Script Analysis: “Boyhood” — Part 4: Psychological Journey

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Major Plot Points
Wednesday: Sequences
Thursday: Psychological Journey
Friday: Takeaways

Today: Psychological Journey.

The way I look at a script, it is a screenplay universe comprised of two worlds:

External World: Action and Dialogue.
Internal World: Intention and Subtext.

The first is the realm of a story’s Physical Journey, what we see and hear on screen.
The second is the realm of a story’s Psychological Journey, what we intuit and interpret.

The Physical Journey deals with the question: What is the story about?
The Psychological deals with the question: What does the story mean?

The two are inextricably linked. Characters experience something in the External World which impacts their attitude in the Internal World which alters their behavior in the External World which brings them to new knowledge which impacts their attitude which alters their behavior and so on.

Played out over the course of an entire story, we call this dynamic: Metamorphosis (or Transformation).

Joseph Campbell said the whole point of a Hero’s Journey is transformation.

Therefore we cannot consider script structure without embracing the Psychological Journey along with the Physical Journey.

So as we analyze a script, we can ask these questions:

* Which characters go through a metamorphosis?

* Where do they begin and where do they end in the transformation-journey?

* What are the stages in their metamorphosis?

* How do plot points in the External World impact and influence the character’s change in the Internal World?

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown created by Jacob Jensen, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Major Plot Points, go here.

For Part 3, to read the Sequences, go here.

Written by Richard Linklater.

IMDb plot summary: The life of a young man, Mason, from age 5 to age 18.

Writing Exercise: Go through the script or the scene-by-scene breakdown and ask yourself: Which characters go through a metamorphosis? Where do they begin and where do they end in the transformation-journey? What are the stages in their metamorphosis? How do plot points in the External World impact and influence the character’s change in the Internal World?

Tomorrow we wrap up our weekly analysis by considering what takeaways we may have discovered which we can bring to our own writing.

This series started here and we have 25 volunteers to do scene-by-scene breakdowns of contemporary movie scripts. The scripts we have already analyzed are in italics.

American Hustle: Jon Raymond
Argo: Nora Barry
Barney’s Version: John M
Belle: DaniM
Beginners: Ali
Boyhood: Jacob Jensen
Enough Said: Ali
Flight: 14Shari
Frankenwenie: Will King
Frozen: Christina Sekeris
Gone Girl: NateKohler1
Gravity: Matt Duriez
Hanna: John Arends
Lincoln: pgronk
Looper: erikledrew
Moonrise Kingdom: Daniel Bigler
Mud: Alejandro
Paranorman: OhScotty
Prisoners: Melinda Mahaffey Icden
Short Term 12: Carolina Groppa
The Artist: Traci Nell Peterson
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Rob Hoskins
The Social Network: N D
The Way Way Back: Ricky
Wadjda: iamdaniel

If you’d like to participate and do a scene-by-scene breakdown yourself, please indicate which script in comments or email me. We are using scripts available on our site here. Note some of the 2014 scripts are now available there including Belle, Birdman, Boyhood, Calvary, Get On Up, Gone Girl, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Kill The Messenger, Locke, St. Vincent, The Boxtrolls, The Fault In Our Stars, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Theory of Everything, and Wild.

For new volunteers and those who have already volunteered, but not sent me a breakdown yet, please do so as soon as possible. Thanks!

Circling back to where we started, reading scripts is hugely important. Analyzing them even more so. If you want to work in Hollywood as a writer, you need to develop your critical analytical skills. This is one way to do that.

So seize this opportunity and join in the conversation!

I hope to see you in comments about this week’s script: Boyhood.

Comment Archive