This opening scene from The Lion King sets the stage for the rest of the film. © The Walt Disney Company.

What Is a Scene?
Remember that sweeping scene of African splendor in the opening of The Lion King where all the animals arrive from near and far to pay homage to the new royal cub? A scene is a single event or conversation between characters, occurring during one period of time and in one single place, that moves the story forward toward a climax and resolution. One event, one period of time, one place!

Planning Your Individual Scenes
Okay, you may have already roughed out your scenes in an outline. But now you need something right on the mark with focus and polish. Consider these:

What will this scene accomplish? Scenes may have a main point and a couple of minor points. Each really important bit of plot information in your script probably requires a separate scene.

Who’s in this scene?

Where does it take place and when?

Who’s driving the scene? (Usually it’s one person or animal, but it can be an inanimate object or even an act of nature.)

What do they want? What’s their attitude?

Who’s putting up obstacles? Why? What does this person want?

Is there subtext, people talking around a problem or hiding it?

Are people being direct in what they want or indirect?

Where is the tension or conflict? Tension can also be created by conflict already established earlier or what we anticipate might happen next.