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Five Plot Point Breakdowns

"A movie, I think, is really only four or five moments between two people; the rest of it exists to give those moments their impact and resonance. The script exists for that. Everything does." - Robert Towne

When breaking down a film’s structure, generally speaking, “The Eight Sequences” framework is the standard: two in Act One, four in Act Two, and two in Act Three.

But the number 8 is only part of the equation. If the sequences are what shape a screenplay’s three-act structure, then the five major plot points are the building blocks behind sequence construction: Inciting Incident, Lock In, Midpoint, Main Culmination, and Third Act Twist.

Each analysis of selected features breaks the film down to the essential 5 major plot points, time code of when each plot point occurs included.

Falling Down (1993)

Screenplay Genre: Crime / Drama / Thriller

Movie Time: 113 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

Frustrated defense worker William Foster (Michael Douglas) is gridlocked in Los Angeles traffic and decides to leave his car. He walks over to a nearby liquor store to buy a coke, but when he realizes the coke is 85 cents, he is outraged and begins his path of destruction with a baseball bat that he acquires from the Korean store owner. (00:10:06)

Up in the Air (2009)

Screenplay Genre: Drama / Romance

Movie Time: 109 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) travels 275 days a year on business. His life is perfectly in order until his boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), calls and asks him to return home to Omaha at the end of the week for an undisclosed "game changer." (00:10:40)

Rushmore (1998)

Screenplay Genre: Comedy / Drama

Movie Time: 93 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is a student at the private high school Rushmore. Although he is considered one of the worst students according to the school's headmaster Dr. Guggenheim (Brian Cox), he is the king of extracurricular activities. Max's world is changed when a new teacher, Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams), catches his interest. He decides to ingratiate himself with her by leading a petition to make Latin a required course. (00:15:44)

Pulp Fiction (1994) - The Gold Watch

Screenplay Genre: Crime / Thriller

Movie Time: 154 minutes

Segment Time: 50 minutes

Butch’s Story:

1. INCITING INCIDENT

After Butch’s flashback memory of receiving his father’s Gold Watch, boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) wakes up alone in a locker room before the fight he has been paid off to throw. He contemplates, in a cold sweat, what he has decided to do: to incur the wrath of Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) by refusing to throw the fight and collect the money he bet on himself to win. (1:08:01)

Pulp Fiction (1994) - The Bonnie Situation

PULP FICTION (1994) - THE BONNIE SITUATION

Screenplay Genre: Crime / Thriller

Movie Time: 154 minutes

Segment Time: 45 minutes

Jules’ Story:

1. INCITING INCIDENT

Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) & Vincent (John Travolta) go to the hideout of former “business partners” of their boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) in order to collect Marsellus’s briefcase that has been stolen from him. When Jules & Vincent get what they came for, the “business partners” are executed, one by one; culminating with the recitation of Ezekiel 25:17. Getting the briefcase begins the tension of The Bonnie Situation since everything that happens to Jules after getting it comes as a result of the briefcase. (0:17:51)

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Screenplay Five Plot Point Breakdowns

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