All screenplays will create their own challenges and obstacles, but overall there is always a solution, as Syd Field stated in his book ‘The Screenplay Problem Solver.’
Educators and screenwriters Philip Hughes and Ted Wilkes – in this seminar titled ‘THE END IS IN THE BEGINNING – focused on the structural logistics of Three-Act Structure. They based it on Christopher Vogler’s THE WRITER’S JOURNEY, but weaved in a few elements of their own, creating a template based on a five act, rather than three act, idea.
Whether you are a new or established writer, structural problems are always going to be one or the other in all manner of things. However, using classic myths and fairy tales as a point of reference retains a simplicity that most writers can tap into. Given that we all start out in life listening to these stories as kids, our imagination leads us to the castle or the forest, long before life experience impacts on our story experience.
Hughes and Wilkes claim that there are five points of entry into and five points of exit from the main thrust of any story which are based on the likes of self-belief, sacrifice, accidental involvement and mistaken commitment. This means that each one of these ideas connects seamlessly to a beginning, conflict and an arc.
Here again, Hughes and Wilkes turn to fairytales, linking the concepts mentioned to archetypal stories we all know. Self-belief is linked to the ‘Become A Swan’ narrative from The Ugly Duckling. Sacrifice is linked to ‘Take me Instead’ and ‘Drink the Potion’ from Hunger Games and The Little Mermaid respectively. Finally, mistaken choice relates to the act of killing the golden goose from the The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs.
With visual examples from films like THE HUNGER GAMES, JOKER, THE KING’S SPEECH and SHREK, as contrasting in genre as they are in visual presentation, the clarification of what each point encompasses becomes all the more vivid.
This does not mean, as a lot of the speakers in this year’s ever-increasing reflections and seminars have pointed out, that you have to tell a story like this. It merely gives you a catalyst and point of reference to begin your stories.
The common denominator in terms of what the exit point represents is that it is the ‘Do Or Die Moment’, but not the climactic ‘Fade To Black.’ In each case, the protagonist needs to go further and earn the right to take their story to its conclusion, be it a positive or negative outcome.
Things become increasingly interesting in stories with multiple protagonists who embody opposite views. In Seven (1995) for example, the characters of Mills and Somerset are facing contrasting conclusions of something, which manifests itself in a truly shocking climax
In terms of my own personal gain from the session, it is that there is a broader potential to create satisfying endings from solid beginnings and whilst I am very much an evolving screenwriter, I do have the potential to to hit higher levels of achievement.
John Higgins is a Film-maker and Scriptwriter living in London. He is also an established Film Critic and Journalist, contributing to the likes of Cinema Jam, Film and TV Now and STARBURST. His interviews with film-makers have led some of them to be nominated for the Live Action Short Academy Award in 2019 and 2020.
