EXT. SUNSET-ANCIENT DESERT ADOBE WALLED TRAINING YARD
A white hooded Acolyte steps barefoot onto the warm sands of an ancient training ground hidden deep within the desert. Above the high crumbling adobe walls the wind howls in chorus with the unearthly singing of massive sand dunes surrounding the circular yard. Before the Acolyte is a large circle drawn in the flat sand. The setting sun washes the area with blood-red light marking the beginning of the first challenge. The Acolyte sees time is limited for soon the yard will be buried by the advancing dunes. With no sign of hesitation, the Acolyte steps into the circle.
All right then. Armed with your Outline, Treatment, Log-line and knowledge of script formatting you must step into the first of 3 circles in order to take your 'idea' into the realm of a written script. That first circle is called 'ACT I'. Now just like any good action/adventure flick, there are going to be some opponents before you get to the main 'bad guy' and get to chop his ass in half! Your 'opponents' will be 'The Five Plot Points'. Whatever you do, don't take these mofo's lightly or they will stomp you and toss you out like a card-carrying 'gibroni'!
In Act I you'll introduce and establish your setting in addition to your main character(s). Basically, it will come down to a 'Where, when, who, what and how concerning your characters and the setting they live in. That means you'll give some background on the setting and the character(s)'s current situation. Once you've done that, from beneath the sand up pops the first of your 'opponents' and her name is, 'The Inciting Incident'. Watch out for her! TII is a straight killer because this is what sets your script into motion. TII has the power to motivate readers of your script to either continue reading or put it down!
The Inciting Incident above all else has to make sense. Even if you want to try your hand at a 'Non-linear' style story like 'Pulp-Fiction' which told what upfront seemed to be a disjointed tale. The different story arcs actually all focused around each set of characters being motivated to get their hands on 'Marcellius Wallace's' briefcase and the events that supported that. Your Inciting Incident must have a logical progression with 'hint's of things to come early in the first act when you are establishing your characters.
The most difficult thing to remember about tackling TII is she must establish the motivation for the appearance of your second 'opponent' and his name is 'Plot Point 1'. PP1 is the 'Thing' your main character(s) are initially going to go 'do'. TII is the motivator and PP1 is the focus of their initial action. These guys are tough! If you can't get past them by mastering them, you'll probably just give up. Worse is if you just 'blow them off' by not putting real thought and effort into how your characters interweave with TII and PP1 just to get to the 'good part'. The script reader and (God forbid) audiences will pick apart your story right off the bat. Just as I'm sure you hate seeing films with WTF? moments in the plot that make no sense, believe that your potential audience hates them too!
The script reader must be made to feel the driving force of your characters and that is first achieved in ACT I. You'll do that by treating the first act as a 'story' unto itself with a beginning, middle and end. The beginning being the establishment of your setting and characters. The middle being the Inciting Incident and the 'end' being Plot Point 1. Most important is by the time you conclude ACT I, you will have set the tone to enter the second circle of ACT II where you will have two much more formidable opponents waiting for you!
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