Dan Harmon's Story Circle

My current obsession with Community has inevitably led me to discover the creator Dan Harmon. His story circle maps out the basic structure to satisfying stories, especially those that grace our screens. Sure it's a very simplified approach but it's also a massive help, a loose guide to the beats your main character is going to hit, the change they will experience, and where they'll end up.

Using Dan Harmon's story circle I thought I'd analyse an episode of Community to see how it fits with the creator's outline, coz I'm super-cool like that and totally didn't cry myself to sleep last night. Beginner Pottery is the 19th episode of the first season and sees Jeff enter the ultimate blow-off class - this is a very literal manifestation of the 'unfamiliar situation', however character-wise, the real unfamiliar situation comes from within the pottery class, when Jeff is upstaged by Rich. The episode deals with Jeff's obsession with being the best at everything, and his realisation that there are some things he's just mediocre at, and that's okay.

A character is in a zone of comfort: Jeff is in the study group room discussing the ultimate blow-off class - Beginner Pottery. He's content in his familiar role as cool guy leader of the group.

But they want something: Jeff wants an easy credit.

They enter an unfamiliar situation: So he attends the Beginners Pottery class for the first time. Although this is unfamiliar territory externally, the real unfamiliar territory is internal and comes when Jeff is upstaged by Rich, who is naturally gifted at pottery and creates an impressive vase.

Adapt to it: A very jealous Jeff stays behind to try and create a piece of pottery to rival Rich's, but his efforts are in vain. The next day, Rich notices Jeff's injured his finger and informs Jeff he's a doctor but Jeff doesn't believe him, instead he thinks Rich is a con-man, a pro at pottery who signs up to novice classes to bag girls.

Get what they wanted: When Jeff notices Rich's car plates are from Santa Fe, New Mexico, he stays up all night researching the area and concludes that anyone born in the region would naturally learn pottery. Jeff thinks he's got the information he needs to expose Rich as a charlatan.

Pay a heavy price for it: When Jeff confronts Rich in pottery class, he tries to copy Rich's technique but violates the professor's 'No Ghosting' rule and is chucked out of the class.

Then return to their familiar situation: Jeff finds Pierce and opens up to him about the difficulty of failure and realising you're not good at something. Failing to produce a good pot in the class made Jeff question himself.

Having changed: Jeff returns to pottery class, apologises to Rich for his crazy behaviour and finally accepts he can't be the best at everything and makes peace with being terrible at pottery.  

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)

Creative England - Talent Development Scheme

I've been fortunate enough to get on to Creative England's talent development scheme - a series of seminars and networking events for filmmakers looking to shoot their first feature.

Last night there were 2 talks, the first on story telling from Kate Leys, was particularly interesting. Kate is a feature film script editor who works on screenplays at all stages of development from first outline to pre-production and she spoke about the dynamic between story and character, the importance of the hook, and the top 10 things that most commonly go wrong with a story. Below are the key takeaways. 

Story in General

Satisfaction at the end of a story comes from character and us caring/relating to the character on some level.

Character flaw - the story forces them to confront it and get over it.

It's interesting when characters DON'T want to change, rather, they want the world to change around them so put them in a situation they can't get out of and continually throw trouble at them.

In any story, you main character is facing something (could be small and simple) that they've needed to for a long time.

Ending is the answer to the question posed at the beginning. A tragedy might not answer the question. 

Character is more important than story. 

Most stories are about CHANGE.

A stranger comes to town and they bring trouble, and it's the thing that goes wrong that instigates change - the inciting incident. The 'stranger' doesn't have to be a person, could be love, death or a box of matches.

Film Story

Hook - tell the story in a sentence that makes sense and is interesting. Titles can be hooks - 'The Astronaut Wives Club'

Check big name/cult movie hooks on IMDB. 

Stories at their core are precise.

Strong characters - big, recognisable, they can be ambivalent but always FLAWED. 

Clearly defined characters that DO things, NOT well meaning, they need to cause trouble. 

What is your character doing wrong? Secondary characters add pressure to the central character.

Characters WANT things and they're going to do something about it. 

Got to have stakes, it has to matter - especially to the main character.

When planning try writing in bullet points and tell yourself the story out loud.

Whose story is this? What do they want and why can't they get it? What do they need? And remember, you don't have to give them what they want, as is the case in tragedies.

What does my character have at the end, that they didn't at the beginning?

10 Things that Most Commonly Go Wrong

1) Veering - sliding off track. 

2) Nothing happens - no problems, no confrontation, no action. 

3) Not knowing whose story it is.

4) No one wants anything.

5) Not enough going wrong.

6) Leaving the story off the page.

7) A plot with characters you don't connect with.

8) Whole 1st act is a set up. 

9) Not about anything, no emotional pay off.

10) Don't have anything to say and therefore nothing to connect with.

The idea of knowing whose story it is resonated with me. I'm currently working on a short about 4 hipsters who rob a bank to pay off their student loans, but they come up against this grizzled old bank teller who hates her job and isn't gonna take it any more. I've been struggling and think it's because I don't know which character owns the story - is it Horse (they wear animal masks for the heist) the ringleader, or is it Janet - the grizzled bank teller? I'm going to crack that tonight and then HOPEFULLY the prose doth flow.

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.

Empire Podcast - Three Flavours Cornetto Triology special

The Empire podcasts are a wealth of information on film and television development, as well as being delightfully entertaining thanks to the characters in the Empire team. Their knowledge, humour and ability to put almost every actor, director, and writer at ease, always gets the best out of them.

This one here's a Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy special with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Their work is testament to how important finding a writing partner can be to your work. Something magic happens whenever these guys get together, and the two share stories about how they met, how Spaced was developed and produced, and plenty of amusing on-set anecdotes from three of the best British comedies of the last decade. Interesting to hear how, before writing Shaun of the Dead, they read Syd Field's book 'Screenplay' and then would watch their favourite movies and match the story events to Syd Field's paradigm, and were surprised how many fit into the structure.

To Catch a Thief - Plot Point Breakdown

To Catch a Thief (1955) isn't one of Hitchcock's most famous flicks but it's an enjoyable romantic thriller with solid performances from its two leads and an engaging enough 'who done it' plot to hold the whole thing together. There's a signature director cameo about 10 minutes in when Cary Grant gets on a bus and sits down at the back next to Mr Hitchcock.

Inciting Incident - John Robie (Cary Grant) is a retired jewel thief living in the south of France. After a string of jewel heists from hotels on the French Riviera, Robie is suspect number one and must go on the run to clear his name by catching the real thief, a professional cat burglar as skilled as Robie was. He's aided by his old gang of ex-cons, Britani, Foussard and Foussard's daughter Danielle (Brigitte Auber), who helps him escape on a boat.

Lock In - After being apprehended by French police Robie is let out due to insufficient evidence, he now has ten days to clear his name. With the help of insurance man Hughson, who provides Robie with a list of the most expensive jewels currently on the Riviera, he can second guess the real jewel thief and catch him in the act. One of these items belongs to Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis) so Robie befriends her and her beautiful daughter, Francie (Grace Kelly) under the false identity of Mr Conrad Burns, an American industrialist.

Midpoint - After a car chase around winding mountain roads where Francie and Robie elude the policemen following them, Francie reveals she knows Mr Conrad Burns is in fact John Robie the Cat. At first Francie welcomes his checkered history, but the next morning Jessie discovers her jewels are stolen, and Francie blames Robie, accusing him of using her to steal her mother's jewellery. The police are called and he is back on the lam.

Climax - To catch the new Cat burglar Robie stakes out a rich estate at night and is soon attacked. The two struggle but Robie's assailant loses his footing and falls off the cliff to his death. It was Foussard and the police publicly announce he was the new Cat responsible for the jewel heists. However Robie states this is impossible as Foussard had a wooden leg and wouldn't have been able to climb over rooftops and walls.

Resolution - At a masquerade ball conveniently attended by everyone necessary, Robie dresses in a Moor mask concealing his identity till Jessie asks him to fetch her heart pills. He complies and his voice tips off the authorities to his identity. He and Francie dance the night away, the police watching and waiting nearby. When they return to Francie's room he removes the Moor mask revealing it's Hughson, who switched with Robie to conceal his exit. Robie is waiting on the rooftops where he catches the real cat burglar - Danielle, who was working for her father Foussard, and Britani all along.

The Monomyth - Star Wars & The Matrix

In Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' the writer establishes the journey taken by an archetypal hero in mythologies. This structure is also apparent in films and in many ways it made Campbell the original screenwriting guru. The guys over at Moon Gadget have neatly outlined how Star Wars and The Matrix both faithfully adhere to the structure of 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces'.

These films, essentially adventure stories with their heroic protagonists, are more prone to abide to the Hero's Journey due to their genre and style, however plenty of other films in less directly related genres also follow this structure, from crime films to social realist dramas. It's well worth familiarising yourself with the Hero Journey structure, as it highlights particular circumstances, challenges and changes that your protagonist can go through that will sub-consciously resonate with an audience and naturally make your story feel more complete and conclusive.

Campbell	Star Wars	The Matrix
I: Departure
The call to adventure	Princess Leia's message	"Follow the white rabbit"
Refusal of the call	Must help with the harvest	Neo won't climb out window
Supernatural aid	Obi-wan rescues Luke from sandpeople	Trinity extracts the "bug" from Neo
Crossing the first threshold	Escaping Tatooine	Neo is taken out of the Matrix for the first time
The belly of the whale	Trash compactor	Torture room
II: Initiation
The road of trials	Lightsaber practice	Sparring with Morpheus
The meeting with the goddess	Princess Leia (wears white, in earlier scripts was a "sister" of a mystic order)	The Oracle
Temptation away from the true path	Luke is tempted by the Dark Side	Cypher (the failed messiah) is tempted by the world of comfortable illusions
Atonement with the Father	Darth and Luke reconcile	Neo rescues and comes to agree (that he's The One) with his father-figure, Morpheus
Apotheosis (becoming god-like)	Luke becomes a Jedi	Neo becomes The One
The ultimate boon	Death Star destroyed	Humanity's salvation now within reach
III: Return
Refusal of the return	"Luke, come on!" Luke wants to stay to avenge Obi-Wan	Neo fights agent instead of running
The magic flight	Millennium Falcon	"Jacking in"
Rescue from without	Han saves Luke from Darth	Trinity saves Neo from agents
Crossing the return threshold	Millennium Falcon destroys pursuing TIE fighters	Neo fights Agent Smith
Master of the two worlds	Victory ceremony	Neo's declares victory over machines in final phone call
Freedom to live	Rebellion is victorious over Empire	Humans are victorious over machines
Common Mythic Elements
Two Worlds (mundane and special)	Planetside vs. The Death Star	Reality vs. The Matrix
The Mentor	Obi-Wan Kenobi	Morpheus
The Oracle	Yoda	The Oracle
The Prophecy	Luke will overthrow the Emperor	Morpheus will find (and Trinity will fall for) "The One"
Failed Hero	Biggs	In an early version of the script, Morpheus once believed that Cypher was "The One"
Wearing Enemy's Skin	Luke and Han wear stormtrooper outfits	Neo jumps into agent's skin
Shapeshifter (the Hero isn't sure if he can trust this character)	Han Solo	Cypher
Animal familiar	R2-D2, Chewbacca	N/A
Chasing a lone animal into the enchanted wood (the animal usually gets away)	Luke follows R2 into the Jundland Wastes; The Millennium Falcon follows a lone TIE fighter into range of the Death Star	Neo "follows the white rabbit" to the nightclub where he meets Trinity

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.

Charlie Brooker interviews Vince Gilligan

Breaking Bad is one of the best TV dramas ever made. A black comedy, a Shakespearean morality tale, and a show that epitomizes the current trend in TV drama for unsympathetic protagonists, every episode is an incredible example of high tension storytelling with some of the tightest writing on the screen. At the Edinburgh International TV festival Charlie Brooker interviewed the show's creator Vince Gilligan. They cover everything from the inspiration and development to Vince Gilligan's entry into the industry.

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.

Into the Woods - John Yorke

Insightful, accessible and totally comprehensive. John Yorke's 'Into the Woods' isn't just a book for aspiring screenwriters, it's for anyone interested in stories, and the psychology behind why we tell them. He doesn't only offer sage advice on how to tell (read - show) better stories, but why we do so in such a frequently recurring form.

John is primarily concerned with structure, and although he mainly references films his theories can be applied to any dramatic form, be they for the screen, stage or page. He successfully argues that the 5 act structure fits perfectly within the 3 act structure. In the traditional 3 act story, act 2 is twice as long as act 1 and act 3, and in John's example he divides this longer act 2 into 3 separate acts, therefore equating 5.

Around this central peg of structure he details how it affects each and every scene, how it influences subtext, characters and even dialogue. It's hard to pick out the most prevalent quote, seriously, at the risk of sounding a kiss ass, there were so many spot on sentences that perfectly articulated an idea, but the importance for every fiction writer to grasp how to show rather than tell, is essential and summed up succinctly.

"Screenwriting is showing not telling; structure is the presentation of images in such a way an audience are forced to work out the relationship between them."

This is where the audience's imagination comes into play, where they have to do a little work and interpret what they're seeing or reading, and this is why films, novels and plays can be so powerful - because good writers encourage their audience to invest some of themselves in the material, to make up their own minds, to form their own conclusions. Rather than shove the exact idea you want your public to take from your work, give them the ingredients, and see what recipe they come up with.

John also pulls no punches, respectfully critiquing gurus such as Robert McKee and Joseph Campbell, as well as some the best screenwriters working today, like Charlie Kauffman. The appendix is full of breakdowns of structural form, and outlines of protagonists' road of change, of some well known movies, from the Godfather to Indiana Jones.

Further Reading

Story - Robert McKee

The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell

Screenplay - Syd Field

The Writer's Journey - Christopher Vogler

On Screenwriting - Frederick Gaffney

The Hero's Journey - The Monomyth

Nothing's original, everything's been done already. As Barthes stated in Death of the Author, 'The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture.' This also holds true when that text is celluloid. All the stories you've seen are the same. Well, that's a huge generalisation but many of them do follow a familiar path.

Continuing on from Joseph Campbell's work, Christopher Vogler talks about the Hero's Journey - a structure and range of characters that protagonists are likely to meet in films and other stories that dates back to ancient Greek mythology and Germanic folklore. Because everything's a remix, innit.