The film is a very powerful visual means to convey a message. We are enjoying films on television, youtube, etc in our daily life. In this article, I am going to make clear about the importance of the scene in filmmaking? What are the ingredients of the scene? And some common mistakes in scriptwriting while creating a scene.
What is a scene?
A scene is a building block of film. To make a film successful, it is necessary to create strong scenes. A strong scene has certain ingredients or structure. According to Dwight V. Swain, "A story is a chain of scene and sequel. A scene is a unit of conflict and sequel is a unit of transition that links two scenes." He argues the scene has three ingredients which are:-
i. goal
ii. conflict and
iii. disaster.
i. Goal
A character should have some goal or desire. Without this, a story can not move ahead. In the real world, every people has a different goal and desire. He struggles to fulfill his goal and desire. A film is a reflection of human society and the world. So the characters of a film should be matched with real people in society. The character should behave like what people in society behave. When audiences watch films, they should sense reality as if feeling the world around.
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| A character striving for a goal. |
ii. Conflict
Every scene should have a conflict. Shortly, the scene is conflict. When there is opposition in the achievement of the character goal, the conflict arises. Conflict can miraculously attract the audience. When there is conflict or struggle between the characters, the audience starts to pay attention to it. One thing here should remember is that it is not necessary to have conflict in the physical world or with other characters. A character himself or may have an internal conflict which is enough. The internal conflict can be between the character's needs and desires. This types of conflict draw the audience's attention strongly.
iii. Disaster
In real life, people in most cases do not achieve their goals easily. They struggle but fail frequently. This is a disaster-unfortunate or unfavorable situation.
In the film world, a character also should face some disasters. If a character achieves his goal easily without any disaster, such a scene does not seem natural or realistic. An audience does not believe such a scene. He feels fake what is shown. When there is no disaster, a goal is achieved effortlessly which stops the story.
A scene should move the story
We know the ingredient of a scene as the goal, conflict, and disaster. It helps to make a strong scene. But merely depending on these ingredients can not make a successful scene. Every scene needs to move the story forward.
The common mistake or illusion for scriptwriters is that they focus on conflict and do not care whether it moves the story or not. This is the blunder mistake in scriptwriting. It should consider carefully that a scene having a goal, conflict, and disaster may not move the story. When the scene does not move the story, the film will be boring to the audience. There may be scenes with amazing conflict and diaster but if not move a story, it is useless. It causes boredom and confusion for the audience.
A scene should be meaningful and valuable
It is clear that a scene should have structure and should move the story. But this is also not enough. Even though all scenes created may be in structure. Even though all scenes may move the story forward. We should examine, bracing these requirements even makes the film unsuccessful. Most beginners are not aware with this mistake.
A scene should be meaningful. It should create value for the audience at any rate. It should address the daily life problems of the audience. It should be able to shift the audience in a new dimension harmoniously. This is quite difficult to find out. It can be determined by studying the social and cultural aspects of society.
When a scene can address the unconscious problem, it will be more valuable for the audience. To find out value simply in amidst the complexity of society, we can assume all humans universally want to reduce their pain and increase pleasure. Considering this, we can create a meaningful and valuable scene that matters in the lives of the audience.
Conclusion
A scene is a building block of the film story. It plays a very significant role. A scene has a structure. A structure is not enough, it should move the story. Moving a story is also not enough, it should be meaningful in the life of the audience addressing its conscious and unconscious problems.