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Story Lessons, Big and Small (Warning: Spoilers!)

September 30, 2006

Ensemble Strategy #1 - A Central Question

Been meaning to post something about ensembles for a while now, but I haven't been quite sure how to break down the many questions and ideas we could explore together. I think I've finally figured out where to begin.

No one ever went wrong starting with John Hughes.

The Breakfast Club is, by my definition, a "true" ensemble. That is, we follow multiple characters--more or less equally--who are part of the same story. (Unlike ensembles in which there's really a protagonist, like Galaxy Quest, and multiplot ensembles that follow multiple characters each with their own story, like Short Cuts. Let's save those discussions for another day.)


Now, conventional single-protagonist stories are generally structured around the posing and answering of a central dramatic question (Will Ripley triumph over the alien queen? Will Clarice learn enough from Hannibal Lecter to catch Buffalo Bill? Will Julia ruin her best friend's wedding so he'll marry her?)


A central dramatic question isn't always the way to go with an ensemble. Think of The Royal Tenenbaums: while Royal's fake illness is largely what brings everyone together, it's only one of many "questions" we have. (Will Chas grieve for his wife and relax his parenting style? Will Margot and Richie begin a romantic relationship?) In some ensembles, everyone's got their own desires and obstacles.


But one of the ways The Breakfast Club works is that it does have a central question of sorts. There is a key question posed to the whole group: will the brain, the princess, the jock, the rebel and the misfit overcome high school typecasting and become friends?


And here's the genius of the script: the characters, right around the end of the second act, pose their own central question out loud:

BRIAN
Um, I was just thinking, I mean. I
know it's kind of a weird time, but
I was just wondering, um, what is
gonna happen to us on Monday? When
we're all together again? I mean I
consider you guys my friends, I'm
not wrong, am I?

This little question leads to the group breaking down emotionally and turning on one another (the second act turning point-- when everyone's furthest away from their happy ending) which then propels them into a third act of discovery, change, and hope.

An all-together-ensemble isn't just a bunch of people going through stuff together... it can be a bunch of people going through the same stuff. Pondering the same question. Think of The Big Chill: everyone struggling with being "grown ups" while wishing they could go back to the idealism they shared when they were friends in college.

So here's the lesson: be half as clever as John Hughes or Lawrence Kasdan, and you'll be fine.


3 Comments:

Blogger deepstructure said...

most horror movies seem to be the ensemble piece at its most boiler plate. a group of people with a common question: "how do i get out of here alive?"

10:47 a.m.  
Blogger m said...

I would argue that The Royal Tenenbaums does have a central question: Can everyone pull their own shit together in time to be a real family again?

9:07 p.m.  
Blogger Jennica said...

Good points from you both... and I have an addendum for each!

DS, I think many horrors are ensembles, but I also think that some fall into "ensemble-with-a-protagonist" territory. Say, the recent movie "The Descent" in which we're following all the women in the caves, but the grieving mom is clearly the central character.

M, you're completely right, but (and here's where this conversation may become completely semantical) I wanted to distinguish between these two kinds of central questions... in R.T. that central question is true of all the stories, but to actually structure/understand each individual character's story, you have to consider their more specific question-- that is, what is the shit each character, specifically, is dealing with. (So, will Chas move beyond the grief for his wife, etc.)

I think that's slightly different from a central question that is actually the same for all the characters, because I think as writers we would approach the building/structuring of those stories differently. I think they're slightly different tools.

What do you think?

9:17 a.m.  

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