Scenes have arcs too.
When writing that big feature, it’s easy to get stuck on how that scene fits into the whole — or, more often — how it advances your plot from point A to point B. But if your scene is written to bridge a gap in your plot, then it’s just filler. That scene, just like those around it, ARE your story. A wasted scene is a hole in your story — an opportunity for your audience to lose interest and stop caring about your characters and your story.
Story is, by definition, change. Even a story about persistence must have change, otherwise we have no framework to perceive the persistence. For example, to show a stalwart politician, we must show him facing numerous temptations and resisting them. If he resists the same temptation over and over, say a hooker, we can just as easily presume that he’s not interested because he’s gay. But throw money, sex and drugs at him, and he resists all these different temptations? Then we understand that he is virtuous.
Another important factor in a scene of persistence is that a choice is being made. A scene that doesn’t show our politician being tempted does not present him as incorruptible. Heck, three scenes of him politicking without corruption does not make him appear incorruptible. Only by showing the option and having him choose to remain steadfast is that persistence demonstrated.
A great way to structure and make progress with your script is to check what is staying the same and what is changing, scene after scene. If your story is about the struggle for control, then every scene should either go from control to no control or from no control to control. That change is what is interesting. Or, if you can make it meaningful to the story, start and end a scene on the same thing. As I demonstrated above, if you are going to keep a scene flat, then our understanding of that must change. For example: “oh, she controls her home life the same way she controls her work life.” That would be a great and meaningful way to demonstrate sameness from one scene to the next while telling us more about the character and advancing the story.
As a general rule, you should not jump between extremes from the end of one scene to the beginning of the next. This results in inconsistencies of character. For example, you can’t have a boss be really controlling in one scene, then suddenly be nonchalant. Okay, you can, but the inconsistency must play into your story, either for comedic effect, or to specifically demonstrate that your character is inconsistent. But you need to be very very careful and intentional.
Many starting writers fall into the trap of having characters talk about the change that occurred between their scenes. “Why are you so happy, boss?” “I just met someone on the internet and we’re going out on a date tonight.” The problem here is that, in between scene one and two, something really interesting happened: the bitter, nasty boss went soft. That change is what the audience came to see in your film! They want to see that familiar scowl fade into a smile — that gesture of good will that makes the Grinch’s heart grow three sizes. That story wouldn’t have worked with a conversation: “Why’s the Grinch giving everything back?” “He saw a bunch of us sing earlier.” “Oh. That’s cool.”