How To Use A Midpoint

welcome to the ninth video in this series covering the fundamentals of screenwriting and storytelling if you'd like to watch the rest of the videos you can find them linked below or on the end screen of this video when you're writing a feature-length screenplay it can be easy to understand how you want your story to start and maybe where you want it to end but it can be hard to figure out how to maintain a strong dramatic narrative for the long middle section of your story a lot of writers think of their screenplays in three acts the beginning of the story establishes the characters and starts the conflict the middle of the story is where things progress and the character must face many different obstacles and the end is where the climax is reached and the story resolves this is a pretty standard understanding of stories but what is actually supposed to happen during that middle section of the story how do things progress what kind of obstacles should the character be facing when i listen to screenwriters talk about their story's problems one thing i hear a lot is that their second act is confusing or unfocused they also say that they feel the story loses momentum or they simply lose track of where the story is supposed to go if you're struggling with the second act of your screenplay understanding how to build a midpoint can help you focus that middle section of your story and give you much clearer direction today i'm going to take a look at some ways that you can build your story around your midpoint let's begin when you use a strong midpoint you set up a major event that happens right at the center of your story which will dramatically shift your story and send it in a new direction so before the midpoint you can build to this moment and after the midpoint you can force your characters to deal with their new situation caused by the midpoint let's take a look at a few examples of films that used a midpoint to strengthen their second act parasite has one of the strongest midpoint turns in recent memory right at the center of the film a major turn takes place the kims have gotten everything they wanted they have fooled the parks and found solid jobs but the old housekeeper comes back and reveals a massive secret that turns the story and sends us in a completely new direction in 10 cloverfield lane it seems like the characters have finally found stability and are settling into their new life in the bunker the characters finally feel that they can trust one another but then the air filtration system breaks down forcing michelle to go fix it and she finds out that howard has been hiding a dark secret in indiana jones and the raiders of the lost ark indy finds what he's looking for the ark of the covenant all his hard work has paid off but the nazis take the ark from him sending him into the second half of the story attempting to take the ark back out of nazi hands doing this gives focus to that long second act and it gives momentum and purpose to your story gustav freitag was a german novelist and playwright he also wrote a book called the technique of the drama where he analyzed how great plays were created freytag found that many great plays revolved around a high point of drama that took place right in the middle of the story he referred to this point as the climax this is fry tag's pyramid here we see frytag's understanding of how many great plays worked the beginning of the story was called the exposition then rising action led us towards the climax in the middle then falling action led us away from the climax to the denouement where the story was resolved but doesn't the climax take place at the end of the story why does fry tag place the climax at the midpoint freytag's climax is not the resolution of the story it is an extreme shift or turning point in the story the character has now been faced with something that radically turns the story and throws them off their previous path let's look at some examples in parasite the kim family starts out trying to move up in the world by conning the parks into giving them jobs the kims are continuously successful in their scheme they secure jobs for each member of the family at the midpoint or the climax we have a major shift in the story the old housekeeper comes back and reveals a massive secret that turns the story and sends us in a completely new direction now the kims must adapt and hide this new secret from the parks so that they can keep their jobs and at the daenuman the story resolves when the kims can no longer hide the secrets of the basement and their scheme blows up in their faces in 10 cloverfield lane in the beginning of the story michelle wakes up in a strange bunker howard and emmett tell her that it's dangerous to go outside because the air is toxic michelle doesn't believe this and thinks howard has trapped her down here against her will until she sees evidence that the air is actually toxic michelle now believes howard is telling the truth which creates peace in the bunker until the air filtration system needs to be repaired and michelle finds evidence that howard has trapped a girl down here before michelle then formulates a plan with emmett to get free of howard until the day newman where michelle acts on her plan and escapes from the bunker in indiana jones and the raiders of the lost ark it is brought to indy's attention that the nazis are looking for the ark of the covenant so indy goes to search for it and find it before the nazis do at the midpoint indi finds the ark of the covenant but the nazis take it from him so now indy must follow the nazis and retake the ark from them until the denouement when the ark's power destroys the nazis think of freytag's climax as the largest turning point in your story it may be helpful to think of your characters as actively pursuing a clear goal in the first half of your story then being completely derailed at the midpoint and reacting against the events of the midpoint until the resolution of the story another great way to incorporate a midpoint is to use dan harmon's story circle if you've been following this channel you will have heard me talk about harman's story circle in the story circle the midpoint usually takes place at numbers 5 and six where the protagonist gets what they want and then they pay a heavy price for it if we return to our past three examples we see how their midpoints work with this idea in the middle of parasite the kim family has gotten what they wanted they have inserted themselves into the wealthy park family's life they are making great money and have completely fooled the family this is point five on the story circle but this comes at a cost which is point six on the story circle the old housekeeper is back she forces a massive reveal throwing the family into a completely new situation where they could lose everything they've built not only that but this cost continues the park family comes home requiring everyone to secretly sneak out of the house and once the kim family is able to sneak out of the house they return to their own home to find it completely flooded this is a major turning point for the story and it sends us into the second half what will the kim family do now that they have lost so much halfway through 10 cloverfield lane it seems like the characters have finally found stability michelle howard and emmett have worked out their differences michelle believes howard is telling the truth and they have gotten the piece they wanted this is 0.5 in the story circle and now it costs them we move to 0.6 something flies over the bunker vibrating the bunker and causing the air filtration system to break down michelle is the only one small enough to crawl through the air ducts but like in parasite this is only the beginning of the move to six because once michelle gets to the air filtration system things get much worse this destroys the peace and stability the characters just achieved now michelle knows howard is hiding something dark and that she is in danger in indiana jones and the raiders of the lost ark indy finds the ark of the covenant at the midpoint this is 0.5 indy has gotten what he wanted however this comes at a cost we move to 0.6 when the nazis take the ark from indy and leave him to die this creates a completely new situation for indy he must figure out how to survive and retrieve the ark back from the nazis fry tag and harmon both place heavy emphasis on the midpoint of a story they both see the midpoint as a high point of dramatic conflict that defines the first and second halves of the story this isn't to discount a common idea of a climax taking place at the end of a story what it does do is give a different view on how a story's conflict builds and changes in the middle of the story rather than a middle section dedicated to fun and games or further complications something specific is happening a major turning point is reached which sends the characters in a completely new direction not all stories have to have a strong midpoint but understanding this can help you maintain a high level of drama as you move through the tricky middle section of the story so as you go to write ask yourself these two questions number one what does my character want number two what major cost will come when my character gets what they want if you want to see just how many films use a midpoint i suggest taking a look at some of your favorite films and simply skipping to the very middle of the run time what's happening a lot of the time you will find a major event that dramatically changes the character situation obviously not all films have this and it isn't necessary for every story but many stories can be improved by using this technique and yours just might be one of them so now you have an understanding of a midpoint and how you can use it to strengthen the second act of your story and in the next video we're going to be taking a look at one of the most fundamental elements of a screenplay the scene so if you want to watch the rest of the videos in this series click the card on the screen now and if you like this video leave a like and subscribe for more videos just like this one

Channel: Tyler Mowery

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Keywords: film analysis, movie review, tyler mowery, nerdwriter, lessons from the screenplay, every frame a painting, screenwriting, script breakdown, writing, workshop, writing course, teach screenwriting, oscar best screenplay, film school, midpoint, how to use a midpoint, parasite, indiana jones, 10 cloverfield lane, screenwriting structure

Id: QBhTdiKcbGI

Length: 10min 9sec (609 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 03 2020