Plot Segmentation

Plot Segmentation The best method for understanding a film’s narrative
system is to create a plot segmentation, a scene-by-scene outline of the
entire film. Each scene should be described briefly in a separate line, and
the entire segmentation should not exceed more than a page or two. One of the
first things a plot segmentation shows is the function and boundaries of
the scene. Aristotle held that a scene consists of a unified time, space, and
action. When a film significantly shifts in time, space, or action, we recognize
that a new scene has begun. The plot segmentation helps reveal a film’s overall
structure (e.g., three or four acts, perhaps following a thematic pattern)
and its smallest details (e.g., a motif of transitions between scenes).
Here’s an excerpt from a plot segmentation of John Ford’s Stagecoach
(1939):

{Title, cast names, and principal production credits}
I. MORNING OF THE FIRST DAY IN TONTO IN THE 1870S
A. The U.S. Calvary office receives telegraph warning that Apache
warriors, under the command of Geronimo, are cutting telegraph
wires, a sign that they’re preparing to attack the white settlers.
B. Six passengers, the driver, and the sheriff board the stagecoach,
which is accompanied by a cavalry escort.
II. FIRST STAGE OF THE JOURNEY TO LORDSBURG
A. Conversations establish the passengers’ basic antipathy toward one
another.
B. A rifle shot announces the appearance of the Ringo Kid; he surrenders
his rifle, and the sheriff arrests him as an escaped convict.
C. Ringo enters the coach.
D. The journey resumes without interruption.
The usefulness of this plot segmentation is twofold: First, it helps you to see
the film’s structure, reminding you of the scene sequence so that you don’t
need to keep viewing the film to determine the order of events. Second, laying
the plot out in this way might help you see patterns in the film that could
be useful to your paper.