Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Elements of Act Two, Part 2

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As we were talking about way back there in our last discussion of the Elements of Act Two, the first half of the second act – that’s 30 pages in a script, or about 100 pages (p. 100 to p. 200) in a 400 page book, is leading up to the MIDPOINT.










(But okay, I also concede that in RAIDERS, the revelation that comes just before the map room scene, that Marion is still alive, is the first part of a two-part Midpoint sequence.)




As I discussed in the last post, the Midpoint of THE UNTOUCHABLES is a great one because not only does the murder of the two accountants (Capone's and Ness's) completely annihilate Ness's PLAN), but the murder of Ness's teammate makes the stakes deeply personal.


It really pays to start constantly taking note of the Midpoints of films and books (I assume you're already taking note of Act Climaxes, right?) And if you find that your story is sagging in the middle, the first thing you should look at is your Midpoint scene (or sequence).

I know this and I still sometimes forget it. When I turned in THE UNSEEN, I knew that I was missing something in the middle, even though there was a very clear change in location and focus at the Midpoint: it’s the point at which my characters actually move into the supposedly haunted house and begin their experiment.






The protagonist's desperation will often stem directly from the big FAILURE that often occurs at the Midpoint (Again, THE UNTOUCHABLES is a great example). If the PLAN has collapsed and the hero/ine and her team have to completely recalibrate, then they're already tired and discouraged and likely to make bigger and bigger mistakes.

And if there has been a 'Now it's PERSONAL' loss, then the hero/ine is in no emotional shape to be making these decisions to begin with. In JAWS - we all know Brody has no business being out on that boat (although of course he rises to the occasion). But that bastard shark went after his son, so of course, he's going to go.

This emotional desperation also can - and should - happen in a romantic comedy. In NOTTING HILL, at the Midpoint, Julia Roberts finally invites Hugh Grant up to her hotel room, but when he arrives, his greatest nightmare in the form of movie star Alec Baldwin is there - Julia has a boyfriend, and Hugh's forced to pretend to be a waiter and clear away the room service dishes. It's a crushing defeat (and remember, Hugh's GHOST/WOUND is that his ex wife left him for a man who "looks like Harrison Ford".)

This is a huge loss for Hugh - and we all know that we do crazy and irresponsible things when we've been recently wounded by love.

Naturally the antagonist’s actions are escalating in these Act II: 2 sequences as well, as attempt after attempt to get what s/he wants has failed, and when a villain gets desperate, well, things get ugly.


This scene is usually very near the climax of the second act - sometimes it IS the climax of the second act - because it’s such a boost of energy to go from losing everything to gaining that key piece of knowledge that will power the hero/ine through the final confrontation to the end.

Now, remember, in standard film structure, the second half of Act Two is two sequences long - two fifteen- minute sequences, each with a beginning, middle and climax. A book will perhaps have three or four or five sequences in this 100-page section. But if you concentrate on escalating obsessive actions by the hero/ine and antagonist, and then an abject failure, out of which a new revelation and plan occurs, you pretty much have the whole section mapped out to the ACT TWO CLIMAX.

I've also noticed that Sequence Six, the section right before the Act Two Climax, tends to be the darkest and most tense of all the sequences (except for maybe the final battle.) It's as if you have to build to a really terrible failure, the hero/ine losing just about everything, before that final breakthrough revelation that will propel the hero/ine into the final battle.

And again, this is true in a comedy or romantic comedy. Although the hijinks might be more out-of-control than desperately dark, the loss of control and descent into chaos is very, very often a part of this sequence in a comedy (IT'S COMPLICATED is a good recent example of this rhythm, and any episode of FAWLTY TOWERS.)






But we’ll talk about the third act and climax in separate posts.

And I'm always interested in hearing examples of great midpoints!

- Alex


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Sarra said...

Great Post! Thank you so much for giving so many details about specific movies/stories. It always helps me to understand your point better.

I was thinking that my current novel has a similar midpoint to the first Harry Potter, when you realize for the first time (at the Quiddich game) that someone is trying to kill Harry. You think, of course, that it's Snape.

Also, I watched Lord of the Rings and I'm pretty sure the midpoint is the part where Frodo has just recovered from being stabbed by the Wraith and decides to take the ring to Mordor himself... which is when the actual Fellowship of the Ring is formed. I am trying to take some notes from those two movies/books in my own writing.

Looking forward to hearing you speak at the ScriptScene event in Orlando!

Alexandra Sokoloff said...

Sarra, I haven't seen LOTR in a while, but that scene/decision of Frodo's sounds exactly right as the Midpoint. That's a great example of the "reluctant hero" story pattern, too - Gandalf drives the action for the first half of the story, but it becomes more and more personal for Frodo, until he decides to step up and take action himself.

That's always an exhilarating moment, I think!

(And Brody of course does this himself at the Midpoint of JAWS).

I love examples, too - no better way to learn.

laughingwolf said...

oh man, sure glad you're doing this, alex, i'm finding all kinds of things wrong with my piece... thx!

Mara said...

One of my favorite midpoints is in the Hayao Miyazaki animated movie "Spirited Away." Chihiro, a girl whole parents have been turned into pigs while trespassing in a spirit village, is working in the bathhouse for the spirits. She's awkward and despised, but through tenacity manages to achieve the cleansing of a river spirit. Midpoint here is an achievement of respect. The river spirit's gift of gold leads to greed in the bathhouse, a new direction for the film and a chance for Chihiro to help the person who helped her out originally. I love the natural progression from the direction of the first section, survival in the bathhouse, to the complex, several stranded second half.

Tracy A said...

Shawshank Redemption is one of my all time favorite movies.

I'm thinking the midpoint in that one is after Tommy Williams, the kid that Andy has been tutoring for his GED, tells Andy that a former cellmate confessed that he had killed a banker's wife and the banker (Andy) took the rap for it. Andy tells the warden and gets thrown in the hole for his trouble,and then the warden has Tommy Williams killed. At that point, Andy realizes the warden will never let him go and it's become personal with Tommy's death. Andy's only choice is to go through with his escape plan or die in prison.

And that decision, in turn, leads to Red's change in attitude at his next parole board hearing.

Let me add my thanks for these series of posts. Plotting is my nemesis, but I think I've got it in a pretty firm headhold for the moment!~

Jessie Mac said...

Read your post and the comments - thanks for such a useful post. It's made me think of the novel I'm writing and making sure that the midpoint is there.

Alexandra Sokoloff said...

I'm sure there's nothing "wrong" with the piece, LW - it's just the process.

Alexandra Sokoloff said...

Mara (great name!) - I still haven't seen Spirited Away (I know, I know...) but you're describing exactly the sensation that a good midpoint always seems to provide - it's such a curtain on previous action, and a bridge into a new section that's even deeper and more compelling. It provides so much of the propulsion that is dramatic narrative.

It's a FEELING. I myself should never forget that.

Alexandra Sokoloff said...

Tracy, again, I'd have to rewatch Shawshank (one of the best movies ever!), but your analysis sounds exactly right. That's definitely a Point of No Return for Andy. We understand what he has to do and why. (And what a plan!)

Thanks for your great examples, you guys!

Alexandra Sokoloff said...

Jessie Mac, yes, I need to check my WIP for the midpoint, myself!

Funny how when you focus on just that, you suddenly see exactly what's missing.

She's Lost Angeles said...

Alex, these are great posts! I struggle mightily with plot, and have found applying screenplay structure to be incredibly freeing.

Quick question about your workshop: Is it the sort of thing with feedback on our specific WIPs, or more of a generalized course?

Alexandra Sokoloff said...

LA, I don't read people's WIPs, but there will be a lot of individual feedback on people's stories and specific story questions and problems, depending on how much you decide to share and how much you decide to participate.

Most people who take these classes just lurk (otherwise I'd never have the time to teach this way!) so the people who do ask specific questions get a lot of brainstorming from the whole group.

She's Lost Angeles said...

Thanks for the clarification, Alex, that's what I was looking for! It sounds like a very cool thing. I'm a front-of-the-class kind of kid, so maybe some of my story problems could get untangled ;-)

Josie Thames said...

I'm a little behind in reading the posts, what will all the taking notes and writing as I go, but WOW was this post helpful! I'd written this little scene for my YA story the other day in which the protagonist gets kissed and asked out by a kind-of friend of hers; someone that she hadn't really admitted to herself that she liked that way. It's there all along, the reader can see it, but not the protagonist. Anyway, I was struggling as to what comes next, and upon reading this post, it hits me--where is her difficult choice? Immediately, I realized that was the moment when her birth mother was going to announce that she was coming to meet her daughter. Thank you so much!