BLOG POST-1-INITIAL IDEAS
The initial idea for my film was for it to be related to UK gang crime as it correlates with the recent increase in violence, therefore it can represent an awareness of some of the real-life situations facing young people and what leads them to their actions.
Here were some of my ideas for characters and locations
Emanuel (brother) and -Kyrah (sister), Kai (lover-boy Jayden (leader of the gang)
-Kyrah's house, a street, a park, and an corned off alley
blog post 2-Generic convention
Drama/Romantic tragedy genre
•Exhibits real life situations with realistic characters, setting, and stories
•Portrays journey of characters development
•Intense social interactions
•Purpose of the dramatic story-line is to move the audience emotionally
• the heart of a drama is conflict
•Structured with climatic events and anti climaxes to keep the audience emotionally attached
blog post 3-Film pitch
Describe your image
Describe your image
blog post 4-famous screen writers
What is a screenwriter and what is their job?
The screenwriter is the writer of the script of a film. They create the dialogue, the characters and the story-line of a movie script. The screenwriter is often the most essential person in film production because no movie can start without some form of a script
Who do screenwriters work with?
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Screenwriters work with directors and producers to write scripts for films or TV shows.
What skills are required to become a successful screenwriter for TV and/or film
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Some may begin their careers as copywriters or writers for production companies.
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Screenwriters need to be able to work in a team and under pressure. A degree is not necessary, but many screenwriters perfect their skills
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When writing scripts, screenwriters are responsible for describing the stories in detail, including physical environments and the moods of the characters.
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Films and televisions show require the use of these scripts.
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Prior to production of a film or show, screenwriters might produce a synopsis and several scenes of a story
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A shooting script is then prepared. The shooting script entails camera, lighting and shot instructions.
Elements to be aware of when writing a good synopsis...
• Limit your synopsis to one page or less.
• Include a sentence or two about your beginning scenes.
• Describe where the story happens and at least the major character.
• Other characters can be introduced, but don’t make the synopsis too detailed.
• Include the most important conflict or events in the story.
• Use the present tense except for events that come before the story.
• Link synopsis paragraphs to one another in a logical way – so they flow.
• Write your synopsis paragraphs so anyone can understand your story.
• Try to convince your reader that your story is interesting and would make a great movie.
• Include a sentence or two about your ending scenes.
• Let your voice or style come through in your synopsis.
• Always proofread your synopsis for correct style, grammar, and usage
The test my synopsis, I needed to myself the following questions...
• Does my synopsis give a producer an accurate view of my story?
• Based on my synopsis, could a producer easily pitch my screenplay to others?
• Can my synopsis be easily understood or is it too complicated of a read?
• Is my synopsis bogged down with too many unimportant or unnecessary details?
What does a synopsis need to include?
1-Begin your synopsis with a long line
2-Start with your character in motion
3-Establish a clear cause- and effect connections
4-Focus on emotions
5-Include your major set pieces
6-Think cinematically
7-Go out with a bang
A couple of famous scriptwriters
The quirky filmmaker spent his early days working at Video Archive
a video rental store in Manhattan Beach, Calif. He worked on script
ideas with co-worker Roger Aviary, with whom he shared the 1995
Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Pulp Fiction. While working at the
video store, he also wrote the screenplays for True Romance and
Natural Born Killers.
Quentin Tarantino
After studying physics and English at a two-year community college in California, Cameron worked as a truck driver. In his spare time, he wrote scripts and taught himself about special effects by reading graduate students' theses in the USC library. After seeing Star Wars in 1977, he quit his truck-driving job to pursue a film career.
Aline Brosh McKenna
Before winning an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave, John Ridley had a variety of writing jobs including working as a staff writer on the TV show Martin as well as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. What got Ridley in the movie writing world was a novel he wrote, failed to sell and then turned into a screenplay. That novel was Stray Dogs which became a movie directed by Oliver Stone.
John Ridley
After studying physics and English at a two-year community college in California, Cameron worked as a truck driver. In his spare time, he wrote scripts and taught himself about special effects by reading graduate students' theses in the USC library. After seeing Star Wars in 1977, he quit his truck-driving job to pursue a film career
James Cameron
The writer and director behind middle-aged rom-coms It’s Complicated and Something’s Gotta Give worked as a production assistant for The Price Is Right and as a story editor for producer Ray Stark when she moved to Los Angeles from Philadelphia. A desire to focus on scriptwriting led her to quit her assistant jobs and start her own cheesecake business, a venture that allowed her to spend her time outside of the kitchen writing movies.
Nancy Meyers
John Patrick
An Oscar-winning screenwriter wrote both the play and movie versions of Doubt, among others. After being put on academic probation following his freshman year at NYU, he graduated. After graduation he wrote plays and supported himself with a series of jobs that included elevator operator, house painter etc It was a National Endowment for the Arts grant that finally let him focus on writing full time and devote his time to a script that became Moonstruck.
suzanne collins
Locus Awards — for SF/F/H works
(3 nominations)
2011: Mockingjay — young adult book — 3rd place
2010: Catching Fire — young adult novel — 4th place
2009: The Hunger Games — young adult novel — 9th place
Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and author, best known as the author of The New York Times bestselling series The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games trilogy.
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1962, Suzanne Collins was the daughter of an Air Force pilot, and her family moved several times when she was young. After proving herself as a talented children's television writer, she published her debut book, Gregor the Overlander, the first book of The Underland Chronicles. In 2008, the first book of The Hunger Games series was published. Her trilogy of Hunger Game books went on to become a motion picture series.
Awards Summary
Awards Won: 5
Total Number of Award Wins and Nominations: 11
— Major Awards —
— Other Awards —
Geffen Awards — for SF works
(3 nominations; 3 wins)
2013: Mockingjay — YA SF or fantasy book — winner
2012: Catching Fire — SF book — winner
2011: The Hunger Games — SF book — winner
Golden Duck Awards — for children's and YA SF books
(2 nominations; 2 wins)
2010: Catching Fire — Hal Clement Award (young adult) — winner
2009: The Hunger Games — Hal Clement Award (young adult) — winner(tie)
Ray Bradbury Award — for SF
(1 nomination)
2013:- The Hunger Games — finalist
Bram Stoker Awards — for Horror works
(1 nomination)
2013: The Hunger Games — screenplay — nomination
Andre Norton Award — for YA SF/F works
(1 nomination)
2011: Mockingjay
An expample of her screenplay/Recorded interviews
Blog 5- INdustry representation
Why do screenwriters need a union or association?
Let’s say a studio reads a script it wants to buy. The writer isn’t a member of the WGA. If the writer weren’t required to join the union, the studio could save a lot of money and hassle.
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It could pay less than minimums
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It wouldn’t have to pay into the health plan
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It wouldn’t have to pay into the pension plan
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It wouldn’t have to pay residuals
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It could decide which name would be listed for “written by.”
Given these advantages, a studio would certainly prefer if the writer weren’t WGA and could make a purchase of the script contingent on the writer agreeing not to join the WGA
What do they have in the UK and the US?
In the UK BECTU's affiliations include:
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Trades Unions Congress - The TUC is the internationally recognised umbrella organisation for the UK's unions.
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Union Network International- UNI has more than 900 affiliated unions around the world.
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General Federation of Trade Unions- GFTU is the UK federation for specialist unions.
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Federation of Entertainment Unions- The FEU grouping consists of seven UK unions:
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Equity (representing actors)
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NUJ (National Union of Journalists)
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Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund, a leading industry charity.
In the US they have Advertising/Communications/Marketing/Media:
What happened to the TV and Film Industry in 2008 due to a writers guild strike?
The Writers Guild of America strike, which began on November 5, 2007, was a labour conflict that affected a large number of television shows that were due to be broadcast in the United States during the 2007–08 television season. Negotiators for the striking writers reached a tentative agreement on February 8, 2008, and the boards of both guilds unanimously approved the deal on February 10, 2008. Striking writers voted on February 12, 2008, to end the strike immediately, and on February 26, the WGA announced that the contract had been ratified with a 93.6% approval among WGA members.
In total, the strike cost the state of California over $2 billion and 37,700 jobs, according to nonprofit economic think tank the Milken Institute.
For a show like “HIMYM,” the prospect of a lengthy pause was daunting.
“Everyone had to stop working and that was scary, as the show was just gaining some momentum,” someone said, But there were larger interests at stake.
Audiences used to watch movies in theatres and TV at designated times in their homes. Now we're getting acquainted with a new kind of viewing experience: streaming video. Industry experts at the time predicted that so-called “new media” content ― shows and movies distributed online or viewed on computers, cell phones and other devices ― would eventually supplant DVDs in terms of profits. (which they did.)
Initially, the big studios ― MGM, Sony, Warner Bros. and Disney, among others ― took home most, if not all, of the profits of this “new media” content; the WGA had no formal agreement with the companies on how to compensate writers for this kind of online or on-demand distribution. So when it came time to renegotiate a contract in November 2007, this issue was key.
Checklist for Writing a Screenplay Synopsis
Checklist for Writing a Screenplay Synopsis if using it to pitch your screenplay...
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At the top of the page, you want your title... Underneath your title, it's a good idea to let anyone reading your synopsis that it is in fact, a synopsis... So underneath your title, skip a line and on the next line, type, “Synopsis by” without the quotation marks. Now skip another line and type your name and underneath that, your contact information.
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Let your reader know what kind of setting your story/screenplay takes place in. Give them both the time and place, along with a little bit of background information.
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Use the third person to tell your story in three acts i.e., follow the order of your story/screenplay.
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Use present tense to write the story in your synopsis.
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Briefly describe your main characters as they appear in your story.
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Be sure to include any key or important scenes and culminating events.
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Do not include any dialogue from any of your characters unless absolutely necessary.
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When revealing your ending, be sure to tie up all loose ends.
My synopsis for my film
Mark was actively involved with gangs and illegal activities until he got caught by police and snitched on his gang. Eventually Mark got released from prison and briefly returned to his area, whilst he is back he hears that almost every gang wants him dead and is on the look out for him. This prompts him to suddenly leave and leave his younger sister Tia behind to fend for herself. The gangs whom he is running from hear about this and they start looking for Tia. Tia ends up accidentally, without knowing, falls for one of the Gang members named Jayden. What Jayden doesn’t know that Mark's sister is Tia and Tia doesn’t know that Jayden is one of the gang members looking for her and Mark. Brandon eventually finds out who Jayden is in a dramatic standoff between Jayden, Brandon and Tia.
What is a Step Outline and how should it look?
“As the term implies, a step-outline is the story told in steps,”
It's a method that combines the traditional outline form with “storyboards,” or pictures depicting each scene. However, rather than using pictures, you use one- or two-sentence statements to describe the action in the scene and how it builds. On paper, you build a list of these statements, one statement per scene. Each of the statements should clearly describe what happens in that scene. At this point, you're not really concerned about the details: no dialogue, no set dressing, no minor characters unrelated to the central action of the scene. All of that will come later
Example Step-Outline: Eyeball Eddie (part of a longer outline)
Scene 1 - A montage of black and white photographs introduces Eddie (our hero), a high school wrestler with a glass eye.
Scene 2 - Before wrestling practice, Skelly, the team bully, brags about being mean and makes a joke about Eddie's eye.
Scene 3 - During practice, Eddie tries to be a meaner wrestler like Skelly, but it doesn't work.
Scene 4 - Coach tells Eddie he's an embarrassment, needs to get some fire in him.
Scene 5 - At home that night, Eddie practices mean poses in the mirror. He wants to be tough and learn to win.
Scene 6 - At next day's match, Eddie's glass eye accidentally comes out, distracting his opponent. Eddie wins the match. Layla photographs it all - she likes him.
Scene 7 - Coach talks with Eddie in his office. Eddie wants to quit, but Coach tells him he's a winner now.
Scene 8 - Next match, Eddie pops his eye out on purpose, freaks out his opponent and wins the match.
My step outline for my film
Credits
Directed by Shanei Stephenson-Harris
Screenplay by Shanei Stephenson-Harris
Produced by Shanei Stephenson-Harris
The Characters
TIA –
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Mixed race, 5’6, 17yrs old, she was adopted by Mark's parents, Sweet, funny, innocent but independent, family oriented
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When her brother went jail she while she stayed at her grandmas'. When he got back she moved in with him, but he abandons her and runs away, she loves her brother but can’t help but feel betrayed by him
JAYDEN (J1) –
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He is a black boy who is 5’9 and 17yrs old. He is a current gang member with the gang in his area, which is Greybrook. Jayden looks threatening and aggressive but he is a sweetheart inside with charismatic and charming qualities
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Has only recently joined the gang due to peer pressure from Brandon as they’ve been friends for years
BRANDON (Gaza) –
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Black 6’3, 18yrs old, rude, emotionless, very masculine
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Joined the gang because he wants respect, control and loyalty, He wants J1 to follow in his footsteps as he treats him like a brother but will punish anyone who crosses him or his rules including J1
MARK -
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Mixed race, 18yrs old, Ex-gang member, selfish, close-minded and unreliable unfaithful,
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Got himself mixed up in some illegal stuff with the gang in his area but he got caught and he snitched on them to save himself but once he returned he knew they wanted him dead so he packed and left not considering his sister at all
Step 1:
The scene opens up in a courtroom with a judge releasing the new information of prisoner Mark's release date due to a deal that he made with them and it is being broadcasted live and everyone in the court is surprised to hear that mark is getting released so soon, murmurs arise as Mark is taken back to his cell and the courtroom empties out.
Step 2:
An abandoned dirty house there are two guys sitting in the living room who have just watched the live broadcast of Mark's hearing leaving them speechless and looking at each other in astonishment and disbelief, then the realisation hit them and they start bickering back and forth trying to decide on what they should do. They make a decision and decide to tell their leader of the gang this news (since Mark was in the gang before he went prison) and go out of their way and searched far and hard to get to him. The leader of the gang, Brandon receives the news and instantly put money on his head and he wants him dead since he snitched to get his deal. There is a time lapse of various gang members spreading the messages to other gangs in the area already for when he comes out of prison.
Step 3:
Mark is fresh out of prison and calls his sister telling him he's on his way home then takes his first steps outside the prison and feels blessed and delightful to be out and decides to take the long journey home and go deep in his area unaware of the bets that have been put on his head or blindly not realising he was getting followed by some members of his old gang, until he reaches an alleyway and starts to become conscious of someone following him. Mark starts running and turns around to see if the guy is close to him just to see that it's now a whole bunch of guys running after him and he tries to turn down a road to find more goons to be waiting for him so he doubles back on himself ducks into another alley to hide. The members follow him but lose him and start looking around in the alleyway whilst mark is hiding for his life, the goons start talking about how Mark will never survive since every gang around there is searching for him, they eventually get agitated, give up and go.
Step 4:
Mark waits a bit just to make sure they are gone then sprints to his house hoping no one sees him, once he gets in he is approached by his younger sister who has been waiting for him worried sick since it's been so long but Mark doesn't want to talk to her at all he ignores and pushes past her to get to his room. Once he is alone he is just going over everything that happened to him, what would have happened if they caught him, what would happen if he were to stay and lastly would he be safe if he leaves, he quickly makes up his mind and decides to start packing his back and his sister is trying to convince him to not leave her and talk to her about what happened. Mark sticks with his decision and leaves without one to his sister as she is crying begging him not to go and Tia is now by herself.
Step 5:
The group of goons that were out looking for Mark have now gone back to the gang and update them on how they chased him down but somehow they lost him, so the gang chooses to take it up another level doubles the price on Mark's head and makes almost every member on the hunt even if they have to pull up on strangers threatening them asking for him.
Step 6:
Tia has been alone for about a week now she is trying to fend for herself while also trying to hold her emotions together as she is heartbroken, but every couple of days she goes to a shop where she keeps seeing this young man Jayden there. She doesn't pay any attention to it in the beginning but they both realise that they find each other attractive, so the boy so soon enough the boy starts talking to her and over time they start taking interest in each other.
Step 7:
The gangs were continuously pulling up on strangers threatening them until one of the goons from the gang pulls up on Marks old best friend and has him at gunpoint and forces him to tell him what has happened to Mark and where he is, he tells him that Mark moved out of town as soon as he knew that people wanted him dead but left his sister here and the Goon reports that back to Brandon.
Step 8:
Brandon informs the gang that Mark has moved out of the area and he is absolutely outraged at his gang for not catching him or for not even realising that he left, but he sees an opportunity to get him to come back or get revenge on him either way, he was planning to do this by kidnapping his sister and kill her. Jayden and Tia start to meet each other more and more often they start going on dates, opening up to each other, trusting each other, months after Jayden asks Tia to be his girlfriend and she says yes
Step 9:
At this point, the gang is getting reckless and still pulling people up on the street so they decide to have a group update this time Jayden is there and it's revealed that he is involved with the gang and including in looking for mark and tia but he doesn't know its the tia that he is falling for.
Step 10:
Jayden is dropping Tia to the bus stop and they're talking about their opinions on the news and flirting with each other.
Step 11:
Jayden and Brandon are in Brandon's car it's a cosy atmosphere, Jayden has just dropped Tia to the bus stop and once she got on the bus he asked his best friend Brandon to pick him up, and they are just filling each other up on what's been going on in their lives. Jayden zones out and stops listening to Brandon as he is just in the car texting Tia, with a smile on his face, making sure she got home safely and Brandon realises that. So Brandon ends up being curious and starts asking Jayden about his new girlfriend but the more he describes her the more disturbed Brandon got till it gets to the point where Brandon has to grab the phone and look at the picture of Tia whilst still keeping an eye on the road. When he sees the picture he recognises her instantly, throws the phone back at Jayden, takes a deep breath and blows his horn and starts shouting at Jayden telling him he's stupid for not realising whom he's dating and Jayden was begging for his life. There is a long period of silence and there is intense tension between the characters. Brandon is still getting more and more furious and the more furious he gets the faster he drives the car and starts speeding until Brandon pulls the car to an instant stop making Jayden hit his head and start bleeding a little and warns and threatens Jayden's life saying that if he doesn't get rid of her or turn her in otherwise its Jayden that's gonna be dead.
Step 12:
Jayden goes to Tia's house tells her they need to pack and leave asap but doesn't tell her why and it causes her emotional stress as this was similar to what her brother. while they are in the house the audience finds out that there is someone eavesdropping and spying on them and then leaves.
Step 13:
Tia and Jayden are now running away and are on their way to the train station but they try to take a shortcut through an ally but get surprised by Brandon's voice as he comes out of the darkness blocking off the pathway for them. Brandon confronts Jayden on how he is a snake and just as bad as Mark, then Tia hears her brothers name and gets involved and starts bursting out asking questions. Brandon is just doing a light sinister laugh and briefly informs Tia on what has been going on and how Jayden is involved then Jayden interrupts and tries to stop him but that triggered Brandon and he pulled a gun out on both of them and tells Jayden he had his chance now him and Tia has to go and he pulls the trigger.
Step 14:
The gun malfunctions and Brandon accidentally shoots himself and Jayden wants to continue running but Tia knows the moral thing would be to help and get him to a hospital so she does and calls 911 but Jayden wants to leave him there to die and they have an argument on what they should do and Jayden ends up running away leaving Tia in tears holding Brandon till the ambulance.
Step 15:
Brandon is in the hospital unconscious and Tia is pacing back and forth on what she should to then she slides into Brandon's room, closes the blinds, closes the door, looks at Brandon and apologises to Brandon but tells him he did it to himself, then goes to pull his life support. once she does that she sneaks out the hospital and jump in the car with Jayden and they drive away together.
!st draft of script
My Script
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When writing my screenplay I got help from an example of a screenplay called Juno.
https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/Juno.txt
It helped me shape my screenplay and used it as if it were a guide for how a screenplay is done
I had made a storyboard full of images to help me plan my scene, as I like to use the visual style and prefer using images to organise information, So it made it easier for me.
Amazon Story Writer is a free screenwriting app launched by Amazon in 2015, It automatically formats your screenplay as I type, so I can focus on the story and skip the busywork. For example, this is what I would have had to do if I was using word or any other application if they didn’t have the script set up:
-A page number appears in the upper right-hand corner, in the header.
-The font used is Courier size 12.
-The top and bottom margins are 1".
-The left margin will be 1.5".
-The right margin is 1”.
But throughout I learnt more and more terminology for screenwriting that I needed to learn in order to complete the screenplay. For instance, I learnt that for the Scene Heading or Slug line its job is to tell the reader where the scene takes place, There are two main choices to begin with, indoors or outdoors. If it’s indoors the Scene Heading should begin with (INT.) if outdoors write (EXT.)
Then, name the location: for example, BEDROOM, LIVING ROOM, at HOUSE, near a RIVER.
Finally, I would need to include the time of day which should be a simple and direct way of setting a scene- NIGHT, DAY, DUSK, DAWN.
--Something interesting/entertaining happens in the first five pages
-I can tell what’s going on
-There are no camera directions, shot descriptions, and editing instructions
--The scene connects to the main character’s problem/goal for that story. It should not be about something other than that. The problem should be so pressing that it requires their constant focus, in every scene.
The scene of Jayden and Tia talking about the news and gangs nowadays it relates to Jayden as he in a gang which gets uncomfortable talking about, that leads to Tia going home. Jayden then gets the leader of his gang, Brandon, to pick him up and the argument starts about the gang they’re in between them eventually to the point of life and death.
-It develops the problem in a new direction, which will lead to new scenes. It should not just be a “stutter step,” or failure that leaves them right where they started.