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My act 2 is BORING.. zzz

dlevanchuk

dlevanchuk

Little frustrated..

Writing short movie screenplay (about 14 mins).

Got really satisfying intro of characters, good story pinch, and great ending with cool twist... but the meat in the middle of act 2, like approaching to the pinch and building up to climax, just plain SUCK and boring! Even I get bored just by writing those parts :weird:

How could I fix build up to make it more exciting? Deeper character study? More research?
help :(
 
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Oh sorry, forgot to mention the story!

Its a drama.

amateur writer wants to earn money by selling his books, but he needs to overcome his extreme speech problem so he can convince people to read his work..
 
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Although it is very difficult for me to make truly applicable suggestions in such an abstract context, I do think you are right in adding more character development. You have introduced the main character, so the audience at least knows what is most important about him. So add a piece of background or a facet of his personality that would be intriguing to the audience. It could be a seemingly mundane exchange with a cashier or a call from an old friend. Show that your character has experience that makes him more interesting and perhaps likeable... or simply go for mysterious.
 
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First suggestion off the top of my head would be him encountering problems, embarassment, etc.. in his daily life caused by the speech problem. Good opportunity for some comic relief there as well. It will build the audiemnces sympathy and connection with the character so they care more about his ultimate resolution.
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
First suggestion off the top of my head would be him encountering problems, embarassment, etc.. in his daily life caused by the speech problem. Good opportunity for some comic relief there as well. It will build the audiemnces sympathy and connection with the character so they care more about his ultimate resolution.
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Thats a good idea. Maybe a moment where he's trying to perfect it at a bathroom while he's meeting with someone-someone walks in on him while he's stuttering into a mirror.
 
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Have you already got the false-high or false-climax? Make your character think he's got it beat just to then fail HARD. Then inster your awesome act 3 twist ending and proceed to blow everyone away.
 
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problems in act 2 are the results of confusion in act 1.

What is the visible goal established in act 1 and attempted in act 2?
Getting people to read his books is broad.
Narrow it down.
For example: He has to PITCH his book to a very pretty publishing executive ... you likely already have something like this, but its not CONNECTED to ACT 1 so it feels boring and unrelated.. my thoughts anyway..
 
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You guys are amazing. I was just looking for basic ways to improve second acts in the stories general.. no matter what story I write ~ it gets boring to me.

Maybe I should get over the fear of dragging main character through some dirts.
 
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Try the McKee scene analysis for the scenes in your 2nd act.

Note the value states of the characters in your story on the way INTO the scene.
Note the value states of the characters in your story on the way OUT of the scene.
If they are the same, this scene doesn't have any reasons to be here, throw it out or rewrite it...

example scene: Guy comes home after being fired.

....

guy loses job goes home and finds his cable has been disconnected..

bad>bad = Yawn..

guy loses job goes home and finds his apt. ransacked and his cat tacked to the wall with his RED swingline office stapler.

bad>worse = oh, thats interesting..
 
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Act 2 is the reason your audience is watching your movie, in the first place.

Act 2 is when Danny Ocean, and all his friends, prepare to excecute the perfect heist. Act 2 is when Jason and Freddy kill a bunch of random teennagers. Act 2 is when Neo learns how to be The One. You catch my drift? Act 2 should be what comes to mind, first. When you think of an idea for a movie, and you tell me what that movie is about, you should be telling me about act 2.
 
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Whitegrinder - thats a good suggestion. Maybe I could make a bulletin on problems the character encounters, and make them more and more problematic

Cracker Funk - Maybe I approached this short movie idea wrong.. I came up with the ending first, and constructed everything backwards.. probably didn't really worked :-S Oh well..

Thank you guys for your help, you re my film school :-P
 
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@levanchuk. Saw your post on poptent "Be creative." :) Good luck on the submission. I'm skipping this one. I tried to think of something and failed.

Shooting the breast cancer commercial tomorrow. This is going to be awesome. I'm comin' poptent. I'm comin....
 
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trueindie said:
@levanchuk. Saw your post on poptent "Be creative." :) Good luck on the submission. I'm skipping this one. I tried to think of something and failed.

Shooting the breast cancer commercial tomorrow. This is going to be awesome. I'm comin' poptent. I'm comin....
Click to expand...

Thanks, but we're skipped this one as well :( stupid mandatory overtime at work kept me away from my camera for the last 2 weeks :censored:
 
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