— T

WO

IN

CID

EN

TS

—

129

alo

ng w

ith his

partner and le

arns that the likely

suspect,

Catherin

e

(S

haron

Stone),

is

a

sm

art,

beautiful,

and

accom

plished novelist. A

nd w

hile he questio

ns her, N

ick is

imm

edia

tely

attracted as she darin

gly

fla

unts her sexuality at

him

. It's

easy to see w

hy he's

sm

itten and in

trig

ued by her,

and w

e know

the tem

ptatio

n she offers is

goin

g to hook him

.

It doesn't take too lo

ng before he becom

es so in

fatuated

with her that he can't listen to his

voic

e of reason, or his

associa

tes'

warnin

gs,

as

he

plu

nges

headlo

ng

into

a

tum

ultuous affair that costs him

his

jo

b and m

ay w

ind up

costin

g him

his

life.

I

began

to

understand

that

this

openin

g

sex/m

urder

scene

is

the

incid

ent

that

sets

the

story

in

motio

n

an

d

directly

draw

s th

e m

ain

ch

aracter in

to th

e story lin

e. T

he

mu

rder is

com

mitte

d to g

rab

ou

r attentio

n and show

us the

reason N

ick is

called upon to in

vestig

ate the crim

e. W

hen he

leaves the scene of the crim

e, w

e follow

him

and his

partner

and begin

to le

arn m

ore about this

m

an and the choic

es h

e

makes. T

he op

enin

g scen

e an

d th

e story th

at's

g

oin

g to

un

fold

are directly

linked.

This

in

cid

ent—

the m

urder—

and the story of a cop giv

ing

in to h

is tem

ptatio

ns epitom

ize the illu

min

atio

n of ch

aracter

and

in

cid

ent. R

em

em

ber H

enry Jam

es: "W

hat is

character

but the determ

inatio

n of in

cid

en

t? A

nd w

hat is

in

cid

ent but

the illu

min

atio

n of character?" Y

ou can't reveal

a character

dram

atic

ally (or com

ed-ic

ally) unle

ss you have him

/her react

to a partic

ula

r in

cid

ent; the nature of dram

a, after all, is

to

show

the

univ

ersal

connectio

n

betw

een

all

hum

ans,

regardle

ss of race, colo

r, gender, or cultural diffe

rences.

The in

cid

ent of the m

urder le

ads directly

to the in

fatuatio

n

Nic

k fe

els

fo

r C

ath

erin

e. A

nd

th

at a

ttra

ctio

n is

re

info

rce

d

wh

en

th

e police questio

n C

atherin

e as the prim

e suspect.

There is

a rela

tio

nship

betw

een these tw

o in

cid

ents. O

ne

incid

ent,

the

openin

g

sex/

murder,

is

called

the

incitin

g

incid

ent, because it sets the story in

m

otio

n; it is

the first vis

ual

representatio

n of the key in

cid

ent, w

hat the story is

about,

and draw

s the m

ain

character in

to the story line. R

em

em

ber

the defin

itio

n of in

cid

ent: "a specific

event or occurrence that

occurs in

rela

tio

n to som

ethin

g els

e."

When

I

understood

this

connectio

n,

it

was

alm

ost

a

revela

tio

n. U

sin

g a

n o

pe

nin

g se

qu

en

ce

to

d

ra

w th

e m

ain

ch

ara

cte

r in

to

th

e

13

0

—S

CR

EE

NP

LA

Y—

story lin

e is

p

ure cin

em

a. F

rom

here on

throu

gh

th

e rest of

the

screenpla

y,

the

story

is

set

up,

the

characters

and

prem

ise are established, and there is

a story line, a directio

n

to follow

—and all because of the connectio

n betw

een these

tw

o in

cid

ents. T

his

new

understan

din

g g

ave m

e an

oth

er

tool to u

se in

th

e craft of screen

-w

ritin

g.

I w

en

t b

ack th

ro

ug

h a

ll o

f E

szte

rh

as's

scrip

ts a

nd

b

eg

an

to

e

xa

min

e h

is scre

en

pla

ys, fo

cu

sin

g o

n h

ow

h

e w

ro

te

an

d stru

ctured openin

g scenes or sequences. A

nd I saw

, in

most cases, that the openin

g scene, the in

citin

g in

cid

ent,

was a cin

em

atic

tool

he used to set up the story from

page

one, w

ord one.

I beg

an

to see th

at in

certain

kin

ds of m

ovie

s—

actio

n

film

s,

actio

n-thrille

rs,

mysterie

s,

actio

n-adventures,

sci-fis

,

even dram

as—

w

rite

rs stru

ctu

re

th

eir

sto

rie

s so

th

at th

is

op

en

ing

, th

e in

citin

g in

cid

ent, serves tw

o dis

tin

ct functio

ns.

First, it grabs or hooks the audie

nce im

media

tely

—ju

st lo

ok at

the openin

g scenes or sequences of

The M

atrix

, Jaw

s, C

old

Mountain

, T

he B

rid

ges of M

adis

on C

ounty, A

meric

an B

eauty,

Pulp

F

ictio

n, Lord of the R

ings: T

he F

ellow

ship

of the R

ing,

Rushm

ore,

The

Royal

Tenenbaum

s,

and

other

film

s,

and

you'll

see that this

openin

g scene or sequence is

w

hat sets

the entire story in

m

otio

n.

For

exam

ple

,

in

The

Matrix

,

a

squad

of

policem

en

confronts T

rin

ity, and as w

e w

atch her defy all know

n la

ws of

physic

s and gravity, le

apin

g over buildin

gs to escape, w

e are

draw

n in

to a w

orld

of cyberspace that grabs our attentio

n

imm

edia

tely

. T

he in

citin

g in

cid

en

t an

ch

ors u

s to th

e edg

e of

ou

r seats, an

d le

ts u

s kn

ow

th

at w

e're in

for an in

credib

le

adventure. In Jaw

s, the la

te-nig

ht beach party and a nude

sw

imm

ing la

rk turn in

to a horrifyin

g experie

nce as the great

white attacks.

In C

old

M

ountain

, U

nio

n troops burrow

underground and

pla

nt explo

siv

es beneath the C

onfederate cam

p; w

hen the

charge is

detonated the result illu

strates the total m

adness of

war, ju

st as in

the cla

ssic

T

he B

rid

ge on the R

iver K

wai (M

ichael

Wilson and C

arl F

orem

an). In T

he B

rid

ges of M

adis

on C

ounty

(R

ichard LaG

ravenese), after the death of F

rancesca (M

eryl

Streep), her tw

o grow

n children are goin

g through her thin

gs

and uncover a hid

den dia

ry. A

s they read, they dis

cover that

their m

other had a lo

ve affair w

ith a m

an nam

ed