Chekhov's Gun

Anton Chekhov said that anything (object or person) that is introduced must be used later or shouldn’t be there.  “One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it." 

In other words, if you introduce something (character, trait, setting) on the first page, or in the first act, it must carry through to the end.  This leads to more complex characters.  Watch the first twenty minutes or so of Little Miss Sunshine.  Note the character traits, the problems, the people that are mentioned.
  
In the first five seconds of the film you are introduced to the "theme," a term I hate, but nonetheless find use for.  Winners and losers.  The shot of the pageant on television.  There is a winner and a loser and then, a chubby, be-speckled, six-year old girl, mimicking, frame-by-frame, the postures of a winner.


This theme is pulled through the introduction of the rest of the family.  Richard, who is giving a seminar about winners, seems successful, until it's revealed there are five people at the seminar.  Frank, suicide, loser.  At the hospital, Sheryl reveals, in one line that she and Richard have money issues.  Grandpa snorts heroin in the bathroom.  The only one who seems to be relatively successful is Dwayne in his introduction.  He marks off days on a calendar, indicating some achievement of a goal.  


At the dinner table, all are assembled.  We hear the name of Stan Grossman, something about a book deal, a concern over money, the fact that Sheryl can't drive stick.  We see and hear Richard's emasculation.  We learn about Dwayne's desire to be a pilot, his vow of silence, detest for his stepfather.  We hear about Frank's heartbreak, anger and suicide attempt, and see his and Dwayne's bond in misery. We see Richard's stubbornness and insensitivity and attempt to exert control.  We get the idea that Sheryl is the glue of the family.  We hear the name of Larry Sugarman.  There are hints at Grandpa's trouble at the retirement home (presumably for what we just saw happen in the bathroom).  We understand his relationship with Olive, oh, and there's something about a pageant. 




All of these details, these "guns," thrown out on the table and wrapped inside this fierce and quiet familial tension.  This, in the first fifteen minutes of the film.  Are all of these things dealt with by the end?

I find that this is one of the most helpful things to remember and can come in handy when you are stuck at the ending.  Go back to the beginning.  Based on what you laid out, what needs to be present and/or change at the end?  Did you deal adequately with what was there in the first few scenes?  


Be sure you did, (or can make a decent argument for why you don't have to) or else.  You'll have to answer to that guy there in the picture, who will surely strangle that dog if you orphan your details.