Two Midpoints

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  • Two Midpoints

    This has been on my mind for a while.

    In keeping to the noir tradition, mine has a number of plot points and twists and seems to have two midpoints. When I was concocting things I came up with twist #1 and thought "that will be my midpoint, perfect!" and then after more noodling I came up with #2 and thought "ah, this is the midpoint, nice!"

    Both are keepers and I assumed that during planning, they'd be spaced out with one emerging at the halfway mark but both do. Is it possible for a script to have two midpoints? Seems doubtful to me. Despite the title of this thread, I'm not hung up on this aspect but am keen to ensure that I pace properly and don't overwhelm with too much at any one point.


    Cheerz

  • #2
    Re: Two Midpoints

    A lot of different things can happen at the midpoint.
    - a plot twist
    - the "solution" becomes obvious
    - a new (more global) goal is determined
    - something new is revealed about a character
    - the theme kicks in

    There's no reason more than one can't happen at the same time.
    "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
    - Clive Barker, Galilee

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    • #3
      Re: Two Midpoints

      Cheers.

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      • #4
        Re: Two Midpoints

        Originally posted by 1mper1um View Post
        When I was concocting things I came up with twist #1 and thought "that will be my midpoint, perfect!" and then after more noodling I came up with #2 and thought "ah, this is the midpoint, nice!"
        Two good set pieces = options. And that must've been a good day.

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        • #5
          Re: Two Midpoints

          Sometimes a plot turns on the character. Everything bad tumbles down, dragging him towards the second act.

          Sometimes the character turns. Begins behaving differently. Sometimes the "different" behavior is him regressing to his 1st act self (which would mean in the first half of the second act he's behaving the way he 'should' behave except it's not coming from a pure place), sometimes the character is behaving positively because he's arched (arc'd?) but the sequence of events he set in motion pre-arch are now tumbling down on him.

          Look for those moments, don't worry about twists.

          Imo

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          • #6
            Re: Two Midpoints

            Originally posted by BattleDolphinZero View Post
            Sometimes a plot turns on the character. Everything bad tumbles down, dragging him towards the second act.

            Sometimes the character turns. Begins behaving differently. Sometimes the "different" behavior is him regressing to his 1st act self (which would mean in the first half of the second act he's behaving the way he 'should' behave except it's not coming from a pure place), sometimes the character is behaving positively because he's arched (arc'd?) but the sequence of events he set in motion pre-arch are now tumbling down on him.

            Look for those moments, don't worry about twists.

            Imo

            Great stuff and very timely for me. Thanks.
            Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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            • #7
              Re: Two Midpoints

              Are the repercussions of both twists properly explored in the story? If yes, then it probably isn't much of a problem.

              Do the two twists negate each other? If they do, then that sounds like a problem.

              What I mean is that when the 2nd twist hits the audience, it shouldn't say "The previous twist is meaningless now, because here is again an entirely new twist, that negates what was just revealed!". Some films do that, and it feels like they are piling up twists upon twists just for the sake of it, without exploring the repercussions properly. The audience has not time to adjust, and they start feeling cheated.

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              • #8
                Re: Two Midpoints

                yeah, uhh... cheers.

                What is your character doing in this dualing midpoint?
                But this wily god never discloses even to the skillful questioner the whole content of his wisdom.

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