Defining the Moment of Enlightenment

I’m excited to share the second installment of my 4-part series on editing character transformation in documentary films. If you missed Part 1, read about the Power of Character Transformation here.

First, thanks to my screenwriting mentors, Dara Marks and Robert McKee, who have so clearly laid out the dramatic device and plot turns of the three-act structure that makes narrative scripts come alive.

My job is to translate these screenwriting concepts for us documentary filmmakers.

Second, I want to acknowledge the many filmmakers who’ve said that they feel “boxed in” by the three-act structure. Documentaries structured primarily around ideas (rather than a character quest) will not fit this format.

But as screenwriting guru Marks points out, the three-act structure is entirely organic. Meaning…as long as we’ve told stories, our tales mimic life with a beginning, a middle and an end.

Marks also encourages writers to “love the dreaded second act.” Why dreaded? Because Act Two is a long stretch, sometimes 60 percent of the film, in which to keep momentum building.

Here’s a devise that can help. As your character begins to change, craft a midpoint that marks the first sign of character transformation. The midpoint is always a crisis—either to a relationship or one’s bodily existence. In this case, however, we’re talking about a crisis of Self.

When the old self (or pattern of behavior) begins to change to the new pattern of behavior, the midpoint scene marks the transition.

Marks calls this scene the “moment of enlightenment…It is not transformation,” she adds. “It is the threshold to transformation.”

As you contemplate the potential for character transformation in your own documentary-in-progress, you might watch Going Clear or Wasteland or Capturing the Friedman’s (or even the first third of An Inconvenient Truth) for examples of characters who undergo personality changes.

Stay tuned for next week’s installment on how to cinch character transformation in the third act. You can learn more about structuring documentaries in my online seminar.

Here’s what director Jeff Nachtigal said about the seminar:

“The “Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary” was an invaluable tool for me, helping me right at the point where I most needed that type of support. I reworked the film into a more clear three-act structure and added a clear inciting moment — and I believe the film is much, much better for it.”