THE CODE: FILM RESEARCH METRICS
Fellow #screenwriter, Universes, Gods, Luchorpans. Welcome to The Plot Researcher blog where the film speaks for itself. Today we're going to discuss the metrics I use to break down a film. We won’t get into psychology, mythology, or the other tools I use at my disposal; but, you want to be here because this code is a checklist created from all of the best how-to books that I’ve read. Now, if you want to study film it’s not going to be easily done for free. Luckily, we don’t have to buy DVD’s anymore; we can just subscribe to Netflix and Amazon Video (I recommend at least two streaming services), but it still costs. You will need to purchase the books that I reference below to see the devil in the details of the code I created from them. With this code and how I use it, it takes me about thirty minutes for every ten minutes of film to fully break it down. That’s because I mix and match as I please; I’ve never used every single metric in a movie breakdown. It’s not necessary.
o Act/Sequence/Scene Break – For this, hands down, the best resource is a combination of Sokoloff's Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure, and her Index Card Method from her book Screenwriting Tricks for Authors (and Screenwriters!): STEALING HOLLYWOOD: Story Structure Secrets for Writing Your BEST Book. Or, for TV I use Story Maps: TV Drama: The Structure of the One-Hour Television Pilot by Daniel Calvisi.
o Time Stamps - This allows for me to graph the movie by scene, act, and sequence to see its peaks and valleys. It also allows me to visually get used to what happens when. When you create one, draw a line representing the length of each scene. It’ll look something like Morse Code. Here’s an example: Star Trek TOS – The Man Trap.
o Hiding the writer's hand from plot progression. Does the development of the plot seem forced? World War Z is an example of what to do. While studying World War Z, I noticed that every next roadblock to the protag obtaining his desire was so perfectly logical that I moved closer to the screen with each one. The sequence of events was plausible (Swain, p. 97) and sucked me into the story. So, I had to add it to my code. Every roadblock, look for plausibility.
o User Orientation. How did I get here? At any point in the film do I ask this question? This complements the above metric.
o Thresholds. Identify thresholds and if they change the aim of the #story and protag, or not. If they do, how? In my study, I found that tracking the thresholds tracks the character arc of the protag along with their changes in beliefs. And, it tracks their development, in desire, from selfish to altruistic. Then, there’s also the turning points and plot development. The Writer's Journey, (Vogler, p. xxiv-xxv, p. 189).
o Transition Images - Do they consistently carry the cinematic imagery of the #film? Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl does this well. (Sokoloff, p. 224)
o Does the dialogue exploit #plot, character, theme, mood & tone, and genre to deliver back-story, current scene, and plot reveals? Through research I found this to be the complex job of dialogue. This is probably why dialogue is so difficult. Don’t worry if you have to read that few times. It took me much iteration to come up with it.
o Each character has unique dialogue. X-Men: The Animated Series does this well. Every character in the cartoon has a unique accent and jargon. (Snyder, p. 154)
o Set Pieces. Where are they and what do they accomplish for the story? Some set pieces get the audience to the theaters because they’re used in trailers. But, when you get to the film they’re not what they’re supposed to be.
o Is the protagonist propelled, and very soon, self-propelled through the story?
o DECIDE - The hero, at some appropriate point, becomes the decision maker.
o Conflict & Desire Web – How does the desires and goals of the characters PERFECTLY antagonize each other, and how they all relate to the plot to tell the story.
o Protagonist's External Goal.
o Protagonist's Internal Desire
o Antagonist's External Goal
o Antagonist's Internal Desire
o Other Characters' External Goal
o Other Characters' Internal Desire
o How is the protagonist's internal world exposed?
o How is the antagonist's internal world exposed?
o Obstacles to protagonist's goals and desires.
o Obstacles to antagonist's goals and
o Obstacles to other characters’ goals and desires.
o Raising Stakes. How does each turn grow into a life and death situation? World War Z raises the stakes with every next roadblock.
o Scenes used to bring characters to life:
o What others are saying about the main characters and how that builds their image. (Sokoloff, p. 50)
o How setting symbolically visualizes the characters, their inward journeys, their fears, their desires, their outer journeys, etc.
o Character introductions. What the writer decides to show you the first time the character is seen usually points to their internal world, especially flaws, beliefs, and their poltergeists. This is the story. (Sokoloff, p. 228)
o Characters' plans to achieve their goals, and ultimately their desire. (Sokoloff, p. 67)
That’s it, for now. This code is growing. Stay tuned for updates. Thanks for listening or reading. Check out the supplemental information for this post. There’s a breakdown in there for you. If you want to follow up on any of my references, you can find them at www.theplotresearcher.com/bibliography.
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Supplemental
Breakdown – Star Trek TOS: The Man Trap
Act I
- 00:00 V.O. - Captain's Log – Spaceship orbiting a lanet, Spock on bridge temporarily in command. On the planet an ancient long-dead civilization. McCoy, Captain, and crewman beamed to planet's surface. Mission - Routine medical examination of archeologist Robert Crater and his wife Nancy. However, Nancy is a woman from Dr. McCoy's past (B-Story).
- They enter the ancient structure on the planet. McCoy's a little nervous and wonders why he even came. Nancy walks in and hasn't aged a day, according to McCoy. McCoy introduces her to Captain Kirk. However, Kirk sees an older Nancy, in align with McCoy's age. Then McCoy introduces Nancy to Crewman Darnell and he sees a young beautiful woman too, but with a different face. Darnell starts ogling over her and saying how she looks exactly like a woman he left behind on a "Pleasure Planet." McCoy verbally smacks him down. Kirk sends Darnell outside. Nancy leaves to go get her husband bob.
- Nancy meets Darnell outside and teases him away. He follows.
- Opening Credits
- 4:46 Spaceship orbits planet – Transition Image
- 04:55 V.O. Captain's Log - Kirk reports that they are all seeing a different Nancy Crater.
- Bob walks in on Kirk and McCoy. Bob is combative in nature. He just wants them to leave and be left alone. they just need a bit of extra salt to help tolerate the heat. McCoy asserts their mission. The get Bob's inspection underway. He discovers that they've seen Nancy, he says that that's good for a woman to have different company. McCoy says she hasn't aged in 12 years and looks exactly 25. Suddenly, Bob has manners. McCoy and Kirk have a disagreement on Nancy's gray hairs and age. Bob tells him that he sees her through the eyes of their past. Bob almost tells more than he wants to. Then he says next time she'll be of a believable age. Then they hear a female scream of horror and rush out to ascertain.
- Call-To-Action - Nancy stands over the dead body of Darnell (A-story/Protag pushed into action). She has a believable appearance in age to McCoy, now. Captain inspects the body. Something green is in his mouth. Bob blames it on a plant he must have eaten and killed him. Nancy seems startled and unable to tell what happened. She gives this innocent story about how she saw him eat a poisonous plant. Bones notices her appearance is older now. They postpone the examinations until tomorrow. Kirk about to beam up. Nancy asks Bob to make sure he asked them about the salt. He hushes her with his face.
Act II
- 10:21 Spaceship orbits planet – Transition Image
- 10:29 The Enterprise - Bridge - Spock and Uhura. Uhura attempts to romance and flirt with the left-brained Spock (Plant). Spock receives the report returning one dead. Uhura is appalled at Spock's unemotional acknowledgement.
- Spock reports back to Kirk and McCoy about the plant, but Spock doesn't find any such symptoms resulting from eating the named plant. McCoy also says that he can't find any reason Darnell should be dead.
- 13:44 Spaceship orbits planet – Transition Image
- 13.52 V.O. Captain's Log - Kirk deems it death by violence. They are certain he wasn't poisoned.
- Spock and Kirk on the bridge discuss the last 5 years of Nancy and Bob's stay on the planet. Nothing too revealing. McCoy radio's them. He found something.
- Medical - This man has no salt in his body. Unexplainable. Except the only markings on his body - the red rings on his face. Originally Bones thought the rings were something else, but now he knows they're not and must be the explanation. Now they realize that Nancy and Bob were adamant about one item - salt tablets. Kirk's new plan. We're beaming down with some questions.
- 16:05 Kirk questioning Bob. He blames them for bullying and finds them frivolous. He sends troops to find Nancy. McCoy tells Bob how Darnell died. And they linked that with the fact that he and Nancy and Bob were adamant about salt tablets (Escalating Conflict). Kirk is taking them back to the ship (New Plan/Decision/Stakes Raised). Bob panics. Kirk verbally subdues him. Then Bob slips away.
- Bob finds the two crewmembers dead. He knows it's Nancy. He calls out to her, baiting her with salt tablets like she's an animal. Nancy is on the other side over the body of one of the crew members. Kirk and McCoy catch up and call out to Nancy and Bob. Bob evades them. McCoy and Jim find a body. They call out to the other crewman. Nancy is standing over his body. She morphs into his appearance. She leaves the body and goes to Kirk's beckoning as crewman Green. Nancy throws them off the trail. Kirk wants to beam back to the ship for search equipment. Bones panics about leaving Nancy in danger. They beam up: Nancy (disguised), Kirk, and Bones.
- 20:50 Spaceship orbits planet – Transition Image
- 20:57 Kirk, McCoy, and the shapeshifter Nancy, disguised as a crewman Green, beam aboard. Everyone disburses to their agendas. Nancy is a fish out of water and causes various mischief aboard the Enterprise.
- Captain transports to the bridge.
- Green is in the corridors. He comes across Yeoman Nancy Rand. Rand asks about the recent mission. The salt shaker on her tray attracts him. He jumps onto the elevator following her, and the salt.
- Spock and Kirk on the bridge searching for Nancy back on the planet. They only see Bob's life form. Kirk tells Spock to expand the search radius.
- Nancy follows Rand off the elevator. A few crewmen ogling over her notice Green acting weird and following her.
- Rand enters the Botany lab. She brings Sulu a tray of food. She pets a living plant and discuss it with Sulu. She says that one day she expects one of Sulu exotic plants to up and grab her.
- Green catches up to the door of the botany lab and enters. Sulu is eating. Nancy ignores Sulu and hones in on the salt. The plant that Rand was petting panics and recedes into its shell. The sound the plant makes chases Green away, abandoning the salt.
- Green back in the corridor, Snooping around. Uhura exits the elevator. She complains to two crewmen entering the elevator that the door to her room still creeks when it's opened. Green transform to another crewman - a young attractive black male. Uhura crosses paths with the crewman. Uhura doesn't recognize him, but she addresses him due to him staring at her. He says that she doesn't know him, but she was just thinking of someone like him. (Revelation – Nancy can read minds and shapeshift to the fantasy prototype from the person’s mind. Payoff – Uhura is romantically vulnerable enough to almost get killed because of it.) She is about to give him some resistance, but he speaks Swahili to her and it ensnares her. He is about to grab her face, she is unable to stop herself from allowing him, the intercom calls Uhura to the bridge, Sulu and rand exit the botany lab just across the hall from them and a continue to the elevator. The intercom calls her several times. She finally snaps out of the trances, answers the intercom, enters the elevator leaving the crewman in the hallway.
- McCoy in his room, can't sleep. He calls Kirk on the comm. No, they haven't found Nancy yet. Kirk tells him to take one of those red pills, he'll sleep.
- Nancy is still in search of salt. She follows an unaware technician.
- Spock and Kirk on the bridge. There is no one other than Bob within a hundred-mile radius. Kirk's new plan - beam down and question Bob about Nancy's whereabouts. He tells Uhura to have an emergency landing party on standby for emergency.
- Nancy still in search of salt. She comes across McCoy's room and transforms back into old Nancy. Bones was just coming out. He sees her and brings her into his room. She likes him because his memories of her are so strong. It makes her feel safe. She tells him to get some sleep. He shows her the pills. She takes them and gets him some water to take the pills.
- Rand and Sulu find the crewman that Nancy was following dead in the hallway. Sulu alerts medical. Escalating conflict and stakes raised – 1st death aboard the Enterprise. Midpoint Turn
- 30:28 Ship orbiting planet. V.O. Captain's Log - Kirk reports the deaths to some strange life form.
- 30: 38 In McCoy's room. McCoy in the bed with Nancy caressing him to sleep. He is drowsy. She tries to get him to rest and stop talking. Medical alert over the intercom. McCoy sits his head up. Nancy tells him it's nothing. She gets him to rest and he falls asleep. Uhura calls McCoy to the bridge but he's fast asleep. Nancy transforms to McCoy and leaves the real McCoy in the room.
- 32:00 Ship orbiting planet. V.O. Captain's Log - They need answers from Bob (Decision & Plan – Moving Plot Forward). Kirk is investigating the deaths as murders by some paralyzing force.
- 32:10 Kirk and Spock on the planet. They found Bob. He shoos them away. He's armed. Kirk wants to know where Nancy is. Kirk gets the report that the crewman was found dead - same symptoms. Spock finds Green's body (Revelation – There’s a shapeshifter about). Kirk goes to see. They are now aware that the thing is on the ship (Complication). Kirk calls for General Quarters, there is an intruder aboard.
- General Quarters on the ship. Escalating conflict and actions. Decision.
- Uhura reports to Kirk all secure. Spock tells Kirk that they need to take Bob alive to get answers because he knows the creature (New Plan). Bob fires on them (Escalating Conflict - Life & Death). They take cover and plan to apprehend him.
- 33:51 Back on ship. Nancy-McCoy comes to bridge. Although, the crew is looking for crewman Green. Nancy listens to Rand and Uhura report. Then, she asks to be filled in to see if she can assist.
- 36:08 Revelation - Spock and Kirk back on planet trying to corner and catch Bob. They both are set in their positions as planned. They stun and apprehend him. He can still talk though. Kirk interrogates him. Bob tells them that Nancy is the last of her kind. A creature, gone like the Buffalo. The creature killed Nancy. She been dead for some time. But it took her appearance (Back-story). Kirk reports to Sulu that it's a shape shifter (Complications). Kirk raises the level to G.C. 4 from G.C. 3 (Declaration of War). Bob further reveals/confirms that it is salt that the creature needs. Their race ran out of salt and died off. Three to beam up.
- 39:23 Orbiting the planet. V.O. Captain's Log - Reports on what the creature can do: shape shift, paralyze, and draw the life from any human.
- 39:36 Onboard. Sentries patrol the hallways reporting in.
- The real McCoy still asleep in his room.
- Officers meeting in the briefing room. They've dispatched salt traps on every deck. Rand and Uhura report on their experience with the intruder. McCoy reports. It's not some animal. It's just trying to survive. And he sounds a lot like Bob, defending the creature. There's no need to hunt down this intelligent being. Spock finds McCoy's hypothesis "interesting." They get the report form Sulu, everything is sealed off. All weapons accounted for and locked away. G.C. effective on every level. Still no leads on the intruder. Kirk returns his attention to Bob. Can you recognize this thing when you see it? Both McCoy and Bob look suspicious at that question. Kirk gives Bob a scary ultimatum to disclose the creature. Bob says that he loves Nancy and in exchange for it pretending to be her, he provides love and salt, the two things the creature needs to survive (Revelation). He almost killed it when it killed Nancy, but it was the last of its kind and intelligent (Back-story – Character Personal Conflict Explored). Kirk asks if he can recognize the creature whatever form it takes. Bob says yes. Then Kirk get tough with him again to help them find the creature. Bob refuses. Spock recommend truth serum (Escalating Actions – Moral Line Crossed (Sokoloff, 114). McCoy reluctantly agrees. Kirk gives the order. Spock accompanies them.
- 43:45 Spaceship orbiting planet.
- 43:53 Captain gets an urgent call to the dispensary (medical). Kirk and Rand show up. Spock is injured. McCoy is the creature. The creature hit Spock and Crater grabbed his phaser. Rand notices Crater in the other room dead on the floor. Spock is only alive because his blood salts are quite different than a human's.
- The fake McCoy reenters the real McCoy's room and transforms back to Nancy (A-Story and B-Story Converge). She pleads to him to help save her from Kirk and them trying to kill her. Kirk enters the room with a phaser trained on Nancy (Direct Confrontation). Bones gives some resistance. Kirk taunts her with salt tablets. He tries to grab her. McCoy grabs his phaser form him, attempting to stop him. Nancy paralyzes Jim in a standing position. She goes in for the kill. She grabs his face. Bones watches, emotionally stunned, and unable to help. Spock barges in. Spock tries to take the phaser from him. He resists. Spock separates Nancy from Kirk. Still McCoy refuses to shoot. Spock begins beater her in the face to prove its not Nancy but a creature. It doesn't affect her at all. McCoy yells at Spock to stop. The creature sends Spock across the room with a backhand. McCoy realizes that can't be Nancy. Nancy returns to Kirk. Then transforms back into the beast and begins draining Kirk. Spock shoots the creature down. It transforms back to Nancy, wounded. She tries to plead but he shoots it again. This time, dead and transformed back to the creature. Final Revelation & Resolution
- 48:22 The ship orbiting the planet.
- 48:30 Everybody on the bridge. Ready to leave orbit. Warp 1 Mr. Sulu...leaving orbit.