TO ACT 2B OR NOT TO ACT 2B?
Just as Hannibal from “The A-Team” loves it when a plan comes together,
I love it when two or more lines of action converge at the end of Act
Two to form one strong, relentless line of action that charges toward a
surprising yet inevitable climax.
Yeah, just like Hannibal from “The A-Team.”
In short, it’s a great idea to bring together your “A” and “B” story
lines for Act Three. It’s not a prerequisite, but it’s always
nice for a Reader to see because it shows FOCUS, ACTIVE
STRUCTURE, and an increased URGENCY as we speed toward the climax.
These two main lines usually stem from the Protagonist’s External
(Action) Goal and Internal (Character/Emotional) Goal and converge at
the big TURN at the end of Act 2B which ideally represents our
Protagonist hitting bottom and making an irreversible Decision that
will thrust them and us into the final Act of the story.
Some favorite examples from different genres of film...
***MILLION DOLLAR BABY...
Clint’s External Goal is to train a champion fighter and his Internal
Goal is to care for Maggie as his surrogate daughter.
When she’s paralyzed in her championship bout, both of these
throughlines CRASH together (bad Paul Haggis joke, check).
Clint must abandon the ring and focus on caring for his surrogate
daughter, the fallen champion, now in a hospital bed. He
eventually makes the decision to euthanize her. Thankfully, the
filmmakers cut the line “Enough already!” before Clint does so.
I kid. But only because I care.
***DIE HARD...
It pains me to write about this classic film as my action pitch “Die
Hard in a bouncy house” was just rejected from every studio in
town. But here goes...
John McClane’s External Goal is to defeat the terrorists and his
Internal goal is to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly.
At the end of Act Two Turn, Holly is captured by the head Terrorist,
Hans Gruber, and used as a pawn to get John McClane to surrender.
How will he rescue her? And more importantly, where’s that
Christmas packing tape?
***BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
I don’t know what Charlie Kaufman’s original spec script looked like,
but this quirky film is edited exactly to the pacing of modern Story
Map structure, which means the end of Act 2B Turn is coming in right at
minute 87.
External Goal: Craig Schwartz wants to become a successful puppeteer.
Internal Goal: Craig wants to be with Maxine (Catherine Keener).
At the end of Act Two, Craig permanently takes over Malkovich’s mind
and body (the ultimate act of puppeteering) and wins Maxine. Can
they maintain control or will his spurned wife Lotte stop them?
In closing...
I pity the foo who doesn’t recognize the power of plotline convergence!
-Daniel Calvisi
www.actfourscreenplays.com
copyright (c) Daniel Calvisi 2006-2007