SCREENWRITER ALERT: Whether it’s a horror classic like John Carpenter’s Halloween, a Disney favorite like Lion King, or Stephen Soderberg’s newest thriller, Contagion (which grossed over $120 million so far), every genre uses Something Startling Happens’ universal minute-by-minute beats. All successful stories do. See how here:
MINUTE 1: ATTENSION!
Sexual tension between Beth and her lover over the phone
MINUTE 2: THE BUILD
An Asian man, and young woman are extremely sick
MINUTE 3: THE RATCHET
A young woman dies
MINUTE 4: ANOTHER NOTCH
A bus strikes the sick Asian man
MINUTE 5: JAW DROPPER
Alan Krumwiede makes the jaw dropping comment that this may be a government cover-up
MINUTE 6: FRIEND OR FIST
Alan and a pregnant journalist debate about the outbreak (FIST)
MINUTE 7: FRIEND OR FIST 2
Mitch takes care of his stepson (FRIEND)
MINUTE 8: SOMETHING STARTLING HAPPENS
Beth collapses and convulses in the kitchen!
MINUTE 9: THE PURSUIT
When Mitch learns that Beth died, he pursues why
MINUTE 10: THE DISCUSSION
Mitch and the doctor discuss what happened to Beth
MINUTE 11: THE WARNING
Clark’s stepson dies, too—a warning that this disease is contagious
MINUTE 12: HARSHER WARNING
The virus spreads in the most populated city on earth
MINUTE 13: THE SUBMISSION
Beth lays dead while the coroners drill open her skull
MINUTE 14: DANGER WATCH
The doctors see that the virus “obliterated” Beth’s brain
MINUTE 15: WHEW, THAT WAS CLOSE!
Dr. Ellis is relieved to know that Dr. Elin is prepared (Whew, that was close)
MINUTE 16: THE BIG CONCERN
Mitch’s daughter is concerned that he’s sick
MINUTE 17: WORLD UPSIDE DOWN
Mitch’s daughter learns that her brother died
MINUTE 18: TROUBLE TURN
The staff Dr. Erin works with want to keep the schools and stores open
MINUTE 19: THE THREAT
People can be contagious without showing symptoms
MINUTE 20: PUSH BACK
Dr. Erin debates with the mean staff lady
MINUTE 21: THE GREAT AFFECT
The virus seems to be “amplified”
MINUTE 22: TRUTH DECLARED
Alan says: “This is a biological weapon”
MINUTE 23: SCARY STUFF
Homeland Security wonders if someone “weaponized the bird flu”
MINUTE 24: SCARY STUFF 2
Reports say a teacher and students died from the virus
MINUTE 25: SCARY STUFF 3
Dr. Erin tells Beth’s sick coworker to get off the bus immediately
MINUTE 26: THE BIG UNEXPECTED
Beth’s coworker learns that he has an infectious disease and is highly contagious
MINUTE 27: THE MINI-QUEST
Dr. Erin tries to find out where Beth travelled
MINUTE 28: BIG QUEST PREP
Dr. Ally Hextall and Dr. Ellis study the virus (preparing to find out how to stop it)
MINUTE 29: BIG QUEST PREP 2
The researcher and Dr. Ellis study the virus even more (preparing to find out how to stop it)
MINUTE 30: THE NEED
Dr. Ally Hextall tells Dr. Ian Sussman: “We need to shut you down”
MINUTE 31: DISTRESS SIGNAL
Dr. Ellis holds a distressing news conference about the spreading virus
MINUTE 32: ANXIETY AMP
They believe there are 89,000 cases at this point and rising
MINUTE 33: OMINOUS OH NO!
The virus kills every animal the doctors experiment with
MINUTE 34: FRIEND AFFECT
A coworker’s comment about his sick mother affects Dr. Leonora Orantes
MINUTE 35: BAIT & SWITCH
Dr. Sussman is supposed to destroy the samples, but he keeps working on them
MINUTE 36: HIDE & SEEK
The doctors SEEK to distribute the vaccine, but that’s still months away (HIDE)
MINUTE 37: OVER HIS HEAD
A hedge fund man wants to pay Alan for his information (he may be in over his head)
MINUTE 38: POSITIVE RECONNECT
Dr. Erin tells Mitch he is immune
MINUTE 39: NEW JOURNEY BOND
Dr. Erin and Dave find an arena to bring patients
MINUTE 40: ALLY’S WORLD
Dr. Erin is sad she had to tell Mitch his wife was cheating on him
MINUTE 41: THORNY ROSE
Mitch’s daughter’s boyfriend brought flowers (ROSE), but Mitch won’t accept them (THORN)
MINUTE 42: SURPRISE REVEAL
The virus spread to first victim when she blew on a poker chip
MINUTE 43: SURPRISE REVEAL 2
Dr. Erin wakes up sick
MINUTE 44: NEW NEWS
Dr. Ellis learns that Dr. Erin is sick
MINUTE 45: OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Strong Dr. Ellis puts his head in his hands
MINUTE 46: THE REVELATION
Mitch learns that the funeral home refuses to bury Beth
MINUTE 47: THE ESCORT
Beth leaves a message for her lover -- she wants to take him to bed
MINUTE 48: NEEDED KNOWLEDGE
Dr. Leonora Orantes learns that Beth and three other victims intersected at the casino
MINUTE 49: FOREBODING FACT
Dr. Orantes learns her coworker’s mother died
MINUTE 50: THE PORTENT
Dr. Orantes makes a strange call -- he’s up to something bad
MINUTE 51: THE ENGAGE
Dr. Orantes’s coworker kidnaps her
MINUTE 52: SAY UNCLE
Dr. Erin lays in bed, extremely sick
MINUTE 53: THE INTIMIDATION
Lyle, the military man, tells Ellis there will be a run on the banks
MINUTE 54: THE LIGHTBULB
Alan tells his internet followers that he’s using a possible cure
MINUTE 55: SIDESWIPE
Dr. Ellis tells Aubrey he wants her to leave Chicago (sideswiping news to her)
MINUTE 56: DARK TWIST CHAT
The janitor and Dr. Ellis talk about Dr. Ellis’s unethical phone conversation
MINUTE 57: DIFFICULT WORDS
Aubrey tells her friend: “I’m going to tell you something, and you’re not going to repeat it”
MINUTE 58: VITAL EVENT
The crowd breaks through the pharmacy window
MINUTE 59: THE DECEPTION
Mitch and his daughter sneak into the unmanned grocery store
MINUTE 60: THE SHOCKER
Mitch learns that the border is sealed and the governor declared a quarantine
And so on...
To learn much more about all 120 minute-by-minute beats, and how to apply them to your screenplay, TV pilot, novel or graphic novel, order Something Startling Happens: The 120 Story Beats Every Writer Needs To Know at Amazon.com or Barnes & Nobles. http://shop.mwp.com/products/something-startling-happens-the-120-story-beats-every-writer-needs-to-know
And try the #1 Bestseller, The Screenwriter's Fairy Tale: The Universal Story Within All Movie Stories: http://www.amazon.com/The-Screenwriters-Fairy-Tale-ebook/dp/B007U6D0CM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1348519200&sr=1-1&keywords=the+screenwriter%27s+fairytale+the+universal+story+within+all+movie+stories
Todd Klick Writing Services: www.toddklick.com
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