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| The Arche de Triompnhe |
Writing partners have called me "Mr. Structure."
I've also been called "The Structure King."
I do believe I have an innate eye for structure. I always have. It just came naturally to me even before I read my first book on the subject: Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by the immortal Syd Field. It was no doubt the byproduct of watching literally thousands of films growing up.
Generally speaking, most of my screenwriting tips have been cynical takes on the business and career rather than writing nuts and bolts. One day, I will have to sing the praises of the three-act structure, but today I want to discuss something that left me confused. How so you put a Big Gloom in a film with an unhappy ending?
First, let's define that term. What is The Big Gloom?
Most successful screenplays have three acts: The Beginning, The Middle and The End. What could be simpler, right? The Beginning is the set-up, where you establish your characters and the crisis. The Middle is the complication, or, as some call it, the rising action. Here your protagonist faces an increasingly difficult set of obstacles until he/she reaches The Big Gloom. The Big Gloom is the all is lost moment at the end of second act. This is when things couldn't possibly get worst for the protagonist. His/her goals now seem utterly unobtainable. However, in The End, the hero somehow manages to triumph -- at least in most American films made outside of the seventies. It's those films from the seventies that threw me off.
I found myself revisiting many of the great films of the seventies while appearing on the Yippee Ki Yay Mother Podcast. (Hopefully we will be back one day. We still have episodes in the can!) Many of those films had dark or unhappy endings, and they always felt structurally wrong to me. Analyzing them, I figured out why: There was no Big Gloom. I found myself anticipating an all is lost moment, but, in those films, the true Big Gloom is actually the end of film itself. Since I expect The Big Gloom at the end of the second act, those films always felt to me as if there was no third act.
That seeming violation of the rules of structure always left me disconcerted.
But I missed something obvious.
You can't have a Big Gloom at the end of the second act of a film with an unhappy ending, you have to do the reverse and have a Big Triumph. Instead of having a depressing all is lost moment, you have a "we made it!" moment.
One of my guilty pleasures is 1975's Race With The Devil, starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates, about two vacationing couples fleeing Satanists in the Southwest after they witness a ritualistic murder. The film ends with them surrounded by the Satanists and about to die. What did they have at the end of the second act? A Big Triumph. In a showpiece road battle, the good guys seem to finally vanquish the pursuing Satanists.
Here's the trailer:
Another example can be found in 1980's The Long Good Friday, where a British gangster Bob Hoskins finds himself inadvertently battling the Irish Republican Army. At the end of the second act, we get a Big Triumph. You get the feeling Hoskins had beaten his opponents, but not so. The film ends with him sitting in the backseat of a car as a prisoner contemplating his coming death. It is a great gangster film. Check it out if you haven't seen it.
Here's the trailer:
And here's the last scene:
Many screenwriting books discuss The Big Gloom, under different names, in great detail. However, I had never seen any of them discuss The Big Triumph.
You read it here first, folks.
I've also been called "The Structure King."
I do believe I have an innate eye for structure. I always have. It just came naturally to me even before I read my first book on the subject: Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by the immortal Syd Field. It was no doubt the byproduct of watching literally thousands of films growing up.
Generally speaking, most of my screenwriting tips have been cynical takes on the business and career rather than writing nuts and bolts. One day, I will have to sing the praises of the three-act structure, but today I want to discuss something that left me confused. How so you put a Big Gloom in a film with an unhappy ending?
First, let's define that term. What is The Big Gloom?
Most successful screenplays have three acts: The Beginning, The Middle and The End. What could be simpler, right? The Beginning is the set-up, where you establish your characters and the crisis. The Middle is the complication, or, as some call it, the rising action. Here your protagonist faces an increasingly difficult set of obstacles until he/she reaches The Big Gloom. The Big Gloom is the all is lost moment at the end of second act. This is when things couldn't possibly get worst for the protagonist. His/her goals now seem utterly unobtainable. However, in The End, the hero somehow manages to triumph -- at least in most American films made outside of the seventies. It's those films from the seventies that threw me off.
I found myself revisiting many of the great films of the seventies while appearing on the Yippee Ki Yay Mother Podcast. (Hopefully we will be back one day. We still have episodes in the can!) Many of those films had dark or unhappy endings, and they always felt structurally wrong to me. Analyzing them, I figured out why: There was no Big Gloom. I found myself anticipating an all is lost moment, but, in those films, the true Big Gloom is actually the end of film itself. Since I expect The Big Gloom at the end of the second act, those films always felt to me as if there was no third act.
That seeming violation of the rules of structure always left me disconcerted.
But I missed something obvious.
You can't have a Big Gloom at the end of the second act of a film with an unhappy ending, you have to do the reverse and have a Big Triumph. Instead of having a depressing all is lost moment, you have a "we made it!" moment.
One of my guilty pleasures is 1975's Race With The Devil, starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates, about two vacationing couples fleeing Satanists in the Southwest after they witness a ritualistic murder. The film ends with them surrounded by the Satanists and about to die. What did they have at the end of the second act? A Big Triumph. In a showpiece road battle, the good guys seem to finally vanquish the pursuing Satanists.
Here's the trailer:
Another example can be found in 1980's The Long Good Friday, where a British gangster Bob Hoskins finds himself inadvertently battling the Irish Republican Army. At the end of the second act, we get a Big Triumph. You get the feeling Hoskins had beaten his opponents, but not so. The film ends with him sitting in the backseat of a car as a prisoner contemplating his coming death. It is a great gangster film. Check it out if you haven't seen it.
Here's the trailer:
And here's the last scene:
Many screenwriting books discuss The Big Gloom, under different names, in great detail. However, I had never seen any of them discuss The Big Triumph.
You read it here first, folks.
Other Writing Tips:
Preview my horrifying new novel Chapel Street on Amazon:
Listen to me read some chapters here:
Chapel Street - Prologue - My Mother
Chapel Street - Chapter 1 - RestingPlace.com
Chapel Street - Chapter 2 - Elisabetta
Chapel Street - Chapter 3 - The Upload
Chapel Street - Chapter 4 - The Kobayashi Maru
Let's stay in touch:
Chapel Street - Prologue - My Mother
Chapel Street - Chapter 1 - RestingPlace.com
Chapel Street - Chapter 2 - Elisabetta
Chapel Street - Chapter 3 - The Upload
Chapel Street - Chapter 4 - The Kobayashi Maru
Let's stay in touch:
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