Everyone needs some kind of procedural spec under his/her belt, and a great action/cop one can be the way to go.
A few reasons pushed me to spec Flashpoint, and I thought wise, for those out there who wish to spec the show, to post my various breakdowns of FP episodes as well as my overall research on the show, à la Chuck, on my blog.
So here goes.
Part One: Breaking it
The following is a breakdown of the Flashpoint pilot, through its shooting script.
The plot revolves around presenting us the SRU team, especially Ed, as well as the arrival of a new member, connecting everything with an enraged gunman at a Plaza.
What we will call the “Plaza sequence” is everything revolving around what happens at the Plaza with the gunman.
Storylines:
A: Gunman Plotline and Plaza sequence (comprises of Ax + Ab + Ac)
Ax : Backstory of Gunman, events leading up to SRU arrival, and what happens after to Gunman/Family
Ab: Plaza sequence with SRU on scene
Ac: Plaza sequence from Ed’s POV
B: SRU life, routine – Before and After the Plaza sequence (not including Ab)
C: Ed’s life – Before (family) and After (interrogation) the Plaza sequence (not including Ac)
D: Arrival of a new SRU member
It should be noted that a few “B story” scenes revolved around Jules (hinting at a future romance between Sam and her), but for the sake of argument, I merged her SRU scenes with the larger B storyline. Ditto for her scenes on the rooftop (merged with Ab).
Breakdown:
Episode 1×01 – 66 pages
Teaser – 5 Scenes (exposition of A story) – 3 pages
1+2 – Ab
3 – Ac
4 – Ab
5 – Ac
Act One – 17 Scenes (Before Plaza sequence) – 20 pages
5 – Ac (repeat of last Teas scene)
-> FLASHBACK
6+7+8 – C
9+10+11 – Ax
12 – D
13 – B
14 – Ax
15 – D
16 – B
17 – Ax
18+19 – B leading to Ab
20 – D
21+22 – B leading to Ab
END OF ACT ONE just as the SRU arrives on the scene -> Ab
Act Two – 29 Scenes (During Plaza sequence) – 17 pages
23+24 – Ab
25 – Ac
26 – Ab
27+28 – Ac
29 – D
30+31 – Ab
32 – Ac
33 – Ab+D
34 – Ac
35+36+37 – Ab
38 – Ac
39 – Ab
40 – Ac
41 – Ab
42 – Ac
43 – Ab
44 – Ac
45 – Ab
46 – Ac
47 – Ab
48 – Ab+D
49+50 – Ab
51 – Ac leading back to C
END OF ACT TWO just as Ed is taken away by inspector -> C
Act Three – 12 Scenes (After Plaza sequence) – 17 pages
52+53 – C
54 – Ab leading back to B
55 – D
56+57 – C
58+59 – B+D
60+61 – C
62 – B+D
END OF ACT THREE
Act Four – 7 Scenes (Continuing – After Plaza sequence) – 9 pages
63 – C
64 – B+C+D
65 – C+D
66 – Ax
67 – B
68 – D
69 – C
Summary:
Episode 1×01 – 69 beats
A storyline total: 5 + 5 + 28 + 2 = 40 beats
Ax storyline: 0 + 5 + 0 + 1 = 6 beats
Ab storyline: 3 + 0 + 17 + 1 = 21 beats
Ac storyline: 2 + 0 + 11 + 0 = 13 beats
B storyline: 0 + 6 + 0 + 4 = 10 beats
C storyline: 0 + 3 + 0 + 10 = 13 beats
D storyline: 0 + 3 + 3 + 6 = 12 beats
Tune in next time as
we will discuss in more depth the overall Flashpoint structure, through other FP breakdowns (Episodes 8 & 9).
