Writing a Scene (Pt. 1)

What is a scene?

In screenwriting, there are many different ways to define a scene. Some will say that it is an event, something that happens, or a “unit of story” that takes place in a specific location. As soon as the scene changes location, it becomes a new scene. I would disagree with that definition. Take a car chase or a foot chase, for example. It moves through many different locations. Is each one of those locations a separate scene? Not to the writer. To the production, yes, but we can talk about production later.

Others will say that a scene must reveal character. But once we know who are the characters, beyond the midpoint of the movie, we often learn seldom new about the characters. Instead, we are watching them use the skills we’ve come to learn they have. So a scene doesn’t necessarily have to reveal character.

So, what does a scene have to do? And how do we know when a set of events is a completed scene?

What needs to happen a scene?

Many screenwriting books will tell you to focus on what the characters want. This is not wrong. You need to know what your character want at every moment in your movie. But the question that defines a scene is not “What do my characters want?” nor “What could happen?” nor “What should happen?” The question a scene needs to address is: “What needs to happen?”