WEEK 3 SCENE-PLANNING WORKSHEET

Use this to get from your own Week 2 premise to a two-page scene. Fill it
in using your own film, not "Before It Stops" — the lecture already walks
through that example for you. Nothing on this worksheet is graded on its
own; it's scaffolding toward the three things the workshop actually
checks (see "Final check" at the bottom).

A. STORY ANCHOR

My protagonist is:

In this scene, they want:

The concrete obstacle is:

If they fail, what happens immediately?


B. SCENE CHANGE

At the beginning of the scene:

At the end of the scene:

The visible change is:


C. FIVE OBSERVABLE BEATS

A beat is something the audience can see or hear — not a shot, a camera
move, or an edit. Save those for week 4. Write one sentence for each:

1. Establish the situation.

2. The protagonist pursues the objective.

3. The obstacle becomes visible.

4. Pressure increases.

5. The protagonist acts or refuses to act.


D. SCREENPLAY CONVERSION

Turn the five beats above into standard screenplay form:

INT./EXT. LOCATION — TIME

Visible setting (what's in the room, what the camera could see before
anyone moves):

Action (what a body does, what an object does — never a feeling stated
outright):

CHARACTER NAME
Dialogue (only if the scene actually needs a line — many good scenes
need none)

Final visible action (the beat your scene ends on):


E. DIRECTOR'S INTENT NOTE

Pick one line or action from the scene above — usually the one where the
visible change actually happens.

Target line or action:

What concrete event has just happened, immediately before this?

What fact is the character responding to right now?

Write the note as a single sentence, filling in the blanks:
"You have just _______________. Now _______________."

Check it: does your note name something that just happened, or does it
secretly reduce to an adjective ("nervously," "furious," "sad") in
different words? If it's the second one, go back and name the concrete
event instead.


F. FINAL CHECK

Before you bring this to the dailies review, confirm:

- no longer than two pages
- contains a slugline and visible action
- dialogue is used only when needed
- every action can be seen or heard
- the want meets a concrete obstacle
- something visibly changes
- the director's note names a circumstance, not an emotion

These map directly onto session 03's three assessed outcomes: a scene in
proper form under two pages, at least one valid antecedent-circumstance
note, and a note precise enough that a partner who reads only the
isolated line/action plus the note can describe the performance choice(s)
it motivates.