hikers to an exhilarating but dangerous plunge into
an underground pool before leaving them behind to
trek still deeper into the wilderness. In the process
of descending a deep slot canyon, Aron dislodges a
small boulder. The man and the rock both tumble
down the narrow ravine. When they meet again at
the bottom, the rock pins Aron’s arm to the canyon
wall. This sudden event gives our protagonist a goal,
supplies the story with conflict and an antagonist,
and begins the second act.
The next hour of the movie will be devoted to
Aron’s struggle to free himself. That struggle can
be broken down into the series of obstacles he
encounters. Aron will overcome some of them, cir-
cumvent others, and surrender to still more. Obvi-
ously, his tightly wedged arm is Aron’s greatest
obstacle. He attempts to yank it loose, he uses his
cheap multi-tool to try to chip away at the rock, and
he builds a pulley system with his climbing ropes.
Nothing works.
Aron must confront other obstacles as well.
When he drops his multi-tool, he retrieves it with a
long stick gripped between his toes. He defeats the
freezing night temperatures by wrapping his climb-
ing ropes around his legs. He rations his water. As
time goes on, Aron must also deal with memories,
hallucinations, hopelessness, and regret.
And each time an attempt to dislodge the rock
fails or a new obstacle presents itself, the audience
asks itself the central question: will Aron free him-
self and survive? When his water runs out and he
begins to lose his grip on reality, a positive outcome
seems increasingly unlikely and the question takes
on greater urgency.
This is because the stakesare rising. In other
words, the deeper we get into the story, the greater
the risk to our protagonist. What begins as a possi-
bility of getting lost progresses to the dangers of
being trapped, which develops into what appears to
be certain death. Of course, the ultimate magnitude
of the stakes depends on the movie. By the end of
Bridesmaids(2011; director: Paul Feig), Lillian and
Annie may lose their friendship forever. If Harry
doesn’t stop he-who-must-not-be-named in Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2(2011; direc-
tor: David Yates; screenwriter: Steve Kloves), the
entire world will be enslaved by death eaters.
The stakes are rising because the obstacles are
becoming increasingly difficult for our protagonist
to navigate. Over the course of the second act, nar-
rative typically builds toward a peak, a breaking
point of sorts, as the conflict intensifies and the134 CHAPTER 4 ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE
Plot points in The Social NetworkScreenwriting
specialist Syd Field describes “plot points” as significant
events that turn the narrative in a new direction.^3 Fo r
example, the development of the Social Networknarrative is
profoundly influenced by Eduardo Saverin’s (Andrew Garfield)
decision to contribute a crucial algorithm to his friend Mark
Zuckerberg’s first social networking experiment [1]. The plot
point sets up a major narrative development that leads to
Eduardo’s involvement in Mark’s enterprise, his eventual
betrayal, and his fervent attempts for credit and
compensation. Likewise, the moment when Sean Parker
(Justin Timberlake) discovers an early version of “The
Facebook” certainly qualifies as a plot point [2]. The
intervention of the slick entrepreneur drives the explosive
success of Facebook, while simultaneously alienating
Zuckerberg from faithful friends like Eduardo.
12(^3) This description and elements of Figure 4.1 are based on Syd
Field, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, rev. ed.
(New York: Delta, 2005), pp. 19–30.