Review: Structure, Stakes & Conflict

A feature script is written in three acts and usually has about 100 pages. The three act structure of a script also includes certain points in the script when the story has some major complications or reversals for the main character. Very often, newbie scripts are linear in nature. That is to say that things happen and then more things happen and then we reach the end. There’s no tension – there’s nothing we wonder and worry about. Movies have to have something hanging in the balance – something wonderful that might not happen if the hero doesn’t get there on time OR something awful that might happen if the hero doesn’t get there on time.

Many writers (including myself) use the 4 act structure which goes something approximating this:

Act One pages 1 thru 25
Act Two pages 25 thu 50
Act Three pages 50 through 75
Act Four pages 75 through 100

One of the most fundamental tenets of drama is: stasis – change – stasis. That is to say that you establish the world of your script and then you throw something at that situation which rocks the boat. For example, here’s Jim Carrey and his lovely wife and he’s going to work but – why are people acting funny? Was that a camera following me? And we have THE TRUMAN SHOW. Another example: Here’s Roy Scheider and his lovely wife and kids and they move into this lovely seaside resort and A GIANT SHARK EATS SOMEONE. Now, in the case of JAWS when the “inciting incident” (that which rocks the boat) happens is artfully done first thing in the movie. Except that nobody saw it happen but you, the audience member. So a wonderful kind of tension is set in motion. Because we know that shark is out there but other people don’t. They still keep swimming. We’re biting our nails.

So the fundamental nature of a script is that we have conflict. How will your characters overcome a challenge? What is the “ticking clock” or time limit on overcoming that challenge? What will happen if they don’t succeed? These things are called stakes, obstacles and conflict and these are the things that create a narrative of escalating tension.

Stakes is what hangs in the balance if our hero doesn’t succeed. It’s established at the beginning of the movie and with each obstacle, the stakes become harder and harder to save. Conflict is what drives your story forward like an engine.

Now, in a three- act script, there are certain accepted points in the script when conflict rises and there are twists in the story. Those points are page 10, page 30, page 60 and page 90. Or, as you may have read, page 10 (the inciting incident) page 30 (the first plot point which leads us into the second act) page 60 (the midpoint; the middle of the second act) and page 90 (the second plot point before the big climax in the third act). See the slightly different page number indications above, in the 4-act structure.

Without conflict and without a ticking clock of some kind, your script will be totally dull. Movies are about conflict. Even if that conflict is funny. Things go wrong.

Imagine this: a friend says to you – you’ll never guess what happened today! I was headed to the grocery store and the traffic was really bad! O-kay. But try it a different way: I was headed to my wedding and the traffic was really bad! Now we are left with a pressing question: did you make it on time? Now we are interested in the outcome because something was at stake and it wasn’t the price of cantaloupe.

Stakes in your screenplay are about exciting outcomes. An outcome is not exciting unless either something bad might happen if it doesn’t work out or something really great will NOT happen. If there’s nothing at stake then we have an ordinary day in real life. Gee, hope I make it to the gym before they close. Yawn.

Real life is often quite pedestrian. But movies are about conflict. Without conflict, your script will be labeled “soft”, stamped with a PASS and tossed into the recycling bin. Verily, Rouge Wavers would be surprised how often newer writers just don’t have enough in the way of stakes in their scripts. Memorize this: movies are about conflict. Something always has to be at stake. What if the little animals in OVER THE HEDGE can’t get back to safety? Will Woody be reunited with the little boy who loves him in TOY STORY? Stakes are – tell me what happened? Did he make it? Did she find out? Did they catch the train on time?? They are why we sit in our seats until the credits roll. They are what happens in the end.

Stakes are the engine that drives your story forward toward its inevitable end. Stakes, conflicts and obstacles are always relative to the premise of your story and to your main character. The stakes, conflicts and obstacles present in PIRATES III are excitingly appropriate for that particular premise. The stakes and conflicts in FREAKY FRIDAY are relative to that premise. And BRIGADOON. And DISTURBIA.

In SOPHIE’S CHOICE, Sophie must choose between one of her two babies in a Nazi concentration camp. Stakes don’t get bigger than that. But stakes can be funny too: what is at stake for Derek Zoolander in ZOOLANDER? Only his life’s work, his identity and his ego. That’s pretty huge for Derek.

Stakes can be the end of the world, telling the person you love that you love them, saving a life, stopping a killer, restoring an important relationship, saving the nation from nuclear war. The size and scope, the bigness of the stakes in your story should be a relative match for the premise and your main character. It would be ludicrous if the stakes in DISTURBIA, for example, were the end of the world – that’s totally outside of the premise. And remember, if you execute your pages beautifully, that an old woman’s garden will wilt and die can be a huge set of stakes – for that character. Think about the genre. Are you writing an action picture? Okay the garden really isn’t going to work. But it worked beautifully (if campily) in SILENT RUNNING.

Do some homework; watch some of your favorite movies. Press the pause button in the early part of the movie and ask yourself what seems to be at stake for the main character. Is it clear to you what the main character’s goal is? Now watch for a while longer and pause again – what is the character’s flaw? What conflicts is the character facing? What will happen if he or she doesn’t reach their goal through whatever narrative is in motion?

Remember the fundamental tenet of drama: stasis – change – stasis. Movies ARE conflict. Nobody will pay nine dollars and sit still for two hours to watch a story in which nothing significant is at stake. Check your premise; it is right there, before you start writing pages, that you need to make sure you have stakes that will drive your story. How funny it was that time you and your buddies went to Vegas doesn’t sound that interesting. Unless you went there to kill yourself. Unless you went there to count cards. Unless you went there to steal a billion dollars from the casino vault. Those are stakes.

If you enjoyed this post, follow me on Twitter or subscribe via RSS.