TODAY'S NUGGET: She's Having a Baby (1988) - Portraying Lost & Confused

[Quick Summary: After 22 y.o. Jake gets married, he is lost and confused as he goes kicking and screaming into adulthood.]

How do you make the audience feel something?

I still don't know and desperately wish I did.

Meanwhile, let's study the scene below.

It made me feel as lost and confused as the protagonist Jake does. 

I think it works because:
1) The scene is straightforward, i.e., groom and best man before the wedding.
2) There is a sad-happy mix jumbled together: joy, fear, anticipation, and dread.

ex. "JAKE AND DAVIS - EXT. CHURCH - DAY

....Jake looks at his watch. He tenses. Takes a deep breath.

JAKE: It's time.

Davis' smile drifts away. He drops his look to his shoes. Jake takes a deep breath. He sniffs back the beginnings of a full-on cry.

JAKE: Here I am on the verge of binding myself to Kristy for life and I've never felt so alone. Damn! I'm gonna cry.

Jake's angry at himself for losing control of his emotions. Davis looks at him. He's suffering as well but is better able to control it.

DAVIS: We can split. But you'd be back tomorrow. You know what, Jake? You know why you feel like crying? Because you love her and you want her and you know there's no way around it.

Jake looks at him puzzled.

DAVIS: You were married the minute you saw her. Sixteen years old and you were gone.

Jake cracks a smile.

DAVIS: This is your destiny, Mr. Dick. To be forever caught in the crossfire between your head and your heart.

He gives Jake an affectionate jab in the upper arm.

JAKE: You think I'll be happy? Honestly.

DAVIS: You want to be a writer. you want to be a husband. Maybe it'll work. Who knows. Yeah, you'll be happy. You just won't know it.

 JAKE'S VOICE: Never before and never again did he nail a moment more firmly than that afternoon. He's not all that wise. He just knew his subject matter very, very well..

DAVIS: This is the last time I'm gonna say it. You don't have to go through with this. You can walk. Say the word and we're outta here.

Davis' remark arouses the coward in Jake. He hesitates. He looks at the church and momentarily flirts with flight."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I think Jake's jumble of emotions is easier to follow because the scene is fairly simple. 

Too many twisty plots + Too many twisty emotions = Hard to follow.

She's Having a Baby (1988)(shooting draft, 9/7/86, w/revisions)
Written and directed by John Hughes