ABSTRACT
To engage the audience, a scene must incorporate changes and surprises. Making these changes at our identified beats, the audience finds the logical and emotional tactics make sense. Script analysis—searching for the power, emotion, and information beat—invites formal, technical, and stylistic change mirroring the character’s dogged pursuit of a goal. When beginning script analysis, it is helpful to assume that what is said is a lie meant to spare the character’s feelings or to provide a courtesy to other characters. The choices not only address what happens in the script literally but also how we feel about what is happening. Making camera, lighting, sound, hair/make-up, production design choices that address the internal monologue gives the film an emotional depth.
