Sequences Secret Revealed (pt 3)
OK, ready to see what screenplay sequence follows the Act One turning point in 27 Dresses?
Sequence C – Tess & George get engaged
I
Jane and Tess enter their dad’s shop.
They eat and Tess is evasive about how long she’s going to be in town. She leaves to answer a call from George. Jane looks worried.
At work, Jane looks through her diary. She calls Kevin as he walks down the street with his friend. He’s ripped a page out of her diary. He asks her out and she tells him to get lost.
George and Tess enter with a kid. They leave for a game. (Notice how the end of the first mini-sequence sets up the conflict for the sequence as a whole—George and Tess are going to spend time together at the game.)
II
They order food at the game and Tess pretends she’s vegetarian and likes hiking. They sit down as Tess talks about her dead dog. George leaves and Jane and Tess argue about it. Tess says she could like the stuff he does given the chance. She joins him to play ball.
Montage: At home, Jane takes some flowers for Tess from a delivery man. At work, she sees George has a picture of Tess on his desk. She comes home to see them making out. At a Goth wedding, Tess and George say they love each other. Jane screws up a note from Kevin. (Viewing a sequence as a mini-script with three acts, this is the crisis “act two turning point”—Jane sees George and Tess have taken their relationship to the next level.)
III
Jane fixes George’s tie—he’s going to meet her father with Tess.
At her desk, Jane notices George’s wallet.
She gets out a cab. She enters a hotel and meets George. Tess enters and proposes to George. Jane tries to leave. Tess accepts and they kiss. (1st turning point failure) (If Jane thought the 1st turning point at the end of act one was bad, things have just got a whole lot worse with this turning point at the end of the 3rd sequence)
Want to find out how the next screenplay sequence takes the film to the midpoint?
