Every scene must move your story forward. One way to do that is to make sure the beginning of every scene grabs the audience’s attention by promising a certain type of action. Then make sure you completely reverse that promised action.
The beginning of the scene lulls us into expecting one thing, then the sudden twist in the middle suddenly reveals the true nature of the scene. If a scene simply promises action and delivers exactly that action, the scene will be boring.
Even worse is if a scene doesn’t promise any action at all. Then the scene will feel pointless and boring.
The key is to start one character in a superior position and a second character in an inferior position. Then suddenly reverse their status.
Watch how this scene from “Django Unchained” shows interesting action right away, and then suddenly promises conflict and action as quickly as possible.
The scene shows slaves being led through a forest by slave traders. Right away there’s the mild interest in wondering where these slaves are going and what might happen to them.
Suddenly a twist begins when a stranger suddenly shows up and asks for the slave traders by name. This makes the slave traders suspicious, even after this stranger says he wants to buy a slave from them.
The stranger talks to one particular slave (Django, the hero), and suddenly the slave traders get mad and order the stranger to stop. At this point, the slave traders have been in the superior position while the stranger has been in the inferior position.
Suddenly the stranger draws his gun, kills one slave trader and traps another under his dead horse. The slave traders are now in the inferior position and the stranger is now in complete control. This sudden reversal keeps the scene interesting and makes us want to know what will happen next.
Study how this reversal works in the scenes of your favorite movies. You may be surprised how every uses this technique yet it’s so easy to overlook as a viewer and a writer.
In your own screenplays, always (yes, always) reverse the status of two conflicting characters. This will make every scene you write keep moving your story forward.
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