Archive for the ‘Structure, Plot & Technique’ Category

The Importance of the MidPoint

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The midpoint is the “high” before the fall. It provides a breakthrough point for the hero, a shift in the dramatic conflict, and relief from the relentless resistance of the first half of the second act.

WHAT’S GOING ON AT THE MIDPOINT?

As the story moves into the second act, the hero tries to solve the problem and achieve his goal in the easiest possible way – and he fails. So he makes another attempt, and he fails again. He tries something different and still he fails. With each attempt he is faced with mounting obstacles, increasing complications, and rising conflict. No matter what he does, he is unable to achieve his goal.

When the hero hits the midpoint he is exhausted. He has reached a breaking point, which allows him to experience a breakthrough. Similar to the first and second turning points, the incident or event at the midpoint creates a dramatic shift. The protagonist’s internal reaction to this event helps him understand how his fatal flaw is impacting the conflict and preventing him from reaching his goal – and the hero begins to discover how the conflict can be resolved.

In other words, the protagonist can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and how to reach it. The midpoint event may make the hero reconsider who he is and what he believes in. It forces him to re-evaluate his strategy. It motivates him to take a new approach to the problem. The midpoint clarifies and reveals the theme (through the protagonist’s actions and reactions) and shows the hero embracing and moving toward that truth.

Robert Towne creates a classic midpoint revelation in the screenplay Chinatown. Midway through the story, Jake figures out the water department is siphoning off water and redirecting it. In this scene, Gittes goes from being both literally and figuratively unconscious (when he’s knocked out) to being enlightened (when he “comes to”). The revelation causes the hero to formulate a new plan; he now knows what to do to begin solving the mystery.

YOUR TURN: What incident occurs midway through your story that shifts the conflict and sets the protagonist on a new path? Does your midpoint effectively clarify and reveal the theme?

Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process.

Act Two – How To Fix Common Problems

Most problems in Act Two result from:

1. Lack of Focus
The story lacks clarity or wanders off course causing the reader to become confused about what is going on and why.

2. Insufficient Momentum
There’s not enough energy – the story drags and stalls out instead of moving forward.

TIPS FOR FIXING ACT II PROBLEMS:

1. Develop a Solid Structure & Present a Clear Set Up In Act One
A solid foundation (including all the necessary components, turning points, crisis, and so on) and a clear, focused direction keep the story on track allowing the reader or audience to easily follow along as Act Two unfolds.

2. Create a Strong First Turning Point
A strong first turning point will go a long way to help push the movement forward as the story enters the second act.

3. Use Action
It goes-without-saying (but I’ll say it anyway), you want to keep your characters acting instead of talking – use complications, obstacles, and reversals to infuse Act II with energy.

4. Keep Your Three Storylines Progressing
The A (external problem), B (internal conflict), and C (relationship issue) storylines should continue to develop – but not be resolved until Act III.

5. Use Cause-and-Effect Scenes
Cause-and-effect scenes – A happens and causes B to result, which then causes C, and on and on – create conflict and action, and give the story direction and momentum.

6. Design Scene Sequences for Clarity and Movement
A sequence is a series of scenes (usually two to five) that are linked together and build toward a common goal. Linking related scenes that rise in tension creates momentum and keeps the second act moving forward.

YOUR TURN: Are there areas in Act II where you can substitute action points for dialogue? Are you using scene sequences to add energy to the second act? Is the story focused or does it wander? Does the first turning point pull the reader into the second act and create momentum? Are the A, B, and C storylines progressing throughout Act II?

Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process. Want to learn how to write your first script or adapt a book into a screenplay? I’m committed to helping you achieve your writing goals. My online writing classes provide a focused structure and assignments that produce tangible results.

Entering the Story: The First 10 Pages of a Screenplay

The first 10 pages of a script are the most important – that’s the amount of time you have to convince a reader to continue reading your screenplay. If you haven’t presented an engaging and riveting story by then – chances are you’ve lost your reader. He’ll either be bored or confused, or both.

In the first 10 pages (roughly 10 minutes of film time) you want to introduce, in a clear and compelling way, specific story elements that will entice a reader to keep turning the page.

Often those essential elements include revealing, introducing, or addressing:
* The protagonist
* The antagonist (or providing evidence of the antagonist’s existence)
* The central conflict
* The stakes
* The setting or “world”
* The tone

Here’s a look at the first 10 pages of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The script, written by James Cameron and William Wisher, hit all the “essential” elements within the first few opening scenes.

Pages 1 – 3:
Central conflict and dramatic question introduced
Stakes revealed
Tone set
“World” presented

Rows of cars jammed bumper to bumper in downtown Los Angeles. The scene dissolves to a hellish landscape revealing a heap of fire-blackened human bones and cars. The rush hour crowd burned down in their tracks. A title card reads: LOS ANGELES, July 11, 2029. Beyond is a playground with a half-melted jungle gym, a warped swing set, a sagging merry-go-round, and a burnt and rusted tricycle. A female VOICE speaks:

3 billion human lives ended
on August 29th, 1997. The survivors of the
nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day.
They lived only to face a new nightmare,
the war against the Machines…

Metal humanoid machines with glowing red eyes and massive battle rifles hunt the dead terrain. A battle rages between the machines and a ragtag guerrilla army. The humans are mowed down. A female voice speaks:

Skynet, the computer that controlled
the machines, sent two terminators
back through time. Their mission:
to destroy the leader of the human
Resistance… John Connor. My son.
The first terminator was programmed
to strike at me, in the year 1984 before John
was born. It failed. The second was set
to strike at John himself, when he was
still a child. As before, the Resistance
was able to send a lone warrior. A protector
for John. It was just a question of
which one of them would reach him first…

Pages 4 – 8
Antagonist and ally introduced
Conflict increases
Tone expanded
Additional information regarding the “world” presented

The parking lot of a truck stop. An electrical current strikes between two tractor-trailers. In the sudden flare of light a muscular, naked figure emerges. He enters the truck stop diner to obtain clothes and transportation. His strength and invincibility is demonstrated as he takes on a group of tough bikers and easily subdues them all. He electronically assesses the damage – determining he has caused no deaths. Exiting the premises with his treasures (a leather ensemble, biker boots, and keys to a Harley), he is confronted by the diner manager who holds a shotgun. The Terminator calmly takes the man’s weapon… and his sunglasses. He slides the shades on and rides off on the Harley.

Bridge overpass. A young police officer exits a squad car to investigate the electrical disturbance. A flash of light… then the cop is attacked from behind by a muscular, naked figure (clearly another guy sent from the future). Cool and expressionless, the man-from-the-future slides into the squad car, now wearing the police officer’s uniform, and uses the computer to locate an address for John Connor.

Pages 8  – 10
Protagonist and additional ally introduced
Conflict continues to rise

Garage of a suburban house. A 10-year-old John Conner (ripped jeans and long hair) and his friend Tim repair a dirt bike. A hard rock song blasts from a boom box. We learn John is living with his foster parents – and he considers them “dicks”. He disregards both his foster mother and father’s commands to clean up his room, and instead speeds off on his dirt bike.

Pescadero State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Security guards patrol the exterior. A muscular, determined, and defiant Sarah Connor uses the steel furniture of her cell to do pull-ups. A group of medical interns led by Dr. Silberman peer into her room.

EXERCISES TO HELP YOU ENTER THE STORY EFFECTIVELY

1. Read the opening scenes of your script and identify which essential elements are revealed in the first 10 pages or so – you don’t want to “force” your story, but obviously the more “essential” elements that are presented early in the script the more likely the story will capture and hold a reader’s interest.

2. Review the first 10 pages of your script and describe, page-by-page, what happens in the story. Is what happens in the first few scenes engaging? Is the presentation of what’s happening in these scenes arranged effectively to provide the most impact or could what’s happening be presented later in the story to allow for more essential elements to be revealed earlier?

3. Read a few of your favorite scripts (or watch the films) to see how the screenwriters entered the story. Note which elements were presented in the first 10 pages and how they were revealed. Did the screenwriter do an effective job of hooking you within the first 10 minutes?

Setups and Payoffs

Set-ups and payoffs create an engaging and satisfying experience for the audience by allowing them insight into the story as it unfolds. In a setup, knowledge is hinted at. In a payoff, the knowledge is revealed. Often, the set-up leads the viewer down the wrong path, while the payoff leads the viewer to an “a-ha, now I know what that meant” moment.

A setup must be subtle enough that the audience doesn’t see what’s coming around the corner, but strong enough so that the audience can make the connection to the earlier clues when the reveal is delivered.

In The Sixth Sense, screenwriter/director M. Night Shymalan provides plenty of clues (setup) to the ultimate reveal (payoff). Here are just a few from the film:

Setup: After the scene in which Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is shot, no other characters talk to him, engage with him, interact with him, or even acknowledge him – except for his young patient, Cole.
Where the set-up leads the viewer: Shymalan deftly tells the story in such a way that most viewers do not even notice that no one interacts with Crowe.
Payoff: Crowe’s dead – no one can engage with him except Cole, who is capable of seeing dead people.

Setup: Crowe’s wife Anna is distressed, depressed, and distant – she behaves as if her husband doesn’t exist.
Where the set-up leads the viewer: It appears to the audience that Anna is upset because her husband is focused on his work and not paying enough attention to her.
Payoff: Crowe’s dead – his wife is sad and lonely because she misses her husband.

Setup: Whenever Crowe is in the presence of other characters they become cold.
Where the set-up leads the viewer: One of the “rules” of Shymalan’s story is that people become cold when a ghost is present and since the story focuses on a kid who sees dead people, the audience assumes a ghost is lurking about.
Payoff: Crowe’s dead –characters become cold in his presence because he is the ghost in the scene.

Setup: Crowe travels everywhere by foot or bus
Where the set-up leads the viewer: Walking or taking public transit is pretty innocuous behavior – however, several other characters are shown driving cars (including Cole’s mom Lynn, Anna’s male admirer, and guests at Kyra Collins’s funeral), making it apparent that it is common-place for people to drive in this story. This is one of the points where, combined with the other clues, many viewers most likely began to unravel the mystery.
Payoff: Crowe’s dead – he can’t drive a car and is forced to accompany Cole to Collins’s funeral via bus.

A reveal is not a payoff unless it has been effectively setup.
1. Review the major reveals of your script. Are they payoffs? If not, create setups to deliver the payoff.
2. Review the setups in your script. Do they each payoff? If not, either pay them off or eliminate them.

YOUR TURN: How are you using setups and payoffs in your screenplay to offer audience insight into the story?

15 Tips To Create Effective Subplots

1. Connect the subplot to the main plot line
A screenplay’s plot and subplots should be connected, with the subplots intersecting the main plot line. Without a connection to the main storyline, the subplot(s) will leave the audience wondering why they are in the film. They will feel misplaced and unnecessary.

2. Structure your subplots like a mini-story
Each subplot has a beginning, middle, and end, with clear turning points and a resolution – often closely following the timeline of the main plot.

3. Ensure your subplot has a purpose
Subplots should affect the “A” story line and move the plot forward. Think of subplots as having an agenda or goal to achieve.

4. Don’t incorporate too many subplots
Most films have two to three subplots. Too many subplots can take the reader’s focus off the “A” storyline and cause the narrative to become convoluted.

5. Use the subplots to expand or open up the theme
Well-constructed subplots expand on the theme of the story – if the theme of your story is love then each subplot should reflect that throughline. In the film Moonstruck, the subplot of Loretta’s father and his mistress, the subplot involving Loretta’s mother and Perry, and the subplot of Cosmo and his wife all expand on the theme of “love”.

6. Use subplots to reveal aspects of the main character
Subplots including “the love interest” or “the family conflict” can unveil the protagonist’s goals, desires, vulnerabilities, skills, and backstory

7. Use subplots to show character transformation and change
The protagonist doesn’t suddenly experience transformation, often a subplot is used to convey how and why the hero changes. In the film Back To The Future, Marty’s feelings about his parents change when he experiences them – via a subplot – as high-school teenagers in the 1950s.

8. Choose the subplot characters carefully
Supporting characters that are involved in subplots usually have an emotional connection to the protagonist that evolves as the story intensifies.

9. When possible, place much of the subplots’ storylines in Act II
By incorporating most of the subplot storytelling in Act Two, subplots can be used to alleviate many of the challenges of the Second Act.

10. Use subplots to add complications
In the film Changeling each subplot adds another layer of conflict. The main plot involves a mother trying to find her missing child, when the police locate a child and erroneously present him as the woman’s son [subplot] complications ensue, when the woman attempts to go up against the police department she is committed to a mental institution [subplot] and more complications ensue, etc. Well-crafted subplots can be especially beneficial in adding dimension and layers to a predictable storyline, such as in rom-coms, comedies, and horror stories.

ANALYZING YOUR SUBPLOTS

11. Separate each subplot from the main plot to examine and clarify structure – does each subplot have a set-up, turning points, and a resolution?

12. How many subplots have you created? If there are more than four can some be eliminated to clarify the storyline?

13. How does each subplot develop the story?

14. Does each subplot have a purpose? (reveal character, add complications, expand the theme….)

15. Do the subplots intersect the main plot? If not, how can you revise the subplot(s) to connect to the main plot?

YOUR TURN: What techniques do you use to create effective subplots?

Three Ways To Ensure A Satisfying Ending

A satisfying ending is natural and inevitable. It should be synergistic with the theme and the main character’s development. It should never feel forced.

THE AMBIGUOUS OR UNRESOLVED ENDING
The Ambiguous or Unresolved Ending leaves the conclusion of the story open to the viewer’s interpretation. We may have a pretty good idea how the story ends based on the set-up, but we’re not absolutely sure what will happen. This type of ending is rarely used by screenwriters – it can be tricky to string an audience along for two hours and then fail to provide an ending – however there are films that successfully master this technique and still satisfy viewers. Unfaithful, No Country For Old Men, Blade Runner, The Wrestler, and almost any film by David Lynch are examples of the Ambiguous or Unresolved Ending.

THE HOPELESS ENDING
Some writers refer to the Hopeless Ending as the “downer ending” or “negative ending.” I don’t necessarily believe that audiences leave a theatre feeling “down” or “negative” after experiencing a Hopeless Ending. Hopeless Endings can be powerful, moving, and insightful. Think about the films Chinatown, Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider, Blow Out, Planet of the Apes, Leaving Las Vegas, and Revolutionary Road – each a story with a Hopeless Ending.

THE HOPEFUL ENDING
Hopeful Endings are not necessarily “happy” endings. The final result may be sad, bittersweet, tragic, or ironic, the hero/heroine may lose the fight, the love interest, or even his life, but ultimately these stories convey a sense of hope; that the journey was worthwhile and noble, regardless of the outcome. Things don’t turn out so good for William Wallace at the end of the film Braveheart, yet the ending gives a sense of hope that the protagonist made a difference, that he lived his life on his terms, and that his cause will go on and triumph. Other films (especially rom-coms and comedies) are the upbeat, happily-ever-after, “feel-good” variety in which the heroes emerge from their conflicts and ordeals battered but stronger. Hopeful Endings are the most popular.

Sad-But-Hopeful Endings: Witness, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, American Beauty, The Perfect Storm, The Sixth Sense, Thelma & Louise, L.A. Confidential

Happily-Ever-After Endings: Working Girl, When Harry Met Sally, Sideways, Juno

THREE TIPS TO ENSURE YOUR ENDING IS SATISFYING

1. Determine what inevitable path the protagonist is on
Ben Sanderson’s self-loathing and downward spiral into alcohol in Leaving Las Vegas leads to his inevitable demise.

2. Be aware of the tone, style, and genre of your script
If you’re writing a breezy, fun rom-com your ending probably won’t include death, destruction, and hopelessness.

3. Pay off the theme
The Shawshank Redemption deftly interweaves the theme of “hope” throughout the film’s scenes of violence and loss – the inevitable and satisfying ending is one of hope. The theme of Chinatown is “the powerful always win” – the inevitable and satisfying ending pays off this theme.

YOUR TURN: What type of ending are you using for your story? Why is it the most satisfactory ending for your screenplay?

Q&A Friday: How Do I Write a Script or Treatment For a Television Series?

Q: How do you structure a story for a television show? I am particularly interested in how the narrative elements, plot points and structural paradigm are laid out within the 30 pages of a pilot.

Q: What is the format for a television script?

Q: For a television series can I just send in a treatment for consideration or do I need to write a full episode?

A: Wow – lots of questions about teleplays this week. And my answer on the subject is going to be really short. My education, experience and knowledge is exclusive to feature film screenplays. I don’t know enough about television writing to offer constructive advice. I recommend Alex Epstein’s book Crafty TV Writing and his blog Complications Ensue and the book Successful Television Writing by Lee Goldberg. Also check out the blog The Aspiring TV Writer.

YOUR TURN: If there are any television writers who read this blog perhaps you would like to comment and offer advice on this topic?

Transcribing Screenplays

This screenwriting tip comes courtesy of Scott Myers over at Go Into The Story who posted this on his blog last week.  I thought it worthy of sharing:

I assume we’ve all heard those stories about how a young Felix Mendelssohn transcribed note for note musical scores by Johann Sebastian Bach, just to get the feel of how Bach wrote music.

And stories about how F. Scott Fitzgerald transcribed the novels of writers he admired such as Charles Dickens to get the feel of their writing.

Well, why not do that with screenplays?

If you’re struggling with any of the following:

* How to handle scene description
* How to manage transitions between scenes
* How to balance action and dialogue within scenes
* How much scene description is too much / too little
* How to write realistic dialogue
* How to use primary sluglines and secondary sluglines
* How to write series of scenes, series of shots, and montages

Sure, you can read great screenplays.
But what about typing them – word for word?

If it worked for Mendelssohn and Fitzgerald…
Don’t you think it could work for you, too?

This has been another edition of Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work.

YOUR TURN: Have you ever transcribed screenplays as a tool to help your writing?

How To Effectively Use a ‘Memory Flash’

Flashback scenes were once a popular device in Hollywood. Now they usually scream: amateur writer.  Readers don’t like ‘em.  They seem contrived. They shatter the barrier between reader and writer and stop the forward momentum of the story.

One reason why flashbacks undercut screenplays is that beginning writers frequently use them as crutches, as a way of getting necessary information (exposition) across to the audience. Unless flashbacks advance the story or generate their own excitement, most experienced writers avoid them.

Of course, successful screenwriters do incorporate flashbacks into their stories – but they use flashbacks as a storytelling device, meaning the flashback itself is an integral part of how the story unfolds.  Ted Tally effectively uses flashbacks in his script, Silence of the Lambs – for instance, when Clarice Starling runs into the parking lot after her initial meeting with Hannibal Lector, she flashes to a past memory of her father’s death (an integral part of the story as well as Clarice’s character arc).

I was recently introduced to a technique referred to as ‘memory flash’.  Unlike flashbacks, a ‘memory flash’ puts this “backstory” scene in forward motion. Instead of telling the audience what happened in the past, a ‘memory flash’ shows the affect that the past experience has on the present situation.

HOW TO EFFECTIVELY CREATE A MEMORY FLASH

1. Find an organic element in the scene to use as a “spark” – such as a couple kissing in a romantic bistro, a photograph of a soldier, a red dress hanging in a boutique display window.

2. This element ‘sparks’ a thought in the character’s mind allowing the reader to ‘see’ what the character is thinking in a visual way – in the present moment.

3. That thought then generates the character’s next action, decision or choice. The story continues to move forward and remains in the present.

YOUR TURN: What are your thoughts on, or experiences with, flashbacks and ‘memory flashes’?

Why And How To Outline

Successful screenwriters understand the power and necessity of creating an outline prior to writing “Fade In”.  New writers often overlook this critical step in the screenwriting process believing the “story will take them where it’s meant to go” or the characters “will reveal themselves and their dilemmas” once they begin writing.

Can a writer create a successful screenplay without outlining first?  Of course, it can be done.  But not many do it – and I don’t recommend it.  It benefits you, and more importantly your script, if you know the story’s final destination before writing page one.  An outline will help you create a strong structure and keep you on-course while writing the first draft.  That doesn’t mean that your outline is engraved in stone – ideas usually continue to develop well into the writing process, resulting in the addition of scenes, characters, and subplots that didn’t exist in the original outline.

Most screenwriting software programs offer outlining options – Movie Magic Screenwriter, Final Draft, Movie Outline, and Contour among them – but for a basic, down-and-dirty outline, word processing software (such as MS Word) will do.

Outlines vary in length from two pages to more than 50 (most average between six to twelve pages.)  The outline is a mapping tool to guide you, so include as much or as little detail as you need to create the first draft.  Click on the “Twins” movie icon to view a sample screenplay outline.

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