The Platform of a scene is the fundamental elements that make it so there are people doing something that matters to them:

•	Who the characters are (their relationship)

•	Where they are (location)

•	What they're doing together (activity)

Establish the platform early

If a scene does not establish a platform early, it can easily dissolve into a bunch of people standing on a stage desperately searching for something funny to say. With a solid platform, you have lots to build on. You can just follow wherever the scene goes and funny stuff will happen by itself.

Whatever platform elements the audience suggestions don't give you, be sure to put them in as early as possible. For example, if the Ask For was "a retail establishment" and the audience said, "Starbucks", that provides the location. You start the scene by yes-anding the location with characters and what they're doing together. You could be a Starbucks employee and a customer buying a scone. (What is the scone made from? Now the scene is progressing.) You could be two college students studying together. (What subject are you studying?) You could be telephone repairmen taking a break from a busy day. (What's that gizmo in your hand?) One of you could be the manager and the other could be a vendor delivering coffee beans. (What kind of coffee beans?) But if you're just two people standing in a Starbucks for no reason, it's hard to get much to happen.

How to get good at establishing platform

The Who Where What Exercise gives you practice in establishing a strong platform even when you're given nothing to start with.

You can often begin a really strong scene in performance just by playing Three Line Scene or Who Where What for the first three lines. You can do this unilaterally, without your scene partners knowing what you're up to.

Character is not enough

Note that it's not enough to just establish a strong character. For a platform, you need a relationship between two characters. Just "being" a certain way doesn't by itself propel action.

For example, you might start by endowing yourself as an anal-retentive mad scientist, deep in your laboratory, adjusting all the beakers and retorts so they're perfectly aligned. That covers location and activity, but we still need a relationship. Enter Juliana, the busy venture capitalist who'd really prefer to see the scientist's new replacement for television. The interaction between the characters--her focus on making money, and his opposing focus on neatness--has enough to get a story going.

Tips And Techniques