The Expanded Ultimate Story Checklist: As a result of this scene, does at least one of the scene partners end up doing something she didn’t intend to do when the scene began?

As I said before, nobody wants to see a “listen and accept” scene where one character passively receives information. But by the same token, a “listen and dispute” scene, where two characters merely argue about some piece of information, is little better. One or more characters in a scene should try to convince or force another to do something he doesn’t want to do: 

• divulge a secret (though the divulger may not know it’s a secret) 
• give up an object 
• change an important decision 
• shift affection 
• grant some sort of permission 

A scene should have a concrete outcome. The hero’s agenda should either succeed or fail in such a way that things get worse rather than stay the same. Things should never return to the status quo at the end of a scene. Of course, just because the agenda succeeds doesn’t mean that things have to go as planned …

For this Scenework series, we’re examining these scenes:

The 40 Year Old Virgin	Andy goes home with a drunk woman from a Bachelorette party.
Alien	After the deaths of Kane, Brett and Dallas, Ripley becomes captain, so she has a meeting with the other survivors, Ash, Parker, and Lambert, to decide what to do next.
An Education	Jenny is amazed as David gets permission from her parents to take her on a weekend trip to Oxford by claiming to know C.S. Lewis.
The Babadook	Amelia chases her son Sam down to the basement, where he knocks her out, ties her up, and drives the Babadook out of her, temporarily.
Blazing Saddles	Bart arrives in town, then takes himself hostage to save himself from hostile townspeople
Blue Velvet	Jeffrey spies on Dorothy and Frank, then Dorothy catches Jeffrey in her apartment and has sex with him at knifepoint.
The Bourne Identity	Jason and Marie are attacked at her family’s farm by the assassin known as The Professor. Jason blows up a propane tank to distract him and kills him, but as the Professor dies he convinces Jason to come back.
Bridesmaids	Annie is driving angry after feuding with Helen when she gets pulled over by a cute cop, who gives her his number under the pretense of recommending a place to get her tail light fixed.
Casablanca	Sketchy crook Ugarte asks cool club owner Rick to hold onto the letters of transit for him.
Chinatown	Jake confronts Noah Cross with the glasses
Donnie Brasco	Lefty seeks to go behind Sonny Black’s back to set up his own meeting in Florida with Trifficante. He has Donnie borrow a boat for this purpose, but Sonny Black knows everything, and he crashes the party.  Lefty bitterly assumes that Donnie has betrayed him, and shuns him.  Sonny takes Donnie aside and elevates him above Lefty.
Do the Right Thing	Buggin’ Out notices that there are no brothers on the wall of Sal’s Pizzeria and decides to organize a boycott.
The Farewell	Billi finds out about Nai Nai’s diagnosis from her parents.
The Fighter	Micky and Charlene confront Micky’s family about his career.
Frozen	Anna confront Elsa in her ice palace
The Fugitive	Gerard confronts Kimble atop a dam, but Kimble leaps off.
Get Out	Chris sneaks out for a smoke in the night, has creepy encounters with Georgina and Walter, then finds Missy drinking tea.  She implores him to sit down, he repeats that he doesn’t want to be hypnotized, but she does it anyway with her teacup.  She gets him to admit the facts of his mother’s death, then sends him to a “sunken place” in his mind.
Groundhog Day	Phil takes Rita to a cafe and tries to convince her that he’s living the same day over and over. He convinces her by predicting what Larry will say.
How to Train Your Dragon	Hiccup and his students are in an arena competing to defeat a dragon, but Hiccup is quizzing their instructor to find out how to better commune with his own dragon, Toothless. Along the way, he uses what he learned from Toothless to peacefully subdue the dragon they’re fighting, infuriating the others.
In a Lonely Place	Laurel has made secret plans to leave town, but Dix makes her go to his favorite restaurant to celebrate their engagement with his agent, his alcoholic friend, and others.
Iron Man	Tony has built a better chest-device to keep shrapnel out of his heart, so he calls Pepper in to reach into his chest and replace the old one with a new one.
Lady Bird	Lady Bird flirts with Kyle in the parking lot.
Raising Arizona	During Hi and Ed’s first night with Junior, brothers Gale and Evelle show up having just escaped from jail, and begin to suspect the truth.
Rushmore	Max introduces himself to Ms. Cross on the bleachers.
Selma	King meets with Johnson in the Oval Office to try to get him to commit to a new Voting Rights Act
The Shining	Jack finally takes a drink from the ghosts in the ballroom. A waiter spills a drink on him, and takes him to the bathroom to clean it off.  While he does so, Jack realizes that the waiter is actually Grady, the former caretaker that killed his family.  Grady encourages him to do the same, but Jack is uncertain.
Sideways	Miles has struck out with Maya, but Jack comes back to the motel after a wild night with Steph, intending to go back out. Miles tries to get Jack to stay by forcing him to call his fiancé, but she doesn’t answer and Jack takes off with Steph after getting Miles to return his unused condom from the night before.
The Silence of the Lambs	Clarice first meets Lecter in his cell, under the pretense of getting him to fill out a questionnaire, but he quickly figures out that it’s really about Buffalo Bill, and that Clarice is hiding other things as well.
Star Wars	The gang takes over the Death Star command office.
Sunset Boulevard	Joe discovers Norma, who assumes that he’s there to plan her monkey’s funeral, but when he explains that he’s a screenwriter, she hires him to rewrite her screenplay for Salome instead.

So how do those scenes answer this question?

The 40 Year Old Virgin	YES. He turns her down.
Alien	YES.  Lambert is convinced to join the plan, Parker is convinced to hear Ripley out.
An Education	YES. Parents agree to the trip.
The Babadook	YES. She stops herself from killer her because of what she says.
Blazing Saddles	YES. He abandons his speech, they let him live.
Blue Velvet	YES. Jeffrey confesses all and undresses, they both have sex.
The Bourne Identity	YES. the professor dies, Jason decides to stop running.
Bridesmaids	YES. He is convinced to tear up the ticket, she is convinced to take his number.
Casablanca	YES. Ugarte convinces Rick to take the letters.
Chinatown	YES. Gittes is forced to take Cross to Catherine.
Donnie Brasco	YES.  Donnie is forced to swear allegiance to Sonny Black
Do the Right Thing	YES. Mookie and Sal decide to kick Buggin’ out.
The Farewell	NO. Not yet.  They convince her not to go, but not for long.
The Fighter	YES. Sort of. It mostly ends in a draw.  Micky agrees to give Dicky a chance to get the money.
Frozen	YES. Anna is sent away.
The Fugitive	YES. Kimble certainly hadn’t planned on jumping off that ledge!
Get Out	YES. He gets lured into getting hypnotized, sent to the sunken place
Groundhog Day	YES. She’s convinced that he has supernatural powers, agrees to go with him.
How to Train Your Dragon	YES. The instructor reluctantly answers Hiccup’s questions in order to get him to move out of harm’s way.
In a Lonely Place	YES. Dix nails them all, one by one, getting them all to admit things they don’t want to.
Iron Man	YES. He gets her to take his heart out, she gets him to he admits his feelings for her briefly.
Lady Bird	YES. Well, he had previously announced that he liked flirting with her, but he wasn’t planning on following up until she pounced on him.
Raising Arizona	YES. Hi lets them stay.
Rushmore	YES. Max nonsensically decides to save Latin.
Selma	Sort of.  They both do what they expected to do but didn’t want to do.  King leaves and tells his people, “Selma it is”.  We don’t see Johnson’s reaction but we soon realize that he just continues stewing about an irritation he wishes he’d taken care of.
The Shining	YES. Jack is convinced to go after his son.  The butler is forced to admit what he is.
Sideways	YES. Miles gives up his condom, Jack checks his messages.
The Silence of the Lambs	YES. she admits facts about herself and admits that this is about Bill. He changes his mind at the very end of the scene and decides gives her a tip.
Star Wars	YES. Luke is convinced to stay, then he convinces Han to leave with him.
Sunset Boulevard	YES. she decides to hire him and he agrees to stay.