Scott, it's interesting about the box thing, and establishing the world. In your style class recently, I had a Epiphany. I mentioned this before in class and in your blog. But it had just suddenly come to me in looking at American Hustle that once you set up that world and it's characters, the story basically writes itself. Maybe other movies do this too. But AH just blows me away with how the characters are set up in situations, and with their strong characterization, a story explodes in front of you. Those characters pretty much have to act and react the way they do, given the plot. And the plot has to unfold pretty much the way it does as well with those characters. Even in the film, Roslyn and Pete talk about inevitability; "what will be, will be". So it seems very much about creating that world and its characters, so you know who you are writing about and where they are going; creating that inevitability.