Week 3 Day 4 – Visual Reveals — BREAKING BAD

[Vincent Ovalle]

Week 3 Day 4 – Visual Reveals — BREAKING BAD

The scene plays out on a isolated road.The conflict is all internal and demands some dialogue.The entertainment value is the intrigue of what happened and what is going happen next?

What makes this scene great it’s a study in non-verbal visuals hooks.

The nine visuals revealed non verbally:

1-Where are we?

2-Why is a pair of pants ascending from the sky?

3-Who’s driving the out of control camper?

4-Why is he wearing a gas mask?

5-Why is he so nervous and driving erratic?

6-The anguished character just crashed What happens now?

7-After putting on his shirt what is he going to do?

8-Is the woman lying unconscious amid the tossed items inside the camper dead?

9-Why did he grab a weapon what is he getting ready for?

The confession.

To clear up all the guessing as you watch the scene we need more information.

Some of the reveals answered some questions and created new ones with the experience of watching the scene.As you wached the scene you are putting two and two together to find out the pair of pants were his,the gas mask has to do with their emotional condition that explains why he’s driving erratic and crashed.He’s running from something law enforcement.He could be a criminal.

[Anis Taylor]

This scene is great because it reveals the information without any dialogue. Right out of page of the good ole silent film days, when acting and environment had to tell a story.

The nine visual reveal that lead us to more question are:

1. Pants flying from the sky
2. Van speeding down out of control in the middle of an extremely hot desert
3. Man driving van in a face mask in his underwear
4. Someone in the passenger seat dead
5. Glasses breaking and liquid spilling in the back of the van
6. More people in the back dead
7. Car crashes and the driver lives
8. Why does he need a gun
9. The camera

There is a lot that I learned to create in my script by telling the story without saying words and instead drop clues that will make sense as the story moves forward.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Anis Taylor.

[Susan Willard]

Week 3 Day 4 – Visual Reveals – Breaking Bad

The first minutes of BREAKING BAD

Basic Scene Components

· Scene Arc:

The scene arc is advanced by incredibly detailed, quick-moving, short visuals of dramatic action.

· Situation:

A man in his underwear, and gas mask, is driving erratically, gets stuck in a ditch, jumps out to collect his nerve, his thoughts and don a shirt. While holding his breath he jumps back into the RV, gathers a gun, his wallet, and a camera.

· Conflict:

The man, in the underwear and gas mask, versus the situation that has occurred. More information is needed to know the nature of the conflict.

· Entertainment Value:

The audience’s entertainment comes from trying to make sense of each new detailed picture given to build the story. At the end of the scene, the audience has so many unanswered questions, because the storyline is not complete yet.

· Moving the Story Forward

As the audience watches each active video clip, the story moves closer to becoming a coherent storyline. The audience will stick with the story to see how it all moves on from this scene.

· Setups: Each revealed visual action leads to the next.

· Payoffs: The payoff will come after this scene when the story line comes together.

What makes this scene great?

All the short, quick detailed clips, back-to-back, without explanation, make this scene a great imagination playground for the

How nine pieces of new info are revealed.

1. Rocks: Early morning and Mid-Morning visuals.

2. Pants: Fly through the air only to get run over by a fast-moving RV.

3. RV: Driven erratically fast down a desert-like road, with an unconscious person wearing a gas mask in the passenger seat.

4. Man Driving: Wearing underwear and a gas mask.

5. Diverted Attention: By sounds of glass breaking and heavy objects (two bodies) sliding.

6. Trouble Driving: As gas masks fogs eye shield, fumes cause coughing, efforts to avert unwanted symptoms fail.

7. Swerving RV: Runs into ditch.

8. Frustrated Man: Jumps outside RV to collect himself, his nerves, and put on a shirt, no pants. The pants were lost in #2.

9. Angry Man: Holds breath while running into toxic RV to retrieve a gun, his wallet and camera.

How each reveal is demanded.

The reveals flow together starting by setting the location and activities of the RV, leading to the activities of the main character. The next reveal is demanded by the previous reveal, like dominoes.

How some reveals answer questions and create questions at the same
time.

o This is true to #1 to #9 above.

o We see the first visual and ask questions that lead to the next visual.

o Note: The visual reveals do not answer all the questions, but many are.

o My list of questions is too long to list.

o But the audience is continually asking questions and answering questions because each visual leaves out valuable information that will hopefully follow as the story unfolds.

[Rice Rice]

The scene is great because it depicts the desperation of the character as he careens down a deserted road, stops and jumps out of the vehicle in a high state of anxiety and takes action that shows the viewer that he’s been driving recklessly with dead people in the back of the vehicle.

The 9 pieces of new info are revealed during the erratic behavior of the character as he rips off his gas mask and nearly throws up, then searches for his clothing and recorder.

Some reveals answer questions and create questions at the same time, for example, when the character emerges and gasps for air, it is revealed why he was wearing a gas mask ( to protect him from gas in the vehicle), but it raises the question of why was there gas in the vehicle in the first place?

The reveals are all visual and are made believable and expected since no other live characters are in the scene and the situation does not need dialogue for the viewer to understand what is happening.

[Randy Hines]

What makes this scene great? great way to start off a series/scene with lots of questions demanding answers

How 9 pieces of new info are revealed.

– the pants

– the RV

– the driver who we come to know at the end of the scene

– the passenger in a gas mask

– the unconscious person in the gas mask rolling in the back

– the gun

– the sirens approaching

– is the driver being chased?

– is this a drug thing?

Each reveal makes u want to know the answer, doing what good pilots do and compelling you to come back next week. The reveal at the end of Walter and who he is answers the immediate question of who he is. His statement of this not being a confession only posits more questions needing to be answered.

[Courtney Hill]

The arc of the scene is Walter trying to escape but not successful, and at the end, he prepares for the worse by getting the gun and recording his information. You see him go from scared to accepting of his situation and ready to deal with it.

So many things make the scene great- the action- walter’s clothes and panic of running away from something, the men passed out or dead, and the acting.

We learn his name, and where he lives but wonder what got him in that situation. I wonder if the men are just passed out or dead?

[Anna Burroughs-Merrill]

Watch 1st time for basic scene components:

· Scene arc: From empty desert to RV racing through the desert with a guy wearing a gas mask which crashes, to the driver making a videotaped confession as police sirens wail in the background.

· Situation: This is the opening scene, we know nothing yet….

· Conflict: There are dead or passed out people in the RV, and the police are chasing him.

· Entertainment value: We don’t know what this is about yet, but we are intrigued.

· Moving the story forward: We believe this has something to do with drugs?

· Setup/payoffs: All setups. 1) RV in the desert used as a drug lab; 2) middle-age nerdy looking white guy in his underwear wearing a gas mask; 3) two dead bodies in the back; 4) a possible third dead body in the passenger’s seat, wearing a gas mask; 5) the dead bodies had guns; 6) the police are chasing them; 7) they crashed – there is no escape; 8) bad acts-the driver videotapes a confession.

Watch 2nd for:

· What makes this scene great? The surreal juxtaposition of the pants flying through the air before getting run over vs. the fact the clothes-hangered button down shirt hanging off the mirror survives the crash. We don’t know what is going on yet, but we are intrigued.

· How 9 pieces of new info are revealed.

1. They are out in the middle of the desert;

2. The driver’s clothing is hung outside the RV / he is driving in his underwear in a gas mask

3. There are glass beakers breaking, and two dead bodies in the back of the RV;

4. There is an unconscious person in the passenger’s seat, also wearing a gas mask – a co-conspirator?

5. The driver can barely see through his fogged-up gas mask (fumes?);

6. There are lots of spilled liquids which pour out of the RV when it crashes;

7. After the RV crashes, the driver meticulously puts his still-pressed button-down shirt and glasses back on (but not his pants, which blew away). Shows character…

8. The two dead bodies were armed when they died;

9. He gets his wallet and video camera from the glove box, runs outside, and videotapes his confession. His name is Walter White, and he is from Alburquerque, New Mexico.

· How each reveal is demanded: As this is the first scene in a brand new television series, we know absolutely nothing about this show or what it is about. Each reveal forces us to ask questions and become intrigued, but nothing is revealed yet except the identity of the driver.

· How some reveals answer questions and create questions at the same time. Most of these reveals cause us to ask questions. We are learning a little bit about the situation and the characters with each reveal, but this scene is pure intriguing setup for things to come.

[jay miracle]

A staggering scene – made even more compelling by the lack of any dialogue.

This hearkens back to the visual language of the silent era

[Zev Ledman]

Week 3 Day 4 – Visual Reveals — BREAKING BAD

1. Please watch this scene and provide your insights into what makes this scene great from a writing perspective.

2. Read the other writers comments and make notes of how you will use reveals in your script.

3. Rethink or create a Visual Reveal scene for your script using your new insights and rewrite the scene. Then post the answer to the question, “What I learned rewriting my scene…?” and post it in the forums.

Basic scene components — Scene arc, situation, conflict, entertainment value, moving the story forward, and setup/payoffs.

What makes this scene great? Right from the start, we see a clean, pressed, empty pair of pants flying through the air. What does that mean This is followed by an RV racing through the desert being driven by a guy wearing a gas mask in his underwear. Action is the only thing driving the story.

How 9 pieces of new info are revealed.

1. Pants flying in the air.

2. RV racing through the desert.

3. Driver wears a gas mask as does the passed-out passenger next to him.

4. Glass containers falling off the counter in the RV and we see 2 dead men on the floor of the RV.

5. Gas mask fogs up causing the driver to crash.

6. After exiting the RV, a large amount of fluid drains from the RV and the Driver removes his mask.

7. Driver hears police sirens and composes himself and puts on his shirt but can’t find his pants.

8. Driver holds breath before going back to retrieve his wallet, a moving camera, and a gun from the dead passenger on the floor.

9. Walt starts recording a confession.

<ul type=”disc”>