When we stopped at page 25 you were in the mid scene transition faced with the surmountable task of pages 26-36. These ten pages continue our focus on the protagonist.
If you have written prose, you have used plot, (A and B) story to stimulate the interest of the reader. To reemphasize a movie is a picture a puzzle is style. If a producer recognizes the distinctive shapes you have crafted you may have a sale.
The purpose of Act 2 is to increase tension. You want your viewers on the edge of their seats. While a picture is worth a thousand words is clichéant cliché. The phrases uttered by your characters must create a picture. But pretext requires a strip tease of words.
The Premise of Tension
Initially from page 26-36 your main character has been thwarted and is about to take corrective measures. A good example is in the "Matrix Revolutions". I didn't like the premise, but after a second viewing, albeit for a $1.00.
It is a good example on tension within the action drama genre. This third act of the "Matrix" series follows the same pattern of the standard three act movie. INeopens with the "Neo" in peril. OtMorpheusagonist, "Morpheus" and "Trinity" have their worlds turned upside down; In addition in the in the next thirty five minutes all three protagonists must solve a puzzle.
Now in drama, certain issues must be presented. Within the ethos and pathos of your main character a major issue must be resolved. This is the theNeoof your puzzle. "Neo" knows what can solve the problem, but using the metaphor of the puzzle, he cannot find the pieces.
How to make a puzzle?
If you have read classic novels such as "The Catcher in the Rye" or "Black Boy", or anything by Ernest Hemingway. You have learned authors utilize a similar technique as noted above. Their characters remain hidden in a maze created by the writer. ButElmorenovelists such as Elmore Leonard and Stephen King do not like to plot. Recently I read Mr. King's, "Memoir on Writing." In his book he explained that plotting somehow diminished his creativity. That it does.
Unfortunatdon'ts a screenwriter you don't have a choice. A novel generally has an A and B plot structure that varies each chapter. But the focus is always on your main character. As a screenwriter you have to look at the big picture.
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