107:. The movie tells the story of an undercover cop (Brasco) infiltrating the mob through his friendship with gangster Lefty Ruggiero. Through the entire film, the audience knows that Donnie is working undercover, but Lefty is completely unaware. This creates tension in even the most mundane scenes because underneath the routine conversation lies the audience's deep-seated interest in predicting whether Brasco will make his way into the mafia’s inner sanctum.
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When the audience feels as smart as the protagonist, there is tension and enjoyment in laughing at the ignorance of secondary characters. When a secondary character is kept in the dark, the audience enjoys watching how characters act upon incomplete information. Tension is created when the audience
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utilizes the
Storyteller’s Parallax to create tension by showing one specific shot that reveals to the audience (and the audience only) that Meg's cell phone has fallen under the bed. Meg, on the other hand, believes that the phone is still in its charger and can help her to escape. By making the
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keeps the audience in the dark revealing just enough details to make the
Protagonist (Ben - Character A) stand out. Ben dons an expensive but worn suit in an elite bar, which leaves the audience curious. then, Ben has an awkward conversation with a second character about borrowing money (Character
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Often, the audience and a specific character are aware of all the information in a scene, but the protagonist is left in the dark. When the protagonist is kept in the dark, the audience is immediately invested. This explains why people talk to the screen to warn the
Protagonist of impending danger
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The
Storyteller’s Parallax is an amelioration of the Triangle of Knowledge, making the triangle into a pyramid. The fourth element of consideration is the Storyteller herself. By adding a fourth point of consideration, the triangle becomes a three dimensional object. The third dimension creates
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is the story of a mother (Meg) and daughter (Sarah) who move to a new house – one with a "panic room" where people can safely hide in case of emergency. Three men break into the house and try to get into the panic room where the two women are hiding. Director
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To create tension, a writer may deprive the audience of information that the two characters in the scene possess. Keeping the audience in the dark is the most common use of the
Triangle of Knowledge. It is often used at the beginning of the film.
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kept the protagonists in the dark in the final scene. Butch and
Sundance engage on trivial banter, unaware that an army is gearing up to attack them. However, the audience knows because Goldman shows the army preparing.
38:, the audience, and any other Character in the scene. According to Williams, tension is created or enhanced when one of the three corners of the triangle is deprived knowledge (or "kept in the dark") in the scene.
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watches secondary characters make decisions that they know the character will regret because the audience does not have the same emotional connection to secondary characters as they have to the protagonist.
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audience privy to Meg's incorrect assumption, Fincher forces the audience to actively rooting against her plan to retrieve the cell phone from its charger; this creates tension.
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Ebert, Roger. “Donnie Brasco Movie Review & Film
Summary (1997): Roger Ebert.” movie review & film summary (1997) | Roger Ebert. RogerEbert.com, February 27, 1997.
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B). The awkward interaction between
Character A and Character B reveals a fractured relationship, which creates curiosity and (therefore) tension in the audience.
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three different
Parallaxes: one which is the Triangle of Knowledge itself, and three others that substitute the storyteller for one of the three points.
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Screen adaptation : beyond the basics : techniques for adapting books, comics, and real-life stories into screenplays
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is a writing technique to create and amplify tension in a screenplay, teleplay or stage play identified by
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Build Better
Characters: The psychology of backstory & how to use it in your writing to hook readers
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The Screenwriter's Problem Solver: How to Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems
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34:. The Triangle represents ‘three minds’ that contain knowledge within a scene: the
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https://www.audible.com/pd/Falling-in-Love-with-Romance-Movies-Audiobook/B07XPDH9YT
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307:. Film. United States: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 1969.
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https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/donnie-brasco-1997
245:. Film. United States: United Artists Pictures, 1995.
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The three minds that have knowledge in a screenplay
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370:. Film. United States: TriStar Pictures, 1997.
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120:Audience – Protagonist – Character X
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396:. Film. United States: Sony Pictures, 2002.
346:. The Creative Academy. pp. 230–231.
262:(episode five). The Great Courses, 2019.
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342:Cook, Eileen (2019).
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