Blog Assignment #5

The sex, lies, and videotape scene is a conflict between Graham and John. John, the driving force of the scene, is trying to provoke Graham into acting out by criticizing him. Through McKee's method of scene analysis, I found that John's value at stake is his desire to stay in control of the situation. When Graham attempts to solely converse with Anne, John interrupts. At the end of the scene, John's value has not changed, but it had been tested by Graham and Anne's attempt to steer the conversation. Even though, John does not change in this scene, Graham does. In the beginning, he tries not to succumb to John's taunts; however, when John accuses him of lying, Graham retorts. At the end, Graham grants John the satisfaction of upholding his value.

Upon reading Weston's analysis of the same scene, I found that his and McKee's methods had produced similar results. We both discovered the same conflict and noted similar values and beats. However, we differed on the analysis of John's comment to Graham about riding a unicycle naked. I interpreted the dialogue as stating that Graham's current appearance is a stark contrast to his wild days in college. Weston notes this, but he goes further by making a connection between "Greeks" and Graham's unicycle riding. His analysis tells me that Graham was wild because he was in a fraternity, but the unicycle riding was not something he would have done willingly. Therefore, I felt that Weston diminished the stark contrast I had interpreted from the dialogue. However, I now realize that Weston may be more accurate.

Whereas McKee's method solely looks at what is present at the surface of the scene, Weston digs deeper into the subtext of the lines and focuses on the context of the scene in the script. Although McKee's method is easier to use, Weston's analysis allows the reader to comprehend the scene better.

- Fernando Rosas

Discussion Questions:
1. What does McKee mean when he defines "sequence climax" as "change with more impact than a scene?" Isn't a sequence climax a scene by his definition?

2. Do you agree with McKee when he states that everything affects us less each time we experience it? Is there anything other than sex that does not comply with McKee's statement?