Final Act Blues
If you have been following my blog – I think there’s one or two of you out there – you know I’ve been working on a SciFi thriller and things were moving along quickly – 90+ pages in three weeks.
No more.
In the last three plus weeks I’ve been stuck – at 90+ pages. My protagonist and his love interest and his comic-sidekick are confined in a high security cell in a secret genetics lab and I don’t have a damn idea on how to get him out.
Oh, I could fall back on derivative methods –
Stupid Security Guard (33) hat pushed back on head — ragged toothpick dangling from his lip – stares stupidly at the computer screen.
PROTAGONIST
“Pssst. Hey, buddy? Wanna here a
funny story?”
Stupid Security Guard shuffles over to the cell door – leans an ear toward our hero.
THUNK!
Our Hero snatches a ring full of KEYS – unlocks the cell door, and escapes.
Nope! Sorry! Won’t do it.
What I need is a unique, never before seen, scene. The protagonist has to escape using/doing something germane to the story – something that makes the audience say “Cool!”
And… I think I found it! Weeks of doodling, brainstorming, rewriting a scene here and there and it came to me. Of course I won’t tell you what it is – you’ll have to see the movie to find that out – but I have to ask: How do you handle these kinds of situations? What tricks do you use to get the idea mill grinding? For my one or two ‘fans’ out there – let me know what works for you.
That’s a wrap and,
Keep Writing!
I just found your blog via Chris Jones’s blog - and I have to say I am very impressed. Great information and thought provoking articles. Have bookmarked it and will definitely be calling back.
On the get out of jail question - it’s hard to deal with this kind of thing without back-writing a thread into the earlier part of the story. The cliche example is in the Bond movies where our hero goes to see Q in Act 1 and is handed a series of strange contraptions that do stuff which might just be useful. And what-do-you-know? They just happen to be the very things he needs to get out of the various prison cells in which he finds himself stuck in Act 3!
I look forward to finding out what method you have come up with.
All the best.
Rod,
Thanks for stopping by and happy you enjoy my meager contributions to showbiz
Keep Writing!
Mike
Hi, I’m another CJ import to your blog…. following on from Rod’s comments sometimes you find that you’ve put a “thread” without knowing it. I’ve just finished a draft for my producer where he wanted some of the back-story front ended into the actual script. This involved an 18 year old so I introduced her wearing earphones and an MP4 player, just for effect and low and behold I found that I could use the player to get me out of a jam I hadn’t thought of in the treatment! I know you’ve got your solution now, but next time have a look back and see if you’ve already dropped something in for another reason. brokenarrowfilms
John,
Thanks for stopping by and the good advice.
Between you and Rod I have just doubled my visitors!
Keep Writing!
Mike
It’s not the numbers, it’s the passion!