Day 2: What I learned …?

[Anis Taylor]

Today I learned how to stretch a scene to really pull the suspense when creating an inciting incident. When I originally wrote my inciting incident in my screenplay I created a very bland situation to lead my main character on his journey. There was nothing deep at stake to really up the ante when leading our story.

After our assignment I was able to rewrite my scene with specific intent to present a very challenging situation, then create interesting action with intriguing dialogue, and finally showcase what is inside my main character that needs him to go on his journey.

[Vincent Ovalle]

Isn’t the first act about the premise of story, and raising the stakes is in the try and fails of act 2?

[Rice Rice]

What I learned is that the inciting incident, whether a subtle or dramatic shift in the story narrative, serves to create an interest in the protagonist’s journey. It keeps the viewer engaged, eager to see if the protagonist succeeds or fails in the struggle to re-establish equilibrium.

Originally, in my scene, I left the audience with the impression that my protagonist had been killed by the antagonist, thinking that would cause the audience to wonder if that was really the end of my protagonist’s life. This assignment caused me to rethink my scene. I re-wrote it to show that my protagonist was seriously wounded and left the audience wondering if my protagonist would survive the encounter with the antagonist. This created a cliffhanger at the end of the scene.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by  Rice Rice.

[Vincent Ovalle]

Like a non linear story where the viewer does ‘nt know who is the protagonist?

[Renee Miller]

Today I learned that my inciting incident might need to be reworked. While it puts the protagonist on a journey to find her strength, it isn’t all that exciting. I’m unsure right now how to change it, but I will start brainstorming ideas and see what max-interest techniques I might be able to bring into the scene to make it a bit more engaging and exciting.

[Vincent Ovalle]

The need has to be tied with the story goal journey. Both are in play.

[Randy Hines]

I found the call to adventure in the scene to be a little weak. This may be due to to expectations of the genre from that era of moviemaking. I think today, that aspect would be far greater and less subtle. I found the POV of the different characters to move the story along and engender lots of conflict to base future scenes upon. The notion that the Fonda character just wants to talk shows him to be levelheaded in his prosecution/discernment of other people: empathy. The other characters, not so much. I think any scenes I would write at this stage of the story would place set and really drive each character’s POV. Members of the audience would immediately have resonance with one or more characters then be challenged by reveals and reversals and force upon the audience that cognitive dissonance that engages by the end. That’s a good strategy to employ in my scenes even action-filled with blood and viscera…it makes the mayhem more personal and not just empty spectacle. Pitting disparate personality types together and seeing what comes out.

[Susan Willard]

12 Angry Men: Inciting Incident: A Call To Action: What I learned:

· I learned that actions and dialogue working in concert with each other are very powerful.

· Emotions can be triggered with actions in very strong ways and are enhanced with the arrangement of words.

· It is important that each character have his own dialogue method, differing actions, and ways of bodily expressions. In this way, the scene will come alive.

[Courtney Hill]

In this lesson, I learned how the inciting incident can simultaneously ask and answer questions. I felt like my original scene had a few irrelevant lines or no set ups. I rewrote my scene to get to the point, ask questions to keep the audience interested, and rev up the movie. It’s hard for me to remember the the point or heart of the movie really starts after this incident. I don’t want it be subtle or overshadowed by anything. It needs to be clear to everyone what is at stake.