thinktankchalmers-blog

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Some notes on plot structure

ACT 1

STAGE 1 - THE SETUP

Introduce the hero, create an emotional connection to the hero and show him living his everyday life.

TURNING POINT #1 - THE EVENT OR OPPORTUNITY

Something happens that has never happened before. It can be something good or something bad but whatever it is, it’s going to force the hero into stage 2 - the new situation.

STAGE 2 - THE  NEW SITUATION

The hero has now been presented with some event that takes them somewhere new, where they have to figure out what’s going on. At this point, the character is still in their identity but they now has a glimpse of what their life could be if they fulfil their inner journey.

TURNING POINT #2 - CHANGE OF PLANS

Something happens that moves the hero towards a specific, visible goal (their outer motivation). The hero will then begin pursuing a specific finish line that they want to reach by the end of the story.

ACT 2

STAGE 3 - PROGRESS

The hero formulates a plan, the plan seems to work but the obstacles get bigger and bigger until they reach the point of no return. In order to make progress towards their goal, the hero needs to change their identity or shed their skin or drop their facade which is keeping them in their unsatisfied world. The hero will open up and take courageous steps toward their goal but will also retreat because it will be emotionally too much for them.

TURNING POINT #3 - THE POINT OF NO RETURN

The hero now makes a bigger commitment to reaching their goal. Something happens that demands of them full commitment to reaching that goal, to the point where they can’t back up now.

STAGE 4 - COMPLICATIONS AND HIGHER STAKES

The further into the story the hero goes, the more that’s at stake because the goal becomes more and more important to them, but also, the harder it it to achieve the goal.

TURNING POINT #4 - THE MAJOR SETBACK

Something happens that seemingly destroys any hope of the hero achieving their goal. The plan is out the window and the worst possible thing that could happen, happens.

ACT 3

STAGE 5 - THE FINAL PUSH/return and retreat

The hero’s plan doesn’t work so they retreat and try to go back to their identity in the beginning, but that doesn’t work either so they put everything on the line to reach their goal.

TURNING POINT # 5 - THE CLIMAX

The hero faces the final obstacle which they must overcome in order to reach their goal. If they win, they’re fully in their essence. If they aren’t fully in their essence, they must lose.

STAGE 6 - THE AFTERMATH

The before and after picture. If the hero reaches their goal, they are fully in their essence reaping the rewards of having found the courage to complete their journey.

[thinktankchalmers-blog]

Some notes on writing a scene

Before you even start writing the words of a scene, you should step back and ask a few questions:

*Who is the hero?

*What is the hero’s wound?

*What is the hero afraid of?

*What is the hero’s visible goal?

*Where structurally does the scene occur? - because depending how far along that inner journey the hero is, that’s going to effect how that character would react in that situation.

After those questions have been answered, you should ask:

*What does this character want in this scene? - and does that desire or want move them closer, or make them think it’s going to move them closer to their goal, or at least overcome an obstacle to achieving that goal?

If the answer to that question is no, then the scene is not serving the story, so it should probably be scrapped because every scene has to move the character closer to their visible goal, or force them to face an obstacle.

If the answer is yes -

*What does the hero need to do in order to accomplish their desire within that scene?

*What is the obstacle within that scene the hero will face in order to achieve the goal?

[thinktankchalmers-blog]

I love Tim and Eric but I don’t know why....

Hello. I watch Tim and Eric a lot. Maybe too much, I don’t know. Sometimes I find myself watching Tim and Eric videos on youtube for hours on end.

I must say, when I first watched Tim and Eric, I was perhaps a little scared, disturbed and confused. But most of all, I was tickled. The more I watched, the more I was tickled. It started as a gentle caress on the palm, then a poke behind the knee, until it became a full on tickle fest in the old arm pits.

So why do I find them funny?

Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job is a mix of surrealist movies and public access TV. It is a parody of bad TV in itself, like public programming. Their goal is to create a living nightmare for the viewer and have very absurd experimental comedy that appeals to the subconscious, as well as immaturity like the frequent diarrhea jokes. It’s like taking the dumbest things, and making them more subversive and dream like. Their absurdist comedy doesn’t really seem to have any deep meaning to it. It’s just bizarre for the sake of being bizarre. 

A lot of people try to find some deeper meaning, or method to the madness to Tim and Eric’s comedy. On Youtube, you’ll often see numerous comments trying to “dissect” the videos, looking for something symbolic or intelligent. While there may be some vague subtext in a few of the skits, by and large the only purpose is to make you over-analyze it. The show knows you want to understand it, and it’s laughing in your face for trying.

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[thinktankchalmers-blog]

twin peaks

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THE CINEMATOGRAPHY OF MR ROBOT AND WHY I LOVE IT.

When I first watched Mr Robot, I loved it. It’s clever, gripping, anxious and moody. Although there are other shows on TV that are as good as, or better than Mr Robot, what really makes it stand out, is its visually striking cinematography. At times it reminds me of David Fincher and other times, Stanley Kubrick. However, Mr Robot has crafted it’s own style and aesthetic which looks amazing and goes hand in hand with the shows themes of loneliness and alienation.

The characters are often placed at the very bottom of the frame. This leaves massive amounts of headroom that suggests a great weight hanging over their heads.

Mr Robot also uses a technique known as “shortsighting”. This is when characters are positioned with their faces at the edge of the frame closest to the person to whom they are speaking. In more conventional filmmaking, conversations are cut with the characters looking at each other from opposite ends of the frame.

According to Tod Campbell, Mr Robots cinematographer, “shortsighting is unnerving. It accentuates how fucked up Elliot’s world is. The idea was to convey the loneliness. That’s the internal dialogue I had with myself: How do we tell that story. How do you get Elliot across?”. This type of framing creates the sense that the characters don’t know where they stand in relation to one another.

“Shortsighting” allowed Campbell to bring a wider lens in closer. “In close-ups of Elliot, everything else is so out of focus that it’s literally him floating in space,” he says. “You can really connect with those big, gorgeous eyes and get a sense that we’re present with him.”

CREATING VISUAL TENSION

The cinematography in Mr Robot is an excellent example of how to create visual tension. The use of negative space and very little breathing space is not used just for the sake of it, it helps to tell the story.

The following examples show show the subjects placed near the edge of the frame, speaking towards the edge, and leaving excessive negative space opposite of their gaze. This helps create loneliness, isolation, and visual tension.

[thinktankchalmers-blog]

THE HERO’S TWO JOURNEYS

The outer/external journey is where the hero is pursuing a visible goal amidst obstacles. The foundation of a story is always at the beginning: a hero who has a desire and has to undergo a series of conflicts in order to achieve their goal. The desire has to be visible and clearly defined.

There is also the inner journey. This is the inner conflict that the hero faces, which is essentially, a fear that the hero holds that they must overcome in order to achieve their goal.

In order to make progress towards their goal (their outer journey), the hero must overcome their inner conflict or drop their false persona. The problem with dropping their false persona is that it’s emotionally terrifying for them.

[thinktankchalmers-blog]

Some notes on writing a story

CHARACTER

What makes an audience care about a character comes down to two things:

* The weakness of that character.

* The character’s goal in the story.

What is the personal problem inside the character that is hurting them in such a fundamental way that it’s ruling their life? The entire story is going to play out the solving of that problem, and the way they’re going to solve that problem is by going after a particular goal.

PLOT COMES FROM CHARACTER

How do you create plot out of character?

You need to create a goal for your character which will eventually force that person to deal with their deep weakness.

WRITING A SCENE

Before you even start writing the words of a scene, you should step back and ask a few questions:

*Who is the hero?

*What is the hero’s wound?

*What is the hero afraid of?

*What is the hero’s visible goal?

*Where structurally does the scene occur? - because depending how far along that inner journey the hero is, that’s going to effect how that character would react in that situation.

After those questions have been answered, you should ask:

*What does this character want in this scene? - and does that desire or want move them closer, or make them think it’s going to move them closer to their goal, or at least overcome an obstacle to achieving that goal?

If the answer to that question is no, then the scene is not serving the story, so it should probably be scrapped because every scene has to move the character closer to their visible goal, or force them to face an obstacle.

If the answer is yes -

*What does the hero need to do in order to accomplish their desire within that scene?

*What is the obstacle within that scene the hero will face in order to achieve the goal?

[thinktankchalmers-blog]

When I’m out of ideas, I watch this....