DZ-92: Insightful Recognition in Powerful Endings

Listen if you want to write endings that make audiences pause and ponder (in a good way, obvs)

Stu & Chas set out to explore what makes certain endings powerful, in particular those of LA LA LAND, INCEPTION, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and TURNING RED. The lens they bring to those endings is Aristotle’s moment of “anagnorisis” (don’t worry - we can’t pronounce it either), traditionally when a character moves from ignorance to knowledge (particularly of self).

But in analysing these films, Chas and Stu discover that endings can be particularly powerful when the characters experience insightful recognition in others, or in the world, or - perhaps most powerfully - when the anagnorisis is aimed at the audience. In other words, are there craft tools for your ending to prompt an audience to ask itself the question “What was that all about?”? Turns out, we think there are.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

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

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CHAPTERS

• 00:00:00 – Intro
• 00:00:48 – Insightful recognition in endings
• 00:03:39 – What the hell is "anagnorisis"?
• 00:12:04 – LA LA LAND
• 00:30:45 – INCEPTION
• 00:35:14 – NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
• 01:00:04 – TURNING RED
• 01:18:18 – Wrap up & Key Learnings
• 01:24:26 – Thanks patreons!

FILMS

• LA LA LAND (2016) — (w) Damien Chazelle
• INCEPTION (2010) — (w) Christopher Nolan
• NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) — (w) Cormac Mccarthy, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (d) Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
• TURNING RED (2022) — (w) Domee Shi, Domee Shi, Julia Cho, Julia Cho, Sarah Streicher (d) Domee Shi

SCRIPTS

• Study the script: LA LA LAND (2016) — Damien Chazelle
• Study the script: INCEPTION (2010) — Christopher Nolan
• Study the script: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) — Cormac Mccarthy, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

LINKS

• Read: HULK PRESENTS THE MYTH OF THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE
• Read: Lindsay Doran on the psychology of story-telling
• Sponsor: ScriptUp use promo code DZ10 to get 10% off

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-04: Catharsis and the Post-Coital Cigarette

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Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2022/dz-92/