Reflections on Screenplay Structure
This analysis from Michael Waters of the major plot points in The Imitation Game spawned a larger discussion of screenplay structure:
1. Break in at Turing’s House (page 1)
2. Info Passed to Menzies MI6 (who do nothing)(page 2)
3. Nock gets curious that Turing ‘is hiding something’ (page 7)
4. Turing gets the job from Dennitson as a codebreaker (p13)
5. Young Turing suffers bullying at school. Christopher saves him (p19)
6. Nock pursues Turing past — draws a blank (p23)
7. Churchill puts Turing in charge (p32)
8. Joan Clarke passes the crosswords test, wins Alan Turing as a prize (p39)
9. Young Christopher gets Young Turing into puzzles (p41)
10. Nock lies to his boss to continue pursuing Turing (p43)
11. Turing uses Joan to help him (secretly) work on breaking the code, becomes implicated in the hunt for a spy (p53)
12. Turing learns to makes friends (p59)
13. Menzies tries to close down ‘Christopher’ (machine). The team stand up and save ‘Christopher’ and Turing (p65)
14. Nock gets an arrest warrant for Turing on homosexuality charges, not spying charges (P68)
15. Turing proposes to Joan (spycraft: learning to lie) (p75)
16. Young Christopher does not return to school (p76)
17.EUREKA Turing and team crack the code (p85) *Important plot point otherwise Germany wins WW2!*
18. Now the team must keep the fact they broke the code secret. (p93)
19. Cairncross is revealed as the Soviet spy (the one person Turing trusted with his secret) (P98)
20. Turing lies to Joan to break their engagement (and protect her) (p104)
21. Young Turing lies to his headmaster about being friends with Christopher (a guilty lie he’ll carry with him all his life) — the start of a career of lying. (p105)
22. The war is over but the lie must continue Also Menzies callback line (behave and you’ll not see me again (plot point 2) (p109)
23. An elderly Turing is ruined by the conviction of homosexuality and consequences (chemical treatment) (p115)
24. Denouement: The enigma story can be declassified and homosexuality is decriminalized. (p117)
A lot of plot points, I know, but 3 time frames and the story of relationships, lying about sexuality and lying about what you did during the war means a lot of ground to cover.
My response:
Excellent, Michael. I believe you’ve hit all the major events in all three timelines and on both levels, the Enigma plot and Turing’s ‘psychological’ journey.
24 events is not uncommon. Obviously some are more important than others (#17 in your list an example “otherwise Germany wins WW2”), but the mantra ‘something happens’ in stories is never more true than with movies. We have 90–120 minutes to tell an entire story which almost always involves a character or characters’ metamorphoses. Things NEED to happen in order to move things along. William Goldman talks about the “relentless” nature of the camera.
“In a book you might start with some dialogue, and then describe your clothing, and more dialogue. The camera gets that in an instant. Boom, and you’re on. Get on, get on. The camera is relentless. Makes you keep running.”
At a fundamental level, that translates into ‘something happening’ on a recurring basis, what we call plot points.
I am reminded of a comment by Allan Durand, 2012 Nicholl Fellowship winner:
“The way I did it is every five to 10 pages, I wanted a big fist to come out of the screenplay and punch the reader right in the gut.”
So the list of 24 plot points you came up with if we multiply times 5 (as a general touchstone for something happening every 5 pages) and we end up with 120 pages. The Imitation Game script is 117 pages long.
The original iteration of the Whammo theory I heard years ago was something needed to go ‘whammo’ in a movie every 10 minutes to sustain the viewer’s interest. I think it’s time we instituted a post-modern version of the Whammo theory: Make it every five pages. Audiences want more and more often, and every 5 minutes is more in tune with that sensibility.
Well, I should just copy and paste this into a blog post. So double thanks, Michael!
As I say, there is no right way to write… and that extends to screenplay structure as well. In fact, I flagged an item I hit on recently which demonstrates the ridiculous number of paradigms promulgated in the screenwriting universe. Find the structure that works for you and the story, the best way to convey the narrative. But whatever you do, make sure stuff happens, often and regularly, to keep the plot moving. A whammo every 5 pages, some big, some small, always making sure that something is happening? Sounds good to me.
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