I was hoping you might have some thoughts on the character change though:
Does Hi have a character change (if so, what is it specifically?) that comes from a “need” that exists before the story begins (as in most monomyths)?

I’m pleased that this helped you, Michael.

If you are writing feature film material, the POV would not typically shift between sequences.

Have fun with your further learning!

Cheers,

Karel

I’ve been trying to figure how to write screenplays and haven’t paid enough attention to the function of sequences. I don’t quite know what to make of them. I’ve got scenes down, but a sequence has more going on, it’s not as clear. But it just feels like it’s a self contained long scene, and the next sequence often starts with new POV. I think it’s so interesting that the number of sequences and length are similar between movies. I’ll have to study this more. Thanks.

By 1st and 2nd culmination you mean the end of Act 1 and 2 respectively, right?

It’s not cut-and-dried as our heroes don’t exactly state a closed-ended goal but the breakdown above explains why I believe the story works the way it does. Here are the points that to me signal the act breaks (copied and pasted from above):

First culmination:

24.30 Ed tells them they can’t stay; Gale to Hi: short leash…
26.30 Hi has a nightmare: the lone biker of the apocalypse.
28.30 Tele Image of the sun rising.

If the previous sequence didn’t end with a clearly defined end goal (they effectively want to keep the baby indefinitely) then this one does, by introducing an antagonist. We now have a character – The Biker – that will have to be stopped before the story is finished.
Another reason why I would argue this is the end of Act One: at the beginning of the following sequence we go to Nathan Sr for the first time since the kidnapping of his son.

Second:

68.30 Ed: Don’t want to go on living with you. We don’t deserve him.

Hi is now a changed man, yet he comes under the greatest pressure from everyone. They lose the baby when Gale and Evelle take him with them and at the end of this sequence, in a clear Cavemoment, Ed tells Hi she doesn’t want to live with him any longer. This signals the lowest point for Hi but also his moment of ultimate redemption. He is now ready to take on the Lone Biker of the Apocalypse so we enter into Act Three.