TODAY'S NUGGET: Lego: The Piece of Resistance (2014) - "The Purpose of This Scene Is..."

[Quick Summary: In Legopolis, Emmet races to rescue his mother from the bad Black Falcon.]

I wrote on a deadline last month.

The time crunch revealed that I struggled with building up Act 2.

I got lost because: 1) I was hurrying,  and 2) I forgot a fundamental:

You must know the purpose of each scene, i.e., What do you need to extract before moving on to the next scene?

In Lego, you always know the purpose of each scene:

ex. "INT. EMMET'S CELL - MOMENTS LATER

CLOSE ON A RACQUEL WELCH POSTER. A blowdart gun emerges from her belly-button. TH-THOONK! Two guards outside Emmet's cell go down. DORIS bursts through the poster!

The following conversation is WHISPERED.

EMMET: Mom? What are you doing here?
DORIS: I'm breaking you out.
EMMET: But, that's breaking the rules. You told me never to do that.
DORIS: Well I'm temporarily reversing my position for reasons of convenience."

The purpose is clear:  Emmet must get out of jail.

It also clarifies:
-  the scene before (Emmet gets into jail) and
-  the scene after (Emmet and Doris are on the run).

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: When you're lost, ask, "What is the purpose of this scene?"

Lego: The Piece of Resistance (2014)(undated, unspecified draft)
by Chris Miller & Phil Lord