The 5 Plot Points

Most stories, be it on the screen, stage or page, have plots that can be broken down to five major turning points. These turning points alter the protagonists' direction, either by changing his goal or introducing new obstacles that set him further away from achieving it.

The Inciting Incident - This is the event that kicks everything off. It will typically turn the main protagonist's ordinary world upside down and open a door to a new realm of the unknown. It occurs about half way through the first act and sets up the conflict to come.

In Back to the Future, it's the moment when Marty witnesses Doc invent time travel.

In The Godfather it's when, while at his sister's wedding, Michael Corleone tells his girlfriend that Luca does the dirty work for his father saying, "That's my family Katie, it's not me." Of course, the story is Michael's descent into that world.

The Lock In - Occurring at the end of Act 1 and propelling the story into Act 2 the lock-in outlines the main goal for the protagonist. The door of the inciting incident that opened and invited the protagonist into a new realm - that closes, locking the main character in the new realm, and if it he wants to return home, he'll have to achieve his aim.

In Back to the Future it's when Marty travels back in time to prevent Doc's murder at the hands of the Libyan terrorists from whom Doc stole plutonium for the DeLorean. This leads him to stealing the affection of his teenage mother Lorraine, when it was supposed to fall on his teenage father George.

In The Godfather it's when Michael's father - Don Vito Corleone - is gunned down in the street. When Michael hears of this he rushes to his father's bedside and into the family life he'd tried to distance himself from.

Midpoint - Also known as the first culmination, the midpoint occurs in the middle of Act 2 and marks either the first major success, or the first major failure of the protagonist so they're either closer to or further away from their goal. 

In Back to the Future it's when Marty realises his brother is gradually fading from a photograph he has, because Marty's disrupted the space/time continuum by meeting his mother and father in the past.

In The Godfather it's when Michael murders The Turk and dirty cop McCluskey and flees to Italy where the family will protect him.

All Is Lost - This is the point that propels us into the third and final act, when the obstacles against our protagonist seem insurmountable, they're staring defeat in the face, victory couldn't be further away and you're wondering "How the hell are they gonna get out of this?"

In Back to the Future it's when Biff has his goons lock Marty in the trunk of his car allowing Biff to make unwanted advances on Lorraine, and with Marty's dad free to play the hero, however it's already been well established George doesn't haven't have the balls to stand up to Biff.

In The Godfather it's when Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Moe Greene's stake in the Corleone's casinos and Greene derides the family as a fading power. To add injury to insult, Michael sees his brother Fredo falling under Greene's influence.

Climax and Resolution - In the most exciting way possible the climax resolves the ultimate problem posed by the inciting incident, as well as wrapping up any loose story threads set up along the way. Our protagonist either leaves the new realm to return home a changed character, or stays and becomes King. So the inciting incident provokes the question - what will happen? and the climax declares - this!

In Back to the Future a storm brews and a fallen branch disconnects the cable Doc has run from the clock tower to the street in order to harness a lightening strike which Marty needs to pass under in the DeLorean in order to get back to the future. But Marty can't start the car and Doc struggles on the clock tower's ledge trying to reconnect the cable. Marty manages to get the DeLorean up to 88mph as the lightning strikes the clock tower and electricity flows through the cable. Doc's murder is prevented thanks to Marty's letter telling him to wear a bullet proof vest. Marty wakes up the next morning and finds his family changed - George is a successful author full of self-confidence, Lorraine is happily in love, and Biff, rather than being a bullying superior, is now subordinate to George and Marty.

In The Godfather Michael orders the assassination of the New York dons, Moe Greene and Tessio. Michael questions Carlo on his involvement in Sonny's murder and after admitting he was contacted, Peter Clemenza kills him with a wire garrote. Kay then confronts Michael, who denies killing Carlo, an answer she accepts. As Kay watches Michael warily as he receives his capos, who address him as the new Don Corleone. All this occurs at the Christening of Connie's son, for whom Michael is the godfather.

Anchorman - Plot Point Breakdown

Anchorman's (2004) one of the most quotable comedies ever, ridiculous and silly but so fun with a cast that crackle and fizz off one another effortlessly. Anchorman 2 (2013) tried to recreate the magic, and for the first 10 minutes it did, but the remaining 130 minutes failed hard. The structure aped the original to the beat and they tried to hit the same comedy high-notes but it felt flat and contrived. However, the original is something special and despite the actors riffing off-script to their heart's content, it still adheres to a pretty traditional story structure.

Inciting Incident - Ron Burgundy is San Diego's number one anchorman but when Veronica Corningstone joins the Channel 4 news team Ron's title is under threat, his position in the top perch is rocked and he's forced to reassess the misogynistic culture he's become so comfortable with. (14 minutes)

Lock In - After taking Veronica out for a night on the town, during which both share their ambition to be a network news anchor, the two hop on the good foot, do the bad thing, falling madly in love with each other. (33 minutes)

Midpoint - When Ron misses his slot reporting the news because he's stuck in a glass cage of emotion after the man punted Baxter, Veronica fills in as head anchor and reports Ron's news. This leads to her getting a promotion as co-anchor, but Ron feels betrayed and their romantic relationship falls apart. (49 minutes)

Climax - Veronica sabotages the teleprompter, from which Ron will read anything, making Ron sign off with, "Go fuck yourself, San Diego." This results in Ron being fired from the Channel 4 news team and becoming a dishevelled, wallowing milk-drunk. (64 minutes)

Resolution - When Veronica disappears in the midst of the biggest story of the year, Ron gets his chance at redemption - to report the news again. But on arriving at the zoo he sees Veronica trapped in the bear pit and chooses to save the life of the woman he loves, over reporting the news. (78 minutes)

Role Models - Plot Point Breakdown

I didn't think much of Role Models (2008) when I first saw it, but after revisiting the film a couple of weeks ago, it's got some good laughs, decent if obvious character development, and Elizabeth Banks. Paul Rudd's endlessly watchable and he's offset nicely by Sean William Scott who, when his crude humour and brash delivery are utilised well, as they are here, is a very effective comedic actor.

Inciting Incident - Danny (Paul Rudd's) and Wheeler (Sean William Scott) are two energy drink salesmen who go from school to school promoting Minotaur and encouraging kids to stay off drugs. Danny hates the job and soon his dissatisfaction and constant pessimism gets him dumped by his hot lawyer girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks).

Lock In - When his relationship collapses Danny gets depressed and self-destructive, culminating in him crashing the Minotaur company car into a statue in front of a school. To avoid going to jail Danny and Wheeler have to do 150 hours of community service supporting troublesome or disenfranchised kids on the big-brother style Sturdy Wings program. Danny's paired with Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a reclusive nerd who loves a medieval LARP game called LAIRE, and Wheeler's paired with Ronnie (Bobb'e J Thompson), a foul mouthed streetwise black kid.

Midpoint - Augie kills the arrogant King of LAIRE, Argotron (Ken Jeong) but the King denies it. Danny supports Augie and ends up getting into a fight with the King which results in both him and Augie being disqualified from the game forever. Meanwhile Wheeler takes Ronnie to a party but leaves him unsupervised and Ronnie has to walk home on his own.

Climax - Both Danny and Wheeler are kicked off the Sturdy Wings program meaning they can't complete their community service and therefore face serious jail time and shower rape. As a result the two have an argument, break friends and go their separate ways.

Resolution - Danny convinces King Argotron to allow him and Augie to fight in the much-anticipated Battle Royale. Augie kills the King but then Augie's secret crush Esplin kills Augie, becoming Queen. Danny and Wheeler miss their court hearing because they were busy playing LAIRE but don't go to jail because the Sturdy Wings owner Gayle (Jane Lynch) knows the judge and is impressed when she sees Danny and Wheeler really do care for the kids. Paul reunites with girlfriend Beth after serenading her with the KISS song 'Beth'.

Deep Blue Sea - Plot Point Breakdown

The second best shark movie out there after Jaws 2, Deep Blue Sea (1999) also has one of the greatest surprise deaths in any blockbuster movie. Yeah the plot's riddled with holes but it's got LL Cool J as a Jesus-loving chef, Samuel L Jackson as a tight-ass suit and errr...Thomas Jane? To be fair it's full of great moments, like when LL Cool J's chef - Sherman "Preacher" Duley - gets locked and almost cooked in his own oven by a super smart Mako shark. That's B-movie poeticism. Of course, he escapes the oven and uses a lighter to blow the shark to smithereens, which would definitely happen. It's also got Michael Rapaport, nuff said.

Inciting Incident - Dr Susan McAlester genetically engineers three Mako sharks in order to harvest their brain tissue for the cure to Alzheimers. After one of the sharks escapes and attacks a boat full of hot teens, Dr Susan McAlester must persuade her financial backers that her research is worth funding, so they send corporate executive Russell Franklin (Samuel L Jackson) to investigate the Aquatica facility. As he arrives at Aquatica a foreboding storm closes in.

Lock In - While pulling brain tissue from the largest shark to demonstrate their progress to Russell, the shark tears Dr Jim Whitlock's arm off. With the storm at it's peak the rescue helicopter carrying Jim on a stretcher, crashes into Aquatica's watch tower and the biggest super smart Mako shark uses Jim on a stretcher as a battering ram to smash the huge underwater lab's window. The facility starts to flood, the other sharks are freed, and the group of survivors must make their way to the surface without getting eaten.

Midpoint - Not-so-stiff suit Russell is in the underwater lab giving a rousing speech on how the group need to stick together to overcome adversity when one of the sharks rises out of the water and eats him whole. Meanwhile LL Cool J's battling a shark in his kitchen and manages to blow it up by throwing a lighter into the oven which was turned on and nearly cooked him alive.

Climax - After the ever-expendable Janice (Jacqueline McKenzie) dies, poor old Tom Scoggins (Michael Rapaport) is traumatized what with all his colleagues dying around him, but Carter (Thomas Jane) persuades him to return to the flooded lab because the controls to open a door to the surface are there. Tom Scoggins is eaten by a shark, obviously. Dr Susan retrieves her research from her locker but is almost eaten by one of the sharks when she drops her research in the water. Fortunately she gets down to her undies and electrocutes the shark with a live power cable, unfortunately destroying her research in the process.

Resolution - Carter, Dr Susan and LL Cool J make it the surface through a decompression chamber. Carter realises that the grand daddy shark is trying to escape and that they purposefully flooded the facility so they could jump over the fence Free Willy style. Dr Susan, in an effort to stop the shark escaping into open water, cuts herself and dives in so she can get eaten, which she does, deservedly. LL Cool J pierces Carter to the final Mako shark with a harpoon as it breaks through the fence. Not knowing whether Carter's still attached to the shark LL Cool J triggers the harpoon explosive and blows it up in a pulpy shower of blood and meat. Turns out Carter did detach himself from the shark and swims back to the facility wreckage in time to see the other crew members returning from leave, not knowing that they're all out of the job.

Halloween - Plot Point Breakdown

Halloween (1978) is a masterful horror film and still one of the best slasher movies ever made. From the chilling musical score to setting up Jamie Lee Curtis as the ultimate scream queen and developing the archetype of the terrorised blonde teen, it's impact can still be felt today. 

It was also one of the original horror flicks to start the trend of punishing the young who have fun. In the opening scene Micheal kills his sister directly after she's had sex with her boyfriend. Similarly, when he kills Laurie's friend Lydia and her boyfriend Bob, it's right after they've done the no pants dance. Laurie is the sole survivor, and yeah, she's a virgin. So if you wanna survive a horror movie, stay pure!

Inciting Incident - 15 years after murdering his sister on Halloween Michael Myers escapes his asylum in Smith's Grove and returns home to small town Haddonfield, Illinois, by stealing the car of his primary psychiatrist Dr Samuel Loomis.

Lock In - Michael starts stalking high-school girl Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) appearing outside her class window at school, and driving past her in the street. But when Laurie tries to warn her friends Annie and Lynda, they dismiss her concerns.

Midpoint - Michael makes his first kill. Laurie and Annie are babysitting their neighbours' kids for Halloween, Tommy Doyle and Lindsey Wallace respectively, whose houses are across the street from each other. After Annie drops off Lindsey with Laurie, she gets into her car to pick up her boyfriend, but Michael slits her throat from the back seat. Although little Tommy Doyle sees him carrying Annie's dead body back into the Wallace's house, when he tries to warn Laurie about the 'boogieman' she ignores him.

Climax - After Laurie's friend Lynda has had sex with her boyfriend, Bob, Michael murders bob and then strangles Lynda with the telephone cord, but not before Lynda can make a distressed call to Laurie. An unnerved Laurie heads over to the Wallace's house to find the bodies of Annie, Lynda and Bob. Michael slashes at Laurie but she falls down the stairs and manages to escape back to the Doyle's house. Michael pursues our heroine into the house where she manages to stab him in the neck with a knitting needle. 

Resolution - While hiding in a closet Laurie stabs Michael in the eye with an uncoiled coat hanger, making him drop his knife, which she picks up and plunges into his stomach. Thinking he's dead Laurie slumps down against the wall, but we see Michael rise to life in the background. Dr Sam Loomis arrives just in time to shoot Michael and send him falling out the bedroom window. But when Dr Loomis checks outside, Michael's body is no where to be seen.

The Other Guys - Plot Point Breakdown

This is the first of a new series of posts breaking down the act structure of popular films, both old and new. All stories, especially but not only films, can be broken down to 5 key plot points; the inciting incident, the lock in, the midpoint, the climax and the resolution.

The Other Guys (2010) is a fantastic take on the buddy cop film. Full of genre jokes, classic Will Ferrell moments and absurdest humour (Michael Keaton's police captain repeatedly quotes TLC songs) the movie is consistently funny, and sharp for an action comedy these days.

Inciting Incident - Cocky detectives Chris Danson and P.K. Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson) are the city's top cops, they're The Guys. But while pursuing a gang of jewelry robbers they jump to their deaths. This leaves a hole in the precinct, ready to be filled by mild-mannered forensic accountant Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and hot headed Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlburg) - they're The Other Guys.

Lock In - While investigating a scaffolding violation Allen and Terry uncover a plot by billionaire David Ershon (Steve Coogan) to cover up the losses of his client Lendl Global. They arrest David Ershon but when escorting him back to the station he's kidnapped by a team of mercenaries headed by Roger Wesley (Ray Stevenson) - revealing to Allen and Terry that they're onto something big.

Midpoint - Frustrated with their lack of progress and unwilling to ruffle the feathers of those above him, Captain Gene Mauch (Micheal Keaton) takes Terry and Allen off the case. Terry is assigned to traffic duty and Allen is made a beat cop patrolling the streets. This is when our heroes are at their lowest and furthest from solving the case. 

Climax - After uncovering crucial evidence Allen convinces Terry to return to the case with him, off the books. They attend an investment meeting hosted by Ershon and realise the $32 Billion Ershon needs to cover Lendl Global's losses is coming out of the NYPD's pension fund. They escape with Ershon and the next morning take him to the bank to stop the transfer, evading gangs of Nigerian and Chechen investors as well as Wesley's mercenaries. 

Resolution - Allen and Terry reach the bank with Ershon and successfully halt the transfer but Wesley and his mercenaries arrive, shooting Allen, Terry and Ershon. Captain Mauch then arrives with backup, rescuing our two heroes and arresting Ershon for embezzlement, as well as Wesley for multiple murders. Ershon's arrest leads to a stock market crash and the subsequent federal bailout of Lendl Global.