MONDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:
IT'S NOT ABOUT TIME
A common misconception is that the standard three act structure has something to do with the chronology of events, and therefor limits creativity. Structure in a screenplay is the order of the *story* incidents, and has nothing to do with chronological order. Basically, three act structure is all about conflict not chronology, so it's only as restrictive as your imagination. Whenever anyone says the Three Act Structure limits creativity, they are just looking for an excuse to explain their own limited creativity. Just about any type of story or method of telling a story can be told using the basic three act structure - all you need is imagination.
It's possible to have a story where the incidents which set up the story (Act One) take place a year *after* the rest of the story has taken place. RESERVOIR DOGS uses flashbacks to escalate it's conflict, creating an Act Two that takes place weeks *before* Act One. RUN LOLA RUN has three acts that take place at the exact same time... parallel to each other. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE has three different time periods running concurrently, so one scene in the past might be setting up the conflict - Act One material - and another scene in the past might be escalating the conflict - Act Two material... yet a scene in the present might also be setting up conflict - Act One material. The chronology of the scenes has nothing to do with the three act structure - it's all about the conflict... and story *is* conflict.
Act One - Introduced the conflict.
Act Two - Conflict and Escalation of Conflict
Act Three - Resolution Of Conflict.
Chris Nolan's MEMENTO opens with the end, then goes *backwards*, scene-by-scene, to show you HOW the end came to be. We finally get to the spark that set off the story - and that's the end of the film! Most stories are about WHAT happens, but this story is about WHY things happen. It's similar to a murder mystery, where the detective starts with the crime, then probes the past to find the events leading up to the crime... ending with the solution to the mystery. Like a murder mystery, MEMENTO focuses on motives - WHY the event occurred.
Though MEMENTO may seem like some bizarre structure because the story is told backwards, it's actually a traditional three acts. Act One introduces the problem: Our hero kills the man he thinks murdered his wife. Act Two escalates the conflict: Piece by piece we learn about the wife's murder, the suspects, and we begin to wonder if our hero shot the right guy! Act Three resolves the conflict: Because we've moving BACKWARDS we eventually get to the wife's murder - and learn why she was killed. This answers the WHY question - resolving the conflict in a very unexpected way. (This film has dozens of plot twists, including a great twist end.)
The late Harold Pinter used the same backwards storytelling method in his romantic drama BETRAYAL which begins with the break up of a relationship, then goes backwards to show us WHY, ending with the "resolution of the conflict" with the couple deeply in love.
Though the chronological end might happen in the middle of the film or the beginning or the actual end, most films still follow a basic three act structure based on the importance of the events to the characters. Structure is NOT about time, it's about story. Standard three act structure doesn't prevent you from creating daring and original stories, it's simply a tool to make sure what you have IS a story. If you want to start your script at the chronological end or chronological middle or do what SLAUGHTER- HOUSE 5 does and throw chronology away completely by linking scenes through importance of event, you're free to do that!
MULTIPLE TIME PERIODS
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is about a poor orphan kid from the streets and slums of India who ends up on the Indian WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE at 20... and answers every question correctly... so he is arrested by the police for fraud, since they are sure that he cheated. How could a guy with this background know all of the answers? The police interrogate him - and they are not afraid to hit him and worse to get a confession - and ask him how he knew the answer to each question... which leads to a flashback... and the flashbacks tell the story of the boy, from childhood until now. This is a great CITIZEN KANE like device to give us the kid's story, using the WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE show to drive the story.
The film ends up in 3 time periods - the Game Show, the Police Station, and the Boy's Life. Because we have these three time storylines, each of them is chronological to avoid confusion - there's enough going on in the structure already. So we begin with the boy (Jamal) and his brother at six or seven, then watch them grow up in flashbacks to thirteen or so, then as eighteen or nineteen year olds. The game show drives the story, and this is a great device - just telling the story of a kid growing up in the slums might be interesting, but the game show gives it a concept that is interesting and unusual. Not quite a high concept, but certainly something higher than just the kid story. This isn't just any slum kid, this one just won WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE. His story is unique and special. The game show gives his story a reason to be told.
HOW YOU TELL THE STORY
The format is: Game Show - kid is asked question and gives correct answer, Police Station - cops interrogate kid and ask him how he knew, Flashback - we see a portion of the kid's life which includes how he knew the answer.
One of the things movies do is *transport us* - they take us into different worlds and allow us to live different lives for 2 hours. Though most often that fantasy life is something exciting and fun, it doesn't have to be. In this case, we are taken into the world of slum dwellers in India - and see the world through their eyes. What amazed me was the beauty and squalor combined. The shanty town on the edge of the garbage dump... with all of the colorful laundry fluttering in the breeze on clothes lines. You are taken into this world, and see it through the eyes of a child. That gives it a sense of wonder and mischief.
Jamal and his slightly older brother Salim live in the slums, and pick through garbage for hidden treasures and find unusual ways to make enough money to eat and survive. An early scene *shows* us the older brother's character - which will come into play in almost every scene afterwards. The slums have outhouses on the end of piers, and the boys are taking tolls from anyone who needs to use them. Between customers, Jamal is using the facility when a movie star visits the slum to sign autographs (a photo op). This is Jamal's favorite star, but his brother wedges a chair against the outhouse door so that he can't get out. Just being a mean older brother - establishes a cruel streak. Jamal really wants to meet his favorite star and get the photo he always carries autographed.
But how to escape the outhouse? Well, there is one way out... And this shows Jamal's determination, his ingenuity, and the level of his love for this star. He goes down through the toilet - then manages to pass through the crowd surrounding the star (people do tend to step aside when you are covered with poop) and get his autograph. This is a big funny scene, that shows us the characters of both boys. But the next scene gives us more information about the brother, Salim... he steals the autographed picture and sells it, keeping the money for himself. Where Jamal is driven by his love for this star, Salim is driven by money. And we get another great scene between the two brothers where Jamal deals with being betrayed. By finding a pair of scenes that *demonstrate* the characters early on, we now know who they are and how they will each deal with every situation they encounter.
A few scenes later, it is *pouring* rain, and Jamal and Salim have taken shelter in a small shed. A slum girl they know, Latika, is stuck outside. Jamal wants to invite her into the shed with them, but Salim doesn't want to give up any of his room for somebody else. Another great scene that *shows* us the characters... when Salim falls asleep, Jamal invites the girl in out of the rain. (There's an additional element to this scene that I will not spoil for you.) After this, the three of them are a team (sort of) and the adventures of their young lives are what the flashback stories are all about. Do I even need to say that Jamal is in love with her?
Though we have three different time periods, they all add up to one story - that love story between Jamal and Latika - and the story brings them together then pulls them apart. Act One - through all three time periods - establishes their love, then creates conflicts that keep them apart. Act Two - through all three time periods - focuses on the conflicts that keep them apart... and the conflicts that put Jamal in hot water with the police. These conflicts escalate in all three time periods - on the game show, the questions become more difficult. There are twists and turns in all three time periods. Then, we reach Act Three in all three time periods, where Jamal resolves the conflicts and the love story is resolved, the game show is resolved, and the police station conflict is resolved... in some unexpected ways.
Even with the strange three-stories-at-once method of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE or the reverse chronology or MEMENTO or BETRAYAL or the same story three times in RUN LOLA RUN, the basic three act structure keeps the story on track. You are only limited by your own imagination - so *use it*! Feel free to play with time in a screenplay if it will make your story more emotionally involving to the audience... just remember that every story sets up the conflict, escalates the conflict, then resolves the conflict. That's what the Three Act Structure is all about - it has nothing to do with time.
MORE ON THIS IN THE STRUCTURING BLUE BOOK!
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How Do I do That?
101 SCREENWRITING ANSWERS Blue Book!
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NEWEST AND BLUEST!
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RESEARCH & WORLD BUILDING Blue Book!
Does this gun fire 6 shots or only 5? In all of the excitement of writing your action scene, you might not have done the research... and your hero could be out of ammo! Whether you are writing a novel or screenplay, you can save your hero, and your story, by doing a little research first! This book looks at Why you should research, Whether you should research First or Later, PLUS the importance of World Building in Science Fiction, Fantasy... and the worlds you explore in every other genre. Movies like JOHN WICK and THE GODFATHER take place in their own unique worlds... and writers must create them! YOU are the technical advisor on your Screenplay or Novel.
Using movie examples like TOP GUN, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, BLUE CRUSH, ADVENTURE LAND, several of my produced films, JOHN WICK, the novels of Donald E. Westlake and Thomas B. Dewey, SPY KIDS, the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, SOYLENT GREEN (which takes place in the far off future of 2022), and many others we will look at researching stories and creating worlds. The 8 Types Of Research, the 10 Types Of Information To Look For, 12 Important Elements Of World Building. Plus chapters on How To Rob A Bank and Commit Murder And Get Away With It for those of you interested in crime fiction, and Researching The Future for those writing science fiction, and Levels Of Reality if you are writing about a version of the real world.
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FINISHED WRITING?
All About Rewrites!
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SHRINKING IT DOWN
All About LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING!
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Making Your Own Movie?
WRITE IT: FILM IT BOOK!
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If you are making your own movie, budget, is even more important - and you need to think about budget *before* you write your screenplay... or you will end up with a script that you can’t afford to make (or is a struggle to make). Everyone is making their own films these days, and even if you have done it before there are lots of great techniques in this book to get more money on screen - for less money! You can make a film that looks like it cost millions for pocket change.
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THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL!
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FIND A GREAT IDEA!
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FIGURE OUT YOUR STORY!
OUTLINES & THE THEMATIC Blue Book.
ARE YOUR SCENES IN THE RIGHT ORDER?
AND ARE THEY THE RIGHT SCENES?
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GOT STRUCTURE?!
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William Goldman says the most important single element of any screenplay is structure. It’s the skeleton under the flesh and blood of your story. Without it, you have a spineless, formless, mess... a slug! How do you make sure your structure is strong enough to support your story? How do you prevent your story from becoming a slug? This Blue Book explores different types of popular structures from the basic three act structure to more obscure methods like leap-frogging. We also look at structure as a verb as well as a noun, and techniques for structuring your story for maximum emotional impact. Most of the other books just look at *structure* and ignore the art of *structuring* your story. Techniques to make your story a page turner... instead of a slug!
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I WRITE PICTURES!
*** VISUAL STORYTELLING *** - For Kindle! (exclusive)
Show Don't Tell - but *how* do you do that? Here are techniques to tell stories visually! Using Oscar Winning Films and Oscar Nominated Films as our primary examples: from the first Best Picture Winner "Sunrise" (1927) to the Oscar Nominated "The Artist" (which takes place in 1927) with stops along the way Pixar's "Up" and Best Original Screenplay Winner "Breaking Away" (a small indie style drama - told visually) as well as "Witness" and other Oscar Winners as examples... plus RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 200 pages!
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DESCRIPTION & VOICE Blue Book!
DESCRIPTION & VOICE Blue Book.
IS HALF OF YOUR STORY IN TROUBLE?
Most screenplays are about a 50/50 split between dialogue and description - which means your description is just as important as your dialogue. It just gets less press because the audience never sees it, the same reason why screenwriters get less press than movie stars. But your story will never get to the audience until readers and development executives read your script... so it is a very important factor. Until the movie is made the screenplay is the movie and must be just as exciting as the movie. So how do you make your screenplay exciting to read? Description is important in a novel as well, and the “audience” does read it... how do we write riveting description?
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*** DIALOGUE SECRETS *** - For Kindle!
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WHAT IS A SCENE?
*** SCENE SECRETS *** - For Kindle!
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What is a scene and how many you will need? The difference between scenes and sluglines. Put your scenes on trial for their lives! Using "Jaws" we'll look at beats within a scene. Scene DNA. Creating set pieces and high concept scenes. A famous director talks about creating memorable scenes. 12 ways to create new scenes. Creating unexpected scenes. Use dramatic tension to supercharge your scenes. Plants and payoffs in scenes. Plus transitions and buttons and the all important "flow"... and more! Over 65,000 words! Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 210 pages!
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SUBPLOTS?
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READY TO BREAK IN?
THE BUISINESS SIDE
*** BREAKING IN BLUE BOOK *** - For Kindle!
Should really be called the BUSINESS BLUE BOOK because it covers almost everything you will need to
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STORY IN ACTION SERIES!
THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES
NEW: Updates On Films 7 & 8 Casting!
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Strange Structures!
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***
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*** HITCHCOCK: MASTERING SUSPENSE *** - For Kindle!
Alfred Hitchcock, who directed 52 movies, was known as the *Master Of Suspense*; but what exactly is suspense and how can *we* master it? How does suspense work? How can *we* create “Hitchcockian” suspense scenes in our screenplays, novels, stories and films?
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AUDIO CLASS!
NOIR & MYSTERY80 minute MP3 packed with information on writing Film Noir and Mystery scripts. Using examples from CHINATOWN to OUT OF THE PAST to DOUBLE INDEMNITY you'll learn how to create stories in this dark, twisted genre. How to plant clues, red herrings, suspects, victims, spider women, fallen heroes, the funhouse mirror world of noir supporting characters... and the origins of Film Noir in literature Noir dialogue and how noir endings are different than any other genre. All of the critical elements necessary to write in this critically popular genre.
The Noir & Mystery Class is only $15 (plus $5 S&H). First 20 on Limited Black Disk!
PAMDEMIC SALE! $5 OFF!
IDEAS AND CREATIVITY - 80 minute MP3 packed with information. Tools to find ideas that are both personal *and* commercial. Hollywood wants scripts with High Concept stories... but not stupid scripts. Developing *intelligent* high concept ideas. How to turn your personal story into a blockbuster - or find your personal story in a high concept idea. Brainstorming and being creative. Ideas and Creativity is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H)
WRITING INDIES - Writing an Indie film? This class covers everything you need to know - from Central Locations to Confined Cameos. Using examples from SWINGERS, THE COOLER, STATION AGENT and others, this 80 minute MP3 is packed with information. How Indoe films challenge the audience (while mainstream films reassure the audience). Structures, using BOYS DON'T CRY, RUN LOLA RUN, HILARY & JACKIE, and others as example. Writing for a budget, writing for non-actors, getting the most production value out of your budget. Writing Indies is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H)
WRITING HORROR - The essentials of a horror screenplay - what do ROSEMARY'S BABY, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE EXORCIST, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE OTHERS and OPEN WATER have in common? This class will tell you! All of the critical elements necessary to write a script that scares the pants off the audience. Writing Horror is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H).
Click here for more information on CLASS MP3s!
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