Day 18 - Crisis Point

In honor of Howard Suber's birthday, and since I'm on schedule to write to my mid-point today, I thought we'd discuss what Howard Suber has dubbed the "crisis point." Howard Suber is like the Wooden of the UCLA Film School. He has a legion of dedicated followers called Suberites. A new crop of Suberites are born each time Suber teaches a class. Deservedly so.

I took Howard's class back in 1998 when I was a very young film student. I took copious notes and took everything he said as seriously as the word of God. The class I took analyzed why films work and why they don't. One brilliant point Howard shared with us was his observation that at the 60 minute point the main character takes an active step either toward or away from his goal. (Now, I'm remembering this from 1998 - so for the finer points - seek out the man himself. He has written books and posted many things on the internet. Here's a link to Howard Suber's The Power Of Film.)

While taking Howard's class, I applied everything I learned about the "Crisis Point" to the script I was writing at the time. And to make a long story short, it didn't work. I asked Howard why, why, why had his crisis point forsaken me? And what he told me was one of the greatest quotes ever. He said, "What you've done is make a perfect landing at the wrong airport."

At the time I was way too insecure to admit I had no idea what that meant. So I muddled on and on. And over time, over the last 19 scripts of my career, here's what I've come up with about the "Crisis Point."

Howard is absolutely correct. If you watch any good film at 60 minutes the main character acts. But, just because the character takes a step at minute 60 doesn't mean that the writer can force a beat to fall there. If you are structuring everything else, including your character arc correctly (See Part One and Part Two), then Howard Suber's Crisis Point is a naturally occurring byproduct.

It's great fun to go back and see after you've written your draft if your script actually has one. If it does, this is a great clue that you're cooking with gas and in great shape. If it does not, then buddy, you'd better start looking for false beats and wrong turns.

So, after all these years my UCLA education is still paying off. It's still drawing me toward critical thinking and helping me improve my craft. Thank you Howard Suber and Happy Birthday.