DZ-119: Final Character Choices & Great Endings

Listen if you want to understand how to better dramatise a character's internal journey

In this episode, Stu and Chas focus solely on the final choices made by protagonists and how that reflects their character journey and successfully, or not, dramatises the internal.

We compare and contrast different uses of narrative POV in respect to these final choices. And in particular whether and when the audience is made aware of the options available to the character, the act of making the choice, and the consequences of the choice.

We breakdown examples from DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, FINDING NEMO, MICHAEL CLAYTON, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN and TALK TO ME.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

LIKE THIS EPISODE?

• Discuss with our Patrons on Patreon.
• Watch and comment on YouTube.
• Send us feedback.

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Paulo, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and and Khrob.

→ Read the transcript for this episode.

———

"A character has to make the most difficult decision of their life, and it becomes the crisis because each alternative poses a loss as well as a gain. And so, therefore, characters have to weigh what really matters most to them." — Stu Willis @ 00:23:48

———

CHAPTERS

• 00:00:00 – Opening
• 00:00:18 – Why Final Choices?
• 00:03:49 – › Narrative point of view and the order of choice, decision, consequence
• 00:07:03 – › How withholding character decisions shapes audience perception
• 00:10:45 – DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
• 00:15:57 – › The hero's choice: want vs. need, self vs. family
• 00:19:09 – FINDING NEMO
• 00:23:30 – › Crisis decision, catharsis beats, and the anatomy of a powerful ending
• 00:28:45 – MICHAEL CLAYTON
• 00:33:26 – › The Snowpiercer moment: dramatising binary choice visually
• 00:40:37 – › Hero's choice made off-camera and revealed through Karen's perspective
• 00:48:36 – › Character arc, theme, and the cost of moral compromise
• 00:53:11 – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• 00:58:28 – › Withheld plans and dramatic tension in the third act
• 01:05:52 – › Posthumous agency and the hero's choice after death
• 01:13:45 – › Logic problems and the power of cinema over narrative precision
• 01:16:38 – TALK TO ME
• 01:19:39 – › Story structure and setup of TALK TO ME
• 01:27:36 – › The withheld decisive act at the climax
• 01:35:11 – › Ambiguity versus clarity in the film's meaning
• 01:41:45 – Key Learnings
• 01:44:37 – › Setup work that empowers climactic decisions
• 01:50:13 – Thanks awesome patreons!

FILMS

• DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES (2023) — (w) John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Michael Gilio (d) John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
• FINDING NEMO (2003) — (w) Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds (d) Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
• MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007) — (w) Tony Gilroy
• PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020) — (w) Emerald Fennell
• TALK TO ME (2022) — (w) Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman (d) Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

SCRIPTS

• Study the script: FINDING NEMO (2003) — Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds
• Study the script: MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007) — Tony Gilroy
• Study the script: PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020) — Emerald Fennell

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

• The Gags of the Scene - Dungeons and Dragons
• Perp & Victim 2: Opening Kills in Horror (2000s+)

LINKS

• YouTube: Michael Arndt - What makes an insanely good ending?
• YouTube: Every Frame a Painting - Snowpiercer - Look Left or Right

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-04: Catharsis and the Post-Coital Cigarette
• DZ-33: Protagonist vs Hero - Dawn of Character Function
• DZ-34: Game of Choices - Decision Making and Character Implications
• DZ-58: Game of Thrones - Character Exposition
• DZ-84: Choices & Decisions 1 - Booksmart
• DZ-87: Keeping Genre Fresh

———

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.

Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2025/dz-119/