The Beat Goes On

Inside the scene is the smallest element of structure, the Beat. … A Beat is an exchange of behavior in action/reaction. Beat by Beat, these changing behaviors shape the turning of a scene.

—Robert McKee, Story, p. 37

Life doesn't imitate cinema, so take this post as a metaphor. But it's a very telling metaphor.

Think back on the scenes in your life—and in books and movies, even in songs and sports—that riveted your attention. Think about how people interacted in those scenes. One person acted, the other reacted, the first responded, a third entered the fray, the first two responded. Back and forth, the characters hit ideas back and forth like Ping-Pong balls. Each hit created new possibilities, some suspense. The longer the exchange, the greater the stakes and the tension.

Hollywood has a term for this rat-a-tat-tat exchange—beats. A beat is any action, however small, that changes the story or argument and moves it forward. A good scene includes a series of beats, small interactions that add up to a complete portrait of people doing something together.

Consider a famous scene in "Casablanca," in which the German officers and French ex-pats each sing their national anthem. The dueling songs show us many important qualities of the characters and their struggles. Let's look at the scene, beat by beat:

1. Nazi officers stand up and begin singing the German national anthem
2. Camera pans across the bar to Rick and Victor watch from a distance, get irritated by the spectacle
3. As the camera pans the bar, an employee looks expectantly to Rick, who does nothing
4. Victor leaves Rick to walk across the bar
5. Victor passes Ilsa, who looks both proud and scared for her husband
6. Victor makes a request to the band leader
7. The band leader looks to Rick for direction
8. Rick nods, signaling that the band may play La Marseilaisse
9. The band begins playing
10. The head Nazi officer, irritated, tries to get his men's singing to drown out the French anthem
11. The ex-pats sing even louder, as people all over stand up to join in the song
12. The Nazi leader realizes he has been defeated and sits down
13. A woman sings loudly, tearing with pride
14. Ilse looks worried (at several moments around this time)
15. A woman plays a guitar and sings loudly (at several moments around this time)
16. The whole bar swells with patriotic fervor, everyone standing to sing (at several moments around this time)
17. Victor stands stoutly, singing loudly, clearly exposed (at several moments around this time)
18. A woman yells "Viva La France!"
19. The rest of the crowd yells and claps
20. The German office orders an underling to close the bar, despite the underling's protests

Every beat changes something, moving the story forward. In Beat 4, Victor’s decision to walk across the room signals his move into the battle against the Germans’ boorish display of patriotism. Rick’s nod in Beat 8 gives the band permission to play the French anthem—tantamount to a declaration of war against the Germans. Ilse’s worry in Beat 14 shows the audience how conflicted she is about her husband and his work.

As I said before, life isn't as snappy as a great scene in a great movie. We have lots more ahs, ums and ers in our conversation. We stammer and look away, searching for the right words. We go off on tangents, don't hear everything people say, and don't always respond clearly.

But, in life as in cinema, even casual words and gestures can change the direction of a conversation. Pay close attention to your conversation. Look for those moments when a word or gesture can turn the dialogue in the good or bad direction.