Day 3: Three turning points

[William Whalen]

William Whelan – Turning Points: Get Out

What I learned rewriting my scene is to increase the no turning back elements in my turning points.

Movir: Get Out

· Turning Point 1: Mother hypnotizes Chris, he is now under her control.

· Turning Point 2: Chris takes a picture of the other black man at the party wishing to document the hypocrisy and patronizing atmosphere of the patio scene. His actions reveal he is not buying into the charade and is an outsider.

· Turning Point: Chris realizes the family has turned against him and attempts to escape. The mother triggers the hypnosis of Chris and the family proceeds to deal with the outsider who has upset the status quo of their world.

[Isti Madarasz]

Get Out is a great film, I love it. All 3 turning points are very exciting. Probably the first one is the biggest surprise, because here the film not only turns the story, but actually changes genre, because with the hypnotism and the black space that Chris falls into, the so-called Sunken Place, the mystical, the paranormal comes in and from there on we are watching a supernatural thriller. It’s quite a twist.

The middle turning point is not really a turning point in my opinion, but rather just another odd occurrence in a story that has been just about unusual enough so far, so I don’t think this is the real Midpoint of the story, or if it is, it’s not very strong.

However, the third turning point is a real atomic bomb, Chris’s sweetheart who has been by his side all along is suddenly revealed here to be on the side of the family, she’s been conning Chris all along and so the poor guy is left with no allies. That’s really harsh.

[Claudia Wolfkind]

I watched the TPs for both movies… I hadn’t seen Get Out so it was a complete shock to me, what a disturbing story… I went on IMDB afterward to read the entire synopsis. Not a movie I would ever want to see! I’m not a fan of vulgarity, so I’m not a fan of Bridesmaids, but that’s the movie I’ll share my insights on…

What makes this scene great……. Kristin Wiig’s character, Annie, has been best friends with the bride to be, Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph, since childhood. Annie has been very down on her luck for quite some time but still wants to do what she can to help celebrate her best friend’s wedding as her “maid of honor.” The nemesis (Helen) is played by Rose Byrne who steals Annie’s ideas and seems to want to steal Lillian as well. In this TP Lillian opens an envelope from Helen to learn that she’s being given a trip to Paris, just her and Helen. Annie LOSES it… she gave Helen the entire Paris decorating idea to begin with… Annie destroys the party and can’t believe her best friend doesn’t see what’s happening to her leading to a huge fight where Lillian tells her not to come to the wedding.

It’s great because we see the descent of Annie into complete mayhem as the rest of the guests look on in shock and / or amusement. Helen, a trickster, plays the innocent. Lillian is upset her best friend has been ruining everything about the wedding. Annie feels betrayed and while she tries to badly explain what Helen has been doing, no one believes her. There are numerous levels going on here and that’s interesting to watch.

[Mary Dietz]

I haven’t seen the entire movie, so these three scenes just feel creepy. Part of that was the slow nature of the first scene. What started so gently became traumatic at the end. I’m sure the trigger words were part of a major reveal. The action is very contained and focused. The closeup shots of body language tell the story more intensely than the dialogue. Apparently what Chis had tried to keep secret was exposed, particularly to himself. Owning the emotion plays a large part in the character arc.

The second scene seems to indicate that Chris is now entirely alone. He cannot relate to the only other man of his race. What are his chances of survival and sanity if he stands as a solitary figure in the growing community of white people?

The physical blockade of bodies is effective for the feeling of being trapped, particularly because no one is moving. Time seems to elongate in anticipation of something tragic. Chris repeating his plea for the keys shows his rising tension. The girl’s taunting is another reveal that changes the viewer’s hope for Chris. He’s screwed. We want to know whether he survives…and that moves the action forward.

[Deb Johnson]

What makes the Get Out “hypnosis scene” great: (Act 1 Turning Point)

What starts out as a seemingly innocent conversation; a mom concerned about Chris smoking around her daughter, turns on its head when Missy completely takes control of Chris’ conscious existence. Missy slowly lures him in and finally catches him.

We are on edge with Missy – she is authoritative and confrontational but in a subtle, almost kind way. We are emotionally moved by Christ who recounts the most terrifying time in his life – something that still haunts him, that he doesn’t want to look back at. It is this very thing that “captures” him – (or allows Missy to capture him.)

setups/payoffs.: Missy’s hypnosis… we see she has done this, but we don’t know why (intrigue). The teacup – and it’s use later in the story. The chair – and the way he scratches it. The Sinking Place.

Up till this point, Chris has been placed in a difficult situation, but now it just got 100x worse. We are lured in and want to see what happens next.

What makes the Get Out “Logan freaks out” scene great: (Midpoint)

Once again – it starts out seemingly harmless – Chris walks into an awkward social situation (just like the turning point in Act 1 – when he must have an ‘awkward conversation’ with Missy) – but it quickly escalates to madness when Logan completely freaks out and must be subdued.

If we aren’t sure that Chris is in danger (or why he would be in danger), Logan makes it abundantly clear that something is seriously wrong, and that Chris should “get out”. This is the title of the movie. How appropriate for this Mid-Point in the story to exemplify this (“Chris, Get Out”). This is a strong structural hinge in this screenplay.

Finally, at the conclusion, Logan apologizes. Chris apologizes. Logan says, ‘it was nice to meet you.’… indicating that he doesn’t know Chris, that he’s never seen him before… but we find out later that Chris does know who he is – and that’s why he took the picture.

The intrigue builds… What happened to Logan? What will Chris do now? What will Chris do with the picture?

What makes the Get Out “Rose refuses to give Chris the keys!” scene great: (Act 2 Turning Point)

Chris thinks he’s finally ‘getting out’ but Rose can’t find the keys. He’s cornered by the rest of the family. Finally Rose admits to her ruse and Missy puts him under with her teacup. He falls into the sinking place and the men carry him away. Rose admits “you were one of my favorites.”

This is another socially awkward situation for Chris – making excuses to leave late at night – and then he’s confronted with another awkward question by the dad ‘What is your purpose, Chris?’ Instead of answering, Chris turns to Rose for help – and finds that she is against him too. While we may have been suspicious of Rose, this is still a major turning point when she confirms that she’s in on it too (with the rest of her family). “You know I can’t give you the keys, right Babe?”

Interesting that the first turning point was Chris being questioned about his mom’s death. At the mid-point, he’s questioned about his experience as an African American. Finally at the end of Act 2 – he’s questioned about his purpose.

Chris’ panic slowly builds to outright terror, till finally, he realizes he’s trapped. Now we wonder – what in the world are they going to do with Chris? This propels us into Act 3 with great anticipation.