If you went home and told a friend today that one of your classmates, Trudy, "Made a scene in the school cafeteria with her boyfriend," your friend would know what you meant. Trudy had an argument with him, or gave him a kiss, or something like that. Whatever happened, it was in a setting: the cafeteria. It involved some bit of drama: an argument or a kiss. It lasted about three minutes before her boyfriend left to cool off. Those are the same things that a screenplay scene are about. 

The scene is the fundamental building block of the screenplay. A scene is an unbroken piece of dramatic action that takes place in one setting. In other words, if you change to a different place or time, it's a new scene. 

Scenes in modern popular movies last an average of two minutes. They can last from a few seconds to several minutes, if needed. Sometimes scenes just give information, like seeing a shot of a car speeding to get somewhere. But main scenes are like little stories. There is usually some conflict - conflict is the heart of drama. Tension builds until one character changes directions or decides to change things. Usually at least one character will change emotional states during the scene. He enters happy, leaves mad. She enters aloof, leaves touched. 

Following are descriptions of three example scenes from the example story, Prom Date

Example 1: Shaun and Tim are leaving the school. Shaun's sister, Elizabeth, passes him with her boyfriend, John, and coyly asks Shaun if he has a date for prom yet, making him feel bad. Dave the Geek walks by and Tim says to Shaun, "At least we're not Geeks. Geeks never get a date." Laura comes toward them with a car full of girls. Shaun says, "I wish I could get a date with Laura." Laura waves to Dave. Shaun's and Tim's eyes bulge. Shaun drops his books onto the sidewalk and dismally trudges across the grass toward the gym. 

Example 2: Following the preceding scene: Shaun enters and sits alone on the bleachers watching basketball practice. One player throws him a ball and asks, "Did you get back on the team?" Shaun answers, "I can't - grades are too low." Discouraged, Shaun hands the ball back and leaves.

Note in the preceding scenes that Shaun changed emotional states: wistful to dismal. Shaun changed direction, from wanting to date Laura to despair (but not intensely). There was conflict which built tension: Shaun expressed his desire for a date with Laura, which was increased by seeing Laura wave to Dave. See if you can identify the conflicts, rising tension, and changing emotional states, and changes in direction in the following example.

Example 3: Shaun arrives at Laura's house for the first time, ready to impress her with hard to get tickets to a concert and to ask her for a date. He quickly pulls on a sweater as he leaves his car. Laura opens the door and smiles at him. He smiles at her, then sees over her shoulder. Dave rises from a table, waves, and goes to another room. Shaun is lost for words and Laura stares at him expectantly, finally saying, "Did you want something?" Dave comes to the door and says, "Shaun, you have your sweater on wrong side out." He looks down at it, sees the binding, and lies, "No... It's... meant to be this way." Dave smiles at him and says, "Now we know why you do so poorly in geometry. You don't know the inside of a circle from the outside." Dave and Laura laugh. Laura asks, "Do you want to come in?" Shaun replies, "I, uh, no..." He backs away, stumbling down the first step, and steps into a flower box, his arms flailing in all directions. "Some other time." He quickly leaves as Dave and Laura collapse with laughter.

Reinforcement Questions:

1) Drama, or dramatic action, is the result of:

a. Conflict.

b. Conflicting character actions.

c. Conflicting situations.

d. A kiss. A kiss is just a kiss, but it can sure create a scene. Whew!

e. Um... I like them all.

a. Conflict, which produces tension.

b. More of the above to make it really captivate people.

c. All of the above.

a. When you argue with your brother over chewing gum.

b. When your character wants something, and it is out of reach.

c. When the good guy wants something, and the bad guy won't let him have it.

d. When the bad guy wants something, and the good guy won't let him have it.

e. Yes to all of them.

Distribution:

You are free to give this article in its entirety to others (small groups, under 100) as long as the copyright with my name (Dorian Scott Cole) is included. This material is not public domain and may not be sold, mass distributed, published, or made electronically available in any form, without permission from Dorian Scott Cole. Complementary distribution (unpaid - no charge) will not be charged for. Visit the Visual Writer Web site for e-mail address information.

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