Aliens is such a fantastic example of this, you should just watch it five times in a row so you can catch all the little setups and how they are accomplished. Nothing is wasted. Everything does double duty.
The power loader is the ultimate in reverse engineered awesomeness, of course, it pays off in well-established theme, kick-ass action and putting paid to a lot of emotionally crippling old business for Ripley, but all the payoffs in this film, all the emotional moments, the rising action, the escalations, they’re all perfectly set up with die-cut precision.
To properly reverse engineer your rewrite, you must –
- Finish a draft
- Find your power loader moment
- Go back, take out a scene that does nothing and replace it with a setup for your power loader moment in a dramatic way, which means in conflict about something else*
- Repeat Step 3 for all the other moments of rising action and emotional payoff. Make thematic choices for your conflict.
If I could, I would teach a semester long class on Aliens alone, to show you how to pack fifty pounds of potatoes into a ten pound bag, then swing it like a wrecking ball the way these guys do.
Since I can’t, homeschool yourself! Set aside some time, get your notebook, and watch this movie five times in a row. Instant master class.
Writing credits for Aliens:
James Cameron … (story) and David Giler … (story) & Walter Hill … (story) Dan O’Bannon … (characters) and Ronald Shusett … (characters) James Cameron … (screenplay)
* in this case, Ripley proving her worth to a skeptical Apone.