5-Part Series: Set Pieces

A scene or set of scenes with a big idea, feel and/or scope to them, often associated with major plot points, and always about entertainment.

From our friends at Wikipedia:

In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the filmmaker’s elaborate planning is considered to allow for the maximum payoff for the audience, such as a thrilling action sequence or awe-inspiring science fiction sequence. The term is often used to describe any scenes that are so essential to a film that they cannot be edited out or skipped in the shooting schedule without seriously detracting from the enjoyability, intensity, impact, and memorability of the finished product. Often, screenplays are written around a list of such set pieces.

You can think of them as trailer moments. However you refer to them, every movie — no matter the scope — has set pieces. And YOU would be wise to be mindful of them when brainstorming a story … breaking a story … and writing a story in script form.

For Part 1: Spin the plot, go here.

For Part 2: Emotional Meaning, go here.

For Part 3: Stakes, go here.

For Part 4: Complications, Roadblocks and Reversals, go here.

For Part 5: Entertainment, go here.