While writing my horror screenplay, I have two paralleling stories. One is in the present where he is confronting his demons by confronting the past where a horrific event to place. The second is the horrific event itself from the past.
So my question is should the inciting incidents happen around the time in the screenplay?
Near the beginning to kick start the protagonist's drive, and it compels the protagonist forward.
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I don't think you need to be married to a specific page, but somewhere between 1 - 10 is the norm - you need to the clear that's it's an event that means your protagonist cannot return to their ordinary life and sets that character on the main journey/goal of the story.
You have a very interesting story thread. I think it depends on the overall story outcome. Is he able to change what happened in the past? Or is the past a fixed timeline and affects the story in the present? I think if he is able to correct whatever happened in the past, then simultaneous inciting incidents would be a good idea. If the past is unchanging, then I'd put the main inciting incident first, and then have the second one lead to him discovering the past's connection to what is going on. Ideally, the sooner you can introduce the inciting incident(s), the better. Preferably within the first 10 pages as suggested by Eoin. But that also depends on how much world building is needed to set up the story.
William Joseph Hill the past is set in stone. He's basically going back to the place where this horrific supernatural event took place because there still unfinished business so to speak. The past one is what happened to them.
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Let’s not over complicate things with fancy words. Inciting Incident (Start). When should you start each story? When they will have the most impact and interest it the audience.
Hunt down Chris Nolan talking about the writing of Momento. He says it is a Hair Pin. There are two lines. One starts at the end and walks backwards, while the other starts at the beginning and moves forward. The movie ends at the midpoint.
Play with how you want to structure it. You will find a combination that makes you excited. Stick with that.
My first movie outline was two parallelly stories gonna be side by side. Veteran director looked at it, said; "we need to know who's (beep) Baby Jane..."
It is good to have the twists, revelations etc. happen at the same time for the viewer (i.e. in the screenplay) so that the pacing is consistent throughout. It will also help to give the feeling that they are watching one movie rather than two.
Well the horrific event from the past is the hero's trauma at the heart of their corner stone, right? So the inciting event in the present is what pushes them to confront and process what's happened the past. They might seem like two inciting events but, from the outside, one seems like an inciting event or catalyst, and the other is unprocessed trauma that gives your hero bones.
You have choices how to execute the time jumps. Some scripts even do this in a fractured way, interspersing nuggets of info for little reveals rather than a whole scene in past/present. Linda Aronson 21st century screenplay is best book to read on subject as it goes into fine detail. One of Linda's classroom visual explanations is in my photos, so you will see the depth of this topic.