Here's today's 5 tips for screenwriters on scene structure. When rewriting your scenes, ask yourself the following questions...
1. What is this scene about?
When two people have a conflict in real life, they're rarely fighting about what they're actually talking about. Are your characters fighting for power? Respect? Are they trying to convince someone of something? Are they seeking approval? Or lust or love? Seduction or avoidance? As a screenwriter, if you don't know what the scene is about thematically, think it over. If you can't find something specific and active, you probably don't have a strong scene. Try rewriting through a simple theme and see how a scene changes. You might discover something stronger.
2. What do the characters want?
Characters should have clear, simple, opposing desires. That's the basis of conflict for a screenwriter. They don't have to be earth shattering, just opposing. Characters who know each other well like family members or close friends likely have expectations for how the other behaves. Those expectations can be used to create conflict. So and so "always" does this. Those expectations can be debunked for a nice surprise. They can feed a conflict if one character does what they always do. If characters have clear wants, clear desires, singular desires, they fight for their position based on that and you have a good scene. If not, you should figure out what they want and rewrite to sharpen these positions. Without it, your scene will likely be quite flat.
3. What is the "turn"?
If two characters go into a scene expecting something, when we leave the scene something should change for them. A good scene starts one way, and exits exactly opposite. Take a simple example, Johnny wants to buy milk for his kid but he has no money. Carol has money but in the past, Johnny has borrowed from her and spent it on a bad gambling habit. Johnny expects to get money from Carol since she's been helpful in the past, Carol expects to Johnny to ask, perhaps lie and say no. If the scene is written from Johnny's perspective the turn could be Carol saying no; he expects her to say yes, she says no. If it's written from Carol's perspective, Johnny would need to ask, Carol likely says no, but Johnny convinces her- the turn would be the moment she accepts his plea and hands him the money. EVERY SCENE REQUIRES A TURN. If you don't have a solid turn, it is not a scene. It's an idea, a moment, a slice of life. It's not a scene. You the screenwriter must have a turn, or create a turn in every scene. Even if the turn is as slight as a character changing their perspective, like in a drama, that's enough of a turn to hold up. You must have a turn in every scene or it's not a scene. Also remember, we the audience love a good surprise.
4. What does this scene contrast?
In theory, your scenes should stack in contrast, the existing scene could end big, the start of a new scene starts small and quiet or vise versa. By building contrast, your script will develop peaks and valleys. The valleys provide relief, the peaks build the tension. We love the roller-coaster of a great movie. An action movie might have high level, life or death, peaks and valleys. A drama might focus its moments on character transitions. Someone's frustration might build and cause them to act in a way that causes conflict that builds then resolves. Build contrast between your characters, build contrast between your emotional moments. It's the pulse of your movies. The beat keeps us engaged.
5. Is it a duplicate?
Look at your scenes, is this scene a duplicate scene? Do you have two scenes about convincing someone to do something? It's extremely common. Every scene must be unique and necessary. If there is a duplicate scene or a similar scene in your script, you must cut one of them out. When I say duplicate, I don't mean literally duplicate. A duplicate scene could have completely different characters involved, in a different location, saying different things, but if the scenes thematically are similar, the audience will feel it and get bored. A lot of folks can't put their finger on this phenomenon but when you feel it, that's what is happening. Know what your scenes are about, not what happens in the scene, but thematically what the scenes are about, and what makes them different. Screenwriters, you must edit out your duplicate scenes or rewrite them to be about something unique to make them necessary and you'll have a stronger script. If you don't cut them out on the page, I promise a good editor will do it in post when large quantities of money have been spend on shooting them. Cut them out on the page, and you'll have more time making necessary scenes shine in production.
Happy writing.
