Journal: The Confrontation

Journal: The Confrontation

by Paul Adams

Today, I would like to talk about the Confrontation. In case you don’t know,  the “three-act structure” consists of three parts: the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution. The setup and resolution should be generally small, taking up only a fourth or so of the total length of the story, coming at the beginning and end respectively. For a long time I considered them the most important parts of the story. If you can put together a good setup and a fulfilling climax, your story was good. The confrontation was just the in-between.

Now, while the setup and resolution are important, I’ve recently come to the conclusion that the confrontation is arguably the most important piece of your work. The confrontation itself takes up the bulk of the story, at least half of the work in the center and, like a sandwich, should contain the meat of the story’s content. The saying I’ve been using lately is that it should “show the viewer what THEY came to see.”

What do I mean by this? Well, if someone were to go to a sporting event, they wouldn’t be there to see two hours of detailed introductions on each player, manager, and ref involved, followed by about five minutes of gameplay, would they? (Of course, every sporting event I’ve ever been to seems to do this. But then, I’m not a sports guy, so what do I know?) Too often, a writer, filmmaker, musician, or otherwise forgets this. They get too wrapped up in telling THEIR story, that they forget that their audience couldn’t really care less about THEIR story. The trick, I’ve found, is to give the audience what THEY came for, and then weave YOUR story into it.

I suppose a good demonstration of this in the cinematic world is the difference between last year’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Pixar’s Finding Nemo. When it comes to Batman v. Superman, it should be obvious what the audience came for. Batman (wait for it) versus Superman. So then, according to the three-act structure, the first fourth of the movie should then have showed us A) who is Batman, B) who is Superman, and C) why they want to fight each other. Simple, right? Then the next hour to two hours of the movie should then have been Batman (can you guess?) fighting Superman. Some parts straight up action, some parts mental games, some parts strategy and preparation, but nevertheless a whole lot of Batman versus Superman, followed up by a satisfying conclusion that puts an end to their fighting. However, what we got was two hours of endless talking and setup, not only for Batman versus Superman but for a larger movie universe as a whole, followed by eight minutes total of actual Batman versus Superman.

Now compare that to Finding Nemo, Pixar’s endearing story about a fish father finding his fish son and crossing a whole ocean to do so. In the first fifteen minutes or so, we get a clear and concise set up of A) who Marlin is, B) who Nemo is, C) How Nemo gets captured. During the next hour or so, the audience is then treated to an adventure across a vast ocean featuring encounters with sharks, turtles, jellyfish, ocean mines, anglerfish, whales, swarms of fish, and of course Dory. Couple that off with segments of Nemo experiencing life in a fish tank, encountering his fellow fish, filters, tank features like volcanoes, kids tapping on the glass, and kids shaking the fish bag too much. All in all, more than enough to satisfy and surpass the viewers’ expectations. Then finally we get our conclusion that wraps up nicely the emotional baggage set up in the beginning.

This is something to remember throughout any genre or medium. Harry Potter, while containing several great moments of storytelling, devotes most of its time to immersing its reader in this world of magic and especially the various aspects of Hogwarts. When making a horror film, the Setup period should be spent setting up the monster and the cannon fodder, while then spending the bulk of the film building suspense and squeezing every ounce of terror from the audience. In an action movie, most of the film should be, of course, filled with non-stop action. In essence, remember what the story should be, what the audience came for, and give it to them. Whatever world you have promised them, show it to them. Nothing turns off a reader or viewer more than wanting to swim out and breathe in the full world the story has laid out for them, but constantly being driven along a narrow course through the most boring part of it just because the writer's too wrapped up in THEIR story. So, let them explore it. Immerse them in it. Give them all they hoped for and more. If you don’t, it won’t matter how good you think YOUR story is. It will never be heard.

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