The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: Wag the Dog

written by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet


Wag the Dog is a dark, political satire that became so close in its action to the Clinton White House that a new political phrase was coined after after its title.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook (3 min.)
    • The U.S. President did a no-no with a Firefly girl - and in the White House at that. The aides are scurrying to cover damages and call in a spin doctor, Conrad Breen.
  2. Complication (5 min.)
    • The election is only 11 days away - and the opponents have gotten wind of the Presidential scandal.
  3. Call to Action (7-9 min.)
    • Conrad decides to orchestrate a phony war with Albania in order to divert attention from the scandal.
  4. Act One Plot Point (18-22 min.)
    • The spin doctor hires a Hollywood producer, and the war with Albania is produced for TV, complete with a patriotic song.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point (47 min.)
    • The CIA announces that the war with Albania is over. They know it's phony and apparently cut a deal with the President's opponents. But the spin doctor now invents a soldier who was left behind (49 min.) in order to keep the press focused off the scandal.
  6. Act Two Plot Point (71-3, 83 min.)
    • The soldier more or less randomly chosen to portray this "hero" ends up being a prisoner who raped a nun. When he tries to seduce a girl while in transit for a hero's welcome, the girl's father shoots him.
  7. Climax and Resolution (84, 91 min.)
    • Now the prisoner gets a hero's funeral. When the Hollywood producer, thinking the war is his best "movie", wants credit, he is eliminated.

Notes

Wag the Dog is a great movie to study for scene design, especially for the moment at which its scenes start. Most students begins scenes much too early, and this movie is a model of starting a scene in the middle of an action. Look at the transitions closely -- you'll learn much!


MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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