Welcome to another edition of Mockingjay Mockup, folks! Today's title's not confusing, right?! Needless to say, this one makes our brains hurt a lot. We should also probably let you know that this took us not one, but TWO tries to get the structure sound enough to launch a discussion about it. SO much goes on in Part 2, we wonder if even this will be cut further when the real deal happens. We are expecting (and hoping) that Part 2 will be a full blown 2 and half hour movie. From our research, it seems more necessary material exists in Mockingjay than there is in any other last installment in existence. Today we are going to delve into what some may consider the main event of this series: Mockingjay Part 2 Outline. We had Mockingjay Part 1 end with Katniss and Peeta's reunion as a cliff hanger. We think it would be super cool to end this way (especially for those who haven't read the books), and to start Part 2 with an action scene. Really, for such an epic conclusion, it's kind of mandatory to kick off the movie with something exciting.
OPENING - New Scenes
While it could be an option to jump into the Nut scene right away for some crazy action to kick off the conclusion of The Hunger Games franchise, we wonder if this might be too confusing for viewers even with some kind of explanation after or during. There needs to be at least one briefing scene before the Nut, and I don't know about you, but the idea of a briefing scene to kick off the film doesn't really seem that exciting. The last thing you want to do in the first scene is lose your audience. For this reason, we
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| Only a small section of the Part 2 timeline |
think we should explore the option of new action scenes to give that opening action kick. There's a certain tone that needs to be set, especially for the last installment of the franchise. If there's anything we can take away from the first Hunger Games film, it's that there is a bigger perspective in the movies than in the book. The District 12 rioting scene? Snow's rose garden scenes? Surely these are tastes of things to come. I would expect not only to see what's going on in Snow's neck of the woods during the war, but what's going on all over Panem. This could also assist in showing through visuals the rebels slowly taking district by district so that all that remains is District 2 and The Capitol. We'll talk about how to achieve this cinematically in our next post: Cinematic Delusions of Grandeur part Deux!
From there, we might need to jolt the audience slightly by bringing them back to the horrible situation we left them in: Peeta's hijacking. Nina Jacobson has sworn that in making these films they would not shy away or "soften" any part of this story. I would expect no different for Mockingjay, so why not show the audience what Peeta is seeing? It could be really interesting (and frightening) to see the world through Peeta's eyes, if only for a moment. From there we may get a scene of Katniss watching him through glass with Beetee talking about what the Capitol did to him.
TRAINING
To save time, it's possible that Katniss' recovery from Peeta's throat-lock may be nonexistent. It's possible that it is just not necessary because in this two and a half hour movie, every second counts. Let's talk about the whole training part of the books. It's really (aside from the hospital) where Johanna and Katniss hang out. It also seems evident at this point, they (the collective Hunger Games body) doesn't plan on diminishing Johanna's role. We were thinking they might cut out all the training for time reasons, but we've put it in the graph because with just a little scene here and there, because it may not have to be sacrificed. Honestly, it shouldn't be given the nature of what this movie is. District 13 is not just a community, but home to the rebel base (with much better protection against those AT-ATs that's for sure) so naturally, we feel that Katniss would always be training during her
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| Those Capitol AT-ATs don't stand a chance against District 13! |
stay there. I mean, really. It's a military operation and to not see Katniss training to killl Snow is just silly. In the books of course there is a whole backstory about her training and how she never goes to any of her classes, but in order to focus on the major events going on, we could see them downgrading that story line to just a few training scenes with Johanna.
We've put a short training scene inbetween the Peeta scenes. We've done this so the first scene you see explains about his hijacking and follow up to the cliffhanger that ended part 1. Then we get a casual training scene, perhaps with some comic relief, and also so we can see Katniss letting of steam due to the whole stressful situation. After this training scene, we'd like to revisit Peeta, only this time he actually talks to someone. In the books, it is Peeta's childhood friend Delly. Many fans have wondered and are worried she might go the same way Madge does, and I would have to agree that fans have a right to feel that way. It's probable her character will be cut, but perhaps Lionsgate and whoever is writing the script for Mockingjay part 2 will see her value and keep her in, even to also have her around for that hilariously awkward District 13 lunch scene, which we are crossing our fingers for. At any rate, Peeta will have to talk to someone whether it's Delly or Katniss herself, which is a very real possibility. The scene is just to establish how rabid Peeta is at the moment, which in turn makes Katniss want to get away from the situation, and go with the others to District 2.
TO NUT, OR NOT TO NUT?
Perhaps Katniss wants to retrieve Gale for the District 2 briefing and she finds him and Beetee poring over blueprints and such in the research room. OOOOOO FORSHADOWING!! We feel this scene is mandatory. It really doesn't even matter where this scene gets put, as long as it's in the first half of the movie. This ABSOLUTELY needs to be addressed because to stay true to the books, there must be either ambiguity on which side deployed the parachutes, or at least inferring it was the rebels. Say it with me kids: Set up, pay off, Set up, pay off.
Before we can be whisked away to District 2, there needs to be a scene in the District 13 War Room where we can have The Nut briefing scene along with logistics of taking the Capitol and why taking "The Nut" is so important. Explaining the way the rebels have been taking the districts to eventually take the Capitol is a fairly simple concept that the audience will understand. Let's just hope the audience has played enough Risk games in their lifetime. Which makes us think…just HOW cool would it be to play Risk: Panem Edition?! Okay, okay, let's get back on track.
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| Lionsgate, make this happen! |
Inciting Incidents are sort of odd to place in second parters because it is half of a story. We still found one in Mockingjay Part 2, we marked it as the War Room scene mentioned above. This scene is Part 2's Inciting Incident since that is when we first find out how exactly the rebels plan to invade the Capitol. The mission briefing of The Nut is the chain reaction that will eventually lead to the assault on the Capitol.
We've been talking about The Nut briefing taking place in District 13, which is possible may happen that way in the film. However, we could see a movie where all the briefing and such take place in District 2, for the running time's sake. Unfortunately though, we probably won't get a Coin scene if that happens. But maybe Coin having a subdued role in the beginning of the film is better that way. By having the briefing in District 2, we get an idea of why The Nut is important to take, ways of taking The Nut, eventually leading to everyone going along with Gale's plan. Some questions to ponder: Will it be Gale's idea or not? If the producers are so keen on remaining true to the book and not backing away from the severity of the original text like they have claimed, then they will keep Gale's role in logistics for taking The Nut. We hope they will stay as true to the book as possible, which is the utmost importance to the team of people behind The Hunger Games. We're also wondering if they plan on keeping in Lyme's character, or if they will just replace her with Paylor since we were introduced to her character in Part 1, not to mention her eventually becoming leader of the newly free Panem.
No doubt the whole lead-in and the action scene of taking The Nut as well as Katniss' speech will indeed be a tad condensed. Much like the first Hunger Games film, we're expecting part 2 to be GO GO GO, because a lot happens, many of these events being post climax. The Nut is put here so that we can have a big action scene in the first fourth of the film.
We have heard discussion about putting The Nut towards the end in Part 1. If there was a good way to achieve this, we would welcome it. However, we really do like the idea of ending on a cliffhanger, and that would also mean The Nut scene being diminished (it's a pivotal scene for the success of the rebellion!), severely diminishing the District 13 bombing, as well as many other things being diminished from Part 1 (I'll be damned if the District 8 scene doesn't get the focus it deserves!). Of course it would be great to have more time to focus on the many important things that occur in part 2 by not having The Nut, but like we said, we are a little afraid of that scene being too diminished or rushed as well as other incredibly important things such as Katniss' friendship with Finnick, and those other action scenes we've already laid out in Part 1. We think Part 1 has enough going on already, especially alongside the fact that there's the whole system and location of District 13 to establish and explain.
THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
Despite how much we have been talking about this, we are still only a fourth of the way through Mockingjay Part 2. We've got what's going on in Panem, Peeta's situation, reference to Gale and Beetee's brainchild weapon, obligatory training scene, and The Nut (introduction and action scene). We're only about 40ish minutes in. After a few more scenes (some of them likely to be cut), it'll be one big race to the finish. Before we get into that, let's look into the "calm before the storm" scenes.
The big scene following The Nut will be Finnick and Annie's wedding. Structurally speaking, I think we can count on this making the cut. First of all, it's possible Lionsgate may be too afraid of the fan fury they would receive if they cut it out. Secondly, in such depressing subject matter, there comes a point where you need a mood relief. It's a necessity. After this enjoyable scene, Katniss visits Peeta for the first time. Depending on whether Delly makes the cut depends on if it will be Katniss first or second time visiting Peeta. Really whether it is or not does not matter, what matters is that Peeta is still sick, but not as rabid as the first time we saw him. We're not expecting this scene to be cut at all.
The next scene is one that might be cut, but we put it on the list because we're hoping it makes it in. This is the scene in which everyone is having lunch together, and Peeta joins them. We like the idea of there being at least one lunch scene in all of the Mockingjay movies, so we can see all of the main characters interacting, most specifically Johanna, Finnick, and Annie. Due to all the madness going on in the books, it's hard to put in those scenes where they are all together sort of socializing. When Peeta comes to join the party, it establishes that he is slowly being integrated back into society, and also provides for some of Johanna's hilarious awkward comments on the whole situation.
The last scene before things gets real, is something actually….not real at all. It makes the training scenes relevant and sort of completes the whole military operation image. Katniss' final test for the field: Street Simulated Combat. We think this is just a cool scene to see (and probably expensive. Yikes!) as well as establishing Katniss' continued weakness of not following authority. It's VERY possible this will get cut, but we just thought it'd be a cool thing to see. Plus, ACTION SCENE!
COMING SOON
In our next Mockingjay Mockup post, we will reveal the rest of our Mockingjay Part 2 chart and discuss important scenes that will most likely make the cut! There will also be some discussion about Mockingjay's diversion from your run-of-the-mill film structure featuring Pre-Climax and Climax, and some interesting options for the ending of The Hunger Games franchise. See you next time!
May your bread be toasty and your arrow fly straight,
Courtney & Tiffany
Previous Mockingjay Mockup editions:
INTRO
PART 1 OVERVIEW
STORYLINES
PART 1 TIMELINE
CINEMATIC DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR (Part 1)
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