a rough template that I’ve started using when formulating a synopsis, which is a combination of Save The Cat styling and my own ideas. You’ll find a similar modelling in any Blockbuster action film. I’ve added page numbers just so you get a sense of pacing, which are also taken from Save The Cat.
- Opening Image (1) – The world is a bad place or the hero’s in a bad spot, and the final image will be the opposite of this. This can be reversed for “downfall” stories. It’s Act 1.
- Theme (1-5) – Describe the hero’s predicament but give us a reason to like him
- Daily Life (1-9) – Go into detail what needs help, particularly:
- Work life
- Home life
- Fun life
- Disruption (10-11) – Something happens that will cause the hero to act
- Debate (12-22) – Should he act? Give him reasons
- Yes because of work life
- Yes because of personal life
- (Yes because it’d be fun – optional)
- Decision (22-23) – Hero makes the decision. Do not let anyone else make the decision.
- New World (24-25) – Introduce what the hero is up against now that he’s decided to take the hard way out. This is Act 2, but I like to split Act 2 into two sections to keep it organized, so let’s say “Act 2A”.
- Trailer Meat (25-50) – This is “trailer material” where you show the fun stuff the hero has to do to accomplish his new goal. It’s where people will begin to fall asleep, so keep it interesting, throw lots of difficult things at the hero, hard decisions, etc.
- Turn the story once
- Turn the story again
- Turn the story once more
- Tent Pole (50) – You’ve reached the peak of Act 2, do something big now, either a false positive or false negative, and reverse it later.
- Tension (50-70) – Bad guys are on to him. I call this Act 2B.
- Beat 1, get away
- Beat 2, get away
- Beat 3, reverse the Tent Pole
- Something Bad (70) – Take something from the hero.
- Devil’s Advocate (70-80) – Make him doubt the goal, convince audience that the hero was better off at the beginning of the film. This is the climax of Act 2.
- Realization (80) – Hero has a new lease on life, give him a reason to continue, something he learned or a realization that the job can still be done. Begin Act 3.
- Finale (80-100) – The easy stuff, take us to the finish line
- Gather the team – Get people together, formulate a plan.
- Storm the castle
- High tower surprise – Harder than it seemed. A double-cross, maybe the villain has been on to him the whole time
- Dig deep within – Revisit Devil’s Advocate, the “Realization” fell through, but there’s something deeper that can drive the hero, formulate the “new plan” in total opposition to the enemy
- New plan – Use the new plan and win
- Final Image (100) – Opposite of beginning, hero has what he set out to get.
Some feel this outline is too stringent, and I’m always curious to see what other kind of structure could drive a film. There are plenty of films that deviate from this conventional structure, but I get the feeling that deviations tend to be either a matter of ignorance, or rebellion. This structure isn’t the word of god, but it tends to emerge because it’s an evolution of storytelling that maximizes drama in a 90-120 minute film. Conventional action films can (and did) cut out the Daily Life (Fun) section and jump into the Catalyst more quickly, and shortened the Devil’s Advocate since there was less inner conflict to deal with, which got the action film script down to 90 pages. But if you’re going for political thrillers, Daily Life and Devil’s Advocate require more explanation and are more likely to drive the film into 120+ page territory. If you’re going for historical drama, where 50% of the fun is in the exposition of the daily life and mental workings of 1850 Victorian England or pre-revolutionary France, we’re talking 150+ pages.
I personally have no idea how to write 150 pages. Maybe I’ll never have to. We’re talking Acts 4 and 5 at that point, or at least a VERY interesting Act 2 that keeps people on the edges of their seats. This may not be tolerable for an action crowd, since that audience demands the hero get shit done, and if he fumbles about for over an hour before saving the princess then he’s losing our hearts with every minute.
A fight scene has the same structure, just simplified. I’ll do one of those next, with lots of spots for variables, that will be useful for scripting a dramatic fight scene that keeps people interested for minutes.
This was a good break-down of scriptwriting – always interesting to see how other people work. I’m definately not that structured when writing – mostly because my film wasn’t meant to be a feature until half of it was shot – a lot of it was pure improvisation on the day. We’ll see how that turns out… 😛
Anyway, bookmarking this for future writing endevours!
Eric, I’m curious what your thoughts are on this story structure with the early stages of the script being daily life, exposition, etc. and also being told by producers that an action movie without any action in the first 15 minutes won’t sell. Do you think that action scripts shouldn’t spend too long building a character background, setting, etc? Do they need some action toward the beginning just to keep people invested while still setting everything up? I know this post was meant to be a generic outline, but I’m curious if you find it contrasting to the producer’s advise about sell-able action films.
The “Daily life” portion of the script is usually where your crappy B action films put the token sparring scene (“That’s a good move! Check this one out!” *cringe*), or some kind of police action, military bit, maybe some random thugs who start stuff and the hero kicks their asses. You can show a lot of the character in these moments. You just have to be creative with your martial arts plot. There’s no need for a sparring scene. It’s 2012, people accept that anyone can have martial art skills now as long as he’s in some kind of active profession. You can flesh out all the character you need in a big opening action scene, ending by showing some kind of obvious problem for the hero. The “plot” of this action scene doesn’t really matter in the beginning, but rather how the hero deals with problems. He can still win the fights, but there’s some other element missing from his world. It gives the audience the desire to keep watching and figure out how he fixes this.
Producers are right about the need for action in the first 15 minutes. It’s especially important for foreign markets, where they buy an action film for the action. The more you can “show” the hero’s problems the better foreign markets will react. Which is why talkie comedies are a big no-no for indie filmmakers.