Film Courage: What is the All Is Lost moment?
Jen Grisanti, Speaker/Story/Career Consultant, Author: The All Is Lost moment is when the
character is as far away as possible from achieving the goal the significance of the
All Is Lost moment is in hitting rock bottom the character has an epiphany in the Epiphany
is the recognition of the flaw that is holding them back then the connection to the character
and the action that they take at the top of the last act that leads to the achievement of
the goal should reflect the consciousness of the flaw and acknowledgment or the denial of the flaw
with the choice that is made that leads to the resolution
so the All Is Lost moment is so important in getting the character to change yes
in in hitting rock bottom it again universally we all hit our Rock Bottom moments we all hit
our moments where they say each person has at least three to four of these moments in life so
these are moments that are identifiable and when the audience is watching the character hit rock
bottom they're identifying with what that is and then when they see the characters awareness become
conscious of the flaw then they look at their own lives and think about could I make better
choices that could lead me to a stronger outcome by acknowledging the flaw so when we see in story
all the time when it's done well then we get empowered in our own lives of how we can transform
our All Is Lost moments into growth opportunity so that's interesting so you say that most people
will hit three or four all those last moments does it have anything to do with age or financial
status or anything it it doesn't because I have so many people who will say to me are Young Writers
not ready when when they're writing and I said all depends on what happens in their life if you
have a young writer whose parent died when they were 10. they become old souls so those are the
types of moments certainly with us going through what we all went through with the idea of black
lives matter and US feeling that connection with characters that are going through so much loss
that these are life-defining moments that it's not because they're 25 or their their midlife
or they're old it's because these are things that are happening to them in the moment that could be
at any life point in any life phase so these defining moments are are like turning points
that happen in our life and that can happen at any time and I think are the phase of life that we're
in determines how our character will evolve from the choices we make because of what happened to us
does the All Is Lost moment usually result from a goal fail like a failure of a goal
the All Is Lost moment is like your final in another thing to think about with the always
lost moment it should always be due to an action that the character takes toward the goal versus
something that happens to them so you always want to think of yes you number one it's so important
that you feel the goal in the All Is Lost moment that you feel that the character is as far away
as possible from that achievement and that they are being active and it's kind of like in life
like you hit a brick wall so many times before you start to recognize that's not the way to
do it you're always off lost moment is serving the same purpose it's telling you your flawed
behavior is getting in the way of your dream and unless you do something to change by becoming
a more aware and conscious you are not going to have the same outcome with the resolution
as you will if you acknowledge what's going on with the flaw and what's holding you back
and is the always lost moment the same as the Dark Night of the Soul
in film there I have like say for example in a film like Avatar you have they always lost moment
and The Dark Knight of the soul is two separate moments in many films they are one in the same so
I think it all depends on the structure of the film I think there are plenty of writers where
they're seasoned writers who know how to serve both but and both are part of the same type of
sequence which is something that is bringing the character aware of what is holding them back as
it links to the dream and the goal how long does the All Is Lost moment last in a story they all
thought well it depends on the story but it's a it is quick I it is something where now the All Is
Lost sequence could be something depending on the story that could feel like it's building from the
midpoint on but ideally you're looking for the the moment itself is something where we feel that due
to the action taken they hit the all is awesome moment and this is something that quickly happens
where they they feel at wit's end as far as the goal what if the character refuses to change
then you're having a tragedy then that that brings you into the idea of a film
that is a tragedy because the character resists the acknowledgment of the flaw
do you see that with a lot of writers do they want their characters to change I see resistance
for the idea that what we've talked about earlier is that so many people in their lives
it takes so much before they're willing to change so however I feel like when you look at the idea
of change everything's incremental like you you look at a character who you say no they'll never
change like when you look at for example when you look at the comedy and they say in comedy the
character doesn't change yet because now certainly in streaming when you have the half hour drama
then you're taking on the component of the transformation where the character
does change and I even think many comedies are also now recognizing the value of incremental
change even if it's not a massive change but a small change in the awareness of the character.