Essential action definition movie#
But his definition of justice for three-quarters of the movie has been to bring the escaped murderer in. His Need-which has always been operating, is to see justice done. Then his Object of Desire shifts from his Want to his Need. He tries several different tactics, and every time Kimble thwarts him, he is forced to question his Want a little more, until-snap!-at his All Is Lost Moment, he understands that Kimble really is innocent. Throughout the Middle Build, Gerard’s Object of Desire, his Want, is to bring the fugitive in. If you watch the whole movie (which we enthusiastically recommend), you’ll see Gerard expressing the same type of Essential Action tactics towards Richard Kimble in scene after scene: Outwit.
What is Gerard’s Essential Action? He is disregarding what the fugitive says to him.What is Kimble’s Essential Action? He is imploring the marshall, begging him for the chance to prove his innocence.What is Gerard literally doing? He has lost his gun to the fugitive.What is Richard Kimble literally doing? He’s holding a gun on a federal marshall.Tommy Lee Jones is Sam Gerard, the federal marshall pursuing him. Harrison Ford plays Richard Kimble, the fugitive. Watch this forty-second clip from the 1993 film The Fugitive. The Essential Action in the scene should be condensed down to a short, wide-open phrase, or a highly specific single verb that also relates to the Global Objects of Desire. So, if the Literal Action is what’s happening on the surface, then the Essential Action is what’s happening below the surface, or the subtext within the scene. From that desire comes a goal, and that goal is the character’s Essential Action, which should be connected to the character’s goal for the entire story. The Inciting Incident within a scene upsets the status quo, causing a desire to arise within one or more characters. The characters might be having a conversation over lunch, practicing Wudan sword stances, or hiding from velociraptors.īut what is the Essential Action? (The term doesn’t even appear in the Story Grid book.) It is the point of view character’s goal in the scene, or what they want. Literal action is pretty straightforward. The first two are “What is literally happening in the scene?” and “What is the essential action of what the characters are doing in the scene?” It all starts with knowing what the point of view character wants, also known as the Essential Action.Īfter each scene in Pride and Prejudice: The Story Grid Edition, Shawn Coyne poses four specific questions to help writers determine whether a Story Event occurs within the scene. Leslie and Anne’s Story Grid Investigation Team has been on the case, and today we’ll show you what you need to know to evaluate the conflict in your scenes and ensure they support a Story Event that works within the scene and the Global Story. One of our fellow Story Grid editors will tackle life value changes in a Fundamental Fridays post coming soon (in the meantime, check out this post on Tracking the Scene). It’s “an active change in life value for one or more of the characters as a result of conflict.” What’s more, the life value change and conflict within the scene must be specific too.Įven if you nail your Global Genre and have included all the appropriate Obligatory Scenes and Conventions, your story could still flounder if you don’t pay attention to these scene elements. So long as something is happening, you have a Story Event, right? Not necessarily.Ī Story Event is specific, not just something that happens.
When we say that in order for your scene to work, you must have a Story Event, you probably wouldn’t be surprised, and it doesn’t sound too difficult. New! This blog post is now available in audio.
Essential Action: The Key to Compelling Characterizationĭownload the Math of Storytelling Infographic
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