STORY MAPS: Sling Blade

(1996; Screenplay by Billy Bob Thornton; Directed by Billy Bob Thornton)

Sling Blade is a great example of what I call “Macro Structure” and also the Central Dramatic Question, one of our Basic Story Map elements.

In most simple terms, the Macro Structure of Sling Blade introduces us to a man who has killed before, makes us like him and believe he’s incapable of killing again, fakes us out by having him fail to kill the most obvious target, then surprises us with a climax in which he kills the most deserving suspect.  In greater detail...

        Basic MACRO STRUCTURE:

        Introduce a Man who has killed, ask Will he kill again?

        Make us like the Man: show he's kind hearted to a little Boy and the boy’s single Mother.

        Introduce a Villain who threatens the Boy and the Mother, but our Man does nothing.

        Intro Man’s Father who committed a horrible crime for which he deserves to die.

        Man confronts Father but does NOT kill him.

        Man kills Villain.

So we see that these major story beats are throwing us off track, using setups and payoffs (Cause & Effect), and setting up that crucial “surprising yet inevitable ending.”

The Central Dramatic Question of “Will Karl kill again?” is asked up front in the second scene of the film, giving this slow drama a story spine, a momentum and a goal.  This is followed by the more specific Story Engine of Karl’s protection of the Boy and his Mother from the Mother’s abusive boyfriend Doyle.  But a confrontation at the Midpoint between Karl and Doyle leads us to believe that Karl will not kill Doyle.  Then the story takes a turn by introducing Karl’s father, leading us to believe he’s the one to kill. 

Like Taxi Driver, the story is moving us toward the violent end, but not the one that we were expecting.  In this way it’s using the technique of Tension and Relief.  When Karl confronts his father (Robert Duvall) and does not act, we feel relief, and we relax.  But this is just setting us up for the final act, which completes Karl’s arc and answers our Central Dramatic Question. 

-Daniel Calvisi
www.actfourscreenplays.com
copyright © Daniel Calvisi 2005-2006

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