5
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
Give Your Protagonist Something to Win and Something to Lose
The stakes in a movie can be defined as the consequences for your protagonist's inaction. In other words, what will happen if he doesn't become proactive in the face of the impending crisis in his life? Will he lose something of great value? I read a great many screenplays each year for both students and professional rewriting assignments. The most common weakness in lesser scripts is lack of dramatic tension—which is usually a symptom of: (a) no stakes; (b) low stakes; or (c) lack of clarity of what's at stake. Don't let this happen to you! Ideally, your protagonist will face a big challenge at the end of act one which will spark an active goal for him. This ...
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