Sequences: How They Work. Final.
Wrapping up how sequences work, referring to Sample Sequences.
Stakes: Tension and Release
Across the journey of each sequence you are trying to raise the stakes – keep adding forces and moments that put the character under greater pressure.
You can’t maintain that across the whole length of the film, so you need to create an ebb and flow of tension and release.
For example, the Sequence X+1 – the sequence following the women’s escape from the battle, would typically be quite lyrical and slow. A moment of relief, before the tension starts building again.
Foreshadowing and Pay-offs
Another path to audience participation is foreshadowing and paying off.
The audience loves to realise that something that is happening right now is an echo of something they noticed a while ago, but without realising its significance at the time.
For example, the micro-scene where the maid is clearing up the coffee cups appears at to be mostly about her invisibility. But it also foreshadows that the country is preparing for war. Ultimately, both pieces of information will become important.
And this scene pays off when the old general shows the Queen the map on the battlements before the battle.
When you foreshadow, you want the action to have a surface meaning that is understood immediately and a deeper meaning that the audience deduces over time. You need that initial surface meaning to distract the audience. Otherwise, they tend to ‘pick’ the underlying meaning and get ahead of your story.
Traps to avoid
Over-explaining. Don’t fill in subtext and exposition, allow the audience to join the dots and catch up.
Unmotivated changes in POV. Tie POV changes to problem pressure and shifts, using ‘Who’s Got the Problem Now?’ tool.
Monotonous pressure. Let the pressure shift in intensity and focus.
Monotonous pace and rhythm. Modify length of scenes and pace of scenes to avoid predictability. Thinking and writing in sequences rather than scenes helps you achieve this.
Decorative Transitions. Aim for meaningful metaphoric rhymes, not clever matched cuts.
