Scenes Re-Examined

Like houses are made of bricks, as are screenplays made of scenes. Scenes are the building blocks of any movie. They’re where everything in your movie actually happens.

It may seem simple, but the definition of a scene — what it means, what it must accomplish, and what it contains — can be an intricate nexus of story and characters.

To define a scene: An event in your screenplay which drives the story forward.

Technically speaking, a scene is bound by two scene headings: it’s own and the heading of the scene that follows. From a story point of view, each individual scene functions as a mini-movie. So naturally, every single scene has its own array of story elements:

• Protagonist
• Antagonist
• Objective
• Conflict
• Stakes
• Midpoint

Every single scene in your screenplay should satisfy at least one (if not both) of these two parameters:

• Scenes are events that drive story forward
• Scenes reveal critical information about your protagonist

This is why screenplays need to be“tight.” By that, we mean every scene of the screenplay serves a critical purpose. You don’t have any extra fluff in your story.