DZ-42: One-Shot - Character Worldview & Macro POV in SPLT

Listen when you're writing a twist and need to earn it through point-of-view rather than surprise alone.

In our first (and perhaps last) one-shot, we take a close look at the M. Night Shyamalan's SPLIT. Rather than having one topic with many examples, we use the one example to look at many topics. Well, okay, a few topics.

Firstly, we take the opportunity to revisit theme. SPLIT offers a very clear example of the worldview of the characters and the rules of the world working together to create a coherent theme.

Then we look at the SPLIT's use of macro point-of-view. Given the film's contained nature, it makes some interesting choices in the story structure in order to control what the audience knows vis-a-vis the characters. This assists in generating tension (in both conventional and unconventional ways) while also creating a dramatic journey for the protagonist and reinforcing the theme.

We also cover (in lesser detail) flashbacks, tactics, contained spaces, character individuation, and... being a M. Night Shamalyan film... TWISTS.

Love it, hate it or indiffererent, please let us know what you think of this new format. We're not going to do it every episode, but it gives us the opportunity to look at some great films in more detail.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

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Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily.

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CHAPTERS

• 00:06:36 – Worldview
• 00:35:35 – Macro Pov And Narrative
• 01:03:26 – Flashbacks
• 01:12:34 – Tactics
• 01:15:35 – Contained Spaces
• 01:19:32 – Character Individuation
• 01:33:00 – Twist Endings
• 01:50:41 – Episode Wrap

FILMS

• SPLIT (2017) — (w) M Night Shyamalan

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

• Shot-Reverse-Shot with Split Diopters in GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE

LINKS

• Read: The Guardian: From Split to Psycho: why cinema fails dissociative identity disorder
• Read: The Fashionpedia

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-05: Shifting audience point of view and heightened emotions
• DZ-14: Writing For Actors with Succession's Sarah Snook
• DZ-21: Scene Transitions and the Hook
• DZ-25: Coincidences, Contrivances & Giant Eagles
• DZ-28: Containing Your Script
• DZ-31: Tools for Better Dialogue 1
• DZ-38: Excelling at Exposition (Part 2)
• DZ-40: Tactics and Scenes
• DZ-41: Theme and Worldview

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Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2017/dz-42/