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I have begun a screenplay based on the events that took place before, during and after a rather popular but little known about film shot in Bluff Creek California in 1967 by two men, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. I, ofcourse, am talking about the alledged female Bigfoot that was caught on film. I pretty much know how I want to story to go even though information is very hard to come by on this subject, my research pretty much laid out a majority of what happened from both points of view. My problem is is that I have a time span from 1958 - 1972 (Mr. Patterson died of cancer that year). From 1964 - 1972, much of the story takes place. However, from 1958 - 1964 not much really happened except that there are some very important events that took place that have to be mentioned. 1) Roger met Bob in 1958. 2) Roger reads an article in True Magazine by Ivan Stevenson about Abomidable Snowmen in California during Christman 1959 (which got him interested) and 3) He is diagnosed with cancer in 1961 (Hodgkins Disease). It is not until 1964 that he begins to devote much of his time in search of the beast and his obssession with it takes off (which is at the heart of the film). My questions is what is the best way to bridge the gap of time while showing just the main points from 1958 - 1964 until the action picks up and keeping the moving flowing? I hope you understand what I'm asking. Thank you

Don

One technique to bridge the time gaps is to introduce those earlier events as flashbacks, reminiscences, answers to interview questions, or leave them out if they are not pertinent to the story.

I think the real question you should ask yourself is, "What is the story?" Sure, you have a logistical timeline of events with characters, but what do you want it all to add up to? Even documentaries have to pass the "So what?" bar, and expectations for fiction are even higher.

Why was Roger obsessed with this creature? Why should we care about his obsession? These are important questions for your story that you should answer for your audience.

See how it's done in:

a) Raging Bull and b) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid etc.

Same technique.

There's also a good example of progression / transformation in Scarface.

Probably heresy to say this on a site sponsored by Movie Magic, but a good source for structure and this sort of thing is Kal Bashir's 510+ stage Hero's Journey http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html

Of course, there are huge gaps in There Will Be Blood. What I really liked about that movie was it leapt forward and just assumed the audience would follow along. I can't remember any stupid lines like "It's been 12 years since I saw you, Bob." I wish more movies would make those types of assumptions.

Interesting . In the multitud of coussellors there is wisdom. you have the answer already.