DZ-42: One-Shot - Character Worldview & Macro POV in SPLT

Listen when you're writing a twist and need to earn it through point-of-view rather than surprise alone. In our first (and perhaps last) one-shot, we take a close look at the M. Night Shyamalan's SPLIT. Rather than having one topic with many examples, we use the one example to look at many topics. Well, okay, a few topics. Firstly, we take the opportunity to revisit theme. SPLIT offers a very clear example of the worldview of the characters and the rules of the world working together to create a coherent theme. Then we look at the SPLIT's use of macro point-of-view. Given the film's contained nature, it makes some interesting choices in the story structure in order to control what the audience knows vis-a-vis the characters. This assists in generating tension (in both conventional and unconventional ways) while also creating a dramatic journey for the protagonist and reinforcing the theme. We also cover (in lesser detail) flashbacks, tactics, contained spaces, character individuation, and... being a M. Night Shamalyan film... TWISTS. Love it, hate it or indiffererent, please let us know what you think of this new format. We're not going to do it every episode, but it gives us the opportunity to look at some great films in more detail. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily. ——— CHAPTERS 00:06:36 – Worldview 00:35:35 – Macro Pov And Narrative 01:03:26 – Flashbacks 01:12:34 – Tactics 01:15:35 – Contained Spaces 01:19:32 – Character Individuation 01:33:00 – Twist Endings 01:50:41 – Episode Wrap FILMS SPLIT (2017) — (w) M Night Shyamalan SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES Shot-Reverse-Shot with Split Diopters in GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE LINKS Read: The Guardian: From Split to Psycho: why cinema fails dissociative identity disorder Read: The Fashionpedia RELATED EPISODES DZ-05: Shifting audience point of view and heightened emotions DZ-14: Writing For Actors with Succession's Sarah Snook DZ-21: Scene Transitions and the Hook DZ-25: Coincidences, Contrivances & Giant Eagles DZ-28: Containing Your Script DZ-31: Tools for Better Dialogue 1 DZ-38: Excelling at Exposition (Part 2) DZ-40: Tactics and Scenes DZ-41: Theme and Worldview ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2017/dz-42/