"What are the scenarios in which my core idea would best manifest itself?"
IT’S ALL COMING BACK TO YOU, ISN’T IT? THE CORE IDEA. THE IDEA THAT COMPELS YOU. THE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION. ALL THIS TIME LATER, WE’RE LOOKING AT THE MOST DETAILED STRUCTURAL MODEL TO DATE AND IT BRINGS US RIGHT BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK. IT BRINGS US TO WHY WE WANTED TO TELL THE STORY IN THE FIRST PLACE!
LET'S ALSO GO BACK TO OUR AWESOME SIX FEET UNDER EXAMPLE, AS IT REALLY SEEMS TO HAMMER HOME THE COOL, PRACTICAL USE OF THE SNOWFLAKE METHOD.
WE ESTABLISHED THAT ALAN BALL ASKED HIMSELF: IN WHAT SCENARIOS WOULD CONFRONTING MORTALITY BEST MANIFEST ITSELF? AND HE FOUND ANSWERS:
WORKING IN A FUNERAL HOME, FATHER DYING, CONSTANTLY TAKING IN DEAD BODIES, DEALING WITH GRIEVING LOVED ONES, EVEN HAVING IMAGINARY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD. OF COURSE, HULK HAS NO IDEA IF BALL IS A SNOWFLAKE-METHOD GUY OR WHAT, BUT WHEN HULK LOOKS AT HIS WORK IT SURE SEEMS LIKE IT. ALL OF HIS CENTRAL THEMES ARE DIRECTLY EXTRAPOLATED INTO PLOTTING, CHARACTER, AND SINGULAR DETAILS.
EVEN IF YOU DON’T USE THE METHODOLOGY, THE IDEA AT THE CENTER OF THE SNOWFLAKE METHOD IS GOLD, FOLKS!
32. INDIVIDUALITY AND HULK’S “MULTI-ACT FLOW STRUCTURE”
OKAY… TIME TO GET SERIOUS.
AT THIS JUNCTURE, YOU MAY HAVE REALIZED THAT HULK HAS BROUGHT UP A WHOLE BUNCH OF DIFFERENT POSSIBLE STRUCTURAL TAKES. THE WHOLE POINT OF DOING SO IS TO HAVE AS MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OF ATTACKING DIFFERENT KINDS OF STORY PROBLEMS, WHICH IS PERFECT BECAUSE WRITING IS LARGELY ABOUT PROBLEM SOLVING.
FIRST WE UNLEARNED 3 ACT STRUCTURE AND THE HERO’S JOURNEY, BECAUSE THEY TEND TO LEAD TO MORE BAD HABITS THAN GOOD WRITING. THEN WE BUILT OUR OWN DEFINITION OF WHAT CONSTITUTES AN ACT. THEN WE TURNED TO THE SEQUENTIAL APPROACH TO HELP US UNDERSTAND LOGICAL A, B, C STORYTELLING. THEN WE LEARNED HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WAY TO CONNECT THOSE A’S B’S AND C’S BY TURNING TO TREY PARKER AND MATT STONE FOR THE “THEREFORES AND BUTS” THEY USE IN TRANSITIONAL PLOTTING. WE THEN TURNED TO DAN HARMON TO
UNDERSTAND HOW PLOTTING SHOULD CENTER AROUND CHARACTER MOTIVE AND CATHARSIS. WE THEN TURNED TO VLADIMIR PROPP TO BEST UNDERSTAND THE
DIFFERENT KINDS OF STORY MECHANISMS THAT BEST EXPRESS THOSE CONFLICTS. WE THEN TURNED TO THE SEQUENTIAL APPROACH TO FULLY FLESH OUT OUR DETAILS, WHILE STILL KEEPING THEM GROUNDED IN THE CONCEIT OF STORY, THE ORIGINAL NUGGET OF INSPIRATION.
IT MAKES SENSE, BUT THEY ALL SEEM SO DIFFERENT DON’T THEY? HOW WOULD YOU EVER CONDENSE ALL THAT?
ONCE YOU HIT A CERTAIN LEVEL OF EXPERTISE, WHEN YOU’VE REALLY WORKED OUT A LOT OF THIS STUFF AND USED THE METHODOLOGY MANY TIMES OVER (AND YOU REALLY HAVE TO HAVE DONE THIS: NO CHEATING), THEN YOU NEED TO EVOLVE INTO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. AFTER ALL, THE PROCESS OF ACTUALLY WRITING IS RATHER DIFFERENT. OFTEN TIMES, YOU JUST WRITE. IT JUST SPRINGS FORTH FROM YOUR BRAIN AND EVERYTHING SEEMS GREAT. THEN YOU HIT A SNAG. AND YOU TRY AND FIGURE IT OUT. IT’S PROBLEM SOLVING.
SO WHAT KIND OF METHOD BEST ACCOUNTS FOR THAT PROCESS? WHAT KIND OF METHOD BEST ACCOUNTS FOR ALL THE STRUCTURAL MODELS WE’VE SEEN SO FAR?
FOR THAT, WE TURN TO HULK'S FAVORITE METHOD OF STORY-BREAKING BECAUSE…
WELL, HULK KIND OF INVENTED IT. THE TERM “INVENTING IT” SOUNDS REALLY OFFICIAL, DOESN’T IT? WE COULD ALSO JUST GO WITH “HULK MADE IT UP!”
ANYCRAP, IT’S CALLED “MULTI ACT FLOW STRUCTURE” (HULK WILL USE M.A.F.S. FOR SHORT) AND HULK FINDS IT TO BE THE BEST WAY TO KEEP THINGS PROPULSIVE WHILE STILL TRYING TO JUGGLE ALL THE RESPECTIVE ARCS OF PLOT, CHARACTER, AND
THEME.
AT ITS CORE: MULTI-ACT FLOW STRUCTURE IS PREDICATED ON THE IDEA THAT EACH SCENE WORKS BEST AS SORT OF ITS OWN MINI-ACT, COMPLETE WITH A MINI-ACT BREAK. EARLIER, WE DEFINED THE END OF A TRUE ACT AS BEING A MOMENT WHERE CHARACTERS CAN NO LONGER “GO BACK.” AND THIS IS A SLIGHTLY MORE LENIENT VERSION OF THAT. THE IDEA IS THAT EACH SCENE SHOULD REALLY ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING THAT CHANGES THE NARRATIVE, EITHER ON A CHARACTER, PLOT, OR THEMATIC LEVEL. IT DOESN’T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE A MAJOR THING, BUT EACH SCENE SHOULD FEEL LIKE THE WORLD OF YOUR FILM IS NOW SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT.
DOES IT HAVE TO BE 100% TRUE FOR EVERY SCENE? OF COURSE NOT, BUT THE MORE CENTRAL IT IS TO YOUR OPERATION THE MORE PROPULSIVE AND MEANINGFUL A FILM YOU WILL CREATE.
AS TO HOW TO EXECUTE IT? IT'S REALLY A TWO PART PROCESS...
33. M.A.F.S. PART 1 - BREAKING INTO CONCURRENT ARCS
ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO START REALLY ORGANIZING YOUR STRUCTURE IS TO LOOK AT ALL THE ARCS IN YOUR STORY AND LAY THEM OUT AS INDIVIDUAL STORIES.
NOW… HULK COULD COME UP WITH A FUN ANALYSIS OF A MOVIE THAT WE ALL KNOW AND COULD WORK WITH, BUT BECAUSE HULK KEEPS TALKING ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF REVERSE ENGINEERING, LET'S GO IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION INSTEAD. HULK WILL NOW COME UP WITH A MADE-UP STORY RIGHT HERE ON THE SPOT... HULK SWEARS THIS IS WHAT HULK IS DOING AND IT PROBABLY ISN’T GOING TO BE VERY GOOD. HULK
EVEN SWEARS HULK WON'T REFINE THE IDEA SO YOU CAN SEE THE SPARK OF STORY GENERATION AS IT HAPPENS IN REAL-TIME. THIS IS THE VALUE OF THE ORGANIC PROCESS:
UM... SO, LIKE, A DOCTOR HAS JOURNEYED TO A SMALL AIDS HOSPITAL IN AFRICA, TO REBUILD HIS LIFE AFTER A PAINFUL DIVORCE... YOU KNOW THIS KINDA STORY. IT
MAKES UP THE WORLD OF MELODRAMA AND SUCH. SO IN THIS STORY, THE DOCTOR HAS TO FACE HIS OWN PAST AND PAIN AND YADDA YADDA YADDA, YOU GET IT, BUT ALSO, THERE'S A BOSS WHO RUNS THE HOSPITAL IN A VERY COUNTERINTUITIVE WAY THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE DOCTOR'S OWN EXPERIENCE. AND THIS IS NOT JUST IN TERMS OF MEDICAL LOGISTICS, BUT REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE AND WHAT IS BEST FOR EVERYONE. THE BOSS WON'T TAKE CERTAIN RISKS AND WILL ONLY DO WHAT THEY CAN DO TO KEEP THE SYSTEM IN BALANCE. AND THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER MAIN
CHARACTER AND SHE IS A CO-WORKER AT THE HOSPITAL AND LOVE INTEREST TO HELP HIM REBUILD HIS LIFE. THAT SOUNDS LIKE THREE GOOD PLACES TO START.
NOW... HULK’S NOT JUST INTERESTED IN SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS THOSE CHARACTER ARCHETYPES. HULK REALLY WANTS TO EXPLORE THE REAL-LIFE CONCEPTS OF
COMPASSION VS. PRACTICALITY IN A BUREAUCRACY. PLUS, HULK’S REALLY
INTERESTED IN THE STATE OF HEALTH AND POLITICS IN AFRICA. SO NOW WE HAVE SOME THEMES HULK FINDS COMPELLING. SO THE MAIN CHARACTER AND THE BOSS WILL HAVE A DISAGREEMENT OVER THE PROPER TREATMENT OF AIDS, WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER IS PRO-PRACTICALITY WITH SAFE SEX AND THE BOSS IS RELIGIOUS WITH THE OLD STANCE OF ABSTINENCE. BUT HULK DOESN'T WANT IT TO BE THIS SIMPLE GOOD / BAD DYNAMIC. LET'S REVERSE IT THEN. THE BOSS WILL ALSO HAVE A VERY PRACTICAL APPROACH TO NOT HELPING FOLKS WHO CAN'T BE HELPED,
BELIEVING IT WILL ONLY GET OTHERS SICK, WHEREAS THE MAIN CHARACTER SEES THAT AS LACKING COMPASSION. THEY BOTH HAVE THEIR IDEALS, AND THEY BOTH HAVE THEIR SENSE OF PRACTICALITY. OKAY, COOL.
SO HULK BEGINS TO WORK WITH THESE IDEAS, BUT AT A CERTAIN POINT IN THE BRAINSTORMING PROCESS HULK WOULD SIT DOWN TO MAP OUT THE THREE CONCURRENT ARCS:
-RELATIONSHIP WITH BOSS
-RELATIONSHIP WITH CO-WORKER
-RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMSELF / HIS PAST
AND FOR EACH OF THESE ARCS HULK WOULD PLAN OUT A STORY THAT MAKES SENSE ON ITS OWN. THEY WOULD NOT SIMPLY BE "ELEMENTS" OF A LARGER STORY, BUT THEIR OWN COMPLETE STORIES, INDEPENDENT OF ANYTHING ELSE. ALSO, HULK
WOULD NOT WASTE ANYTHING. HULK WOULD LIST OUT EACH SCENE, WHICH WOULD COMPRISE EACH BEAT OF THE STORY. THIS WOULD ALLOW HULK TO BE SURE THAT EACH BEAT REALLY ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING.
HULK WON'T DO IT FOR ALL OF THEM, AS IT WOULD JUST BE A WASTE OF YOUR
READING TIME, BUT HERE'S A QUICK + DIRTY TREATMENT (THAT AGAIN IS UNEDITED) OF WHAT THE STORY BEATS WOULD LOOK LIKE FOR ONE OF THOSE CONCURRENT ARCS.
RELATIONSHIP WITH BOSS:
-THE DOCTOR MEETS BOSS AND NOTICES THEIR DIFFERENT LIFE APPROACHES.
-THE DOCTOR FEELS ALIENATED.
-THE DOCTOR THEN SEES THE BOSS'S PRAGMATIC UNCOMPASSIONATE STYLE IN ACTION AND IT GIVES HIM ETHICAL CONCERN
-SO THEY COME INTO A CONFLICT OVER IT.
-THE DOCTOR STICKS TO HIS GUNS ON A DIFFERENT CASE AND SAVES A PATIENT WHO IS A DANGER TO OTHERS.
-IT IS A SUCCESS AND EVERYONE ELSE IS FINE, MUCH TO THE DISMAY OF THE BOSS.
-THE MAIN DOCTOR FEELS EMBOLDENED BY THIS SUCCESS, SO THE NEXT TIME THE DOCTOR DOES THIS SAME THING, IT IS LESS SUCCESSFUL.
-HIS EMBOLDENED ATTITUDE WAS MISPLACED SO HE THEN SEES NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS DECISION.
-THE DECISION CAUSES OTHERS TO GET SICK, THE DOCTOR SEES HOW HIS EMBOLDENED ATTITUDE HAS UNDERMINED THE BOSS’S ABILITY TO RUN THE HOSPITAL.
-THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES SPIRAL, THE PROBLEMS ARE RIGHTED BY THE TWO APPRECIATING ONE OTHER AND COMING TO WORK TOGETHER.
NOW THIS EXAMPLE ISN'T THAT GOOD OR FOCUSED, AND IN FACT IT IS THE KIND OF HOSPITAL PLOT LINE WE'VE SEEN A MILLION TIMES BEFORE, BUT THAT’S JUST MAKES IT PERFECT FOR OUR PURPOSES. SINCE THEY ARE ALL FAMILIAR STORY BEATS YOU IMPLICITLY "GET" THE BARE BONES OF THE STORY AND THE MECHANISMS, AND WE CAN NOW TALK ABOUT WHERE IT CAN PROPERLY GO.
THE FIRST STEP WOULD BE THAT THESE BEATS NEED TO BE FLESHED OUT IN AN
ORGANIC AND ACCURATE MANNER. THE STORY, LIKE ANY STORY, COULD EASILY FEEL FORCED. BUT THE BEATS COULD FEEL NATURAL AS ANYTHING TOO. EITHER WAY, WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED. WE DON'T NEED ANY MORE SCENES THAN WHAT IS CONVEYED IN THAT DESCRIPTION OF THE ARC. SO WE HAVE ECONOMY. NOTICE HULK DOES NOT DOUBLE UP ON CONFLICTS WHICH SAY THE SAME THING. THERE IS AN INCIDENT THAT SHOWS A GOOD REACTION. AND INCIDENT THAT SHOWS A BAD REACTION. WE DON'T NEED ANY MORE THAN THAT. THOSE TWO CASES ALONE WILL PROPEL THE STORY WHERE IT NEEDS TO GO.
NEXT. HULK WOULD DO THIS FOR THE OTHER ARC WITH THE COWORKER
RELATIONSHIP AND THE ARC WITH HIS PAST / SELF. AGAIN, WE DO THIS TO BE SURE EACH ELEMENT IS A SINGULAR, COMPLETE STORY.
... BUT THESE ARE NOT THREE SEPARATE STORIES, ARE THEY? NOT AT ALL. THIS IS A MOVIE, OR A TV SHOW, OR A NOVEL, OR WHATEVER. AND AS SUCH IT IS ONE THING.
WHICH MEANS THE ARCS NEED TO BE INGRAINED INTO A SINGULAR STORY.
THIS IS WHERE YOU DO THE SECOND PART OF THE BREAKING PROCESS:
34. M.A.F.S. PART 2 - MERGE INTO CONFLICTING ARCS
HULK COULD JUST LAUNCH RIGHT INTO THE EXAMPLE WE JUST USED, BUT HULK ACTUALLY WANTS TO USE A REAL-MOVIE EXAMPLE TO SHOW WHAT “CONFLICTING ARCS” ACTUALLY MEANS. WHAT’S FUNNY IS THAT HULK USES THE FOLLOWING MOVIE ALL THE TIME WHEN TALKING ABOUT SCREENWRITING, NOT BECAUSE IT'S A
STUNNING EXAMPLE OF INNOVATION AND LYRICAL PROSE, BUT BECAUSE IT ONLY TRIES TO DO THE MOST BASIC THINGS RIGHT…. AND BOY IT GETS THEM SO, SO RIGHT.