Triangular Scenes

While I'm away . . .

A fellow screenwriter emailed me the other day about triangular scenes. New terminology for me so my latest screenwriting exercise will be to look for triangular scene elements in films I watch and screenplays that I read. I'm open for suggested scenes and porn doesn't count!

What I am looking for are three elements (characters, objects, events) in a scene that are dependent on each other. The scene cannot end until one or more of the three elements is resolved. Example: two people (two elements) are arguing and one cannot leave until the other surrenders the car keys (third element). A teacher (one element) cannot dismiss her class (second element) until the bell rings (third element).

If you have examples or a better explanation about triangular scenes, I'm a willing pupil so please post a clever reply! Okay, you can post a not so clever one, too.

My baby nephew is having cleft palate surgery tomorrow at Children's Medical Center by the same doctor who performed corrective palate surgery on my son and another nephew. Yeah, it runs in the family. As the oldest sister and since my mother lives out of state, I usually am the parent to all my siblings so I'll be standing ready at the hospital with oxygen and valium for my sister.

With the baby likely to be in the hospital three to five days, I'll be taking reading material in the form of Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, The Green Mile, and Seabiscuit. My laptop plays DVD's so film suggestions are appreciated. Remember, looking for triangular scenes.

Is there anything more heartbreaking than a baby hooked to tubes and wires? The baby in the picture is my son, Will, runner and hottie jock of the high school. I've now seen dozens of babies right after surgery. Love and drugs seem to work every time. Reminds me of a song by Bowling for Soup which says "all we need is ice cream and a hug".