Friday, July 15, 2005
INTO THE WEST: emotional structure & transitions
Year: 2005
Genre: Western miniseries, made for television
Cast: Irene Bedard, Tom Berenger, Tyler Christopher, Rachel Leigh Cook, Lance Henriksen, Christian Kane, Warren Kole
Director: Michael Watkins
Teleplay: Kirk Ellis
Story: William Mastrosimone
The fourth episode of Into the West, "Hell on Wheels," focuses on the second generation of Wheelers and introduces another branch of the family in Omaha, Nebraska. There orphaned Clara begs a roof over her head from her uncharitable step-relatives led by ambitious, hard-hearted Daniel. His eldest son, Robert, comes to her aid and together they forge a promising friendship while Clara works and saves to recapture her shattered dreams.
Meanwhile, Margaret and her husband are abducted by the Cheyenne. The harrowing experience turns sweet when it affords her the opportunity to reconnect with her Indian heritage, but at a great price. A witness to peace treaties, broken promises, and haunting massacres, her heart overflows with bitterness, eroding the edges of her sanity.
Abe, adrift since the Pony Express faded away, finds renewed purpose in laying the tracks of a historic railroad. He befriends a Chinese, and together they struggle against nature and injustice to connect east with west.
Into the West: Hell on Wheels sets two of its main storylines against the backdrop of the transcontinental railroad: Clara's and Abe's. Margaret's storyline continues the Indian perspective of the west, and picks up Jacob Jr. late in the plot, possibly setting him up for his own storyline in the future.
Though this episode juggles about the same number of plotlines as the previous episode (#3 "Dreams and Schemes," see INTO THE WEST: multiple plots & subplots), it's harder to follow. The story structure is easy enough to keep up with, but the emotional structure falls down when it transitions between story lines.
Emotional structure deals with the universal pattern of human response to disaster or success. To advance a plot, most scenes end with the viewpoint character's goal being answered with--
According to writing instructor Jack Bickham, the natural human response to any of these scene endings is--
Maintaining the integrity of this response pattern is what builds the emotional structure of a story. When shifting between multiple viewpoints, as "Hell on Wheels" does, the pattern becomes even more important. Often years pass in "Hell on Wheels" between one storyline transition and another. For instance, the first storyline introduced in this episode is Clara's in 1863 Omaha when she moves in with the Daniel Wheeler family. The second storyline is Margaret's. When the story finally returns to Clara, it's 1866, three years later. The skipped years are fine as far as story structure goes. But the emotional structure falls apart because the audience left Clara in the grip of strong emotions, reeling from the murders of her adoptive family. When the story returns to Clara, she's taking action toward a new goal: convincing Robert to let her take advantage of the new job opportunities created by the local railroad construction. What happened to the necessary progression of thought and decision? It isn't there. And it's those kind of missed steps in the emotional structure that trip up audiences and readers, even when the rest of the story makes perfect sense.
When transitioning between viewpoints/storylines, time and place doesn't matter. The pattern of human response does, if readers or audiences are to keep up.
Genre: Western miniseries, made for television
Cast: Irene Bedard, Tom Berenger, Tyler Christopher, Rachel Leigh Cook, Lance Henriksen, Christian Kane, Warren Kole
Director: Michael Watkins
Teleplay: Kirk Ellis
Story: William Mastrosimone
The fourth episode of Into the West, "Hell on Wheels," focuses on the second generation of Wheelers and introduces another branch of the family in Omaha, Nebraska. There orphaned Clara begs a roof over her head from her uncharitable step-relatives led by ambitious, hard-hearted Daniel. His eldest son, Robert, comes to her aid and together they forge a promising friendship while Clara works and saves to recapture her shattered dreams.
Meanwhile, Margaret and her husband are abducted by the Cheyenne. The harrowing experience turns sweet when it affords her the opportunity to reconnect with her Indian heritage, but at a great price. A witness to peace treaties, broken promises, and haunting massacres, her heart overflows with bitterness, eroding the edges of her sanity.
Abe, adrift since the Pony Express faded away, finds renewed purpose in laying the tracks of a historic railroad. He befriends a Chinese, and together they struggle against nature and injustice to connect east with west.
Into the West: Hell on Wheels sets two of its main storylines against the backdrop of the transcontinental railroad: Clara's and Abe's. Margaret's storyline continues the Indian perspective of the west, and picks up Jacob Jr. late in the plot, possibly setting him up for his own storyline in the future.
Though this episode juggles about the same number of plotlines as the previous episode (#3 "Dreams and Schemes," see INTO THE WEST: multiple plots & subplots), it's harder to follow. The story structure is easy enough to keep up with, but the emotional structure falls down when it transitions between story lines.
Emotional structure deals with the universal pattern of human response to disaster or success. To advance a plot, most scenes end with the viewpoint character's goal being answered with--
- "Yes, but…" (he gets what he wants, but with a painful compromise attached),
- "No" (he doesn't get what he wants), or
- "No, and furthermore…" (he doesn't get what he wants, and is worse off for trying).
According to writing instructor Jack Bickham, the natural human response to any of these scene endings is--
- Emotion. The viewpoint character wallows in mixed feelings, and may discuss his feelings with a friend or trusted confidant.
- Thought. The viewpoint character reviews what's happened, analyzes the ramifications and implications, and tries to arrive at a new course of action.
- Decision. The viewpoint character decides what he's going to do next.
- Action. The viewpoint character strikes off in pursuit of his new short-term goal.
Maintaining the integrity of this response pattern is what builds the emotional structure of a story. When shifting between multiple viewpoints, as "Hell on Wheels" does, the pattern becomes even more important. Often years pass in "Hell on Wheels" between one storyline transition and another. For instance, the first storyline introduced in this episode is Clara's in 1863 Omaha when she moves in with the Daniel Wheeler family. The second storyline is Margaret's. When the story finally returns to Clara, it's 1866, three years later. The skipped years are fine as far as story structure goes. But the emotional structure falls apart because the audience left Clara in the grip of strong emotions, reeling from the murders of her adoptive family. When the story returns to Clara, she's taking action toward a new goal: convincing Robert to let her take advantage of the new job opportunities created by the local railroad construction. What happened to the necessary progression of thought and decision? It isn't there. And it's those kind of missed steps in the emotional structure that trip up audiences and readers, even when the rest of the story makes perfect sense.
When transitioning between viewpoints/storylines, time and place doesn't matter. The pattern of human response does, if readers or audiences are to keep up.
