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The Screenwriter's Column
SCREENWRITING Q & A WITH LINDA
Email Linda
at Linda@plotsinc.com with your questions. Please put "Q & A" in
your subject line. If Linda can't answer your question, she'll find
someone who will.
Q 26: How do
you indentify the Act 1 climax? And what separates it from the inciting
incident? Is it an event or a beat, or what?
Q 25: What is
the "driving force" in a story and how do you create a single
driving force?
Q 24: What is
the relationship between the driving force and premise?
Q 23: How do
you create a story premise?
Q 22: Good
character development lends itself to providing some facts about the
character's background and upbringing, but how "in-depth" does a writer
need to go to provide enough detail?
Q 21: I'm a
screenwriter with two films produced (2 major stars, respectively). I've
now taken on the task of an ensemble film. Major headache as far as
structure goes. I read your article on ensemble films but it didn't seem
to address my dilemma on structure. I have six protagonists in basically
one location. It's a dark comedy that deals with a focus group. I'd
appreciate any help that you could give me.?
Q 20: In
regards to your article on the 'ensemble film', how would you classify
The Red Violin? And, forgive me if this sounds like a slight, but
of all the films mentioned by you, how could you overlook possibly the
greatest ensemble film of recent memory:Pulp Fiction?
Q 19: How
does the writer who's used to taking the protagonist's action as a
measure of his narrative's progress incorporate the emotional ideas you
present and prepare his beats when using a step outline? How are the
two concepts integrated?
Q 18: Is it
possible to over-develop a character? In the narrative parts of my
script I tried to develop my character as much as I could, but it turns
out to be a lot of writing.
Q 17: Some
screenwriting teachers argue that 3 act structure is old hat, and that
films now have evolved into a 4 act structure. What do you think about
this?
Q 16: How do
you come up with ideas?
Q 15: I'm a
screenwriter who teaches screenwriting, and it's been hammered into me
not to use "angles" or call any shots, so I try to teach my students how
to take care of point of view through scene headings and action
description. Using the script in the back of your book, Writing Short
Films, I can show them how it would be done by substituting AT THE
BAR for ANGLE, etc., but I was curious about your thoughts on this for
beginning writers. Should I just make them aware that some prefer this
way and some allow that, or do I need to be more prescriptive (for their
sake if they decide to approach the industry)?
Q 14: What is
a beat sheet?
Q 13: I start
a new scene when characters move from one location to another even
though the same conversation, subject, etc continues. I have more than
80 scenes...all the time. Does this interfere with the reader's
following the screenplay?
Q 12: When
your story focuses on storytellers/storytelling (i.e., Big Fish)
how do you keep that from calling attention to itself so the audience
isn't distanced?
Q 11: I want
to ask you about story management. How should I manage the different
story lines and characters without neglecting one or another?
Q 10: What
is a controlling idea?
Q 9: I have
a story that takes place over many years, and people say the script
seems unfocused. How do I focus it?
Q 8: Does my
main character have to change?
Q 7: Do
writing programs help, and could you recommend any good programs -- or
is there one major program that everyone uses?
Q 6: What's
the best way to keep up with ever changing script format trends?
Q 5: I've
never submitted a script to anything! What is the accepted way of
binding? My sister is an author and with manuscripts you never bind it
in any way. We don't want to appear too dumb!
Q 4: We have
very brief "memory flashes" in our script, kind of akin to those in
Run Lola Run, in that they are really quick. How do we format
these?
Q 3: I'm
using a narrator and having trouble figuring out how a strategy to make
it work within a satiric piece so that it functions as a unifying
melodic theme and isn't just a staccato voice.
Q 2: Is it
true that structure for a short film is the same as for a feature, just
shrunken down?
Q 1: What
makes a screenplay great?
Q 1: What makes a screenplay
great?
I once heard Robert Altman say a great film is one
that gets better and better each time you see it, and I think that's
true. Great screenplays are like that; they hold your interest upon
re-reading them. It doesn't matter if it's an action story or a
character piece; they build tension and hold you rapt.
Great screenplays make you want to turn the page and
keep reading - there's something compelling about them. We get involved
in the characters - they make us care about them. Think about movies
like Five Easy Pieces and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
and even Casablanca. These main characters all push us away with
words and actions at the start of the films, yet they win us over. Why?
Because they all do something that puts someone else's welfare above
their own. Bobby in Five Easy Pieces isn't a very appealing guy
until he does the one thing he really doesn't want to do - take Rayette
with him when he goes to see his ailing father. The consequences of
this action plague him throughout the film, but our empathy for him
hinges on it. In Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy isn't the kind of guy
you'd want to sit around and have a beer with, yet we're rooting for him
all the way. It's not just that he struggles against a worthy
antagonist in Nurse Ratched, it's that he continually ignores his own
well being to act on behalf of the other inmates. In Casablanca,
Rick tells us from the beginning he sticks his neck out for no one. But
in the first act we see him continually act in ways that clearly tell us
he sees the needs of others. I guess you could say that great scripts
create great roles for actors and actresses.
I think great scripts have something to say about
the world. They show us something about love, self-worth, identity,
society, hate, revenge, family dysfunction. If what the script says is
honest and real, it will have a universal quality about it, and people
will relate to the material.
Another thing we see in great scripts is that they
create a world that feels authentic. There's depth to it because they
take us behind the scenes into a world we may only know on the
surface.
Great scripts arouse our emotions. I remember
reading a draft of Saving Private Ryan that went out to
directors. In it, only the first 10 pages were devoted to D-Day, and
there was no present day frame story. By page 15, I was weeping. And
everyone who read that script felt the same power. It was a movie that
had to be made (even though they never solved the script problems in the
middle). If you can make us cry, you're off to a good start, but if you
can make us laugh, too, you're script will fare even better. (back to top)
Q 2: Is it true that
structure for a short film is the same as for a feature, just shrunken
down?
The principles for constructing a short film story
are similar to feature films, but there are important differences, too.
Stories develop best with set-up, development and climax, whether you
call these act one, two and three or just beginning, middle and end. But
the time you allot to these sections of the story will be much different
in a short.
In a feature film, you often can spend a significant
amount of time establishing the setting and characters before getting to
the main conflict. In great features, conflict starts before the end of
the first act, and develops to fully announce itself at the act one
climax where we now understand what this story is really going to be
about.
Short films can't spend a lot of time at the
beginning setting up the conflict. They need to jump into the story
quickly. If you are writing a 30-minute screenplay, your story needs to
declare itself at the latest by five minutes (five pages) into your
film. If you're writing a ten-minute script, by the bottom of page one
(or sooner), two at the latest, your conflict needs to announce itself
so the story can take off. You have to understand that your audience
isn't going to sit around for 15 minutes of set up so that the story can
play out in another 15 minutes.
Another difference worth considering is that you
really aren't going to have time to develop both a second act climax and
a third act climax in most short films. Once you declare your conflict
(early in the script), you're now into your middle - the development of
the conflict - and that this will build to your main climax and
resolution of the story.
What we do see is that the midpoint often takes on a
key role in great shorts. The longer the short, the more important the
midpoint is. It's not that it functions as a second act climax. It is
structurally a key point to focus the action toward or on in the first
half of the story, and in the second half to use it as the springboard
toward the main climax.
A midpoint is a perfect place to play a dramatic
reversal or revelation, something that will change and push the
direction of the action onward. In the first half of Richard Price and
Martin Scorsesešs Life Lessons, from the film New York Stories,
we seem sure that the girl (Rosanna Arquette) is not going to stay.
About halfway through the film after a fight with her boss and famous
painter (Nick Nolte), we're sure she's out of there. This may even be
where the film ends. She establishes shešs going home with her mother
in one scene, and then in the next goes to tell Lionel. But when she
can't get his attention away from his painting and she watches him, we
see her anger melt away as she becomes inspired again. The next scene
shows us she's still there, and the story heats up from this point.
In Peter Capaldi's Academy Award winning Franz
Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, Kafka has found the solution to his
writer's block when he's overcome by his own horror at his actions at
the midpoint. The crazy knife and scissor sharpener, who's been hunting
for his lost insect (that Kafka may have killed and taken his
inspiration from for Metamorphosis), now appears to threaten Kafka's
life and take the story in a new direction that builds to the climax. (back to top)
Q 3: I'm using a narrator and
having trouble figuring out how a strategy to make it work within a
satiric piece so that it functions as a unifying melodic theme and isn't
just a staccato voice.
I've been thinking about what that you've written
here, and I don't exactly know how to answer it. The trouble with
narration is that most people over-do it and tell too much.
Good narration has its own voice, is used to
heighten tension or make us laugh, depending on the story. It can hint
at future events, suggest possible outcomes, frame questions you want in
the mind of the viewer. But I'm not sure how you do this, except to use
as you first think and feel best in your screenplay and then read it
over to see if it's working.
What you want to avoid is telling us events that
we're seeing or have already seen, unless you are adding something more
to them we couldn't know by what you're showing. Don't be cute with it,
and don't be on the nose with it. Give it a distinctive voice, and be
true to that. Think of it as a personality. Is it ominiscent or does it
have limits to its knowledge. Make it a character. Always ask what it's
adding as opposed to what it's telling. Telling is when it's used to
tell us the story, as opposed to adding to the story we're seeing. (back to top)
Q 4: We have very brief
"memory flashes" in our script, kind of akin to those in Run Lola
Run, in that they are really quick. How do we format
these?
What I would do is use a scene heading to tell me
where the memory flash is taking place (after all we'll have to know
where to shoot, right?), whether it's day or night and then in
parentheses write the words Memory Flash, all caps. Then I'd simply
state in a line or two what we see.
INT. DARK BEDROOM - NIGHT (MEMORY FLASH)
Diana runs from the bed to the closet and flings
open the door. Piles of papers rain down on her.
EXT. BACK YARD - DAY
Diana sits on the swing, startled by the memory.
State the memory flash simply and clearly,
describing what we're seeing. (back to top)
Q 5: I've never submitted a
script to anything! What is the accepted way of binding? My sister is an
author and with manuscripts you never bind it in any way.
Scripts are bound with brass brads, heavy brads that
will hold 100 pages or so. You don't want those tiny ones. Three is
preferable to two, but two are acceptable. You don't really need a
cover, except for your cover page, but some people put card stock paper
of any color. I used to put black or gray on mine, but now don't use
any. An agency might put the script in their own script covers to
indicate who's sending it, but you really don't need to. (back to top)
Q 6: What's the best way to
keep up with ever changing script format trends?
The best way is to read selling scripts is in their
natural state, so not published screenplays. Published scripts
often change the formatting of screenplays to make them look more like
plays. Many times they relate changes that are made in editing. It's
important to read selling screenplays to get an idea what the market is
buying.
You can go to internet screenwriting sites such as
The Daily Script or Drew's Script-O-Rama and read scripts online. You
can find old scripts that are wonderful reads, but you should also read
current drafts.
If you're really interested in selling script's
formats, you need to find drafts of the original scripts. Once a script
is handed over to one of the top writers for rewrites, they tend to
become more developed and look like scripts from 10 and 15 years ago. (back to top)
Q 7: Do writing programs
help, and could you recommend any good programs -- or is there one major
program that everyone uses?
There are two programs most people consider the
best. Final Draft and Movie Magic screenwriting software. You can check
them out at FinalDraft.com and
Screenplay.com, and I think get
a free demo copy of each.
They're not cheap, but sometimes both companies
offer student discounts.
If they are too expensive, there are free style
sheets available as well some at a lower cost on the internet.
However, screenwriting really isn't about having all
the bells and whistles. Programs like Final Draft and Movie Magic have
things that you won't have any use for at this stage (unless you're
scripting a short or low budget film you are going to go out and shoot).
Production numbers, colored revisions, cast sheets -- these aren't
really necessary for you to get your script out of your head and onto
the printed page. So don't think you're shortchanging yourself if you
go for something cheaper right now. (back to top)
Q 8: Does my main character
have to change?
If it's not going to be your protagonist, then the
protagonist and the conflict should change one of your other major
characters. The feeling is that if characters are involved in a strong
conflict, the force of dealing with that conflict will bring about
change, one way or another, good or bad. And a close look at good and
great movies supports this.
On the surface of Erin Brockovich it appears
that Erin really doesn't change but forces other characters around her
to change and accept her. But if we look more closely we see Erin is
actually changed profoundly by the conflicts she encounters in the
movie. (See my article The Emotional
Pattern of Plot in the Screenwriters Column for a more complete
analysis of this aspect of the film.) Erin's anger, resentment and
defensiveness all undergo a dramatic change from the start of the film
to its ending. Erin learns to listen to others and consider their
feelings, too.
In movies such as Dumb and Dumber, the whole
point is that Lloyd and Harry are incapable of change. However, they do
change the lives of Mary and her husband by exposing the kidnappers and
allowing the FBI to save the day. Although this is superficially
handled, as it is in most films in this genre, it is still there.
Change is important because it plays to your
audience's understanding of conflict. We know from experience that when
people are involved in strong conflicts, something has to give. Either a
person will be defeated by the conflict or it will force the person to
grow and change to overcome it.
In action films, we often feel like the protagonist
doesn't change. But often in the more successful films that spawn
franchises we see that in the first films the protagonist's change is
pivotal to the drama. In Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, both
protagonists undergo radical changes. And in the last James Bond film,
Die Another Day, James is dramatically changed by the conflict he
encounters at the hands of his North Korean nemesis.
A character's transformation doesn't have to be 180
degrees. But it should be appropriate to the measure of the character in
the particular conflict. Understand what your audience knows: we don't
change easily. Usually, we have to be raked over the coals before we
realize just how important change is to our lives. Because your audience
knows this, they are innately interested in seeing how conflict affects
the characters, and this can help a script build even more tension to
keep your viewers, and readers, glued to your story. (back to top)
Q 9: I have a story that
takes place over many years, and people say the script seems unfocused.
How do I focus it?
Unlike books, it's difficult for films to cover
long periods of time effectively. Although there are some films that
succeed with this type of story strategy, there are more that fail.
The ones that often work best have an immediate
problem for the character to deal with - one that is important and has
consequences. This problem/conflict helps to create a unity of action
and purpose for the work.
Without reading your script, it's impossible to tell
for sure what the problem is. But there are a couple of
possibilities.
- The obvious place to start is
with your theme. Do you know what it really is? A theme will help
define the choices you have to make for your character, but it's not
enough to focus a story covering a wide span of time.
- More importantly, do you have a consistent main
conflict for your protagonist that will transcend the length of time
you're covering? As mentioned above, a main conflict creates unity of
action that helps focus separate pieces of a story into a unified whole.
Often writers covering a person's life string together a series of
incidents that may mirror real life, but don't create meaningful
relationships between the events. When your audience tries to assign
meaning to the events, they don't find the connections and so the work
feels unfocused.
- A main conflict provides unity of action and helps
the audience track the superficial meaning of the story in terms of this
conflict. It's no accident why many of the great bio pics often use
nonlinear structures to cover large amounts of time, but will have a
very clear conflict in the story frame (will the journalist discover
what 'Rosebud' means? Will Isadore catch up with the man in the Bugatti
in The Loves of Isadora?). Even films like It's a Wonderful
Life have a current problem the protagonist faces to frame the story
while it goes off into other episodes that dramatize the problems in
George Baily's life.
In the recent Seabiscuit, which covers many
years, there are two strong and consistent conflicts that could have
been used to unify the horse racing movie and provide audiences with a
more satisfying first hour: The Santa Anita Handicap and War Admiral.
The Santa Anita Handicap - the Hundred-Grander - was the perfect frame
for the story that, for some reason, was ignored by the filmmakers. What
resulted was a ponderous first hour detailing the characters'
back-stories but proving tedious to even the most forgiving audience
members.
By introducing these conflicts early the filmmakers
could have used both to keep the story tracking and tension mounting
until the final climax when the conflict is resolved and the story's
meaning made clear.
What you need to be sure of is that you have a
strong controlling idea/theme and a strong enough central conflict. Your
theme helps your audience connect the separate episodes into a
meaningful relationship that clearly says what you mean. Your conflict
helps the audience track the story in terms of action and meaning. (back to top)
Q 10: What is a controlling
idea?
For me, a controlling idea is really your theme.
It's what your story's about. Whether you're writing a screenplay with a
singular protagonist, an ensemble film or a nonlinear film, you need
something that helps keep all the pieces of your screenplay - the story,
plot, characters, scenes, conflict, obstacles, complications, subtext,
etc. - in relationship to each other so that when the script ends it
means something.
Many scripts suffer because they set up or suggest a
theme or controlling idea at the beginning of the script but don't
develop it. Then a whole new idea emerges at the final climax that the
audience hasn't been prepared for; this causes the script (or film) to
feel disjointed and confused. The shift in focus usually alienates or
confuses the audience because it feels like they've stepped into a
different movie. This means we need to be clear from the beginning what
the theme is, and true to it, and know what aspect of it needs to be set
up at the start and then how it's going to develop through to the final
climax.
Another way of thinking about the controlling idea
is as the human issue you're dealing with in your script. This puts the
idea into human terms. Are you dealing with a family in crisis after
the death of a parent? If this is the issue that takes up half to
three-quarters of your script, and you suddenly careen into how the
eldest child makes out at college (leaving the family behind), you're
probably shifting focus too dramatically. Your audience will feel you've
veered too far from what you've set up. On the other hand, if this
eldest child leaves home and starts college as the ending beat of act
one, you could shift focus here and start this story - as long as the
family matter doesn't disappear entirely from the script. Your theme
will develop in terms of the character relationships as your story
develops. (back to top)
Q 11: I want to ask you about
story management. How should I manage the different story lines and
characters without neglecting one or another?
What you're asking, I think, is about how to develop
the other story lines in your script. You have to understand three
things very clearly. First, what is your story really about? Second,
what is the central conflict, the one you're pinning the structure of
your film on? You really need to understand this very clearly, because
as you veer away from this story line, you still need to understand how
it's moving during the time that you're away from it. The movie
continues in its own momentum off screen, even while you're showing
something else on screen. Third, and this is maybe most important, how
will this other story line impact my main one in the story. Remember,
that sub plots are story lines that are subordinate to the main one and
supporting it. That means the best sub plots are those that as they
develop either impact the main plot or are impacted by the main
plot. This is what creates a strong integration of the material.
If you look at American Beauty you see three
main story lines, Lester's, Carolyn's and Janey's. Lester's is the main
story line, the one that carries the structure of the film. At the
beginning of the movie he's trying to make contact with Janey, with
Carolyn, with someone but nothing works. This is a marriage and a
family that's failing. As the story develops we see each of the three
characters develop specific wants that define their story lines. Lester
fixates on Angela (and creates an even bigger rift with Janey), Carolyn
becomes involved with Buddy Kane, and Janey allows Ricky into her life.
The development with Lester and Angela impacts Lester's relationship
with Janey. Carolyn's relationship impacts hers with Lester. And Janey's
relationship with Ricky changes hers with Angela's and that leads to the
climax.
In a story that isn't about all these close
relationships that can easily become intertwined, there needs to be
other unity established. This can come from theme (and/or place). The
subplots can support the theme that the main plot is carrying, filling
it out so that we better understand the story's meaning. It can be used
to contrast the main theme, but still helps us understand the meaning of
the main theme through contrast. Extreme examples of these are
Nashville, Short Cuts, Gosford Park.
Unity can also be established through plot action,
developing other aspects of your story for your main character in the
subplots. Tootsie is a good example of this. (back to top)
Q 12: When your story focuses
on storytellers/storytelling (i.e., Big Fish) how do you keep
that from calling attention to itself so the audience isn't
distanced?
I think it's a rhythm thing. You want to make sure
that the narrator has a distinct voice. You want to give the details to
move the story forward, but consider the voice a character in the story.
As with any character you must know what the voice adds to the story,
what its purpose is in the story, how it increases tension in the scene
and the scenes that follow, and how it helps to make sense of all the
other elements. (back to top)
Q 13: I start a new scene
when characters move from one location to another even though the same
conversation, subject, etc continues. I have more than 80 scenes...all
the time. Does this interfere with the reader's following the
screenplay?
It sounds like you're doing it just right. A
production manager breaking down the script would know what locales he'd
need, and reader ought to easily understand where the story is taking
place. Sounds good to me. (back to top)
Q 14: What is a beat
sheet?
A beat sheet is an abbreviated outline. You're
focusing on the main points to see how they build together. Instead of
writing out a scene heading with a detailed description of the action
for a full outline, a beat sheet focuses on the main points of the story
with less detail. So an outline might give you each scene, including
establishing exteriors and so on, while a beat sheet might say "Joan
goes home and confronts her father." In moving this from beat sheet to
outline, you might do this beat or point in several scenes that flesh
out the details.
A beat sheet works best when the writer really knows
the story well and he or she is just working alone. But beat sheets are
used in episodic TV where the other writers all know the stories and
characters, and so they understand what the writer's trying to do.
Check out my article THE SEQUENCE OF STORY for some other
information about beat sheets. (back to top)
Q 15: I'm a screenwriter
who teaches screenwriting, and it's been hammered into me not to use
"angles" or call any shots, so I try to teach my students how to take
care of point of view through scene headings and action description.
Using the script in the back of your book, Writing Short Films, I can show them how it
would be done by substituting AT THE BAR for ANGLE, etc., but I was
curious about your thoughts on this for beginning writers. Should I just
make them aware that some prefer this way and some allow that, or do I
need to be more prescriptive (for their sake if they decide to approach
the industry)?
"Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Bar" is a
script that was written in the 80's. It's written in the form of a TV
script, by someone who probably writes on staff. In television, the
writers wield the power and have a tendency to include more direction in
the script.
I don't know for sure about Bryan Gordon, but my
guess is that's his background. The film was produced by Showtime
through its Chanticleer Discovery Program. He wrote for himself to
direct, and may have been giving them a detailed plan of what he
envisioned. Also, the film is unique in that most of it is in one
location, which he divides up to make more use of it. I weighed
changing the script as you've described (AT THE BAR) but this was the
script the producers gave us to use in the book, and it won the Oscar. I
thought it was more important to represent it accurately. (back to top)
Q 16: How do you come up with
ideas?
One's tempted to be glib, but the process for coming
up with ideas is going to be different for everyone. Ideas are
everywhere - in the people you meet and know, the situations of life,
different arenas, ideas and themes. I can't say that I have one set way
I use. An idea for a script may be based on an incident from my own
life, a situation I've imagined, a news story I've heard, a short story
I've optioned, and so on. Every idea is different and has evolved in its
own unique way.
The main thing is once you have an idea, you have to
be able to develop it for film. And not every idea is going to be a
good idea for a movie. For a movie, you have to be able to develop the
idea into three things:
- A character who will act on
his desires. It's the old "What does my character want?" question that
has to be answered.
- A conflict to drive the script for 90 to 120 pages
and give it some sort of dramatic unity.
- A theme so we understand what it's all
about.
If you're asking "how do you come up with great
ideas that will sell?" that's a more difficult question. Your idea will
still need to conform to the above criteria, but you're now trying to
find that magic formula everyone else is after - what makes an idea
unique, appealing and commercial?
A great movie idea sets up a character who will act
and act drastically, either on her own desires or because she's been
forced to. There will be something unique and compelling about the
character and/or the situation she finds herself in. The stakes have to
be high, if not life or death in the physical sense, then in an
emotional sense. The idea has to intrigue people, to make them want to
learn more about the characters and/or the situation. (back to top)
Q 17: Some screenwriting
teachers argue that 3 act structure is old hat, and that films now have
evolved into a 4 act structure. What do you think about
this?
Shakespeare worked in a five act structure, most
modern plays are written in a two act structure. Traditional network
hour-long drama is plotted out in 4 acts where the commercial breaks
come. Syndicated hour-longs are plotted in 5, and cable uses whatever
they like, sometimes 6 or more. When we write a tv movie for the
network we work in structures of 7 or 9, I believe (it's been a while).
But whatever it is, it's still beginning, middle and end.
It sounds to me as if they are using the midpoint as
an act break, which is fine. A midpoint is strongest when something
significant happens there. But you could just as easily point to a film
like Risky Business that isn't even 90 minutes and see it in three acts
of equal parts, with a strong midpoint, too.
You have your key focal points which are your
opening, inciting incident, first act turning point, midpoint, second
act turning point, and climax. How you want to group them depends on the
medium, theater or film, and the specific story. Though McKee talks
about 3 act structure, he breaks the movie Seven down into 4
acts. This is because he can clearly see movements that build to
turning points that push the story in a new direction. I can analyse
the same film in three and use his 2nd act turning point as my midpoint.
Am wrong and he's right? It's just semantics really, isn't it?
What matters most is that you develop a way of
looking at writing that makes sense to you. But stories, since the
beginning of time, have developed with a beginning, middle and end, and
I doubt if it will change much before the end of time. (back to top)
Q 18: Is it possible to
over-develop a character? In the narrative parts of my script I tried
to develop my character as much as I could, but it turns out to be a lot
of writing.
Theoretically, I don't think you can over-develop a
character. In a great film, characterization develops in concert with
the plot to such an extent that you can say the plot really defines the
character. It's like the saying from Heraclitus, "A man's character is
his destiny."
However, if you develop a character apart from the
main conflict, with numerous scenes telling and showing us who he is,
then you could be, and very probably are, in trouble. You're spending
time showing us a character but not a story, and chances are the
audience is going to lose interest.
In screenwriting and film, one has to make the leap
in understanding that characters aren't what they say, but what they do.
And to this extent, it is really in showing how a character responds to
the conflict that you are explaining who that character is. Yes, we
need some background on the character to understand his motivations. But
if the background is taking up too much time, it's getting in the way of
the main story. The key is figuring out how to reveal character in an
interesting way by discovering the conflicts, main and minor, that best
illustrate your character's personality and at the same time tell the
story.
See my article THE
ESSENCE OF CHARACTER for more on this topic. (back
to top)
Q 19: How does the writer
who's used to taking the protagonist's action as a measure of his
narrative's progress incorporate the emotional ideas you present and
prepare his beats when using a step outline? How are the two concepts
integrated?
You can't forget about action and conflict. But
what you can do (and what most struggling writers don't do) is think
about how the conflict affects the main characters. What does the
conflict do to them? This is what then need to use in their plots.
In some stories, a character's biography isn't so
important that it has to all be told (but this doesn't mean you the
writer don't have to know it, you must to write authentically). We need
enough to "get" the protagonist at the start so that as we watch them
respond to the conflict, we see the depth of character he or she has.
This is true revelation of character. We see it in their actions in
response to the stress of the story.
This doesn't mean character revelation of the
"secret" like Mrs. Mulray's in the film Chinatown isn't
important. But the revelation of Jake's character is how he responds to
this information -- it breaks away his cynicism so that now he wants
more than anything to help her. Or in Monster, when we hear what
happened to Aileen in her childhood we can't help but feel for her and
understand where all this rage comes from.
So the way you integrate the concepts are to
understand them in terms of cause and effect. The cause is the action
and the effect the emotion and meaning. When we understand that stories
are as much about the effect of conflict as the conflict itself, we will
deepen the meaning of our work. If you look at really successful action
films, you'll find that time is spent on this angle in most of them. I
can't help remembering the scene in Independence Day when the
First Lady is dying and in the midst of all that action and noise, and I
found tears in my eyes.
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Q 20: In regards to your
article on the 'ensemble film', how would you classify The Red
Violin? And, forgive me if this sounds like a slight, but of all the
films mentioned by you, how could you overlook possibly the greatest
ensemble film of recent memory:Pulp Fiction?
I'd classify The Red Violin as an omnibus
film, 4 short films united by the violin. These stories, to the best of
my recollection, are not intercut. There's a tradition of these types
fo films -- Tales of Manhattan, 20 Bucks, etc.
As for Pulp Fiction, "the greatest"? Sounds
like hyperbole to me. But that aside, yes, it's an ensemble film, but
it's also a nonlinear film. Given the choice of how I'd classify it, I'd
rather put it in this catagory. Personally, I think Reservoir
Dogs is the better film. I heard Tarantino recently in an interview
say Reservoir Dogs is the one film of his he wouldn't change a
frame of.
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Q 21: I'm a screenwriter with
two films produced (2 major stars, respectively). I've now taken on the
task of an ensemble film. Major headache as far as structure goes. I
read your article on ensemble films but it didn't seem to address my
dilemma on structure. I have six protagonists in basically one location.
It's a dark comedy that deals with a focus group. I'd appreciate any
help that you could give me.
Take a look at Diner. Look how they use Mickey
Rourke's story line as the main one because it's the most dramatic with
the loan sharks. The other important plot lines climax around his at the
act one and act two turning points, but his is the one that holds the
structure.
You may have too many characters with 6 if you're
trying to give them their own separate plot lines. This doesn't mean you
have to "x" out any. Just decide if they all need major plot lines. In
Diner, we follow Mickey Rourke, Tim Daly, Steve G., Kevin Bacon and
Daniel Stern, but there are a couple of other characters in the group
too. That's five major lines, but as the stories progress through to the
end, the plot lines combine, Daniel Stern's and Ellen Barkin's with
Mickey Rourke's, Tim Daly with Steve G. Kevin Bacon's sort of just hangs
there, but we don't care, because he can't really change that much, can
he?
Short Cuts and Nashville again use many characters
and their lines intersect at points. But the turning points that turn
the action are generally the most dramatic ones.
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Q 22: Good character
development lends itself to providing some facts about the character's
background and upbringing, but how "in-depth" does a writer need to go
to provide enough detail?
You can never go wrong if you know as much as
possible about your character. Who she is and what he does, where he
comes from, who she loved -- all these things contribute to your
understanding of the character and therefore your ability to make that
character seem real.
I must admit that I don't do lengthy character
biographies on my own characters. But the characters who have been the
most successful in my own scripts have been the ones I know the best,
either because they're the closest to me and those I've known in
biographical detail, or I've spent time getting to know them in the
writing process.
The thing is when you know a character inside and
out, it's not about inventing the key detail that makes the character
feel true; the details emerge through his/her thoughts, words and
actions.
Not every story will demand a lot of back story and
therefore character background to tell it well. Sometimes you just need
just a detail or two. In the film Chinatown, we don't know where
Gittes comes from and who his parents were. But we know he used to be a
cop, and there was a girl once, in Chinatown, and he couldn't save her.
In an early draft of the script, Robert Towne gives two pages between
Evelyn and Gittes to paint in the details of this past relationship, but
later all that detail is cut and just comes down to a few sentences and
feelings that do it perfectly.
Ultimately it comes down to feeling that you know
enough to start writing. In the writing, you're going to discover
more.
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Q 23: How do you create a
story premise?
I'm not exactly sure if we're defining story premise
the same way. Lajos Egri, who authored The Art of Dramatic
Writing, describes a premise that tells us what we learn from the
work: True love conquers even death, ruthless ambition leads to
destruction. These are really very specific themes that the works will
illustrate. They tell you what the action is about and what happens in
the end.
Robert McKee describes the word more liberally in
his book Story. He talks about it as jumping off point, what if
a great white shark attacked a small New England town, what would
happen? With this, you're looking to create a situation, some problem
that has a sense of urgency in its need to be solved. What if a unhappy
woman met an equally unhappy guy and they fell into a relationship? What
would happen if she's married, though unfilled, and then he's crazy, but
she hasn't realized it yet? You can see that there's conflict in each of
these situations. Your job as the writer is to solve it for the
characters and audience in a meaningful way.
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Q 24: What is the relationship between the driving
force and premise?
The premise will be supported by the driving force.
If your premise of your plot is "True love conquers even death" then
your driving force must in some way be connected to this. Again, in
Romeo and Juliet, Romeo loves Juliet and breaks with his family
to marry her. In the end, the lovers both die to stay united in death.
The premise is illustrated in the action of the play.
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Q 25: What is the "driving force" in a story
and how do you create a single driving force?
A driving force in a story is determined by the
specific objective or goal your protagonist desires. This objective can
be something he or she wants and pursues, like the Ark of the Covenant
in Raiders of the Lost Ark, or to kill the shark in Jaws.
It can mainly to solve the problem that develops for the character
usually in the first act that then drives the character's actions in the
middle and toward the climax and resolution.The main thing is that the
protagonist must be committed to this aim.
So to create it, you must determine what the
specifics objectives are. Many new writers will tell you their
characters want something like love or acceptance. But these "wants,"
however legitimate, are too vague.You must find a way to represent love.
So in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo wants Juliet, whom he loves, and
crosses his family and hers, to have it. There can be other conflicts
for the character, but the driving force will center upon the main
desire the protagonist must fulfill in the plot.
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Q 26: How do you indentify the Act 1 climax? And what
separates it from the inciting incident? Is it an event or a beat, or
what?
It can be an event or a beat, depending on what type
of story you're developing. Your act 1 climax is usually where you are
going to declare what the true conflict/problem is for your protagonist.
For Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz, she starts out with a problem
concerning Ms. Gulch and her dog. But after all the events of act one,
she winds up in Oz and on the road to the Emerald City. In Juno, a more
subtle film, the first act sets up her problem - she's pregnant, young
and not really ready to be a mom. Once she decides she can't abort,
she's looking for parents to adopt. So by the end of act 1 she's made
the decision to go meet Vanessa and Mark. Act two now follows what
develops from here.
Now, what might the inciting incident be in these
two films? The action in The Wizard of Oz is pretty strong. Dorothy
comes home from School with a problem, Ms Gulch wants to put down her
dog. Dorothy's looking for help from everyone on the farm. As she
does, we meet the cast of characters, but no one can help her. When Ms.
Gulch arrives, she shows them a paper from the Sheriff (I think), and
takes Toto away. But then what happens? Toto escapes! When he returns
to Dorothy, she decides to take action, and that's to runaway. It's
this action that puts her in jeopardy. A further development has her
encounter Professor Marvel, who convinces her in light of the weather
coming in that she should go home. She heads home, but is too late, and
this is what sends her on her journey. Someone might say that meeting
Prof. Marvel is the inciting incident, but I think it's Toto escaping Ms
Gulch.
In Juno, some people might say that Juno getting
pregnant is the inciting incident. But for me this is the opening of
the story. It's like people saying that the fake Mrs. Mulray hiring
Gittes in Chinatown is the inciting incident. This is just the first
step. The inciting incident for Jake in Chinatown is when the real Mrs.
Mulray shows up and confronts him with a real problem.
In Juno, for me, the inciting incident is when she
can't go through with an abortion and decides to go for adoption. This
puts her on course to meet Vanessa and Mark, which is the development of
the story. What Juno's really wrestling with is whether love is
possible in her world. She seems cool, but she's very cynical (brought
on by the desertion by her mother). She wants her unborn child to be
wanted and loved by a Mom and a Dad. So the developments with Mark,
which at first seem innocent, but then become increasingly
inappropriate, throw this into doubt, first for the audience who starts
to pick up on Mark's immaturity before Juno, and then for Juno when he
says he's leaving Vanessa.
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