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As screenwriters know,
modern screenplay has evolved from three and four act structure. The modern dividers are known as plot points 1 and 2 and midpoint, which break up screenplay into four thirty page parts. By page 30 George knew that he had to set up characters and Anakin had to set off on a journey, triggered by a set of events. A cataclysmic event had to take place around page 60, which sparks meat of Ordeal and significant change and by page 90, scene is set for final confrontation between Jedi and Dark Side. In effect, each section is reduced to a set of problem finding and solving exercises.
Going even further, classical story structure (on which original Star Wars is based) breaks a film into 19 parts and many of today’s successful movies are framed around it. The parts are: Ordinary World, Call, Refusal, Supernatural Aid, First Threshold, Belly of Whale, Trials, Meeting Goddess, Woman as Temptress, Atonement, Apotheosis, Boon, Refusal of return, Magic Flight, Rescue from Within, Crossing Threshold, Return, Master of Two Worlds, Freedom to Live (Campbell, 1968). Thus, even four acts are too random. Screenwriters need a structure of 19 distinct stages of problem identification and idea generation to maximise their creativity in terms of speed and output.
The above 19 stage structure can legitimately be expanded to around 40 stages and there are theories that allow for as many as 240 micro stages.
In conclusion, creativity can be measured by frequency, speed, novelty, diversity, amount and applicability of output. Significant research and practical experience indicate that organised, systematic and highly structured processes increase creativity, so if you want to help George write Star Wars Episode VII, don’t take a random and structure free approach (commonly known as waiting for inspiration) – use appropriate structures and get on with it.
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These and other topics are covered in depth in MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased at http://www.managing-creativity.com
Kal Bishop, MBA, http://www.managing-creativity.com
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You are free to reproduce this article as long as author's name, web address and link to MBA dissertation is retained.
Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller.
