David Trottier's Six Events Structure
In his The Screenwriter's Bible [REF], David
Trottier presents a structure in which a screenplay develops around six
major events:
- Catalyst, something that upsets the cart and starts the story;
- Big Event, something that changes the main character and moves
him/her into the story;
- Pinch, a plot twist halfway through the story;
- Crisis, an event that forces a central decision by the hero,
often the low point of the story;
- Showdown, in which the hero and villain face off for the
last time;
- Realization, which shows the growth of the hero as a result
of the story.
Comments
There is a nice simplicity to this, something one can put to memory. And
it is, after all, merely a re-phrasing of the standard three-act paradigm:
the Catalyst being the setup of the story, leading to the Big Event at
the end of Act One, the Pinch in the middle of Act Two, the Crisis at
the end of Act Two and the Showdown and Realization in Act Three.
But Trottier provides a nice shorthand for this.
MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting
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