Where's The Puck
In your every scene.
The "puck" is the onscreen visible "thing" that moves about in a scene, often indicating who is the winner or loser in your negotiation/race/contest/argument.
In addition to having witty dialog, you should provide a solely visual way to experience the scene.
Your puck-action can go with, or against, or supplementarily to, the dramatic flow of the scene.
This important thing is that your scene has a visual back and forth drama ending in a "punch."
Steven Spielberg is the master of the "puck."
Without the puck, the film tends to break down when played for children, or people of limited intelligence, poor hearing, or people who speak a different language, or people who are visual, not auditory, learners.
That's the overwhelming majority of the world's viewing audience!
A few common "pucks":
| PUCK | dramatic question |
|---|---|
| the lips | are they going to kiss? |
| the ball | who's going to score? |
| a tug of war | who's going to win? |
| Money | who's going to end up with it? |
| her clothes | is she going to undress for him? |
| A bone | which dog will get the bone? |
| A worm | Is Billy going to eat it? |
| Whiskey | Who'll drink who under the table? |
| etc. |
There are as many ways to write in a "puck" as there are stars in the heavens, but make sure your scene has a visual "game."
Write a visual game into your scene, with a winner and a loser, and then make your dialog about something much more elevated and important than the "puck."
