Script Analysis: “Short Term 12” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

After a first pass, it’s time to crack open the script for a deeper analysis and you can do that by creating a scene-by-scene breakdown. It is precisely what it sounds like: A list of all the scenes in the script accompanied by a brief description of the events that transpire.

For purposes of this exercise, I have a slightly different take on scene. Here I am looking not just for individual scenes per se, but a scene or set of scenes that comprise one event or a continuous piece of action. Admittedly this is subjective and there is no right or wrong, the point is simply to break down the script into a series of parts which you then can use dig into the script’s structure and themes.

The value of this exercise:

• We pare down the story to its most constituent parts: Scenes.
• By doing this, we consciously explore the structure of the narrative.
• A scene-by-scene breakdown creates a foundation for even deeper analysis of the story.

This week: Short Term 12 (2013). You may download the script — free and legal — here: Short Term 12.

Written by Destin Daniel Cretton

IMDb plot summary: A 20-something supervising staff member of a residential treatment facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend.

Short Term 12
Scene By Scene Breakdown
By Carolina Groppa
GoIntoTheStory.com

Pg. 1–6 Mason tells Nate, who starts work today, and Jessica the embarrassing and somewhat ludicrous story of his first week of gate duty. We establish the friendships between the characters. Grace arrives in the middle of it; Mason promptly informs Nate that she’s the boss and we sense a deeper connection between Grace and Mason. During the climax of his story, a kid in his underwear, Sammy, busts out and makes a run for the exit. They chase after him, grab him, wait for him to calm down and then take him back in. This is just another day at the group home.

Pg. 7 Brief montage/sequence introducing audience to the kids at the home.

Pg. 7–8 Grace gives Nate the rundown of how the house operates and reminds him that their purpose is to create a safe environment for the kids.

Pg. 8–10 Grace uses a water squirt gun to playfully yet forcefully convince one of the kids, Luis, to show.

Pg. 10–13 The community meeting revels that Marcus, one of the kids, is turning 18 and will be leaving the home soon. There will be a party for him next week and in celebration, Marcus requests to shave his head. Grace introduces Nate to the group. He says he’s grateful to be working with “underprivileged kids”. Marcus blows up and responds with lots of cursing, forcing Grace to send him to his room.

Pg. 13–15 Jack, the big boss, calls Grace into his office. There’s a new girl entering the home named Jayden.

Pg. 15–16 Grace goes through Jayden’s bags at the group home office, trying to make small talk, but getting no bite from Jayden. She’s got a huge attitude, endless teen angst and a defiant demeanor.

Pg. 16–17 Inside Jayden’s new room, Grace gives her the run down of the rules. She compliments Jayden’s sketches — she’s a very talented artist, but Jayden deflects saying it’s crap. Grace tells her she can’t keep her door closed. Jayden retaliates with a crude comment about if she wanted to cut herself, the door being cracked open wouldn’t stop her.

Pg. 18 Montage of kids showing the passage of time

Pg. 18–19 Mason smokes a cigarette after work and chats with Nate as he waits for Grace, who then tells him she’s going on a bike ride to clear her head.

Pg. 19–20 Grace’s bike ride takes her to a woman’s clinic. We find out that she is pregnant. She wants an appointment to get an abortion on Saturday. We find out that Grace has been pregnant once before.

Pg. 20–21 Grace practices a fake smile before entering her apartment. Inside, is Mason, wearing a tall chef’s hat and cooking a Mexican dish. They share some playful banter. Graces goes to take a shower.

Pg. 22–26 Grace and Mason sit on the couch, facing each other, and sketching in separate tablets. After they show each other their drawings, Grace is reminded of how much she loves him and gives him very passionate kiss. He mentions it’s been a long time since they’ve had that level of intimacy. Things start getting a bit heated, Mason checks in with her the entire time to make sure it’s what she wants. Eventually, she yells for him to stop and slaps him. She curls up in fetal position and doesn’t respond. Mason washes the blood from his face, comes back, and sits with Grace’s head in his lap.

Pg. 26–27 The next morning in the group home, Grace introduces Jayden to the 16 other kids. They kids try to decide on a game to play while Jayden states that she’s not interested in creating short term relationships because her dad is coming to get her any day now.

Pg. 28 While the kids play outside, Grace goes to check all the rooms. She flips through Jayden’s sketch book filled with beautiful and emotional drawings. In Marcus’ room, she says hello to his fish, Nas, and in a small hole she finds and seizes a joint and a lighter.

Pg. 29–31 The kids continue playing minus Jayden. Mason tries his luck in connecting with Jayden by taking interest in the music she’s listening to. Meanwhile, a fight breaks out between Marcus and Luis over some insensitive comments. Grace gets in Marcus’ face to break it up. Moment later, Grace privately tells Marcus that she doesn’t want to see him end up in jail when he gets out of the home in one week.

Pg. 32–35 The kids file back into the lounge while Mason goes to talk to Marcus in his room. Marcus spits out a new rap he wrote. It’s beautiful, intense and sad; a perfect insight into his emotional state. Mason is dumbfounded, doesn’t know what to say. Marcus still wants to shave his head.

Pg. 35–36 Grace asks Jayden if she can draw with her. Jayden agrees. Bonding happens.

Pg. 37 Grace shaves Marcus’ hair. When she’s done, he asks if it’s lumpy. We find out that he normally keeps it long to hide the places where his mom hit him. It’s a touching moment.

Pg. 38–39 Nighttime in Grace’s apartment. Grace tells Mason she’s pregnant. He reacts positively to the news.

Pg. 39 The next morning is filled with domesticated fun; Mason joyfully bakes, Grace makes a wrap bracelet. Then they head to work.

Pg. 40–41 At work, Grace preps meds. Jessica reveals that the therapist took away all of Sammy’s dolls. Grace rushes to his room to comfort him. Then, In Jayden’s room she wishes her happy birthday. She gives her the wrap bracelet she made and a cupcake that Mason baked.

Pg. 42–46 Jayden packs her things, puts on the bracelet, and sits on the group home lounge waiting for her dad. Hours pass, nothing. She starts pressing her thumbnail into her skin, creating lines that form the word WHY. She storms out of the common area, streamlines for her room, and shuts the door behind her. This alarms the staff. Grace comes to the rescue and apologizes for her dad not showing up. She pleads with her to open the door. She doesn’t. Mason and Nate push the door open. Jayden goes into a screaming fit; punching everyone and eventually hitting Grace with the cupcake Mason baked earlier. It’s mayhem. The kids all try to get a look at the action. Jayden spits on Nate’s face. Grace manages to wind Jayden down.

Pg. 46 Marcus brings over a stack of colored paper and pens; he tells the kids to create cards for Jayden.

Pg. 47–49 Grace shows Jayden her ankle ridden scars; they tell a story Jayden knows all too well. They start throwing and punching a smiling beagle punching bag. She tells Jayden to take as much time as she needs in the chill out room. When Jayden returns to her room, she sees 14 hand-drawn birthday cards. She joins the kids in the common area where they are playing big booty. She catches herself having a good time.

Pg. 49–52 Moments later, the alarm goes off; Jayden has escaped via the emergency door. Grace chases her down the street. Eventually, they walk together until they end up at Jayden’s dad’s house. Jayden uses the spare key, sneaks into the house, notices her dad isn’t there, and then Grace offers to take her back to the home. She relents. They ride back in the car with Mason.

Pg. 53–55 Later that night, Jayden shares a sad story with Grace makes her question if her dad ever hurt her. Without words, Jayden confirms Grace’s suspicions.

Pg. 55–58 There is a party at Mason’s foster family’s house celebrating their 30th anniversary. He gives a beautiful speech thanking his parents for taking him in. Later while dancing, Mason proposes to Grace. She smiles and nods.

Pg. 58–59 It’s a jarring start to the next morning as Mason answers the phone and gets the news that her dad will be released next month. This is very bad. Grace begins to unravel.

Pg. 60–61 At work, Grace gives Mason the cold shoulder. We learn that Marcus’ fish died last night and they think Luis had something to do with it. She confronts Luis; he’s not guilty. She goes into Marcus’ room and apologizes to him. He’s a wreck and asks to be left alone.

Pg. 62 Grace realizes that Jayden is gone; Jessica informs her that her dad showed up and took her last night.

Pg. 63–65 Grace storms into Jack’s office and confronts him on how he could let Jayden go. It turns into a headed argument that ends with Grace smashing his ugly yellow lamp.

Pg. 65–67 Grace comes back into the group home, rap music blares from Marcus’ room, but no sign of him. Eventually, she finds him alone in Luis’ room with a shard of glass in his hand. He’s cut himself and is bleeding profusely. Panic settles in. she calls for help.

Pg. 68–69 Mason and Grace wait anxiously for news at the hospital. Grace storms out, exclaiming that she can’t do this, referring to having Mason’s baby. He tries to plead with her, understand her, but to no avail. She tells him about the abortion appointment. He walks away saying he’s done.

Pg. 70 Grace peddles down the road and eventually ends up at Jayden’s dad’s house. She grabs the key Jayden used earlier and finds a metal bat. She carefully walks down the hall and ends up over Jayden’s dad’s body as he’s sound asleep. Ready to strike, she raises the bat and is interrupted by Jayden asking her what she’s doing.

Pg 71–73 Grace and Jayden sit on the porch of the house. Grace breaks down and tells Jayden her truth; how she was also abused, raped by her father and had to testify against him to send him to jail. Jayden grabs the bat and takes it to her dad’s pristine Audi. She hands it to Grace; an offering. She considers it, and then jumps onto the hood of the car and takes all of her frustration out until it’s demolished.

Pg. 73 Grace packs Jayden on her bicycle as they head back to the group home. Jayden is going to tell Jack the truth.

Pg. 74 Finally feeling lighter, Grace goes home. She sees Mason and apologizes for what she said earlier. He lifts up his blanket, inviting her in. Looks like Marcus will be okay and so will Grace.

Pg. 74 Grace sits in a therapist’s office. It’s her fourth session and she’s been avoiding talking about it all, but she’s making slow progress.

Pg. 75 Mason and Grace are in a medical examination room. They hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time.

Pg. 76–80 Back in the group home, similar to the opening scene of the movie, Mason tells a touching story about a girl that Marcus met when he first came to the group home. Grace and Mason saw him earlier in the day and he’s doing very well. In the middle of this story, the alarm goes off. It’s Sammy making a run for it…again.

Writing Exercise: I encourage you to read the script, but short of that, if you’ve seen the movie, go through this scene-by-scene breakdown. What stands out to you about it from a structural standpoint?

Major kudos to Carolina Groppa for doing this week’s breakdown.

If you’d like a PDF of the Short Term 12 script scene-by-scene breakdown, go here.

For more movie scene-by-scene breakdowns, go here.

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