Today we are going to get into the actual process of putting your story into motion. We’ve figured out who our story us about, what it is about and who opposes the main character. Now it’s time to get active. So, let’s discuss PLOT.
PLOT refers to the sequence of events inside a story which affect other events through the principle of cause and effect.
Syd Field says: “The screenplay, as ‘system’ is made up of endings, beginnings, plot points, shots and effects, scenes, and sequences. Together, unified by the dramatic thrust of action and character, the story elements are ‘arranged’ in a particular way and then revealed visually to create the totality known as ‘the screenplay.'”
Story master, John Truby quotes Peter Brooks who says: “Plot is the under-the-surface weaving of various lines of action or sets of events so that the story builds steadily from the beginning through the middle to the end.”
Comparative Analysis.
Let’s look at the PLOTs of STAR WARS and LOGAN in outline form. When drafting an outline of our PLOT we would normally lay it out one action at a time in short sentences. For purposes of brevity, I’m going to mimic this but in a much shorter fashion. Keep in mind, spoilers are a must in outlines.
PLOT STRUCTURE OF STAR WARS
ACT I
We follow the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO from a space battle to a desert planet. The Empire is looking for stolen plans for the DEATH STAR, a massive world killing weapon. The droids have them.
R2 and 3PO find LUKE. Luke wants to find adventure but is stuck on his Uncle’s farm.
R2 reveals a call for help embedded in his system from Princess LEIA intended for OBI-WAN KENOBI.
The Empire takes Leia prisoner and sends a squad of Stormtroopers after the droids.
R2 goes to find Obi-Wan. Luke and 3PO pursue. The trio then pick up Obi-Wan, a Jedi Master.
Obi-Wan introduces Luke to the FORCE. R2 shows the message from Leia to Obi-Wan. She tells him of the hidden plans for the Death Star inside R2.
The group of four discover the Empire is on their trail and Luke’s Aunt and Uncle are dead. They look to escape.
ACT IIA
They find Han Solo and Chewbacca who will help them escape. Han Solo challenges Luke’s naïve ideas about the galaxy.
The new crew sets off only to land into the hands of the enemy on the Death Star.
ACT IIB
Luke and Han discover Leia and rescue her. Leia introduces Luke to the urgency of his journey.
Obi-Wan sacrifices himself so the band of new friends can escape. They meet up with the Rebel Alliance.
ACT III
The plans to the Death Star are downloaded from R2 and a mission is planned to destroy it.
The mission launches and a large battle ensues. At stake is either the destruction of the Death Star or the destruction of the Rebel base.
In the final minutes before the Death Star is in range to destroy the Rebel Base, Luke discovers his skills as a JEDI and destroys the Death Star.
Let’s look at another well-crafted movie.
PLOT STRUCTURE OF LOGAN
ACT I
We find LOGAN struggling with his health and legacy. Years of war and too many lost friends have left him wondering why. Though his body is failing him due to Adamantium poisoning, he is still a lethal warrior.
Logan works as a limo driver, where he constantly deals with immature drunk kids who are oblivious to the world around them. He dreams of one day escaping away on a sailboat to die alone.
Logan returns to a hideout across the border in Mexico where he can avoid being watched by the authorities. The health of his mentor CHARLES is failing worse than his own.
Logan often ponders suicide with a magic bullet which can supposedly kill him.
While on a job, Logan is approached by a woman and a child, LAURA, asking him to take her and escort her to safety. Logan rebuffs.
Logan is approached by PIERCE, who is looking for Laura.
Sensing Pierce’s evil intentions, Logan accepts the offer to take Laura to safety. Pierce is in hot pursuit and kill Laura’s former guardian.
ACT IIA
Logan brings Laura back to his hideout where she meets Charles. They discover Laura is a female copy of Logan through the illegal use of his DNA. Pierce shows up.
Pierce presents Logan with the life he is most comfortable with; fighting. Laura joins in the scuffle and shows Logan she is no different than he is. Except she is untested and immature.
Logan and Charles escape with Laura. Pierce is hot on their tail.
Logan discovers a purpose in getting Laura to a refuge but only sees it a mission.
On the road, Laura presents Logan with a challenge to the lie he is telling himself that whoever he learns to love will die because of that love. She is naïve and is a danger to anyone she comes in contact with. She becomes an opportunity for Logan to be a father.
ACT IIB
Pierce tracks Logan and Charles to a city where Laura shows them the background to the supposed safe place they are traveling to. It is from an X-Men comic book. Logan tells Laura it’s all a lie.
Charles has an episode in which he loses control of his power and it terrorizes the city, however, it also allows them to escape from Pierce.
They head north where they happen upon a farm family. The family gives Logan a glimpse of what love, family, and sacrifice really look like.
Pierce shows up. He has an evil mutant clone of Logan. The clone kills Charles and the family and captures Laura.
Logan fights Evil Logan. He barely survives to get Laura out.
ACT III
Laura and Logan hideout while preparing to finish the journey to safety. Logan is cynical but Laura is not. He resolves to help her whether the safe place exists or not.
They make the final push. Pierce and Evil Logan pursue. Logan rises above his failing body to fight them off.
Logan fights to the death not because it’s another mission, but because he has learned the real meaning of family, as well as loving and allowing others to love him. In the waning moments of his life, he uses the magic bullet he once intended for himself to win the battle for Laura.
Laura says good-bye to Logan, calling him “daddy.” He dies feeling the joy of being loved for who he is not what he is.
What did we see?
I broke the outlines up into ACTs to draw out the turning points. Did you notice them?
The first turning point in STAR WARS is when Luke sees his Aunt and Uncle’s burning bodies and he realizes he can’t stay there. He MUST accept the call to action and leave with OBI-WAN.
The first turning point in LOGAN is when Logan is approached by Pierce and he realizes that Laura is in trouble, so he accepts the call to action and attempts to get her to safety.
Major ACT breaks happen when the main character has a huge turning point as these.
Crafting plots and subplots.
PLOT may just be a sequence of events, but the events need to relate to each other. In LOGAN the story has one plot based on one through-line or backbone.
In STAR WARS there are a couple of plots, or subplots, introduced in the beginning, but by the mid-point (ACT IIB), all the plots have converged to form one clear and defining through-line: Destroy the DEATH STAR.
How do subplots work? Subplots are minor to the main PLOT, but they are interrelated and contribute to the overall story. They also help construct our Four-Corner Opposition!
Some subplots, such as at the beginning of STAR WARS, are still within the main plot. For example, the story unfolding between Princess Leia and Darth Vader tells us why Luke’s call to action is so great.
But what I am interested in looking at here is a subplot that is separate from the main plot, but related to it. It has it’s own story unfolding, but is somehow connected.
Let’s look at THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Story within a story.
ACT I
(MAIN PLOT) While hiding out on the planet Hoth, Luke receives a message through the Force from Obi-wan to seek training from Jedi Master Yoda.
(SUBPLOT) Han and Leia trade jabs with each other as they discuss Han’s departure from the alliance.
An Imperial invasion catalyzes the rebels to mobilize and disperse. It sends everyone in all directions. Luke leaves in his x-wing, while Han seeks out Leia and then takes her with him. Leia goes but doesn’t want anything to do with Han if he is going to leave the rebel alliance to smuggle again.
ACT IIA
Luke crash lands on a swamp planet where he looks for the Jedi Master Yoda.
Meanwhile, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca are on the run. Han and Leia arrive in Cloud City to a warm welcome.
DARTH VADER sniffs them out and seeks to set a trap for Luke by capturing them.
ACT IIB
Luke begins his training. As he progresses, he wants to know more about his JEDI Knight father.
In Cloud City, 3PO gets captured and found in a garbage room. Han’s friend Lando is friendly but too nice. He likes Leia but Han is protective of her. Leia enjoys the protection but also accepts the hospitality.
Luke has a vision with a horrible end for Han and Leia.
Lando invites Han, Leia, and Chewbacca to a dinner they find hosted by Vader. Han is tortured. They find out Lando made a deal, Vader gets Han and Luke while he gets Leia, Chewbacca, and life apart from the Empire.
ACT III
Luke leaves his training against Yoda’s warning that he is not a full JEDI yet.
Han is frozen in Carbonite to test the trap Vader has set for Luke. Leia and Chewbacca don’t trust Lando at all, even when he tries to help them escape Vader, who has changed the deal with Lando.
Luke arrives in Cloud City, where he is lured into the trap. He fights Vader and escapes the trap.
Leia and Chewbacca escape the clutches of the Empire with Lando’s help but go their own way. They try to save Han.
Luke continues his battle with Vader. Vader tries repeatedly to get Luke to join him so they can rule the galaxy. Luke fights.
Leia and Chewbacca fail to save Han. They make their way to the Millennium Falcon.
Luke and Vader reach a dead end in their duel. Vader wounds Luke. He asks Luke again to join him. Luke has two choices: jump into the garbage chute or join Vader.
Vader knows Luke is not going to join him so he tells Luke a secret that will forever change Luke’s world view and trajectory. Vader didn’t kill Luke’s father, he IS Luke’s father.
Luke jumps into the garbage chute.
Chewbacca , Leia, and Lando escape on the Millennium Falcon.
Luke hangs from the bottom of Cloud City, calling Leia through the Force.
Leia somehow hears Luke. She turns the ship around.
Luke hangs in agony. The Falcon arrives and gets him. They all escape.
ANALYSIS
Here we have two plots running simultaneous. They are interrelated, but with different purposes. One is the overarching story of Luke’s training as a Jedi, the other is the love story between Han Solo and Leia.
One effects the other. Han and Leia are going to be bait to draw Luke out. Luke needs to finish his training, but he desires to save his friends. He thinks he is ready.
The subplot line of Luke’s desire to know more about his father is there to up the stakes on why he needs to become an even better JEDI than he assumed. The subplot line of Han and Leia’s romance amps up the climax in Han’s sub-plot when he gets frozen. Han getting frozen is a sign that Darth Vader will possibly defeat Luke.
Logan’s Farm Family subplot.
In LOGAN, the plot is a single spine, but there is one sequence which takes us away from the main plot to show us an important step in Logan’s development. The sequence I’m talking about is the farm family subplot.
While continuing their drive north and their race to escape the enemy, an accident on the road causes Logan to pull over. A family is in need. Logan wants to keep moving, but Charles offers Logan up to help them. The family then offers Logan, Charles, and Laura a meal and a place to stay for the night.
At dinner, Logan observes a family enjoying each other’s company. He sees love given as well as love received. Then a problem happens on the farm with an outside threat. Logan helps the farmer and learns about what a regular man is willing to do to save his family. Afterward, Logan returns to a happy Charles and Laura. Then all hell breaks loose when the enemy shows up.
The purpose of this sequence is for Logan to learn about sacrificial love and that healthy families love each other unconditionally. This brings LOGAN to an understanding that though his friends died, they died out of love for their friends and family. Through this, they will always live on in the hearts of their friends and family.
Ultimately, LOGAN sees that love goes both ways in a family or a friendship. He learns to see above his own misery to fight for someone else’s well-being in a totally unselfish way. This moves Logan into ACT III.
How do we structure a PLOT?
PLOT can be an easy thing to talk about, but it can be a tricky thing to actually put together. One of the tools which can help us flesh out the plot and get it into an outline is by using a plot structure tool.
There are several viewpoints on PLOT structure. Some promote the three ACT structure, others the five ACT; and of course, who can’t forget the “you can have as many ACTs as you want” structure.
John Truby has a 22-point structure. Blake Snyder uses a 40-point structure broken down by three ACTs, with ACT II have an ‘A’ and a ‘B.’ Syd Field seems to just break it down into the three ACTS. So, three, I guess.
My own screenwriting instructor had a 15-point structure. Scott Myers uses a 10-point structure, breaking it down into three ACTs by sequence.
I’ve tried most of these methods, but I couldn’t tell you which one is the best. I like to think of structure as a guide rail. Or a mission plan.
With a mission plan, you piece the thing together with so much granularity that when something goes wrong, and it invariably will, you have the background in your head to flex. If you don’t have a plan, you have nothing to flex from and that’s when things go awry.
I like to use any structure which utilizes a FIVE ACT breakdown.
The Five ACT Structure.
I used to only know the 3 ACT, but then I was introduced to the 5 ACT structure, which I have since come to believe in and use. It is often broken up like so:
ACT IA – Introduce the characters and the world. (12.5%)
ACT IB – Who your character is and why they need to change. (12.5%)
ACT IIA – Old self, new world. The Protagonist is taught a new way of living or working or fighting. (25%)
ACT IIB – The Protagonist has learned some new skills and tries them out but fails miserably. (25%)
ACT III – The protagonist is forced into a final battle in which they must use these new skills and not their old skills, in order to win. We wonder if they can pull it off. (25%)
The reason I like this model is that it is easy to break up into development sequences and it gives some really solid direction on the middle of the story, which is the hardest part to put together.
We have grand ideas about climax scenes, final battles, and epic beginnings; but we rarely have grand ideas about the midpoint scene where the protagonist thinks they have it down.
Final thoughts.
Outlining the PLOT to our story can be difficult. Some really good writers have taken the time to develop a few structure tools to help us map our stories, and we are forever grateful to them.
If you would like to know more about the structures I mentioned check out these links.