Christopher Nolan is one of the most popular directors in the world
but his greatest successes are his achievements as a writer. His films are cerebral thought experiments and
exciting tentpole
blockbusters at the same time. I've been wondering how he manages to strike that balance and I think the answer is that he is
phenomenal at story structure.
Last year, Batman V Superman attempted to pull off that balance as well.
But its main flaw is that it has no structure. If you were bored during the movie,
it's because the story doesn't build from scene to scene. At the same time
it's clear that the movie wants to trade in big ideas
but it seems fine with just injecting them into the movie in the form of TV debates, usually, instead of actually
developing those ideas. There is no connection between the alleged themes of the movie
and the actions that the characters take. Let's keep that in mind while we look at a movie that I think has
Pitch-Perfect Act Structure: Batman Begins.
Story structure is all about how scenes are organized into acts, and how each act
pushes the story forward. Good story structure will make a story feel
propulsive, fast-paced and engaging. As we're about to see, it also provides the framework for how a story discusses theme.
But first, what is an act? An act is a unit of story that ends when a character makes an irrevocable decision.
This decision will set the tone for the next act and usually change the character in a significant way.
There's this myth that all stories have a three-act structure, which I'll talk about in another video, but for now
it's important to know that a movie can have as many or as few acts as it needs. Batman Begins
has a four act structure. Let's list them. In Act 1, Batman trains with Ra's Al Ghul and flashbacks tell us the classic Batman
origin story. At the end of the act, bruce makes the decision not to kill and betrays the league of shadows. In Act 2, Bruce
returns to Gotham, prepares to become Batman, gathers allies, and makes the decision to take down the crime boss
Falcone. The exact midpoint of the movie is punctuated by the reveal of the costume.
In Act 3, he investigates the whole water
vaporizing device, and has a couple of run-ins with the scarecrow. He risks getting caught to save the love of his life. And in the
final act, bruce learns that Liam Neeson is Ra's, once again refuses to join him, and yadda-yadda-yadda
explosion!
What makes this a great screenplay is that it is filled with conflict. Internal conflict, external conflict, conflict between morally reprehensible characters.
What's more, the conflict is structured in a sophisticated way so that the drama is laser focused on one battle for each act.
In this film, Bruce Wayne has three primary
antagonists: Falcone,
Scarecrow, and Ra's Al Ghul.
This is what John Truby calls "Four-Corner Opposition" in his book "The Anatomy Of Story." The idea
is that your story basically
writes itself when you have four distinct characters in opposition with one another. If a story is just a simple battle of good versus evil
the conflict runs itself out pretty quickly. But with multiple levels of conflict, a storyteller has an
exponentially greater number of options to explore. In Batman Begins,
Scarecrow is often in conflict with Falcone, and both of them fear Ra's Al Ghul. Falcone: He's coming to Gotham?
Crane: He is. But the key to Four-Corner Opposition isn't just that the characters are adversaries to one another,
but that their values are also in opposition. And whenever characters with different values clash, we can't help but
interpret this as part of the theme. John Truby calls this "The Moral Argument,"
which I think is a great way to phrase it, as at their core, most stories are an argument about what is moral
Pop quiz: what's the main theme of Batman begins? The movie is 15 years old so I'll give you a second.
Alfred: Why bats, Master Wayne? Bruce: Bats frightened me. Falcone: That's the power of fear. Bruce: It's time my enemies shared my dread.
Thomas: Bruce, don't be afraid. Yeah, it's fear.
But it's not just that people talk about fear all the time in the way that the characters
of Batman V Superman vaguely talk about power
But that each of our four characters has their own highly specific take on the subject. They have different motivations
for using fear and they use it against different targets. When designing a story, getting to this point, and
contrasting the characters in this way, is a huge milestone, because you have built-in reasons to create
conflict between the characters. All of them have at least one reason to oppose all the others.
But the real genius of the screenplay is that it uses this intricate moral argument as the fuel for each act in the story.
By that I mean, every act is about one of these four areas on the chart.
Act one sets up everything that Bruce Wayne believes. In Act Two, he squares off against Falcone and the message we learn is:
"Terrorizing the people of Gotham for personal gain is wrong."
In Act three, Batman fight Scarecrow. Message? "Terrorizing criminals for your own pleasure is wrong." And
in the final act, "terrorizing the innocent people of Gotham, even for noble reasons, is wrong."
All of this affirms the central thesis of the Batman character. That fear should be used against criminals
but only as a way to prevent future crime. We learn this basically by the process of elimination.
His is the only
ideology that survives. Now there is no one right way to structure a movie.
But there are principles outlined here that, 99 times out of 100, will improve a story. That includes characters making
irrevocable decisions that change who they are. And that characters should have contrasting values not just
conflicting goals. When you look at Batman V Superman this way, you'll see why the film feels so meandering.
I really can't tell you when one act ends and another begins,
but if I had to choose
I'd say act one is two hours long and only
ends when Superman decides to fight Batman. And act three starts when Batman doesn't kill superman. But that leaves you with three
hilariously unbalanced acts in terms of runtime. And while it looks like it might have Four-Corner Opposition,
that's a mirage, since these three characters might as well be the same person. They all believe that
they are the only one who is morally justified in their use of violence. Their conflict doesn't mean
anything because their values are not being contrasted.
Batman Begins is probably the most conventional film Christopher Nolan has ever made. All of his movies are
intricately structured and
incredibly complex, so what I've sketched out here is just the barest bones of his least complicated film.
But I think it's useful to look at how a rock-solid story structure can lend weight and
nuance to otherwise simple ideas. Batman V Superman might be asking bigger philosophical questions
but Nolan's film actually gives
answers.
So there's a lot more of you here than there was last time. Seriously,
thank you guys so much for subscribing to the channel and thanks again for liking sharing and commenting
on the Wonder Woman video. It was really exciting to see all of you guys debate that video and
can I just say I think that comments section is the best one on YouTube?
Everyone was so kind and courteous even when they disagreed and that's exactly the kind of community
I want to encourage on this channel. Secondly, there's a Facebook page for this channel
and if you want to carry on the discussion or if you want to talk to me about the videos more, that is definitely the
best way to reach me. Lastly, I had the pleasure of appearing on The Long Box Sessions this week.
It's a podcast about comic books and comic book movies,
and we got to talk about my Wonder Woman video and a whole bunch more, so I think you'll enjoy that discussion, and you can
see it in the link below. I've got more video essays on the way, so you know what to do.