Constructing a Story Arc for A Personal Documentary

I am working with a new client, a first-time filmmaker who is wisely consulting with a story editor (me) in pre-production.  Her personal documentary emerges from her riveting family story of war and refugee camps.  I am urging her to hone in on the protagonists’ desire in her earliest concept paper, before shooting.  We are also outlining her narrative arc, keeping in mind that documentaries do not fit tidily into three acts.  Having said that, I reminded her that devising a three-act structure does not mean dividing the film into three parts, and then arbitrarily labeling each part an act.  The first, second and third acts look remarkably different from one another, and each will fulfill a unique and specific purpose in constructing her story. One of the luxuries of working on a backward-looking film is that we can create a Doc Plot Map before shooting.

 

In her case, pinpointing the Act One inciting incident (her village was burned down) and identifying the Act Two obstacles (a forced trek in wintery conditions, Yellow Fever, the death of a child) will not be difficult.  Our work lies primarily in constructing Act Three and finding a climax that is more dramatic that the Act Two tragedy of her sister’s death.  Our collaboration today will flesh out the post-war events that caused her parents to dig even deeper into their emotional reserves and call forth an extraordinary effort that will free them from the scars of war. 

 

If we can’t find an event that sounds extraordinary on paper, then we will focus on designing a riveting cinematic approach to portraying the climax.  This could be as simple as an emotional recounting of the climax event (in an interview or verite scene), or as complex as rendering it in animation.  The point is that if the event itself won’t carry the climax, the stylistic treatment of the event may suffice.  An alternative would be placing the sister’s death as an Act Three climax, but that’s a tricky proposition because the climax, like the inciting incident, is such an important structural device that it should unfold in real story time. I’m looking forward to brainstorming the solution with her!