You should know I have been working in Marketing and Business Strategy for a very long time. But now I’m lucky enough to be working with an amazing little company, where the culture is truly open and unique. There are tons of examples for that and one of those, probably the less meaningful, is movie night. Last week we ended up watching Zoolander, galvanized by a truckload of steamy hot pizza.
Now, Zoolander is one of my favourite comedies of the 2000s. I mean, it has Stiller-Wilson vs Will Ferrell. It has nonsense, it has rhythm. It’s not one of the highest rated comedies of all times, but it surely is a crowd pleaser. While watching the film I was amazed by how complex the plot seems to be. I just finished to re-read a bunch of books on screenplay structure (not to mention all the panels that were on this subject at the London Screenwriters Festival last month) and it seemed particularly original. Or is it? Let’s check it out.
Zoolander’s story was created by Drake Sather and Ben Stiller with the additional hands of John Hamburg for the screenplay. I tried to find a shooting script of the film, but nada. I will have to use the minutes of the film as the reference for the pages of the script. I know, I know… it’s less than ideal. But for the purpose of this quick analysis, it will do.
Let’s try to analyse the plot using one of the many acknowledged structure models available to movie screenwriters. Let’s use Blake Snyder’s beat sheet, the one he introduced to the world in his uber acclaimed “Save the Cat”. I am going to use Snyder’s structure for a number of reasons. First: it’s beloved. Even if there is a lot of hate, it’s still brought up in infinite conversations. Second: fifteen beats are a good balance between a 3/5 acts structure and the 17 steps of Campbell’s hero’s journey.
Now… the movie is only 85 minutes long and Snyder’s beat sheet is for 110 minutes films. But let’s see how it goes…
The film starts with a scene introducing the background. It’s the scene where we are shown the big conspiracy orchestrated by the fashion moguls who use Mugatu as their field general. They need to find someone to manipulate to get them to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia, who is threatening the business of the moguls. Who will it be? CUT TO Derek. Interview with Matilda mixed with the title sequence and a montage of celebrities on the fashion awards red carpet talking about Derek. And then he gets off the limo at the fashion awards. ZOOLANDER. Here it is. And it’s 5 minutes in. Woah. I’m excited already. Let’s look at the beats.
1. PAGE 1 – Opening Image
I think this may be slightly off, but not that uncommon. The first minute is the introduction of the Malaysian Prime Minister and his fight against exploitive industries. It literally lasts one minute. So… this definitely introduces the fashion industry and a global scope. Not an image we’ll see again. Therefore, a weird choice. But thematically, it’s there.
2. PAGE 5 – Theme
Oh, this one is nailed on the head. The fashion industry, the high stakes, Malaysia, Mugatu. And Zoolander, the impossibly stupid model. The epitome of that industry.
3. PAGE 1 to 10 – Set Up
All main characters are introduced. Mugatu, Hansel, Matilda, Maurey Ballstein. They are all there at the fashion awards. Will Zoolander, the super-celebrated model win the fourth award? Derek is convinced he will. But he loses to the newcomer. And his world shatters. And when does that happen? Bang on cue on minute 10.
4. PAGE 12 – Catalyst
Derek walks around town and sees Hansel new ads covering his, his failure on a big screen and gets back home to a banner that was supposed to celebrate his victory. And he goes to sleep. All this happen between 12:00 and 13:00. Bam.
5. PAGE 12 to 25 – Debate
Now, this may seem confused, because there’s the death of Derek’s friends. One could think that that was an inciting incident. But it’s not. The descent into doubt started on page 12 and it goes on, through the incident, then the experience back to his hometown in the mining town (in New Jersey… I love this). But he can’t find his place back home and he realises his place is back in fashion. That happens between 25:00 and 26:00. Again, bang on cue.
6. PAGE 25 to 30 – ACT 2
This one is perfect. Derek goes to Mugatu, the Derelict campaign starts, he unwillingly accepted his role in Mugatu’s plan.
7. PAGE 30 – B Story
Between 29:00 and 30:00 Matilda receives a call from a mysterious man who introduces her into the big hidden scheme. It’s Matilda’s plot. Her research, her story, that finally takes an interesting turn. She had scenes before, but they were mostly fillers. It was just her going around not accomplishing anything. The call changes things and brings her into the middle of the story.
8. PAGE 30 to 55 – Fun & Games
From the scene of the massage in the “exclusive” spa to Mugatu’s brainwash, through the evening in the nightclub up to the amazing, unbeatable street fashion walk off. That’s the perfect example of what Snyder meant with Promise of the Premise. The movie is a comedy on fashion and we expect something funny around this world. And we get it. In full. Of course, Derek loses again (he’s on a losing trajectory, quite normal). And when he has to run away from Mugatu’s minion Katinka, Matilda brings him to Hansel.
9. PAGE 55 – Midpoint
Again, almost perfect timing: Derek and Hansel make up around minute 54. And when he steps into Hansel’s apartment, between 54:00 and 55:00, that’s the Midpoint. Derek “embraces” Hansel.
10. PAGE 55 to 65 – Bad Guys Close In
Here is where the film starts to go out of sync with the beat sheet because of the difference in length. At this point, Derek and Hansel are pushed by Matilda to break into Maurey’s office but they seem to can’t find what they are looking for.
11. PAGE 75 – All is lost
Derek is on the runway, Matilda is kept at gunpoint by Katinka, Hansel is nowhere to be found, Mugatu is sure things will work out for him. This section when it seems that Derek is going to lose starts at minute 68:00.
12. PAGE 75 to 85 – Dark Night of the Soul
Again, the pages are off, but the beat is definitely here. It starts at minute 68 “we’re running out of time”, “the last thing I need to do is RELAX”. Derek is very close to killing the Prime Minister when Hansel shows up on minute 70. It’s three minutes instead of 10.
13. PAGE 85 – ACT 3
When Hansel shows up the third act starts. Derek and Hansel are not against each other anymore, they are on the same side. Not just that, but is Hansel who has to fight to help Derek not to kill the Prime Minister.
14. PAGE 85 to 110 – Finale
The fight goes on from minute 70 to minute 78. Hansel fights for Derek, then Maurey steps up, but at the end, when Mugatu launches a ninja star against the Prime Minister of Malaysia, it’s Derek who saves the day. He won! That’s minute 78 This beat is 9 pages instead of 15.
15. PAGE 110 – Final Image
The final image goes from minute 78 to 79. We are introduced to the school that Derek wanted and his newborn son.
Conclusion
With a couple of exceptions, Zoolander hits all Snyder’s beats in an impressive manner. The whole film is shorter than Snyder’s suggestion and it’s clear that Act 3 is the part they cut. There is a little bit of Fun & Games on the 10th beat, which is the orgy at Hansel’s. It served the purpose of introducing the love story between Derek and Matilda.
Even with all his originality and quirkiness, Zoolander’s plot follows a structure that many in Hollywood still consider gold. It was definitely the case in the 2000s and I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers followed Save The Cat’s beat sheet to develop Zoolander’s script.
