Screenwriting: Status Changes

I had a really nice blog post here.  You'll have to take my word for it now though because about 5min ago when I opened up my draft to add some more research I accidentally deleted and over saved my post.

Anyway, this post was SUPPOSED to talk all about status changes.  So moving on, here's the gist of it. 

Essentially, Status in screenwriting is character related.  Status is conveyed in status transactions, dialogue or physical actions which communicate status to the audience.   It can refer to the power-dynamics between the characters in a scene or who has the upperhand.

A status change occurs when there is a change in these power dynamics or if the tables are turned in the relationship between the characters.  This could be complete reversals in status eg the hunter becomes the hunted, but can be much more subtle.  For example if two characters are having a disagreement but one of them becoming more acquiescing, or gives slightly in their position.

A status change can also occur in one character.

We read a play, Soldier Stale, which was really helpful for me as an example of status changes through dialogue and in beginning to identify status changes.  Reading the play also brought up an interesting discussion about how subjective our interpretations are, especially when considering written dialogue.  It's interesting to think that when we see a film that those interpretations have already been largely made for us and then portrayed through the actors and the directors choices.     

I'm going to try to find some more examples of status changes a bit later on which I hope will help me when writing my Table Play.  I think this will be a struggle for me as I've never written dialogue, or screenplays as long as this one.  I'm still a bit stuck for ideas so I'm really hoping for some inspiration to strike.