Once you've filled in your BS2, you’re
ready to tackle The Board. That’s the next step in the
software. To get you started, your 15 beats are automatically
placed on 15 color-coded scene cards on The Board.
The Board is the fabled device, seen in executive offices all over
Hollywood, which allows you to "see" your movie before you begin
writing by using index cards (virtual in our case, but you can
print them). It is a way to easily test different scenes, story
arcs, ideas, bits of dialogue, and story rhythms — and decide
whether they work. And though it is not really writing, and though
your perfect plan may be totally abandoned in the white heat of
actually executing your screenplay, it is on The Board where you
can work out the kinks of the story. It is your way to visualize a
well-plotted movie, the one tool I know of that can help you build
the perfect beast.
Each card has fields for you to enter Scene
Heading, Description, Notes, Dialog, Emotional Change, and
Conflict. You can also use color coding to differentiate 10
aspects, such as “Major Turn,” “Theme,” or
“B Story.” And there’s also a nifty way to track
Set-Ups and Pay-Offs (explained below).
The Board is broken down into four rows, 10 cards
per row for a total of 40 — a good average count for the
number of beats in the average movie.
Row #1 is Act One; the last card in that row, the
Break into Two, is your first major turn.
Row #2 is the first half of Act Two up to the
Midpoint. This is where your B Story and Fun and Games cards will
appear.
Row
#3 includes your Bad
Guys Close In and All Is Lost cards leading to the final major
turn, the Break into Three.
Row #4 concludes your screenplay with the Finale
and Final Image cards.
You will quickly find that the ends of each row
are the hinges of your story. The Break into Two, the Midpoint, and
the Break into Three are where the “major turns” are
found. This perfectly fits my mental map of what a screenplay is.
And if you buy Syd Field’s premise that each of the turns
spins the story in a new direction, you can see exactly where those
turns occur.
What goes on your final 40 is very simple. Each
card stands for a scene, so where does the scene take place? Is it
an INTERIOR or an EXTERIOR? Is it a sequence of scenes like a chase
that covers several locations? If you can see it, type it in the
“Scene Heading” section of the card: INT. JOE’S
APARTMENT – DAY. Each card should also include the basic
action of the scene told in simple declarative sentences in the
“Scene Description” section: “Mary tells Joe she
wants a divorce.”
And now, here's a really cool part: Because each scene is like a
mini movie with a beginning, a middle, and an end, we give you two
more things to fill out on each card: the >< which indicates
Conflict (who is in opposition to whom) and the +/- which indicates
Emotional Change. Just like every good movie, every good scene has
to have clear conflict and some emotional shift from start to
finish. Filling in these symbols on every card prepares you to
write quickly and confidently knowing EXACTLY what must happen in
EVERY scene. It couldn't be easier.
Fill in The 40 for your movie completely and honestly, and
you’ve got an iron-clad structure before you begin writing
your screenplay. A few words of advice: Be concise! No need to
write a book on each card. Be short and sweet.
