Sample Movie Deconstruction
(4)
Now that we have a working scene list, it provides a visual
map to help identify and focus balance. Later, too, we can examine which scenes
were external, or internal, and what function did they provide overall, as
character development, plot sequence, or setting, or atmosphere.
Depending on the storyline and genre, the framework of a
movie or novel will include different sections or categories. Whether set up as
a Three-Act structure, or as a beginning, middle, and end sequence, there are
specific turning points that cause a directional change apart from scene
endings. Each scene has its own focus point, or beat, that marks one from the
previous and from the next. However these markers imply an even greater shift, even in a quiet
story.
In the movie you’ve watched can you identify a prologue
and/or an inciting incident? Where does Act One, Act Two, and Act Three appear?
What marks the climax/resolution?
Look also for possible parallel versions of the above as
well. For example, are you tracking the movie as action, so plotting out these
turning points by events? Or do you primarily view it as character driven, so
note emotional and thematic shifts.
In the movie Count of
Monet Cristo, both can ‘plot’ lines can be tracked. For example, is the
inciting incident when his best friend, Mondego, becomes jealous of Edmond’s relationship
with Mercedes, which increase when Bonaparte singles Edmond out for a secret
reason? Or does it occur when Edmond is arrested?
Journal Prompt:
Share: Which was
the most startling? Why?
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