BEAT SHEET
Flawed hero
1) Problem (flaw that needs fixing)
2) Want (goal to pursue)
3) Need (life lesson to be learned)
Shard of glass = psychological wound festering for long time
Structure:
Opening Image
- Visual “before”
- Hero’s flaw(s) evident
Theme Stated
- Connected to hero’s need (spiritual lesson)
- Stated by someone else
- Hero dismisses
Setup (Thesis)
- Things that need fixing
- Establish hero’s want (external goal)
- Depict different areas of life (Home, Work, Play)
- Hero’s flaw(s) fully evident
- Stasis = death
Catalyst
- Happens to hero
- Action beat
- Impossible to retreat to normalcy
- Big enough to break status quo
Debate
- Summed up with question
- Sense of hesitation
- Debate in different areas of life (Home, Work, Play)
Break into 2 (Antithesis)
- Opposite of Act 1 World
- Leaving old world behind
2
- Proactive decision to enter
- Based on hero’s want
- Wrong way to fix things
B Story
- New character(s) (love interest/mentor/friend/nemesis)
- Optional: Twin B-stories
- Represents theme
- Product of Upside-Down Act 2 World
Fun and Games
- Floundering or succeeding (downward vs. upward path)
- Promise of premise
- Bouncing ball narrative
- Visibly illustrate Upside-Down Act 2 World
Midpoint
- False Victory or False Defeat
- Stakes are raised:
Love stories ramp up
Time clocks
Game-changing twist
Party and/or Public “Outing”
- A (External) Story crosses w/ B (Internal) Story
- Shift from wants to needs
Bad Guys Close In
- Path direct opposite of Fun and Games (downward vs. upward)
- External bad guys
- Internal bad guys (flaws)
All Is Lost
- Happens to hero
- Rock bottom for hero
- Whiff of death
- Another type of catalyst
Dark Night of the Soul
- The “wallowing beat”
- Hero reflects and/or gives up
- Life is worse off than start of story
- Return to the familiar and/or rejection of theme
- Dark Night epiphany/(ies)
3
Break into 3 (Synthesis)
- Learns a valuable universal lesson (theme)
- Proactive decision to fix something
- Decision based on hero’s need
- Right way to fix things
- Act 3 transformation = Act 1 hero + Act 2 lessons
Five-Point Finale
- Storming the Castle (A & B Stories Intertwine)
1) Gathering the Team and/or Gathering of the Tools
2) Executing the Plan
- B Story Sacrifice
3) High Tower Surprise
- A Story Failure?
4) Dig Deep Down
- Proof hero has learned theme
- Pulls out shard of glass
- Touched-by-the-divine
5) Execution of the New Plan
- Final leap of faith
Final Image
- Visual “after”
- Transformation evident
- Mirrors the Opening Image
Transformation Machine
Genre Glossary:
“Whydunit”
Turn of the cards (clues & reveals)
1) Detective
2) Secret
3) Dark turn (compromised rules/morals/ethics)
Case within a case
Double bump (second catalyst)
“Rites of Passage”
1) Life problem
2) Wrong way (to attack problem)
3) Solution (acceptance of hard truth)
4
“Institutionalized”
1) Group
2) Choice (naif to join and/or brando to stay)
3) Sacrifice (join, burn it down, or escape – suicide?)
Naif (outsider)
Brando (rebellious insider)
Company man
“Superhero”
1) Power
2) Nemesis
3) Curse
Name change
Mascot
“Dude with a Problem”
1) Innocent hero
2) Sudden event
3) Life-or-death battle
Love interest (B story)
Eye-of-the-storm
“Fool Triumphant”
1) Fool
2) Establishment
3) Transmutation (temporary)
Jealous insider
“Buddy Love”
1) Incomplete hero
2) Counterpart
3) Complication (at odds/physical challenge/historical event)
Two-hander
Three-hander (love triangle)
“Out of the Bottle”
1) Hero deserving of the magic
2) Spell (illogical thing w/ logical rules)
3) Lesson
Empowerment story
Comeuppance story
Do it without the magic (Act 3)
5
“Golden Fleece”
1) Road
2) Team
3) Prize
Road apple (stops journey cold)
“Monster in the House”
1) Monster
2) House
3) Sin (transgression connected to hero’s guilt/theme)
Half-man (mentor w/ info on monster)
Life Lessons (Theme):
- Forgiveness (of self or others)
- Love (self-love, family love, romantic love)
- Acceptance (of self, of circumstances, of reality)
- Faith (in oneself, in others, in the world, in God)
- Fear (overcoming it, conquering it, finding courage)
- Trust (in oneself, in others, in the unknown)
- Survival (including the will to live)
- Selflessness (including sacrifice, altruism, heroism, overcoming greed)
- Responsibility (including duty, standing up for a cause, accepting one’s destiny)
- Redemption (including atonement, accepting blame, remorse, salvation)
