Sheetal Kiran Peta shared these insights with me the other day. I know him as someone who is deeply interested in cinema and stories and writing and we have been in touch for over a decade now, on and off. In recent conversations when we discussed stories and screenplay he mentioned how he consults/helps screenwriters and is also doing work in films and web series. Here then are his insights which I am sharing with his permission.I find them quite helpful and have asked for a meeting with him to put my story through his framework.
This is a blog he writes - has some really interesting stuff.
breakingthrough.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/a-fresher-perspective-on-screenplay-structure/
These are the points Sheetal put together to discuss illustrated by the Titanic example. Very helpful and useful. Thanks Sheetal for giving me permission to publish these. I am hoping it will help other story writers.
Theme – Plot Point
(Plot Turns) - Exercise for Screenplay Writers
Some important questions around Theme:
1.
What is your story about? (Remember this is not
a question about the plot).
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2.
What is the world of the story? (Morality,
values, time, region etc.)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
What’s the theme of your story? (Write one
single line that explains your theme in a full sentence. Remember this is
subject to change over a period writing, and perhaps during filmmaking and post
production too).
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4.
Who is (are) your protagonists? (Is it single
protagonist / multi protagonist? Or are there multiple protagonists. Do your
protagonist’s character traits relate to your theme? How?)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5.
Who / what is your antagonist? (What is the
single important value of this antagonist, irrespective of whether they know it
or don’t? Please check if this directly opposes your theme stated above. This
will change as and when the theme changes.)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Plot
Point vis à vis - Theme
|
Plotpoint / Turn
|
Event / Scene / Conflict
|
Theme Evolution
|
|
Hook
|
Opening Scene:
|
Possible hint (or even direct statement) at what we are going to
discuss in film.
|
|
Inciting Incident
|
The Key Scene which puts the protagonist into the middle of things.
(Protagonist is often reluctant or forced to take up. However, in many cases
he/she willingly pursues a goal)
|
Despite the theme’s obvious invisibility, this moment is the defining
beginning of the thematic conflict.
|
|
Plot Point 1
|
The moment of discovery in the protagonist’s journey that defines the
intensity of his / her approach.
|
Theme based evaluation of where the protagonist stands.
|
|
Mid-point approach. (Most for Indian commercial cinema)
|
The moments building anticipation towards the midpoint.
|
|
|
Mid-point
|
The scene which redirects the protagonist’s intensity towardsthe goal
in case it was missing previously. Or re-establishes the intensity.
|
Establish the Complexity of the theme in opposition to the values of
the antagonist.
|
|
Post midpoint hook (only for Indian commercial cinema, for post
interval interest)
|
|
Reestablish theme based on its complexity (though not always
necessary).
|
|
Plot Point 2
|
Scenes where conflicts gather momentum and losses (thematic, value
based or results of actions) are felt by both protagonist &antagonist.
|
Thematic realities / conflicts come to the fore, visually (but with
foreshadowing dialogue)
|
|
Low-point
|
A point of no return. All is lost. The protagonist is left to
question every action of his (or hers).
|
The values of antagonism have won over the core theme of the story.
|
|
Climax (followed by denouement if any)
|
Scenes in which the protagonist recognizes his/her faults, lessons
learnt from the journey thus far and acts swiftly to unburden the loss of
failure, felt at maximum cost.
|
Thematic justification – root cause for resolution in the climax.
|
Theme – Plot Point
(Plot Turns) - Exercise for Screenplay Writers – Example Document - Titanic
Some important questions around Theme:
1.
What is your story about? (Remember this
is not a question about the plot).
The film Titanic is about the end
of Victorian Era based Class systems (from Late 18th century till
the beginning of 20th century) and how it affected people on both
sides of the spectrum.
2.
What is the world of the story?
(Morality, values, time, region etc.)
The world of Titanic is an era
where rapid industrialization has taken place across the world, though UK and
its friends adhered strictly to Victorian Era based class differences. The
difference between rich and the poor was marked heavily. The rich enjoyed
extreme riches, dressed heavily and had strict rules of social behavior. The
society - strictly patriarchal, with women expected to play by the rules of the
society, because they didn’t have a means to earn or keep property unless given
to them by the male members of the family, mostly father or a husband.
3.
What’s the theme of your story? (Write
one single line that explains your theme in a full sentence. Remember this is
subject to change over a period writing, and perhaps during filmmaking and post
production too).
Only true love bestows inner
freedom, the will to love and the strength to move away from the clutches and
conditioning of the society. (The true treasure of life is true love which
gives us inner freedom, hope and the will to live.)
4.
Who is (are) your protagonists? (Is it
single protagonist / multi protagonist? Or are there multiple protagonists. Do
your protagonist’s character traits relate to your theme? How?)
Jack Dawson –a financially poor,
free at heart artist from London, who yearns to go to the USA to find growth.
Rose DeWitt – a girl from rich
family; lost her father recently and is engaged to be wed to a rich
businessman, but struggling to come to terms with herself and her society. Depressed
and hence suicidal at the beginning.
5.
Who / what is your antagonist? (What is
the single important value of this antagonist, irrespective of whether they
know it or don’t? Please check if this directly opposes your theme stated
above. This will change as and when the theme changes.)
The strong Victorian Era
principled society – which includes her fiancé, her mom, designers of the
Titanic and most of the society that she travels with.
The core belief of this society is
that – grandeur, opulence and strict adherence to the principles of the society
are good enough to hide the reality of life and offer the necessary and the
ONLY means to lead a happy life.
Plot
Point vis à vis - Theme
|
Plotpoint / Turn
|
Event / Scene / Conflict
|
Theme Evolution
|
|
Hook
|
Opening Scene: A bunch of seadivers, looking for a lost jewel, ‘Heart
of the Ocean’, find a painting of a naked woman – wearing the ‘heart of the
ocean’. They want to know what happened to it.
|
Searching for a lost treasure in search of happiness.
|
|
Inciting Incident
|
Jack saves a suicidal Rose from her suicide attempt.
|
Under the garb of ‘cute meet / save the cat’ scene, the scene plays
out the themes of nature of free willed people (who don’t mind taking risky
decisions out of life’s experience, while it is the pressure of the
high-class society that drives few to suicide).
|
|
Plot Point 1 A
|
Jack is invited to the rich people’s dinner
|
Jack is out of place in the high-class society. He carries himself
well, except Rose sees him needing breathing space too (you wanna go to a
real party huh!)
|
|
Plot Point 1 B
|
Jack invites Rose to his section of the Titanic
|
The so-called lower deck people are joy to be with, despite lack of
high-class manners. They know how to have fun.
|
|
Mid-point approach. (Most for Indian commercial cinema)
|
The moments building anticipation towards the midpoint. Rose asks
Jack to paint her nude.
|
It is obvious that Jack and Rose are falling in love, but both know
what they are getting into.
|
|
Mid-point
|
Jack and Rose kiss on the far end of Titanic, away from the lower and
higher class, and make love in a car – driven by chauffer but owned by the
rich. It is around this time that the Titanic hits the iceberg.
|
Where people break free from their class distinctions, there is going
to be violence. And the conflict gets real with the protagonists’ expression
of love for each other and the accident it causes.
|
|
Post midpoint hook (only for Indian commercial cinema, for post
interval interest)
|
|
Reestablish theme based on its complexity (though not always
necessary).
|
|
Plot Point 2A
|
Even as Titanic sinks, Jack is blamed for theft and Rose goes to save
him.
|
Thematic realities / conflicts come to the fore, visually (but with
foreshadowing dialogue). It is the rich who can blame and cause death easily.
|
|
Plot Point 2B
|
A woman (Rose’s mother?) asks if there are separate safety boats for
the rich and lower-class people! This causes Rose to realize she has to
escape this society.
|
Re-establishes theme, time and again, bringing out the nature of
people. But this time it forces two people to remain with each (out of love).
|
|
Low-point
|
Even as the Titanic sinks, Jack saves Rose, but eventually dies.
|
Rose is left with the same option of dying – in the same situation
when she first met Jack. But obviously the journey with him has changed her.
|
|
Climax
|
Scenes in which the protagonist recognizes his/her faults, lessons
learnt from the journey thus far and acts swiftly to unburden the loss of
failure, felt at maximum cost.
|
Rose decides to live and calls for help. Even when she gets a chance
to go back to her fiancé, she changes her name and moves away from her
society, acting dead. She lives a full life.
|
|
Denouement
|
The jewel of the ocean has always been with Rose!
|
Final truth - true treasure is a heart that has discovered love and
the freedom inside.
|
Though this is more helpful if someone watches the film - Shades of the Heart (an off beat South Korean Film). But I try to cover as much about plot and structure within the post.
