After this week’s reading, I felt that Paul Gulino’s ‘Big Four’ basic tools was slightly challenging for me to understand in terms of linking it to films I could think of in the moment. Recently I watched The Worst Person in the World (TWPITW) which does not exactly follow a typical film narrative that is simple to put into structures. However, I do think this film has a ‘dramatic tension’ and includes all 3 components of it; the dramatic question, the deliberation, and the answer. From the beginning it is clear that Julie craves excitement in her life and becomes bored and distressed if she does not feel productive or like her life is slowing down. Julie’s dramatic question throughout the film is ‘Will Julie finally find her passion and feel like she is in the right place in her life?’ Frank Daniel described ‘dramatic tension’ as “Somebody wants something badly and is having difficulty getting it.”, so Julie’s deliberation is her struggle to find a passion, and her struggle to be happy with her life, hence her need for change all the time in order to feel satisfied… however this is not helping her question of being happily settled down. The answer is the ending when Julie learns to appreciate her life after losing a friend. She finally understands the value of enjoying life and stops wanting something more. Gulino says the ‘dramatic tension’  is the ‘main tension’ as opposed to these ‘smaller tensions’, which I am also familiar with recognising as B-plots and relationship lines.

As mentioned, I watched TWPITW recently which is a film that comes so close to real life, and didn’t need crazy editing, cgi, or unrealistic story turns to remain an entertaining and highly enjoyable watch. When I think plot twists, I think of The Sixth Sense, Parasite, or Shutter Island… which are all amazing films that I love, however I’ve learnt through watching different movies that a plot twist does not have to be as crazy as these. In real life, we have plot twists all the time, such as being injured, quitting a job unexpectedly or being fired, making a new friend in an unlikely place. These are real life plot twists that aren’t as depicted in films as much as the dramatised one are. In TWPITW, Julie finds out her ex has cancer and not long to live, this serves as a twist in her own life, as it allows her to realise the limited time we have and that she needs to change her mindset to appreciate it. I think a good plot twist is not how extravagant the change is, but is how it impacts the protagonist, or how it serves to develop their story.

Gulino, Paul. (2014 [2004]). Screenwriting: the sequence approach. New York: Bloomsbury