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WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Push Your Protagonist to the Edge at the Climax
The climax is the ultimate test. The protagonist's facing his/her ultimate fear, and usually requires a final challenge of the character's growth or change. A deep understanding of the needs, wants, and fears that drive the hero allows for the creation of an “ultimate” test, action or crucial symbolic “graduation” that is the best fit for that particular protagonist, genre, and film. Choose wisely.
I believe that all movies are, on some level, coming-of-age stories—no matter the age of the protagonist. For it is this test that shows us, the audience, if the hero has, in fact, grown. After the climax, there are usually only one or two scenes of resolution, ...
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