Last week, in my remarks on Run Lola Run, I introduced the idea of the three act screenplay structure. The first act, the exposition, sets up the characters and the situation. Plot Point I propels the film into the second act, in which the character or characters take action based on the what was set up in Act I. Plot Point II then moves the film towards its resolution which takes place in Act III.
Little Miss Sunshine perfectly demonstrates this typical screenplay structure. Act I, which takes place mostly in the Hoover's home, sets up the six main characters and their relationship to each other. Plot Point I is Olive finding out that she has "won" the regional contest and will be competing in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Act II is the road trip in which the family must overcome a series of obstacles. In keeping with the theme of our series, this road trip has the added urgency of a deadline: they must arrive at the pageant by 3:00pm the next day. While there are many plot points along the way, what we would label Plot Point II is the arrival at the beauty pageant, which propels the film towards its conclusion, Act III.
Michael Arndt, the screenwriter of this film, sets himself a difficult task, creating six rounded, believable characters, each with his or her own goals. I showed the first page of the script in our session today, but if you are interested in looking at the whole script, you can find it here:
https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/LITTLE_MISS_SUNSHINE.pdf
(I should point out that this is not the final script. The dinner table scene is much shorter and the ending is different, to take two points of departure.)
The exposition of a film needs to convey to the audience all the information it needs to understand the plot. Who are the characters? What is their relationship to each other? Where do they live? What do they do? What are their goals and dreams? Unlike a novel or a short story, a screenwriter needs to convey this information without the benefit of a narrator who can simply tell the reader this information. Take, for example, the opening lines of Raymond Carver's short story "Cathedral":
"This blind man, an old friend of my wife's, he was on his way to spend the night. His wife had died. So he was visiting the dead wife's relatives in Connecticut."
That's an awful lot of information packed into just three sentences. You would probably need several scenes to convey this same information in a movie, at least, without resorting to a voiceover narrator. If a voiceover is used too often, viewers may wonder why they are watching a movie instead of reading a book. So how does Arndt do it?
The rule in screenwriting is show, don't tell. As much as possible, convey information by what the audience can see. That can take several forms:
One way is through action and gestures. Take the opening scene of the film in which Olive is shown watching the crowning of the new Miss America. Here's how Arndt describes it:
"Absently, she holds up one hand and mimics the waving style of Miss America. She REWINDS the tape and starts all over."
The gesture of mimicking Miss America and the action of rewinding the tape to watch again tells you everything you need to know about Olive's dream.
Another significant action and gesture takes place in the van after Richard has learned that his deal is kaput. Arndt writes that his father "gets up and walks up to the front of the bus." That's a significant action because, up to this point, Grandpa has done nothing but complain to his son. So this action signals to the audience that something different will happen. And after telling his son that he is proud of him, the script describes that Richard "tries to be cool and dismissive, but Grandpa just stands there. Finally, Richard turns and makes eye contact. Awkwardly, he offers his hand to Grandpa. They shake." The film itself stages this moment a little differently. Richard does not turn to make eye contact. The weight of emotion is entirely born by the gesture of squeezing his dad's hand. Either way, the love between these characters is conveyed by that gesture. Without establishing that bond, the later scene in which Richard insists on stealing Grandpa's body rather than leaving it in the hands of the officious hospital grief counselor would not be believable.
Another visual means of conveying information is through costumes. Richard, for example, is shown wearing, as the screenplay states, "pleated khaki shorts, a golf shirt, sneakers." Nothing about Richard looks like the winner he thinks he is. Frank, upon arriving from the hospital, is shown wearing an all white outfit. It speaks of someone who is neat and orderly. Dwayne shows his rebelliousness through his t-shirts; one reads "Jesus was Wrong." And, of course, Olive's costumes at the beauty pageant - her bathing suit, her dance outfit - show the viewer clearly how out of place she is in this milieu.
Props and settings also tell the viewer a lot. The McDonald's glass at the dinner table conveys a family that needs to be frugal, despite the middle class home they are living in. We later find out that they are on the brink of financial disaster. The giant poster of Nietsche on Dwayne's bedroom wall efficiently conveys his disdain for ordinary people, especially his family. The biggest prop of all is the VW bus which breaks down and has to be rolled downhill to start, a proper metaphor for this family.
I pointed out last week that a film is helped by having a character with a strong goal, and here we have four, in different stages of failure. Frank has already failed in his goal to be recognized as the No. 1 Proust scholar. He's also failed in love. Richard is pursuing an unlikely dream to become a best-selling self-help author. Dwayne has the noblest goal, to become a Navy pilot, but that dream will eventually be shattered through no fault of his own. And Olive has the most trivial goal, to win the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, but it doesn't matter how we judge her goal. What matters to us is that it matters to her. And because it matters to her, it comes to matter to the entire family and propels them on their venture.
One other person has a goal, though it is not explicitly stated. It's Sheryl. Her goal is to keep the family going, no matter what. And she is the one person who succeeds in her goal, against all odds. That achievement is, in the end, what makes this film satisfying.