FREE Film School: Storycraft – the Setup & Payoff (*warning: spoilers*)
We went to see Star Wars 9: The Rise of Skywalker yesterday. Personally, I had no expectations for it to provide anything deep or challenging. And once I decided to see it as an opera (I mean, they do call it a space opera, after all) I found it more enjoyable than I might have, otherwise.
Seeing it for it’s operatic value – in other words grand, sweeping, human themes – you can see the Star Wars franchise fitting well into the Disney ethos. Disney has built it’s (some say evil) empire on highly visual stories; fairy tales with global appeal.
However, checking IMDb I discovered it has relatively low score of 6.9 and a lot of disappointed reviews from old Star Wars fans. Many of the negative remarks focused on plot inconsistencies. In other words, things happening which either came out of nowhere or contradicted previous story points in previous films.
In its 9th iteration, Star Wars has definitely moved further towards being a fairy tail rather than hardcore science fiction. Thing is, it never was serious science fiction. Star Wars very definitely is not Isaac Asimov or Philip K. Dick. Indeed, it’s a classic Hollywood depiction of the victory of spirituality (magic) over rationality (science).
I mean, notice how the imagery shows the evil Emperor Palpatine alive via various tubes and wires. Meanwhile, the Jedi use a mysterious force which comes from within and defies scientific analysis. And this is what makes Star Wars a fairy tale – because it’s creator George Lucas came to understand the power of mythology over rationality.
But it seems the disappointment comes from fans feeling betrayed. That Star Wars mythology rather than being strengthened has been undermined.
The Rise of Skywalker IMDb Reviews
This quote below is from the most highly-rated review:
“The story in the rise of skywalker, is not existing. It just chaos. People running around doing stuff in a pace which seems to be an attempt to hide an incredible high amount of plot holes and inconsistencies. Even the ideas which could have been awesome fall flat due to the lack of an overall structure in the story and what seems to be a fear of surprising the fans.” tobias-an-88
“Plot holes and inconsistencies” is another way of saying moments in the story were not setup properly. One of the biggest signs of a poorly written story is when characters act out of character without explanation. Or when things occur which defy or undermine previously established ideas.
It’s interesting that many of the reviews complain about inconsistency but also that there are no surprises. The fan reviews suggest the Star Wars plots of old have been recycled but in a way which shows a lack of understanding of those plots. Is it possible that some of the highest paid and respected filmmakers on the planet don’t understand the plot of Star Wars?
I don’t have an answer. But I suspect contemporary big budget films are made to satisfy a global audience (not just Star Wars fans). And global audiences are generally satisfied by visually spectacular movies with uncomplicated plots.
“This is the tragic end of Star Wars. They scratched everything that they tried to build in the previous 2 movies because of the outcry of the public, meaning that they totally f** up the plot… forget about the original trilogy, because everything is cancelled.” mj_alexf
In other words, the disappointment comes from failing to payoff a lot of setups from the movies which came before.
Superman vs Kryptonite – a setup and payoff
At some point in the telling of the story of Superman, it is established that Kryptonite has a catastrophic impact on Superman’s powers. Now, once the audience understands the danger of this material, they will be prepared when Superman goes from super strength to zero strength.
Even if they don’t see the kryptonite, if Superman starts displaying physical weakness the audience will probably suspect it’s around. That’s because this story element has been successfully setup.
Now, if an evil villain approaches Superman with a lump of kryptonite and the superhero has no adverse reaction, the audience will obviously want an explanation.
You see, it’s not that the rules of the story can’t be broken. In fact, the rules of the story can be deliberately broken for the sake of a gripping plot twist.
What if, just as we expect (like the villain) Superman to be defeated, he instead snatches the villain and flies him to jail! In the audience, we’re expecting the writers of the story to now reveal the secret – how did Superman do that??!! And because the writers have spent so much effort setting up the legendary power of kryptonite, the twist better be brilliant, right?
Chekhov’s gun
Russian playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov famously said:
“If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”
He wasn’t just talking about physical guns, he was talking about the art of first setting up and then paying off a story thread. For Chekhov this gun represents anything you include in the first chapter. Yes, absolutely anything and everything.
He also said, “Remove everything that has no relevance to the story.” before those 2 sentences. Chekhov was really stressing the importance of streamlining and honing down a narrative until all that’s left is the story, pure and strong. Not one element should be included unless it has some essential relevance to the plot.
In other words…
Never set anything up that isn’t going to be paid off
Let’s say we decide our main character has a fear of heights (see Hitchcock’s Vertigo). During the first act we include moments to illustrate this fear. For example, he’s invited to a party on a roof terrace but makes excuses and misses the party.
Once we’ve established this fear of heights, storytelling convention tells us there has to be a pay off somewhere down the line. In Hitchcock’s Vertigo, the main character’s fear of heights finds its way not only to the centre of the plot but to the name of the film itself.
The character’s fear is expressed at one point in the film using the now famous “trombone shot“. Of course, it also changes the course of the story. In other words, this character trait is not just a trivial detail but crucial to the narrative.
And (according to Chekhov) we must never include anything, mention anything, or have a character mention to another character any kind of detail or fact unless it has some kind of narrative significance. ie: unless there is to be a payoff later.
The Payoff as Plot Twist!
Should the payoff confirm the audience’s expectations?
There’s a scene in the film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) where an evil Nazi called Arnold Ernst Toht (played by Ronald Lacey) appears to be about to torture the captured Marion…
Toht prepares what looks like a device for inducing pain, only to turn it into a coat hanger on which he then hangs his coat. This is an example of how a setup and payoff are used for humour. Note, the payoff quickly follows the setup.
Having said that, we should also note the character of Toht has already been setup as evil and ruthless, earlier in the story. Therefore, this mini setup and payoff is much easier to employ as the audience is already expecting Toht to do evil things. Now, if this joke had been employed by the Indiana Jones heroic character, the audience would either be confused by the setup or thinking along different lines…
So the answer to the above question is: sometimes yes, sometimes no. Well, it’s a creative choice and part of your mastery of storycraft.
Consistent setups and payoffs
I once mentioned this scene to someone who was a fan of the film. Turns out he was disappointed by that coat hanger moment as he found it was toying with his expectations. It’s true that the joke is a wink to us in the audience. Almost like Spielberg saying to us “we all know this is just a movie and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.”
The problem is, some people want to be immersed in the film and do not want to be winked at by the director. Some movie fans want to suspend their disbelief for a film’s entire duration and therefore see any interruption as a failure.
Which brings me back to my recent Star Wars experience. By deciding to see it as an opera, I wasn’t expecting to remain immersed in the story. Operas are clearly artificial: actors in costumes, on a stage, singing. The sets are very obviously made by set designers and set builders. And so on…
What is a setup?
A setup is essentially any information an audience knows about the story and characters. The information you provide in the setup (let’s call it Act 1) is there to prepare people for what comes later. The information is also there to establish the ideas and themes of the film or story.
What happens later should be consistent with what you told everyone at the start. Even plot twists and surprises. Our aim as storytellers is to have the audience impressed by the twist. But if a plot twist feels unnatural or unexplained it will just leave the audience unsatisfied and going “huh?”.
For a self-contained film where nobody knows anything until the films plays, the story’s setup begins in the first scene. In many ways, this gives the creators of the film complete control over the story and audience expectations.
But for long running sagas (like Star Wars, Star Trek) or familiar franchises (like Marvel or DC superhero stories), or adaptations of famous novels, things get more complicated. Some of the audience will be watching the film with expert knowledge (and therefore expectations) of the story. Meanwhile, others will arrive completely ignorant of any narrative details. But the filmmakers will need to cater for both and all those in between.
What is a payoff?
A payoff is when information and storylines setup earlier come to fruition. In other words, the work you (and the audience) put in at the start now “pays off” as some kind of resolution is delivered.
The most obvious and biggest payoff is the hero achieving their goal at the end of the story. Everything you have created before leads the audience to this climax. In many cases, the hero of the film is confronted by her deepest fear and overcomes it to succeed.
But this is by no means the only payoff in a story. Any story will have many smaller setups and payoffs throughout. They will also influence and strengthen each other, if done well.
It’s A Wonderful Life
Another film we watched over the holiday period was the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life (1946).
The film opens with an important setup which doesn’t payoff until much later: an angel (2nd class) is told he has a job to do – someone needs his help. Under the guise that the angel needs to learn all about the person in need, the filmmakers tell us the life story of the main character, George Bailey (James Stewart), from childhood to the present day.
This section of the film lasts about 2/3rds of the entire film (which is 135 minutes long). Then, just as George is about to take his own life by jumping from a bridge, the angel pops ups. George has to delay his own suicide to save the angel, who has thrown himself from the bridge before George could.
This is the film’s first big payoff
And it comes from a setup at the very beginning of the film, about 100 minutes before. But it’s not just a payoff of the angel plotline. It’s also a payoff of all the character study information presented over that 100 minutes.
We’ve just seen what a good guy George is (he has a major flaw though). We’ve seen him sacrifice his own dreams for others in the town time and time again. Even his intended final act (suicide) is to save the town (due to him being worth more money dead than alive).
So when he puts aside his own future once more (or rather the termination of his future) to save Clarence the angel, it not only carries the plot forward (plot twist!), it’s also highly consistent with everything we know about George.
And that, my friends, is what makes great storytelling.
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Now that you’re thinking about setups and payoffs you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. Turns out it’s a huge subject at the heart of storytelling, with infinite variables and no real rules.
Well, now is the time to have a go yourself. If you are currently working on any plotlines or films scripts, you might want to take a fresh look at those setups and payoffs. Are they consistent?
Watch films and analyse the setups and payoffs
Feel free to watch any film. But you can always try It’s A Wonderful Life or Vertigo yourself. Is there anything unusual about the story structure in these films? To my mind, they are both pretty unique. By the way, they both also did poorly at the box office and both star James Stewart (but playing quite different characters).
Alternatively, you could give the 9 Star Wars films some analysis, if these are films you enjoy.
Whichever film/s you choose, throughout the film’s first act, write down all the information presented, no matter how trivial it might seem at the time.
Throughout the rest of the film, write down any payoffs you spot. How does the payoff work in the story? Does it have emotional impact? Why?
How consistent are the payoffs? How consistent are the setups and payoffs with each other?
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