[Here's a situation where exposition, the background information needed to understand the story, is presented to the audience by a character under emotional stress and in a conflict with characters who don't have time to help her.]
[The conflict in this scene is between the protagonist and her relatives whom the audience expects to show concern for the child. Most children can immediately identify with Dorothy. They, too, are often ignored when their parents are busy. This creates immediate empathy for Dorothy, not only in the children, but also in the adults who also have memories of their own childhood experiences.]
[This empathy generating structure is also used in Time Bandits, where Kevin is ignored by his parents, E.T. where Elliott is ignored and belittled by his older brother, and in Star Wars where young Luke's concerns are ignored by his aunt and uncle. Luke, like Dorothy, doesn't have natural parents. In E.T. there is only one parent.]
[This scene establishes the relationship between Dorothy
and her guardians…that of not having her needs satisfied. Her objective is to communicate her problem. She fails, and this propels her into the next scene in order to seek help from friends.]
DOROTHY AND THE FARM HANDS
[Establishes Dorothy's relationship with her friends.]
Three farm hands are fixing a wagon. Accidentally, they drop the wagon onto the hand of one of the men, Hulk. Another character, Zeke, criticizes Hulk for not getting his finger out of the way, thereby implying that Hulk is stupid and brought the pain upon himself.
[This is a quick characterization (lack of brains) for Hulk, the person who will become the Straw Man in Dorothy's fantasy. It's done by showing the character in action, and not just by having other characters talk about him.]
[This is the first instance of humor. The audience loves to laugh at stupidity. There is a theory of humor called the superiority theory, which states that people laugh at characters in order to show their sense of superiority. But stupidity can also be considered as a surprising deviation from the standard behavior expected in a situation. People are not expected to hit their fingers with hammers.]
Dorothy asks Zeke for help with Miss Gulch, but he's too busy getting the hogs in.
[Again Dorothy is rejected when she pleads for help. This serves to increase the audience's empathy for her: a child in need neglected by her friends, the farmhands, who should be helping her.]
Hulk advises her to use her head, which isn't made of straw, when dealing with Miss Gulch. Hulk tells her not to take Toto by Miss Gulch's house, and thereby avoid the trouble. Hulk then proceeds to hit his finger with a hammer.
[This, of course, is a foreshadowing of his "brains and intelligence" concern. This is an example of a slapstick comic structure where the person offering advice doesn't follow it himself. This character lacks the ability to carry
out his own precepts.]
Dorothy then walks on the pig pen railing, as Zeke offers some advice. He tells her to have courage, and that she doesn't have to be afraid of Miss Gulch. Dorothy then falls into the pig pen. She screams for help as she is about to be trampled by the hogs. Zeke jumps in and saves her. He is shaken by the incident. Dorothy tells Zeke that he's just as scared as she is, and Hulk reinforces this by asking Zeke if the pig made a coward out of him.
[Again, this is the second time a character trait is indicated and foreshadowed. Here the trait is courage. So far each of the farmhands actually falls short of the virtue he advocates: first Hulk, with intelligence and now Zeke, with courage.]
Aunt Em tells them to get back to work. She reprimands Hickory for tinkering with his contraption instead of doing the farm work. Hickory holds his arm up, assumes a poise, and says that some day they'll erect a statue to him.
[This characterization is not as clear as the others. Hickory will become the Tin Man, who desires a heart. But here he seems to express a desire for social status and the respect of the community. There is an association between the metal contraption that he is building and his later transformation into a Tin Man, but that's the foreshadowing of a physical manifestation, not a virtue. He wants to be loved.]
The key to understanding this characterization is that at the end of the film the Wizard awards the Tin Man a testimonial for the good deeds that he has performed, which were the result of his kind, generous heart. Compassion, and doing good for others, appears to be the virtue foreshadowed here, though in a manner less precise than that of intelligence and courage.]
Aunt Em then gives them each a freshly baked donut to eat as she shoos them back to work.
[This is important because it creates empathy for Aunt Em. Although she is stern, feeding them shows that she cares. She's just an overworked farmer. Without this action, she might be characterized as a mean spirited, uncaring old woman.]
Aunt Em then admonishes Dorothy to stop imagining things and exciting herself over nothing. She tells Dorothy to find a place where she won't get into any trouble.
[This is a precise characterization of Dorothy as a person with a active imagination similar to Kevin in Time Bandits, and something most children have heard said about themselves. Dorothy is depicted as someone with a tendency to get upset over minor things. Like Elliott's concern about the monster in his backyard in E.T., the legitimate concerns of the protagonist are not considered by the other characters to be realistic, and this creates more empathy for the protagonist. The seed for Dorothy's primary objective is created here by her aunt: to find a place where there won't be any trouble.]
[It's important to realize the economy of characterization in this scene. There is not a wasted line nor action here. Each word and movement is directly revealing of some trait of one of the characters, a trait central to the story which will be elaborated in more detail as the film continues.]
DOROTHY'S PRIMARY OBJECTIVE (HER DREAM)
To find a place where there isn't any trouble; where there will never be a problem. Somewhere, over the Rainbow! She expresses this goal through a song.
INTRO THE ANTAGONIST (ELMIRA GULCH)
Elmira Gulch rides down the desolate country road on her bicycle, accompanied by ominous sounding music. She's a stern, angry, stiff-backed righteous woman. She parks her bike in front of Dorothy's house and informs Dorothy's Uncle Henry that Toto has bit her on the leg. Uncle Henry opens the gate for Miss Gulch then lets it swing back and hit her in the backside.
[This action is Uncle Henry's non-verbal expression of contempt. Actions are the best way to cinematically express the relationship between two characters, instead of using explicit dialogue]
AUNT EM'S LIVING ROOM
Dorothy, Toto, Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and Elmira Gulch are gathered together in the parlor. Miss Gulch says that Toto is a menace to the community, and she wants to have him destroyed. She'll bring a suit against them and take away the farm if Toto isn't handed over to her. There's a law against dogs that bite. Dorothy desperately clings to Toto.
[This creates tremendous empathy for the protagonist (Dorothy) and hatred for the antagonist (Elmira Gulch), for Gulch wants to destroy the animal that Dorothy loves.]
Dorothy responds that "Toto is really gentle, with gentle people, that is." Gulch presents the sheriff's order to Aunt Em, who concedes defeat by stating that she "can't go
against the law." Aunt Em hands Toto over to Elmira Gulch, as Dorothy runs out of the room crying. "For twenty-three years I've been dying to tell you what I thought of you, Elmira Gulch, but now, being a Christian woman, I can't," says Aunt Em.
[This establishes that Gulch has a bad reputation in the community, and that her conflict with Dorothy is not an isolated incident. This affirms the audience's right to hate Elmira Gulch.]
Gulch puts Toto into the wicker basket and leaves the house.
[Scene Structure:
Crisis: Gulch has a legal writ from the sheriff to take Toto.
Concrete Stake: Toto's life or death.
Confrontation: Between Gulch and Dorothy, who refuses to release T
oto.
Climax: Dorothy and Gulch struggle for Toto. Aunt Em tells Uncle Henry to place Toto in the basket.
Resolution: Aunt Em obeys the law, Uncle Henry gives Toto to Gulch, and Dorothy, defeated, runs out of the room.]
TOTO ESCAPES
Return of the ominous music, as Elmira Gulch rides her bicycle back down the country road, with the wicker basket strapped to the back. Toto pokes his head out of the wicker basket. Toto looks down at the moving bike, then up at Elmira Gulch as she petals. Toto jumps out of the basket onto the road. He escapes, running back along the road that he and Dorothy were on in the opening scene of the movie.
DOROTHY AND TOTO RECONCILED
Dorothy lies crying on the bed in her room. Toto barks and jumps up on the bed. Dorothy is overjoyed with his return. But then she realizes that Gulch will come back for Toto, and that she can't fight the law. So, she decides to run away. Dorothy and Toto walk down the road.
[This scene resolves the conflict and expresses the major decision of the protagonist. The inciting event was Gulch taking Toto, the major decision for the protagonist is to leave home in order to save Toto from extermination. Dorothy realizes that if she stays, Miss Gulch will return for Toto,
and Dorothy will have to give him back to her. This event destroys the established world and relationships of the protagonist. Her home and family no longer provides the safety and security it once did. Her family and friends can
not or will not help her, therefore her world is shattered,
and she must start anew somewhere else. ]
PROFESSOR MARVEL
[An establishing shot of the Professor's wagon tells the audience where they are, especially since this is a radical change in scenery.]
Written on the sign on a carnival wagon are the words
"PROFESSOR MARVEL: ACCLAIMED BY THE CROWNED HEADS OF EUROPE"
Professor Marvel is cooking a hot dog by the fire as Dorothy, with suitcase in hand, and Toto by her side, approach. Professor Marvel quickly analyzes the situation and informs her that he knows that she is running away because they don't understand her at home, they don't appreciate her.
[Again this creates more audience empathy for Dorothy, for they have also had the similar experience of not being understood, or appreciated. It also makes Marvel a sympathetic character for the audience, because here, finally, is an adult who understands and empathizes with Dorothy's problems. He appears to sincerely want to help her.]
Toto eats the Professor's hot dog. Dorothy scolds Toto, but the Professor just laughs it off.
[This again establishes more empathy for the Professor as a kind man with a sense of humor. He is a character who forgives the dog for stealing his supper, as opposed to Elmira Gulch who wants to destroy Toto. Since Dorothy and Toto already have the audience's support, and he's kind to them, he thereby receives the audience’s empathy.]
Dorothy wants to travel with the Professor to see the Crowned Heads of Europe. He responds to this by asking her if she knows any, by which he reveals himself to be a fraud. But he's a kind and likable rogue. Professor Marvel decides to consult his crystal ball about Dorothy's future.
INSIDE PROFESSOR MARVEL'S WAGON
As he consults his crystal ball, he tells Dorothy that she must first close her eyes. When she does this he looks through her purse and finds a photo of her with Aunt Em. Looking back into the crystal ball he tells Dorothy that he sees a woman standing in front of a house with a white picket fence. She's crying because someone has hurt her deeply, someone has broken her heart. Dorothy interprets this as Aunt Em being sick, and she decides to return to the farm. As she runs away from the wagon, a wind storm starts up.
[Marvel's character of a fraud is confirmed, but he's a fraud who does good instead of using his deceptions for personal gain. This foreshadows the character of the Wizard of Oz. Here Dorothy makes another decision, to return to help a sick family member instead of running away. She decides not to bring sorrow and grief to her family and to care of Aunt Em who had nursed her when she was sick.]
[Scene Structure:
Dorothy's Objective: To get away, to go to Europe with Professor Marvel.
Professor: To get Dorothy to return home.
Prop: The crystal ball.
Conflict: Dorothy's self-conflict between values: save the life of her dog or the life of her aunt.
Protagonist Decision: Dorothy decides to return home.
Professor wins by playing on Dorothy's sense of loyalty to her family.]
TORNADO SEQUENCE:
Twister looms ominously in the distance, as the farmhands try to save the horses from danger. Aunt Em and the farmhands call out for Dorothy, but she's nowhere to be found. They all enter the cellar and close the door over them.
Dorothy returns to the farm. She tries to open the cellar door, but its locked.
[There are many obstacles in this scene that prevent Dorothy from returning to the security of her home: the threatening tornado, the locked cellar doors, the howling wind that drown her calls for help.]
She returns to her bedroom. The Tornado approaches. She calls out for her Aunt Em. Suddenly, the wind blows the window off the hinges. It hits Dorothy in the head and knocks her onto the bed. The room begins to spin.
DOROTHY WITHIN THE TORNADO
The image of a spinning house rising up into the tornado is super-imposed over Dorothy's face. Through her bedroom window, images of characters appear. Chickens and a hen house float past. Dorothy sits up and stares out the window.
Aunt Em floats by, knitting as she sits in her rocking chair.
A cow drifts by, then two of the ranch hands rowing a boat through the air. Dorothy looks down to see the twister spinning. Then Elmira Gulch rides by on her bike. But after a few moments she transforms into a hideous cackling witch on a broomstick.
The room spins, and the house falls to the ground with a crash. Dorothy gets up out of bed, picks up Toto then walks to the door. She opens it and steps out into the colorful world of OZ. The tornado is the inciting event which takes Dorothy from her home in Kansas to Oz.
[This is a montage transition scene which takes Dorothy from Kansas into the Land of Oz. Any interpretation is possible. Is it a dream, or was she really picked up by the tornado and transported to the Land of OZ?]
DOROTHY ARRIVES IN OZ
Beautiful colors and the musical theme tells the audience that Dorothy is now "over the rainbow". The white and blue dress on Dorothy is indicative of her innocence, this being the traditional production design value of the white-blue color combination. Dorothy walks around the colorful garden and utters her classic line to Toto, "I don't think we're in Kansas any more."
From within the flower beds little people, the Munchkins, stand up and stare at Dorothy. Suddenly, a pink bubble appears in the sky. It then floats down to the ground. A beautiful woman, dressed in rose colors, steps out of the bubble, approaches Dorothy and asks if she's a good witch or a bad witch. The Munchkins called her because a house fell from the sky and killed the Wicked Witch of the East.
Dorothy tells her that she's not a witch, and that witches are old and ugly, to which the woman responds that she herself is a witch, Glenda, the Witch of the North. Dorothy has become a heroine to the Munchkins because she has killed their tyrannical ruler. The Munchkins celebrate the liberation that she has brought to their community with song and dance, which emphasizes the death certification process.
[This is the second time that legal procedures are emphasized in the story. The first is when Toto is taken away from Dorothy by Elmira Gulch].
[It's important, that when the protagonist kills another character, the killing must be justified, otherwise the audience will lose empathy for the protagonist. In this case, the Wicked Witch's desire for revenge for the death of her sister would be emotionally legitimate and win some of the audience's empathy, if it weren't for the fact the Munchkins, who are adorable little people, characterize the Witch of the East as a tyrant and celebrat
e her death with song and dance. Any on screen death must be completely justifiable from the point of view of the audience, otherwise the character that caused the death will lose all empathy.]
Suddenly, in the midst of the celebration, the Wicked Witch of the West appears accompanied by a loud explosion and an orange cloud of smoke. Dressed from head to foot in black and with a blue-green face, she approaches Dorothy. All the Munchkins scream in terror as they fall to the ground. Glenda tells Dorothy that this is the Wicked Witch of the West who is worst the deceased Witch of the East.
The Witch demands to know who killed her sister. Dorothy responds that it was an accident. The good witch Glenda reminds her of the ruby slippers. The Wicked Witch rushes to take possession of them but suddenly, the slippers vanish only to reappear on Dorothy's feet. They rightfully now belong to her since she killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Glenda advises Dorothy to "stay tight inside them. Their magic must be very powerful, otherwise she would not want them back."
[In the Prelude, it was Toto in jeopardy, now it's Dorothy. This increases the audiences concern. The Ruby Slippers becomes the object which binds together the protagonist and antagonist in a life and death struggle, the bond which they cannot break. Dorothy doesn't really desire the slippers, she wants only to get "home", to that place where she is safe and secure. At this stage she doesn't realize that it will be the slippers, and the power that they hold, that will allow her to achieve her objective.]
Story Design Page 14