DZ-43: Driving Sequences - Character and Plot Intensity

Listen to understand how dramatic questions shape audience engagement and pacing through sequences.

Chas and Stu are joined for the fourth time by the inestimable Stephen Cleary - this time to take a deep dive into sequences. A real deep dive. A 3+ hour deep dive.

Stephen postulates that sequences can compel the audience in different ways via the type of dramatic questions being posed. Are they plot questions ("Will she defuse the bomb?") or character questions ("Will she understand what compels her to defuse bombs?") or a combination of both? What is the impact on the pacing, structure of your story or audience experience of your characters by changing the type of question being asked? What happens to your story when your protagonist decides to literally abandon the plot?

Our deep dive roams through THE BOURNE IDENTITY, NAKED, THE DIVING BELL & THE BUTTERFLY, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, FARGO (the movie) and CHILDREN OF MEN... with many-a-tangent referencing HEAT, FRENZY, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, AMOUR, CHEF, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, THE KINGSMAN, FURY ROAD, THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES, LIVING IS EASY WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED, MOONLIGHT, and probably some more that we've forgotten.

PS: Thanks to all our listeners who provided feedback on a draft edit of this episode.

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

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

• Send us feedback.

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

———

CHAPTERS

• 00:01:38 – History & Theory Of Sequences
• 00:13:24 – Plot-Lite Revisited
• 00:24:01 – High Intensity Plot Sequences
• 00:36:07 – The Bourne Identity
• 00:54:43 – Naked
• 01:06:35 – Road Movies (as a genre)
• 01:13:00 – Naked
• 01:21:31 – Plot As The Hook
• 01:26:44 – The Kingsman
• 01:34:52 – Character Sequences & Audience Introspection
• 01:34:52 – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
• 01:55:41 – There Will Be Blood
• 02:05:28 – Fargo
• 02:20:12 – Children Of Men
• 03:03:44 – Summary & Final Words

FILMS

• THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) — (w) William Blake Herron, Tony Gilroy, Robert Ludlum (d) Doug Liman
• NAKED (1993) — (w) Mike Leigh
• THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (2007) — (w) Ronald Harwood (d) Julian Schnabel
• THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007) — (w) Upton Sinclair, Paul Thomas Anderson (d) Paul Thomas Anderson
• FARGO (1996) — (w) Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (d) Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
• CHILDREN OF MEN (2006) — (w) Timothy J Sexton, David Arata, Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, P D James (d) Alfonso Cuaron
• KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE (2015) — (w) Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn (d) Matthew Vaughn

SCRIPTS

• Study the script: THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) — William Blake Herron, Tony Gilroy, Robert Ludlum
• Study the script: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (2007) — Ronald Harwood
• Study the script: THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007) — Upton Sinclair, Paul Thomas Anderson
• Study the script: FARGO (1996) — Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
• Study the script: CHILDREN OF MEN (2006) — Timothy J Sexton, David Arata, Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, P D James

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

• Staging the violence in TOTAL RECALL 1990 vs 2012
• Time and space in staging "Oners"

LINKS

• YouTube: HEAT - Bank Robbery
• YouTube: FRENZY - Potato Truck Scene
• YouTube: Naked - Maggie! Scene from Mike Leigh's 1993 Drama
• YouTube: NAKED - Jonny and the Security Guard
• Read: Script
• YouTube: Fargo - Mike Yanagita
• YouTube: Children of Men - Faith and Chance

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-29: Showdowns & Scene Structure
• DZ-35: Driving Characters or Character Driven?

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2017/dz-43/