Maybe no more horror watching
Published by on March 8th, 2006
Before last night’s writing session we watched The Descent. A good independent UK horror flick with tension and gore a plenty - worth a watch. But it knocked my writing session off centre a little with a number of plot elements which paralleled some I have been developing.
What most interested me about The Descent was the distinct transitions between the acts. The point of no return at the end of Act 1, and the lowest ebb with the protagonist’s motivation switcheroo at the end of act 2 (let’s not get into a “three act structure is dead” discussion for the moment), were clear and distinct points in the movie, structurally positioned close to the optimum points based on the movie’s length. There was little wholly remarkable about the movie, but it developed tension, gore-cringe and enough character interaction to make it an entertaining watch.
The lesson: structure and plot formula are not necessarily bad things providing everything else is in place for a great movie experience.
So my writing was curtailed last night, by the movie, a nasty headache and re-reading some of the awful dialogue I’ve written (!), so an early night was necessary. My subconscious of course poured over the issues and there is clarity this morning (and a new original element to the antagonist’s quirky obsessions) - I may even set aside a couple of hours this afternoon to some writing if my email inbox isn’t too active.
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