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The Coffee Break Screenwriter: Writing Your Script Ten Minutes Minutes at at a Time Time
Pilar Alessandra
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Published by Michael Wiese Productions 12400 Ventura Blvd. #1111 Studio City, CA 91604 (818) 379-8799, (818) 986-3408 (FAX)
[email protected] www.mwp.com Cover design by MWP Cover photo by Zoltan Tischler, www.bookpictures.eu Interior design by William Morosi Printed by McNaughton & Gunn Manufactured in the United States of America Copyright © 2010, 2016 by Pilar Alessandra All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Alessandra, Pilar The coffee break screenwriter : writing your script ten minutes at a time / Pilar Alessandra. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-615932-42-9 1. Motion picture authorship. I. Title. PN1996.A48 2010 808.2’3--dc22
Printed on Recycled Stock
2010018798
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
ABOUT THE SECOND EDITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
CHAPTER 1: The Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
EMOTION TELLS THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 CHARACTER FLAW TELLS THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 PREMISE TELLS THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 SECONDARY CHARACTERS TELL THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 COMPLICATION TELLS THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 SYNOPSIZING TELLS THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 RESOLUTION TELLS THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 PLOT AND CHARACTER ELEMENTS TELL THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . 16 YOU TELL THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 CHAPTER 2: The Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
FEATURE STRUCTURE MADE SIMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 TV PILOT STRUCTURE MADE SIMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 ORGANIZING YOUR STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 THE STRUCTURE SHEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
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CHAPTER 3: The Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
THE SEQUENCE BEAT SHEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 THE BEAT-SHEET REWRITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 THE SCENE LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 SCENE BRAINSTORMING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 FINDING SCENES THROUGH SETUP AND PAYOFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 CHAPTER 4: The Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
CHARACTER FLAW/SKILL BALANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 CHARACTER SPECTRUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 CHARACTER MAKES AN ENTRANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 CHARACTER RULES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 CREATING GREAT ANTAGONISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 CHAPTER 5: The First Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
SCENE INTENTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 QUICKIE FORMAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 THE SPEED DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT: ADD NEW SCENES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT: BUILD ON EXISTING SCENES . . . . . . . . . 101 SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT: ADD YOUR VOICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 CHAPTER 6: The Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
VERBAL AGENDA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 114 4 VERBAL STRATEGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 DIALOGUE AS A GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 FINDING CHARACTER VOICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 CHAPTER 7: The Rewrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
THE THE THE THE
CONCEPT PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 WORLD PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 STRUCTURE PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 STORY PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
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THE THE THE THE THE THE
SCENE PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 CHARACTER PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 DIALOGUE PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 FORMAT PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 ELEMENT PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 HOLISTIC PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
CHAPTER 8: The Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
CHOREOGRAPHY IN ACTION LINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 FIGHT SCENES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 175 5 EMOTIONAL ACTION LINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 THE “TELL” OF THE SCENE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 THE BUTTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 SCENE TRANSITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 NARRATIVE DEVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 CHARACTER AND SETTING DESCRIPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 ESSENCE PLUS ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 TONAL WRITING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 CHAPTER 9: The Final Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
GENRE-INTENTION EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 LINE-CUT EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 STORY-INTENTION EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 SCENE-TRIM EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 THE GENERAL EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 CHAPTER 10: The Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
PROTECT YOUR MATERIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 PERFECT YOUR LOG LINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 DEVELOP YOUR TV SERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 PITCH YOUR SCRIPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 THE PERSONAL PITCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 MARKETING MATERIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
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CHAPTER 11: The Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
NETWORKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 237 7 NEW MEDIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 VIDEO GAMES, GAME SHOWS, PROMOS, AND REALITY TV . . . . 244 WHAT IF THEY LIKE ME? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 THE LONG PITCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 Fade Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Writers’ Thoughts on Taking Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Introduction
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ou’ve got ten minutes. No, really, that’s all you’ve got. After all, you had to use your lunch hour to feed yourself. You had to get to that meeting. You had to make that phone call. You had to get the kids in the bath. There were things to do, and no time to do them! But now you’ve crammed your lunch in, sat through the meeting you don’t know why you took in the first place, and cleaned up the kids. You’ve managed to take a deep breath and sit down for a second and focus … perhaps for ten whole minutes. Perhaps, even on your screenplay. Remember your screenplay? That wonderful, visual story that you’ve been dying to finish … or just start. The one you keep nagging yourself to write every time you leave a movie theater and think, “I can do that!” You think you need days, weeks, years that you don’t have. You think you need to study theory, create long outlines, and carefully pick each word before it even hits the page. You think you’ll never have the time to even consider an idea, let alone write it. And you’ve only got ten minutes. Ten lousy minutes. Good enough. If only every screenwriter were as lucky as you. Ten minutes gives you the “ticking clock” every writer secretly needs: a deadline. As a screenwriting instructor, I’m an advocate of in-class writing work that gets people writing in the moment. I give students ten xi
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minutes to write entire scenes, and they often create masterpieces. I’ve also seen what can happen when I give writers the additional five minutes they beg for: they overwrite. They think too much. They fix what ain’t broke, and they write themselves into a corner. Fortunately, you only only have ten minutes. You have no choice but to create work that’s spontaneous and fresh. You just need some help to learn to use that time well. ABOUT THE SECOND EDITION E DITION
A funny thing happened on the way to writing this second edition of The Coffee Break Screenwriter . That funny thing is called “The Second Golden Age of TV.” Between the first edition, written in 2009, and this edition in 2016, television dramas and comedies such as Mad Men , Homeland , Breaking Bad , Orange Is the New Black , Veep , Silicon Valley , Game of Thrones , House of Cards , and The Walking Dead dominated conversation and made “bingewatching” a national pastime. The hunger for more content and high-quality TV fed alternative platforms like Netflix and Amazon. And with more platforms came the need for more writers. Suddenly, writers saw TV as a place they could build a world, stretch their character arcs, and potentially find a long-term career. Managers and agents increasingly asked for original pilots as both potential script sales and as writing samples. As a huge fan of TV myself (there’s a Breaking Bad Heisenberg Heisenberg decal on the front of my laptop), I began teaching television writing out of my writers’ studio in L.A. I used and added to the screenwriting tools I taught in my feature classes and was happy to discover that most of the writing tools in the original Coffee translated Coffee Break Break translated seamlessly. The only major change was letting go of a slavishness to feature act breaks. In this edition, you’ll often see Act 1, Act 2A, Act 2B, and Act 3 replaced with what they really stand for anyway: Beginning, Middle (part 1), Middle (part 2), and End. These four parts apply to any scripted medium including webseries. I’ve also
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added writing tools that expand upon the world of the script. I’ve additionally provided new exercises that bring dimension to character relationship. Toward the end of the book, I’ve updated pitch templates and story examples. I even updated the pronouns to reflect what is beginning to be a more even playing field of male and female writers and main characters. Since the first edition, I’ve met and heard from hundreds of writers — both beginning and professional — who said The Coffee Break Screenwriter streamlined streamlined their process, helped them finish their scripts, and made them better writers. This edition intends to build on that success, making the writing tools accessible for all mediums: feature, TV, and web. I hope you’ll enjoy this second edition as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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How Ho w to Use This Book
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his book will help you use your stolen ten minutes of time to make real progress on your screenplay or television script. Each chapter focuses on a different phase of the writing process: THE STORY, THE STRUCTURE, THE OUTLINE, THE CHARACTERS, THE FIRST DRAFT, THE DIALOGUE, THE REWRITE, THE CRAFT, THE FINAL EDIT, THE PRESENTATION, and THE OPPORTUNITY. This second edition has also allowed me to incorporate new and additional television-writing tools. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re writing a feature script or a television pilot, the chapters will help you each step of the way. Within these chapters there are subsections to help you work through each phase. As you move through, you’ll also see “Take Ten” writing tools and exercises. These have been created to help you move through the writing process quickly and efficiently, ten minutes at a time. When a “Take Ten” exercise comes up, try it out. Not every tool is going to work for every writer. But you should be able to find at least one new thing that will help you to brainstorm, outline, expand, or polish your script. At the end of each “Take Ten” exercise, you’ll see a summary of “What You’ve Accomplished.” This should remind you that you actually have moved forward in your story — despite the short amount of time in which you’ve worked. “You’ve finished something,” they’ll
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say. “So don’t go back and make it perfect. Turn the page and do something else!” And, from time to time, you’ll also come across a “Ten-Minute Lecture.” These are meant to quickly distill and demystify current screenplay theory or common screenwriting language. If you’re just beginning a new project, I’d suggest following along chronologically, using the book to build your story from concept to finished script. Even if you’ve already written a screenplay or pilot, you’ll find outlining tools and writing tips that will streamline your process. If you’re a writer who only needs help with certain areas of your script, feel free to jump from chapter to chapter. Even skipping around, you should find a writing tool that will work for you. It’s up to you. All I can tell you is that time is wasting, so start writing! You’ve only got … well, you know!
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The Stor Story y
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his chapter will help you to brainstorm your idea, shape it into a story, and hone it into something script-worthy. We’re going to build from character flaw, nail the hook of your movie or TV pilot, make decisions about the middle, experiment with the ending, and then see what happens when we put it all together. Not every brainstorming tool will be the one that cracks your story open. But at least one of them will. And when it does, keep working from there! Getting Past Brain Freeze
So you’ve carved out that ten minutes, but now your brain is frozen. What was it you were going to write again? It was about that guy who did that thing in that place, right? Well, believe it or not, that’s a start! TEN-MINUTE LECTURE:
THE KEY INGREDIENTS OF E VERY MOVIE or TV PILOT
A movie or pilot is usually about a MAIN CHARACTER with a PROBLEM who engages in an ACTIVITY with STAKES hanging in the balance. END OF LECTURE
While you have ten minutes, let’s put these elements in order and see what you come up with. 1
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TAKE TEN: THE OVERVIEW MAIN CHARACTER
What kind of person is he or she? PROBLEM
What difficult situation occurs? ACTIVITY
What does he or she do about it? STAKES
Ultimately, what does he or she have to lose? WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
By listing some central elements, you’ve begun to figure out your story. Add a couple of other ideas into the mix and you’ll see it take a clearer shape.
Emotion Tells the Stor Story y
Every screenwriting teacher has a theory about story. Here’s mine: Action triggers emotion. Emotion triggers action. Honestly, that’s it. In screenplays, you can’t have one without the other. And it’s important, as you go through these tools and build your screenplay, that you keep in mind how married these two things are. After all, who cares about a major event in a movie like a bomb going off or a car chase or a haunting or a wedding unless we get a chance to see how that bomb, chase, haunting, or wedding affects a character? And how can we invest in what a character is actually feeling if we haven’t been privy to an event that drove her to that emotional place? Action shows us the story. Emotion pushes the story forward.
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TAKE TEN: EMOTION + ACTION = STORY
Start your main character off on an active, emotional journey by asking the following questions: In the the beginning beginning of my story story,, this this event event occurs occurs:: ______________ _____________________ _______ . It makes my main characte characterr (MC) feel feel this way: ___________________ _____________________ __ . So he does this: _____________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ____________________ _______ . But that makes someone else do this: __________ _____________________ ___________________ ________ . That event makes MC feel: _____________ ___________________________ _________________________ ___________ . So MC does this: ____________ __________________________ ___________________________ ____________________ _______ . Keep asking these questions and see how much story you can invent in your ten minutes.
Character Flaw Tells the Story
Don’t you wish you had someone who could just tell you what your script is going to be about? Someone who could come up with plot points and scenes and save you all of that planning work? Fortunately, you do. You’ve got your main character (who we’ll call the MC). With the right questions and exploration, that main character can often reveal his or her own movie story. That’s why we’re going to start the writing process by taking a hard look at the person you think may be your main character. We’re going to figure out what that person is like before he or she hits page one, what his or her flaws are, how those flaws can launch a story, and how personal rules might pay off in interesting plotting and scenes. So, let’s start with your main character — “that guy who did that thing.” If that guy is at all interesting, it’s because he is human, fallible … flawed . Oh, your character doesn’t have a flaw? Well, mess him up. Get his hands dirty. Perfect characters are boring. Flawed characters are like us, and that’s what viewers respond to. Flaws don’t have to be “fatal” — they can simply be human. Anger, arrogance, and selfishness are flaws that often start a
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character off on an intriguing rocky road. But sweetness, humbleness, and charity carried out to the extreme can also be flaws. What would It’s a Wonderful Life be be like if the MC wasn’t restless? What would the movie Whiplash have have been like if the MC wasn’t obsessed with his goal? What kind of a journey would Sophie’s Choice have have taken if the MC wasn’t in denial? What would Sideways have been like if the MC wasn’t a drinker? In Cast Away , William Broyles, Jr. wrote a story about a man ruled by time. He even gave the man a flaw-related job: FedEx supervisor. Then he simply stranded this man on an island, an island where he had all the time in the world. Instant movie. Let’s see what trouble your flawed main character can get into and out of. Answer the following questions and see what movie develops. 10
TAKE TEN: THE MAIN CHARACTER FLAW BRAINSTORM
First, determine the flaw of your character. Then, discover his story by asking the following questions: 1. Keeping your main character’s flaw in mind, what’s the WORST SITUATION he could find himself in? 2. What is the FIRST ACTION your MC would take? 3. How might that action BACKFIRE? 4. Who is the LEAST LIKELY PERSON who might help the MC or team up with him? 5. What NEW ACTION might that person push the MC to take? 6. Who or what might GET IN THE WAY of this new activity? 7. How might the flaw of the MC turn into a SKILL? 8. What SURPRISING FINAL ACTION could be taken that is the least likely thing your character would have originally done? WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
You may have just structured your entire movie or TV pilot!
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Character-Driven Structure
How did you structure your entire script by answering a few questions about your character’s flaw? Well … Questions 1–3 In a movie, Act 1 usually ends when a character creates a problem or makes an existing one worse. It’s not just that something terrible happens to him him or her. The way that flawed person takes action as a result of that event is usually the more interesting act break. He or she makes the wrong choice and, ultimately, the adventures within the movie lead to a better one. In a TV pilot, a main character has the same tendency, though that bad choice might launch an entire series (such as Breaking Bad ). ). Question 4 In the first part of Act 2 for a movie, or Acts 2 through 4 for a TV drama, the main character often works directly or indirectly with a supporting character. This builds a relationship, creates a B-story, and gives the MC someone to interact with. Making that character the “least likely” choice builds tension. Will these two characters be able to achieve a goal while also managing their personal conflict? Question 5 The supporting character in a movie, or the ensemble of characters in a TV show, are often the outside influence that causes the main character to take a new action or begin to change. Supporting characters aren’t there just to support; they’re there to change the game. They push; they come up with new ideas, they influence. By the end of a movie, or by the end of a series, these new actions may also force your character to confront his or her flaw and start thinking differently. Question 6 In the second part of Act 2 for a movie, or Acts 3 through 5 for a TV drama, an opposing force often shakes things up by trying to prevent the main character from achieving a goal. This is the
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antagonist … the bad guy. But sometimes it’s a force of nature, or even the MC’s own flaw. Sometimes it’s a mixture of all three! The key to this section is remembering to use the antagonistic force to create a challenge for the MC. Keep us worrying and wondering! Question 7 Now we’re in Act 3 of your movie or Act 5 of your TV drama. So, how will your character ever get out of this situation? Well, your character always had a distinguishing characteristic: his flaw. Perhaps that could actually be of use and translate into a skill. Selfish = survivor. Loose cannon = risk taker. Obsessive = knowledgeable. The goal in a movie is not to abandon what makes your MC interesting, but to use those traits to help. Looking for a key to character development? There it is. In TV, the skill/flaw marriage is played out week after week. The character of Don Draper from Mad Men is is a hard-drinking womanizer who also happens to be a great ad-man. Rarely do we imagine that he could be one without the other. Question 8 By script’s end, your MC has learned from his or her journey not to make the same mistakes as the first time. In short, to do the least likely thing he or she would originally have done. In a movie, we see the MC make the correct choice instead of the wrong one made at the Act 1 break . With this new approach, he or she finally solves his or her problem. In TV, a procedural uses this same tactic to solve problems all the time. By making a new choice, a character loses his or her blind spot with a suspect, and the real killer is revealed. In a half-hour comedy, a character usually has to “fix” a mess he or she has made as well, and making the right choice is one way to do it. But don’t be quick to completely “solve” the problem if this is an episodic or serialized drama. You might need an entire series to get there!
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Premise Tells the Stor Story y
So, now that you know who your character is and what trouble he or she gets into … exactly what is your your movie about? Most writers try to reach for the stars when asked this question. “It’s about man’s inhumanity to man,” they answer. “It’s about the universal search for love.” “It’s about the need to put others first.” No, really, what is it about ? What’s the big idea? In short … what’s the log line ? What’s that perfect, one-line synopsis that will make studios throw money at the movie and have audiences lining up at the theaters? Drawing a blank? Here’s a trick, and it’s actually going to take less than than ten minutes. Just ask yourself one question: What’s the “what if” question of my movie? “What if” an ordinary man fell in love with a computer operating system? “What if” an out-of-work actor gets the gig of his life … as a female soap star? “What if” a high school girl is forced to choose between her love for a vampire and her friendship with a werewolf? “What if” a man ages backward, growing younger as the love of his life grows older? Of course Her, Tootsie , Twilight, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are are high-concept movies, meaning that they can often stand on concept alone to bring in the big bucks. But the “what if” can be found in smaller character-driven and “slice-of-life” movies as well. If it’s really a movie, there’s a big idea in there somewhere. In fact, you probably began this project because you imagined something that no one else has imagined. “What if” a respected mathematician’s top-secret government project is really a schizophrenic delusion? “What if” the midlife crisis of a suburban father leads to murder?
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With A Beautiful Mind and and American American Beauty, we Beauty, we think high drama rather than high concept. Yet, in each case, the writer has found the big idea within the story and exploited it. A Beautiful Mind, for example, could have just been about a noble mathematician who struggles against a mental illness. But would it have gripped audiences? By focusing on the imagined top-secret project, the writer creates both a suspense movie and a character play. American Beauty was was also wise to frame its story as a thriller. A midlife crisis movie on its own, but pitch it as only that and you’re going to have a producer falling asleep in his sushi. Add the twist that this crisis actually leads to the character’s untimely death, and you’ll start a bidding war. In The King’s Speech it was the high stakes that helped turn up the dial on its premise: “What if” a future king must overcome his stutter in order to give a rousing speech that will convince his country to fight Nazi oppression? So, let’s find your “big idea,” the special premise that makes this story worthy of being on screen. It’s there! Come up with your own “what if?” question for your movie or TV series. Remember to focus on the hook. What makes your story unique? Is it the clash of two opposite characters? Is it the unconventional approach the character uses toward solving a problem? Or is it the problem itself — a situation never before seen on the big screen? Thinking. Thinking. You may be dwelling on Act 1 when you try to find your hook. But you should also feel free to explore other areas of your script. “I see dead people,” for example, wasn’t revealed until the midpoint of The Sixth Sense . And that was the the hook, without question. Got it? Good. Here goes:
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TAKE TEN: FIND YOUR LOG LINE
What if ____________ __________________________ ____________________________ ___________________________ _______________ __ ? See the big idea in that one sentence? Didn’t think you could boil it down like that, did you? Now, scratch off the “what if?” so you turn your statement into a workable log line . What if ______________________________ ____________________________________________ _________________________ ___________ . WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
The log line is the cornerstone of your script. By defining the big idea — the hook — you’ve given yourself something to build on. From here, you can take your idea and run with it.
Secondary Secondar y Chara C haracters cters Tell Te ll the Story It’s been said that every character in a movie thinks the movie is about them. The first time I heard that, I thought, “Of course! Why should characters in movies or TV shows be any less self-centered than we are?” A villain doesn’t know he’s the villain — he thinks he’s the hero. He believes some good-looking guy with more screen time is simply getting in his way. A romantic interest doesn’t know she’s just “the gi girl” rl” — she thin thinks ks she’ she’ss runni running ng the show. Modern-day kids’ movies are often based on this idea. Turn the typical bad guy in a children’s story into a hero by looking at the story from his point of view, and you’ve got an instant hit. Shrek follows the Ogre’s point of view in a princess story; Monsters, Inc . looks at the story of monsters who scare children. And Despicable Me is literally about the trials and tribulations of the world’s greatest villain. Pixar,, in particular Pixar par ticular,, has a great way of building entire worlds from even the most seemingly minor character’s point of view. It thinks: “What if” the toys in children’s rooms came alive? ( Toy Story)
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What if” insects had a society of their own where humans and “ What birds were obstacles? (A (A Bug’s Life ) “ What What if” the inner feelings of a young girl had feelings of their own? (Inside ( Inside Out ) Turning a story around from a secondary character’s point of view makes for great grown-up films as well. Bridesmaids is is told from the point of view of a maid of honor. The Queen looks at the story of Princess Diana’s death from the point of view of her mother-in-law. The Departed is is so rich because it focuses equally on the lives of two men on opposite sides of an undercover mob sting. And Game of Thrones works so well because it richly weaves in the stories of every character in its world, no matter how seemingly minor. (Did you catch the turn with Littlefinger in Season 4? Oh my lord!) By discovering the individual stories of your supporting and opposing characters, you’ll discover their character arcs and find new depth in your script. You may even find a better script idea. You’re still in the brainstorming stage, so it’s worth taking ten minutes to try it. 10
TAKE TEN: YOUR SECONDARY CHARACTERS’ LOG LINEs
What if _______ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ___________ ____ ? Love interest log line What if _____________________________________________________ ______________________________________ _______________ ? Mentor log line What if _______ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ___________ ____ ? Best friend/family member log line What if _______ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ___________ ____ ? Antagonist log line WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
By seeing the script through the eyes of the other characters, you’ve seen them as richer individuals with their own stories. If, indeed, you’ve found out that the more exciting story to tell is that of another character, don’t worry. It’s early enough in your writing process to make a new choice.
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Complication Tells the Story
A well-written log line pushes the reader or listener to want to know more about your script. The inevitable follow-up question is: “And then what?” What happens next? Where do you take the story from here? So, I put it to you: And then what? You don’t know? Time to brainstorm the major complication of your story. If your log line is “a troubled therapist discovers that his twelve-year-old patient sees dead people,” the “and then what?” would focus on what problems occur as a result of this power. In the case of The Sixth Sense , problems occur when the dead people threaten the boy’s sanity and the case threatens the therapist’s marriage. Notice that these “problems” all stem from the antagonists: the “dead people.” Ask yourself what problems occur for characters once you’ve set up the premise, and you’ll probably discover that they’ve been created by your antagonist , a.k.a. your bad guy. Who might want to prevent your hero from doing what he or she wants to do? What villainous steps would that person take? That’s your complication. And it’s often the answer to “and then what?” Sometimes, of course, problems can occur because of the intrusion of your supporting character. Falling in love can be a positive complication, but it’s still a complication. In Crazy, Stupid, Love , problems occur when the supporting character who’s been teaching the lead character to pick up women actually falls for his own daughter. In Juno , complications occur when Juno becomes attached to the couple that intends to adopt her baby. Sometimes, problems occur because of the flaw of your main character. And that’s a good thing. That flaw is only really useful if it comes back from time to time to shake things up. In The Silence of the Lambs, problems Lambs, problems occur when Hannibal Lecter forces Clarice to confront her psychological demons, causing her to weaken in the
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face of the serial killer. In (500) Days of Summer , main character Tom Hansen’s romantic nature and obsession with falling in love cause him to continually push to make a failing love affair work. It’s time to brainstorm your own story complication. By doing so, you’ll find your midpoint event and spin it in such a way that it heightens your script, giving it that extra “oomph” it needs to reinvest the reader and the audience. 10
TAKE TEN: DISCOVER COMPLICATION
Find the big complication of your movie story or TV pilot: Problemss occur when ______________ Problem ____________________________ ___________________________ _______________ .
Now heighten it. Don’t be afraid to go to extremes. What’s the worst thing that could happen? What’s the most emotional thing that could happen? What’s the most genre-worthy thing that could happen? Problemss occur when ______________ Problem ____________________________ ___________________________ _______________ . List two more complications. Don’t forget to think about your supporting characters and what they’re going through.
Problems occur when _______________, ____________, and ____________. WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
You’ve thrown a wrench into your character’s story and forced him or her to deal with new problems that heighten the second act. By dealing with clever complications, characters earn their happy endings. If the journey is easy, it isn’t a movie or TV show.
Synopsizing Tells the Story Thanks to your brainstorming character, you have a sense of your story. Creating a log line has helped you find the hook, and creating complication has expanded that idea into a movie or TV pilot. But we’ve done this all in pieces. Now, we want to see how the story feels when we describe it briefly with a simple beginning, middle, and end.
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Use the Brief Synopsis template to get you there. Notice that the “ Solution” Solution” section presents different options. Feel free to use one or more of these. 10
TAKE TEN: BRIEF SYNOPSIS
PREMISE WITH HOOK:
(What if) ______________ ____________________________ ________________ __ ?
COMPLICATION: COMPLICA TION:
Problemss occur when ____________ Problem ________________________ ____________ .
SOLUTION: SOL UTION:
This leads to the discov discovery ery that _____________ ________________ ___ . OR Fortunately Fortuna tely,, _____________ __________________________ ____________________ _______ . OR Tragically ragically,, ______________ ___________________________ ____________________ _______ .
Use descriptive, active language to help you see your movie. Characters don’t just feel; they do! Use verbs!
Example: The Wizard of Oz (What if) A restless girl is hurled by a tornado into a magical world and discovers that the only way she can get home is to seek help from a powerful wizard. Problems occur when an evil witch sabotages her and her new friends: a brainless scarecrow, a cowardly lion, and a tin man without a heart. Fortunately, the group melts the witch, proving that they have the brains, courage, and heart to solve their own problems. Example: Breaking Bad (pilot) (What if) A chemistry teacher with lung cancer enlists one of his students to help him cook and sell meth with him so that he doesn’t have to saddle his family with medical bills. Problems occur when he antagonizes drug dealers who connect him with his DEA agent brother-in-law. Fortunately, the teacher is able to mix chemicals that immediately gas the drug dealers and kill them. This leads to the teacher’s discovery that power and financial gain might be within his grasp. WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
A beginning, middle, and end are nothing to sneeze at. In movie terms, those are your first, second, and third acts. For TV, you’ve covered the major beats to write your pilot episode.
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Resolution Tells the Stor Story y
It’s difficult to begin your story until you know your ending. This is particularly important when it comes to creating the pilot episode of a TV series. The ending of your pilot launches the entire series. So knowing what needs to be established by that point is pertinent. By the end of … THE WALKING DEAD: We know that zombies are everywhere. Deputy Grimes is on a quest to find his family. Grimes’s wife is now sleeping with his best friend. BREAKING BAD: We know that Walt has committed to cooking meth with Jesse. He’s already pissed off local drug dealers. He enjoys the power. 30 ROCK: We know that Tracy is now a fixture at the show and will certainly cause problems. Liz Lemon’s new boss has usurped her power and will probably continue to do so. THE BIG BANG THEORY: It’s established that Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj bond in nerdy ways. We also discover that Leonard has a huge crush on Penny and will continue to pursue her. 10
TAKE TEN: ESTABLISH YOUR LANDING POINTS
1. By the end of my script, this event needs to happen: ____________________ __________ _____________________ ______________________ _____________________ _____________________ ___________ 2. By the end of my script, this relationship needs to be established: ____________________ __________ _____________________ ______________________ _____________________ _____________________ ___________ 3. By the end of my script, this secret needs to be revealed: ____________________ __________ _____________________ ______________________ _____________________ _____________________ ___________ 4. By the end of my PILOT script, this series goal needs to be established: ____________________ __________ _____________________ ______________________ _____________________ _____________________ ___________ WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
You now know your endgame so that you can start outlining toward that end.
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While it’s great to know what’s going to happen at the end of your script — your sweethearts get married, your cop gets the robber, your good guy defeats the bad guy — how all all that happens can be a challenge. Remember that audiences invest their interest and their money in a movie or TV series in order to discover how a a character will solve a big problem. Wimp out with that solution and they’ll shut off the TV or demand their money back. Many writers do know what the big discovery will be for their character; they just don’t know how to get there. Often, the answer can be found in the small, clever details — what I call the trigger moments — — that lead to the big revelation. In Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the entire story is turned around by one honest moment in which Charlie returns the top-secret new candy he’s been asked to steal. His act of honesty triggers the third-act reward. In Casino Royale , James Bond is asked about funds he was supposed to transfer, triggering his realization that the love of his life has betrayed him. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, main character Joel Barish is given the cassette tape that talks about his former girlfriend, triggering him to reclaim his memories. In Homeland , the nervous tapping of fingers causes the lead character to believe that a war hero is actually sending coded messages to a terrorist enemy. Again, it’s a small moment — and ultimately a false lead — but it’s a “trigger” for the main character’s revelation. Discover your script’s major trigger by working backward from the big revelation.
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TAKE TEN: WORK BACKWARD TO FIND YOUR ENDING
1. Start with the final reveal : What does the character discover that is most painful, shocking, surprising, or delightful? 2. Where did did that person discover it? 3. What physical clue led led him or her to that place? 4. What was said that that triggered the character to search for that clue? 5. What event occurred occurred that caused that character to speak the line? 6. What problem occurred occurred that created that event? 7. How did the main character’s own actions create create that problem? 8. What goal did did the main character have that caused him or her to behave badly enough to create this problem? 9. What circumstances in in the main character’s world inspired that goal? WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
By asking these questions, you should have at least one new way of moving toward your big revelation. A sequence of clever details that push a character toward a truth is a much more interesting journey than one in which he or she simply trips on the answer, or worse, is just told!
Plot and Character Character Elements Eleme nts Tell the Story
Use ten more minutes to review your elements by putting them on one page. Use this page as a constant reference tool to remind you of your original intentions for your project.
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TAKE TEN: INTENTION SHEET
Use this sheet to sum up your “take ten” exercises so far. Main Character Flaw Log Line Secondary Character Log Line Major Complication Revelation Trigger Fortunately/Unfortunately Ending WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
You’ve created a guide that will keep you on track as you outline, write, and expand your script.
You Tell the Story All of the work you’ve done — finding your character-driven story, discovering your structure, using a “what if?” question to find your hook, building on the hook to find the complication, and working backward to find your ending — should have helped you to create a real movie story or TV pilot in your mind. Additionally, as a veteran moviegoer and TV watcher, you already have a story sense that helps you as a writer. And as a person who tries hard not to be boring, you’ve become a master storyteller. You relate funny events to your friends and coworkers, reminisce with your loved ones, and tell bedtime stories to your kids. In fact, the next template uses the language and simple beats of a bedtime story to help you tell your movie story. You don’t need fancy film terms to create an outline, just a rich beginning, middle, and end. This template is somewhat long since it works through your entire movie or TV pilot. To deal with it in ten-minute increments of time, it’s been divided into four sections to equal a beginning, middle (part 1), middle (part 2), and end. If you get stuck on a blank, just move on to the next section. Or, it may mean that there’s an obstacle or activity that’s missing from your movie. Make something up and see what happens!
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TAKE TEN: DESCRIBE YOUR MOVIE LIKE A BEDTIME STORY
Ten Minutes: Ten BEGINNING Once upon a time, there was a __________ _____________________ ______________________ ____________ _ main character (MC) who was ______________ ____________________________ ____________________________ _______________________ _________ . character flaw When Whe n ______________ ________________ __ happene happened, d, he or she _____________ ___________________ ______ . obstacle
flaw-driven strategy
Unfortunately Unfortuna tely,, ____________ __________________________ ____________________________ _____________________ _______ .
screw-up So the MC decided ___________ _ _____________________ ______________________ _____________________ __________
goal and had to __________________________ ________________________________________ _______________________ _________ . action that begins a new journey
WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
You’ve set up the character by describing him or her as a flawed (translation: human) person. You’ve also triggered a big movie- or series- worthy problem by having your own main character make an unwise choice. This helps move that character forward in the story. Ten T en Minutes: MIDDLE (part 1) In order to take this action, he or she decide decided d to ______________ _________________ ___ .
strategy Unfortunately ___________ ______________________ ________________ _____ happened, which caused
obstacle ___________________________ _____________ ____________________________ ___________________________ __________________ _____ !
complication Now he or she had to _____________ ____________________ _______ or risk ____________ ______________ ! new task
personal stake
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WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
You’ve set goals for the MC with potential to lead to a variety of interesting adventures. Then, by the midpoint, you’ve created a major complication that forces the audience to reinvest in the character and her story. Ten T en Minutes: MIDDLE (part 2) Wheree the MC once wanted to ______________ Wher ___________________________ __________________ _____ , old desire he or she now wanted ______________ ____________________________ _________________________ ___________ . new desire But how could that happen when ______________ ____________________________ ________________ __ ?
obstacle Filled with ____________ __________________________ ______________,, the MC ________________ . emotion
new action
But this only resulte resulted d in _____________ ___________________________ _________________________ ___________ . low point WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
You’ve used your antagonist to mess things up for your main character and fooled the audience into thinking that there’s no way out. This will make Act 3 — when your main character solves the problem — feel like even more of a victory. Ten Minutes: Ten ENDING Fortunately Fortuna tely,, this helped the MC to realize ___________________ ________________________ _____ ! the solution All he or she had to do was __________________________ ___________________________________ _________ ! action using new lesson Using _____________ __________________, _____, _________________, _________________, and ____________ ____________ , other characters
skills
tools from journey
the MC was able to ______________________ ___________________________________ ____________________ _______ . victorious action
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Unfortunately Unfortuna tely,, ____________ __________________________ ____________________________ _____________________ _______ . final hurdle But this time, he or she ____________ __________________________ __________________________ ____________ ! clever strategy This resulte resulted d in ______________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________ _____ . change in situation WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED
You’ve drawn from your MC’s journey, using the characters, skills, and resources obtained along the way, to help solve the problem. Just to make sure it doesn’t end too neatly, you’ve added a final hurdle, a staple of modern structure, to give the screenplay one last hitch. To get here, you made up a story on the spot — filling in the blanks as you went. If any of the beats don’t work for you, just replace a word. Doing so may change the whole story!
TEN-MINUTE CHAPTER REVIEW: STORY
1.
Brainstorm the central ELEMENTS and EMOTION of the story.
2.
Find a CHARACTER-DRIVEN STRUCTURE through the character’s FLAW.
3.
Commit to concept by creating a “WHAT IF” LOG LINE.
4.
Discover the second act by creating a COMPLICATION.
5.
Decide on a beginning, middle, and end by writing a BRIEF SYNOPSIS.
6.
BRAINSTORM BACKWARD to discover the ending you’re working toward and work back from the reveal to “trigger” the solution.
7.
Get a sense of the flow by describing your movie like a BEDTIME STORY.
