7/31/2019 1201 MM Screenplay Beginning Beats

1/2

COMPLETE

GUIDE

TO

MAKING

MOVIES

2012

CHAPTER

1:SCREENWRITING

MOVIEMAKER.COM

BY

TODD

KLICK

I

n the documentaryBring on the Night,singer-songwriter Stingdescribes the differ-ence between rock nroll and jazz by notingthat With rock, youhave to burn from thefirst bar. The same canbe said for successful

feature films, whichmust burn from the first minute.You can make your scripts burnfrom the beginning by followingthe same 10-minute beats masterscreenwriters instinctively use.

We all remember The SixthSenses dramatic twist ending,where [spoiler alert!] Malcolm,played by Bruce Willis, discovers

he has been dead the entire timehe has been counseling the youngCole. But do you remember howthe movie began? M. Night Shya-malan hooked us by applying thesame universal minute-by-minutestory beats that all successful mov-ies use. They are:

MINUTE 1: ATTENSION

MINUTE 2: THE BUILD

MINUTE 3: THE RATCHET

MINUTE 4: ANOTHER NOTCH

MINUTE 5: THE JAW DROPPER

MINUTE 6: FRIEND OR FIST

MINUTE 7: FRIEND OR FIST 2

MINUTE 8: SOMETHING STARTLING HAPPENS

MINUTE 9: THE PURSUIT

MINUTE 10: THE DISCUSSION

MINUTE 1: ATTENSIONtDuring Minute1 of The Sixth Sense, Malcolms

wife Anna goes to the basementto retrieve a bottle of wine. Oncethere, she feels a disturbing chill.Frightened, she hurries back upthe steps. Whether its a thriller,action, drama, comedy, horror,sci-fi, rom-com or western, all suc-cessful movies begin with tension.

The best screenwriters choose oneof five ways to hook the audience

with tension: Danger, anxiety,hostility, unease or sex. Shyamalanchose uneasewith a hint ofdangerto start his film.

.*/65&5)*-%tAudience an-ticipation is created by buildingupon the tension thats already

18

10 BEATS TO A

BETTERBEGINNINGTAKE A PAGE FROM THE BOOK OF MASTER SCREENWRITERS TO CREATE

A COMPELLING OPENING SCENE

CLOCKWISEFROM

TOPLEFT:

INDIANAJONES;JA

WS;

THESIXTHSENSE

7/31/2019 1201 MM Screenplay Beginning Beats

2/2