Writing a Scene (Pt. 2)

What makes a Scene a Scene?

In my last blog, we defined a scene as a unit of story in which a character has a clear want they either do or don’t get because of a conflict with another character, and the result of that conflict in some way advances the plot of your story toward its inevitable climax.

Let’s take a look at how we do that.

Which scenes matter and which don’t?

Every scene in a movie is absolutely essential. If in any way a scene is unnecessary — we don’t need the information we’re being told, we don’t care about the characters in the scene or what happening, or we don’t really need the scene — it shouldn’t be in your script.

Trust me, no matter how important you think every scene in your script might be, they are still just words on a page. Once actors, camera work, sets and music are added to convey emotion and meaning, things you thought were essential are going to seem redundant and unnecessary. Guess what? They will be cut without reservation.

If you’re smart, you’ll try to be as ruthless as possible. If nothing else, err on the side of under-informing your audience. Audiences like a good challenge. To a certain extent, they want to connect the dots on their own. So give them the opportunity.