The Expanded Ultimate Story Checklist: Are previously asked questions answered and new questions posed?

Which questions will be answered and which new questions will be asked? Often the first question you’re answering is the one posed, explicitly or implicitly, by the last shot of the previous scene. But if you want to move the plot forward, you’ll reach back and answer other outstanding questions as well, and then ask some new ones. 

The most obvious way to do this is to have the character ask an unanswered question out loud (“How could he be murdered in a locked room?”), but questions can also be posed implicitly (Whose point of view is this?). Cutting to a new character always implies a question (Who is this person? Are they important?). Showing a mysterious action works, too (What’s this character trying to do?).

In a movie like the 2001 version of Ocean’s Eleven, sometimes we know what the heroes are doing and the question we ask is, “Will it work?” Other times we don’t, and our question becomes, “What are they up to?” Usually, the next scene answers these questions, but sometimes we don’t get an answer until the end, when we can finally see the full picture.

Of course, if you put too many enigmatic scenes in a row, you’ll lose your audience. Look no further than the terrible sequel, Ocean’s Twelve. The audience quickly realizes they’ll never be able to follow what’s going on, so they stop trying and sit there bored for two hours, waiting for the filmmakers to reveal how smart they are.

But if you have too many scenes that just set up questions and knock ’em down, then the story will seem plodding and episodic, and it won’t build a larger narrative. So you have to mix quick payoffs with longer mysteries.

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. Previously: Will he seal the deal? New: What will he tell the guys?
Alien	YES.  Previous:  Who’s in charge now?  New: Can they get away on the shuttle?  Why is Ash dragging his heels?
An Education	YES.  How will he convince her parents? What does he expect from her on the trip?
The Babadook	YES. Previous: What is he building in the basement?  Will she kill him? New: Is the Babadook gone?
Blazing Saddles	YES.  How will he be greeted?  Can he possibly get away with this?  Who will the new sheriff be? How will he avoid getting shot as soon as he comes back out?
Blue Velvet	YES.  Previous: We get a lot more info about several questions, but no complete answers yet. Who all did she talk to on the phone?  Who is Don? Why is she like this?
The Bourne Identity	YES. Previous: Jason finally gets the name Treadstone, finds out a little bit about his training and mental conditioning.  New: How can he find Treadstone?  What is this stuff the professor has?
Bridesmaids	YES. Who was her ex-boyfriend? What happened to him? Will she call him? Will she get her tail-lights fixed?
Casablanca	YES. who has the letters, who is Rick?  Will Ugarte’s plan work?  Will Rick be caught with the letters?
Chinatown	YES. Answered: Who killed Mulwray? Many questions remain, but no new ones are posed by this scene.
Donnie Brasco	YES.  Previously-asked: Will Donnie get the boat? Does Sonny know about Lefty’s side-game?  New: will they find out it was a federal boat? Will Lefty forgive Donny?
Do the Right Thing	YES. Previously asked: Not really.  New: Will Buggin’ Out stay away?  Will his boycott take off?
The Farewell	YES. Answered: What’s going on?  Asked: What will Billi do about it?
The Fighter	YES. Previous: What will happen when Charlene meets them?  What will the next fight be?  New: How will Dicky get the money?
Frozen	YES. Anna and Elsa find out more about each other.
The Fugitive	YES. Previous: Can Kimble win Gerard over?  New: Did Kimble survive
Get Out	YES. Previously: Will she hypnotize him?  New: What has she done to him?
Groundhog Day	YES. Previous question: Why doesn’t he tell anybody? New questions: Why is he telling her? Will this win her over?
How to Train Your Dragon	YES. Previous: We learn more about night furies. We realize that Astrid knows Snortlout likes her and doesn’t return feelings.  New: How to learn about night furies now that hopes of book learning are dashed?
In a Lonely Place	YES. Previous: will the agent like the script?  Will the studio?  Will Laurel get away? New: why are the police calling?  Where has Laurel gone?
Iron Man	YES. Previous: How does the device work? New: What will she do with the old heart? (We see a thought occur to her.)
Lady Bird	YES. Previously asked: What’s the Deuce?  How much does he like me? New: Will he call?  Can she continue to impersonate the person he wants her to be?
Raising Arizona	YES. Previous: Where are the brothers going? New: What will Gale do with his suspicions about the baby?
Rushmore	YES. Previous: How will he try to score a chick? New: How far will he go with this?
Selma	YES. The plot is launched.  What will each man do to persuade the other?
The Shining	YES. Previous: more about Delbert Grady’s past.  New: what will Jack do?
Sideways	YES. Previously asked: Yes, about Steph. New questions: Not really.
The Silence of the Lambs	YES. Previous: What is Lecter like? Where did Bill come from? Will he help her? New: Who is Ms. Mofet? Were Lecter’s guesses about Clarice true?
Star Wars	YES. The previous scene left us asking, “What’s their plan?” The scene intro answers that. New: Will the room be breached?  Will the new plan work? Will Obi-Wan’s plan succeed?
Sunset Boulevard	YES. Previous: whose house is this? New: He says he later found out a lot more about Max and Norma