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ALIEN, AVATAR, coincidence, GROUNDHOG'S DAY, set-up, STAR WARS, structure - December 01, 2022

GIMME GIMME GIMME

In story development there is a term: gimme. A gimme is a story beat that’s built on a coincidence. There are big gimmes and small gimmes. Typically, a well-constructed story has room for one big gimme. Even then, the big gimme is usually found in the set-up, i.e. the coincidence that either creates the set-up, or gets our protagonist into the set-up. For example, in AVATAR our gimme is that Sully’s brother was fitted for a Na’vi avatar, so he’s the only person who can also inhabit it. In ALIEN our gimme is that Ripley’s ship the Nostromo just-so-happens to...

Denouement

The denouement is the final beat in three-act structure. It is the last scene or sequence in the story. The denouement is incredibly important. Because: the denouement is the last opportunity for the film to communicate with the audience before credits roll. It can determine how the audience feels as they leave the theater, and how they perceive the film as a whole. If the denouement lands with a wrong or sour note, the audience comes away with the movie dwelling on their freshest memory: of that wrong or sour choice. But if we end well, we send the audience...

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