Field, Syd. The Screenwriter’s Workbook. Chapter: ‘The Paradigm’.
A screenplay is a story told in pictures. The context is the 'space' that holds the content in place. Context doesn't change, while content does. Field says that for him, screenplay is like an open structure, in which your characters will give you as much direction as you give them. You interact with one another, rather than just controlling the screenplay.
A paradigm is 'a model, example, or contextual scheme.' The paradigm is like a painting that you can see. A table has a paradigm of having one flat surface with four legs, but the details of what its dimensions are and what it is made out of are changeable. It would be like a to-scale model of an architecht's blueprint, which can help you to fully visualize the real thing.
In Hollywood, most films average 120 pages, and are a maximum of 128 pages. They each contain an Act I, II, and III; the beginning, middle and end. The paradigm is only a model and is not laid down in concrete. Field talks about the breakdown of action between the three acts, as I have already covered in previous readings. The setup is at the beginning, then aplot point which leads on to the confrontation, then another plot point followed by the resolution.
Before you can express your story dramatically, you must know: the ending, the beginning, plot point 1, and plot point 2. With these you can draw a diagram of your paradigm in order. this is what your idea might 'look like.'
