Week 2 Day 1: Character Intros That Sell Actors — LOST intro of Jack.

[Mary]

Scene Mastery, Week 2 Day 1 – Character Intros that Sell Actors
Don’t tell backstory. Intro thru
Challenging situation
Unique Action
Interesting Dialogue
Deliver Character

Watch LOST Jack Intro first time for:
Basic Scene Components, which are:
Scene Arc – Suit man on beach, people screaming, a crashed plane, a mess! He runs TOWARDS the disaster. People scream for help. He goes to help man trapped under plane. Gets two other men to come pull bloody man out. Applies tourniquet with his tie. Tells two helpers to get him out of there. Goes to screaming pregnant lady. Calms her. Gets some guy to time her contractions. Tells him to call him if they come sooner than 2 minutes. “Hey, what’s your name?” “Jack.”
Situation – crashed plane, chaos of confused survivors.
Conflict – Man against disaster. Jack is the only one to help.
Moving story along – Bloody guy gets saved. Another gets sucked into plane. Pregnant woman in labor. Jack running around like a triage hero. Big guy pulled in to help, but he’s out of his depth. Crazy action, questions of what happened, questions of if these people will be okay.
Ent. Value – Never saw a guy sucked into a plane engine before. Shock. Makes you wonder what you would do in such a situation.
Setups/payoffs. “Get away from the plane.” Guy gets SUCKED in. Jack gets two guys to help pull man out, and they do. He sics the big man on timing the woman – clearly out of big man’s comfort zone. “Call me if contractions less than 3 minutes.” This is a brilliant invitation, literally forcing the big man to ask “What’s your name?” Brilliant.
2nd time:
What makes it great? In a field of chaos, we focus on suit man, the only one to keep his wits about him to help others.
How is he introduced? As the triage rock in a field of chaos.
Who is he? Someone who can take charge of a bad situation.
What makes him special? He runs TO the danger. He organizes others. He knows basic first aid and how to apply a tourniquet. If anyone can save this bunch, he’s the one.
How is his actions different than others? The others want to help, they just don’t know how. Or they are too shocked to know how. He tells/shows them how.
Interesting Dialogue? “Call me if her contractions come in less than 3 minutes.” “Yeah. Uh, what’s your name?” “Jack.” BAM! That’s how you intro a character. Big man NEEDS to know his name. Makes us eager to know his name, too.

[Karen Haas]

Scene mastery Character Intro
Jack’s intro in LOST

1. Challenging situation: plane wreck survivors in immediate danger

2. Unique action. helping save trapped man and women delivering baby

3. Interesting dialogue. Says his name last, so we know who he is… great way to ID him btw.

4. Deliver character. What he does is actually more important than what he says, or anything else in this dire situation

Scene arc: from major catastrophe to some beginnings of control over situation
situation: plane wreck survivors struggle to recover
conflict: plane is still a danger to folks as shown by man getting sucked into engine,
moving the story forward: from danger and confusion to attempts to manage and control chaos
entertainment value: sad to say, but humans can’t look away from a wreck,
setups/payoffs: man in suit and tie uses his tie to save a life, warning to stay away from engine comes too late, we learn a name from a man who needs it to call him later,
What makes this scene great? We care for the man who is helping others, despite his own confusion and trauma.
How is this lead character introduced, and who they are introduced to us as? He is confused but still able and willing to help others, and does so without hesitation, becoming a leader by getting others to assist him.
What makes him special or unique? He steps up when necessary, not many people do.
Interesting dialogue. Dialogue seems spare because trauma is great. Realistic.
How are their actions different than everyone else? Jack is a natural leader and probably a good doctor and it shows.