CHASE SCENE

A chase scene builds suspense.  It should never be filler.  It takes place within a time frame.  In Catch Me If You Can, the real life chase scene took years.  In the movie, the real life chase scene was condensed to less than 2 hours.  The story for any movie could be interpreted as one big chase scene.  Something happens and the chase begins. When the chase is over, the movie is over.

Chase can be metaphorical, as in chasing a dream.  What does the hero have to go through to make the dream come true and how long will it take?  The story might begin a few hours or days before the dream is about to come true.  Flashbacks might be used to reveal when the dream first began.  Or, the dream coming true could be told as a memory.  It could be the dreams of a pirate, the dreams of a general, or the average dreams of any ordinary person:  dreams of a home, a college degree, getting married, retiring. 

Physical chase scenes take the form of good guy chasing bad guy, either on foot, by car or other mode of transportation.  Other chase scenes include chasing or running from an alien, or a monster, or an act of Mother Nature.  Other chases include searching for a cure, finding love, and any form of discovery. 

We chase goals. 

We do not choose to be chased. 

Some characters are after something, others are trying to get away. 

Rarely in real life do we ever chase each other.  Husbands don’t chase their wives, employees don’t chase their bosses, certainly not in the physical sense of running after each other.  Turning such goals and desires into actual physical chases is a way to dramatize, and in a comedy, provide humorous situations. 

However, cops do chase criminals, spies chase spies, and governments chase terrorists.  Stalking is also a form of chase.  Hate groups hound their victims at every chance they can get.  Lobbyists relentlessly pursue elected officials.  Corporations endlessly pursue consumers.  Consumers forever want something more. 

Chase scenes usually end up disappointing.  They are designed as an obstacle to overcome and produce conflict and suspense.  Chases span across time and place.  A chase can take place around the galaxy, around the world or around the block.  It can take years, days or hours. 

DECISION MAKING

 

Life is based on the decisions and choices we make and don’t make.  It’s an endless philosophical debate whether we are born or made.  Some of us are born under a bad sign.  Others are born with a silver spoon. 

One thing for sure, regardless of fate or destiny, shit happens.  Life is full of unforeseeable events.  We are forced to make choices and decisions we normally would not make. 

How we view the past, present and future affects the choices and decisions we make.  A life full of past failures, a present that’s dim, and a future with no prospects, can cripple our decision making process or challenge it.  How characters handle decisions and choices is not all that different than real life. 

Of course, we don’t battle alien beings in real life.  But what would we do if we had to?  We have to make choices and decisions we might not be prepared to make.  We identify with characters in similar situations, real or imagined.  We learn from them. 

Movies are very much voyeuristic journeys into watching others make choices and decisions we either have to make ourselves, are afraid to make, or thrilled we will never have to make. 

We have preferences.  We like things to be a certain way.  We get upset, angry, lost and confused when our usual order of things is thrown into chaos.  We react.  We respond.

It’s probably not possible to understand why someone would like apples and not oranges.  Of course, there could be a legitimate or even insane reason for such a choice.  Apples might represent the ultimate in sin.  Mom used to make fresh squeezed orange juice every morning before she was brutally murdered. 

Our lives demand priorities.  Stories about life-threatening situations eliminate the need for prioritizing.  There’s only one thing important in the moment and that’s surviving or saving the life of someone else. 

Movies that are about life-threatening situations reveal character through the choices and decisions a character makes to survive and defeat the enemy or resolve the conflict.  A life-threatening situation offers a condensed slice-of-life.  Instead of seeing a character develop over time as in real life, from childhood to adolescence and into adulthood, we see who the person is immediately in how they handle a life-threatening situation. 

A life-threatening situation is life changing.  A once shy person becomes a hero.  A bully gets his due.  An estranged dad learns to appreciate the things he loves. 

But not all movies are about life-threatening situations.  It’s the difference between action and melodrama.  Making certain choices and decisions determines if a family stays together during hard times.  Doing something outrageous and out of character might be the only way to bring about a desired result. 

Life is filled with endless choices.  Some call it, “Overchoice.”  We have 100s of cable channels.  Choosing a car or a house is a traumatic experience.  Some people have a hard time figuring out what to eat every day or what to wear they haven’t worn over and over again.  Eating cheesecake could break a diet.  Trying a drug could spell disaster.  Some people refuse to buy a cell phone.  One call could break a deal, enact a law, change corporate policy, ruin a relationship. 

We are the sum of the people we know, and in many ways, the people we don’t know. 

How we choose to spend our time, whether we stop to smell the roses, take things for granted, choose a college or major, choose a partner, or choose to be silent, can have a dramatic affect on future events and outcomes. 

Some choices determine if we are nice or mean.  Some choices determine if we save ourselves or save the world. 

Choices and decisions are emotionally charged.  Refusing to accept a cold hamburger served in a restaurant reveals character.  Wanting the Gold Medal more than anything else in life reveals character.  We make choices and decisions based on how much we love or hate a person or thing. 

Choices and decisions are not based purely on rational thought.  It’s unlikely an insane serial killer makes conscious decisions to kill people.  He is driven by other forces.  We also do things based on gut reaction.  We make choices intuitively.  We really can’t explain why, we just know it in our hearts or gut it’s the right thing to do.  We also get carried away emotionally.  We lose control and do stupid things.  These are not conscious decisions. 

We are all struggling for some kind of balance in our lives.  We want some kind of order.  We want things to make sense. 

There are many outside and/or external forces that guide or direct our choices and decisions.  Does the character believe in God?  Is the character a staunch Republican?  Will the character be ostracized by a group?  Is the character being forced to make a decision at the point of a gun? 

Choices are often based on this or that, or, this before that.  They are also made on the basis of how much of this or that. 

INCITING INCIDENT

 

Something happens.  What happens launches the film (or story).  It could be an explosion, a murder, a bet, an accident, an invasion, a strange occurrence, a mystery, two people meet, getting fired, getting hired, divorce, marriage, declaration of war, press conference, award ceremony, a race, a crime, a bust, an accusation, a threat, a natural disaster, a decision.

It is a life changing event.  Once the event occurs or a choice is made, the next important thing is what happens next.  The stakes are raised.  Something greater or worse is going to happen.  There is no going back.  The character(s) will change. 

The inciting incident sets the stage for the final climax.  Usually the final climax occurs when the protagonist is out of options, beaten down, or even near death.  This is a major turning point.  It’s when the hero gets or loses the desired goal.  The inciting incident placed the protagonist in conflict, the final climax resolves that conflict. 

The inciting incident creates tension, stress, anxiety, fear, or suspense.  The final climax brings resolution, usually a happy one:  boy wins girl n(race or war), world gets saved, monster is killed, killer is caught, mystery is solved, lost person is found.

OBSTACLES

 

Obstacles are:  impossible odds; loss of hope; failure; enemies; roadblocks; metaphorical roadblocks; mental roadblocks; administrative roadblocks; problem solving; puzzles; challenges.

Examples of obstacles:  getting out of prison; finding a killer; making a discovery; self-defense; defecting; getting home; finding love; finding a missing person; solving a crime; finding a cure; winning a game.

Obstacles are not random.  The obstacles a character overcomes must tell the story.

In overcoming obstacles there is growth:  weak to strong; hate to love; sad to happy; wrong to right; becoming a better person; lies into truth; evil into good; becoming a better father, worker, citizen, lover, statesman; follower into leader; gaining understanding.

Obstacles occur externally or internally.

External obstacles are based on the laws of physics:  an object acting on another object will create resistance.  A ball must fly through the air, fighting air and gravity.  A machine will run only as long as there is fuel or electricity, or until the parts wear out. 

In life there are things that move us forward and things that hold us back.  We embrace the things that move us forward–that get us from A to B.  We fight the things that hold us back. 

The very essence of film is based on movement.  And by all accounts, we are moving into the future.  The hands of a clock move forward. 

Twists on this are the turning of night into day or day into night, although it is also universally agreed that days are moving forward consecutively. 

Travels back in time must first overcome the obstacle of traveling into the past.  If the memory is the vehicle, then the story is a flashback.

Physical obstacles are usually harmful:  guns, diseases, accidents.  We never have to actually scale a wall to get where we’re going, unless that wall happens to be the Berlin or China wall.  We don’t scale buildings to get the job we want. 

Other physical obstacles include handicaps (blind, loss of limb, etc.).

Obstacles are more human than anything.  Someone is preventing us from reaching our goals, preventing us from being happy, or just otherwise trying to make our lives miserable–which is an affront to our happiness.

Bosses prevent us from climbing the ladder.  Lovers prevent us from doing things we want to do.  Parents are the ultimate determinants of do’s and don’ts. 

Something is stopping us from getting the things we want. 

Internal obstacles include morals that prevent us from getting what we want immorally.  Low self-esteem and other emotional handicaps prevent us from living more fulfilling lives. 

Conflicts are born out of what is considered right and wrong.  We want sex but religion forbids it.  We want a job but it means moving and spending less time with our loved ones.  Doctors and lawyers must finish school…and pay for it.

Politicians must overcome their own set of obstacles on the way to office.  They must balance opposing groups and views. 

Some obstacles are the problems we all face in ourselves and with others:  greed, selfishness, dominance.  These kinds of obstacles are not nearly as apparent as a gun in our face.  And, we have to deal with others who are facing the same challenges, driven by the same motivations and desires as we are. 

Two greedy people spell disaster.

Character building is essentially a line of good or evil.  We must overcome obstacles in ways that make us better persons.  Those are the protagonists.  Antagonists are not interested in being good people.  Antagonists are immoral or criminal.  However, antagonists do not necessarily have to be all evil.  They can be sympathetic characters.

So, morality is the shaping tool of good and bad.

Sometimes the lines of right and wrong are obscured.  Do the Arabs or Israeli’s have a right to the Gaza Strip?

PLOT

·        A progression of events that lead to a climax

·        An unfolding of events (that tell a story)

·        Unexpected twists and turns

·        Building suspense

·        One thing leads to another

·        Plot is what happens and what happens next.

·        A plot shows how a character moves from one scene to another. 

A plot lays out the obstacles a character must overcome to reach a desired goal.  A plot builds:  Obstacles build, conflict builds, suspense builds, and anticipation builds. 

 

In most stories, the plot builds to a final climax, usually where the protagonist is at his/her lowest point.  Overcoming the major and final obstacle is what determines the stories outcome and resolution.  A character becomes increasingly determined as the plot builds, giving it his/her all at the final moment of win or lose. 

A plot is a sequence of events, actions and decisions that happen within a context and within a set period of time.  A story maintains a focus:  a slice of life, a slice of history or a slice of time.  For instance, telling the entire story of a person’s life must be captured all within a 2-hour movie.  What to leave in and what to leave out, what to condense and what gets left to the imagination is the art of storytelling. 

There is a time lock in many stories: 48 hours to catch a killer before they kill again, destroy the meteorite before it hits earth, stop a lover from marrying the wrong person.

Plot is the layout of the story scene by scene.  A plot develops in a number of ways:  it reveals character (characters make choices), it builds through a series of obstacles and conflicts that lead to a climax followed by a resolution, it increases tension and builds suspense and it takes the audience on a journey. 

The journey is a character moving from place to place over a period of time in a struggle to overcome obstacles to reach a desired goal. 

A plot consists of a series of smaller conflicts that build to a major climax or crisis (the resolution of the main conflict).  The choice a character makes determines the outcome of the story (reaching the desired goal). 

The structure of a screenplay is based on pivotal points in the plot’s development following a logical order:  Set up location and tone, let audience know what is currently happening, introduce the hero (protagonist), learn about the hero’s goal, hero reacts to inciting incident (something new happens producing conflict), introduce the antagonist, learn the antagonist’s goal, provide a turning point (change of plans) at the end of Act 1, layout a series of increasingly complex and intense obstacles to overcome through Act 2 (stakes get higher), provide a turning point at the end of Act 2, take the hero to the lowest point leading to a crisis (in Act 3), solve the crisis in a final climax (the resolution) and show how the character has changed. 

LOGLINE

I’ve spent hours alone trying to write a logline.  Actually, it’s a log paragraph.  I don’t necessarily believe the selling and production of a script depends on how well written a logline is.  But, it is a teaser.  And I’m challenged to write the best logline possible because it tells in a very clear and concise manner what the story is about.  This is something I need to do before a script is written.  I need to know where a story is headed.  I need to know beginning, middle and end.  I need to know the central conflict, the climax and who the antagonist/protagonist are. 

The structure of a logline best follows the essential definition of a what a story is:  A flawed character overcoming obstacles to reach a desired goal.

Here’s one logline taken from an unknown book on screenwriting:  “A meek and alienated little boy discovers a stranded extraterrestrial and finds the courage to defy authorities to help the alien return to its home planet.”  — ET: Extraterrestrial.

References are made to the objective and subjective storylines.  For instance, the objective storyline of Rocky is about a boxer.  The subjective storyline is about the character of Rocky overcoming obstacles to reach a desired goal.  But obstacles are objective and subjective.  The objective obstacle is overcoming an opponent.  The subjective obstacle is overcoming low self-esteem. 

Because we can not see inside a character’s mind, the inner struggle must be revealed through external conflict.  In real life, an insane person could be sitting in a chair in an asylum with WW3 going on inside his head.  But the blank stare and a body that doesn’t move is not going to tell us what’s inside. 

In turn, we can see a cop chase a bad guy through a gun battle, car chase and all kinds of fantastic stuntwork.  But we know nothing about the cop or bad guy.  We need to care about the characters to care about what ever obstacles they overcome. 

Keywords fill out the logline.  We must know who the hero is, what happened, what the central conflict is (inner and outer obstacles), who the antagonist is, what’s at stake, and how the story resolves.  A logline can include the following:  Situation, complications, action, crisis, a hint at climax, a character’s transformation, production value (sex, greed, danger, humor, thrills, satisfaction) and genre.

Loglines are often used by DVD Clubs (like Columbia House) to entice a buyer.  Or they are used by TV Guide to entice a viewer.  More often than not a logline is a device to help the screenwriter see the story as clearly and simply as possible. 

Many loglines contain the names of stars where the stars becoming the selling device and not the character, theme, genre or story.  In terms of selling a screenplay, a logline works much in the same way a trailer works to entice an audience.  Sometimes trailers are better than the movies they advertise.  The same applies to a logline, synopsis or treatment.  A logline can also be a “pitch.”  A screenwriter “pitches” a story to a producer, actor or director.  A pitch can happen in an elevator or during a 15 minute appointment set up to hear the pitch. 

GENRES

Genres can generally be viewed in terms of the main conflict or central struggle.  For instance, a struggle against nature or supernatural forces, a struggle against new worlds, a struggle to find identity, a struggle for justice, a struggle to catch a criminal, a struggle against historical change, a struggle against society, a struggle against hate, a struggle to find/keep love, a struggle against montsters or demons, a struggle against technology, a struggle against morality, law or beliefs, a stuggle for survival.

Action
Adventure
Action/Adventure
Disaster
Comedy
Black Comedy
coming-of-Age
Crime (Detective, Cop, Courtroom, Gangster, Heist, Drugs, Street)
Thriller
Epic
Epic/Myth
Fantasy
Film Noir
Horror
Romance
Romantic Comedy
Science Fiction
Social Drama
Historical
Biographical
Buddy Film
Chick Flick
Art Film
Foreign Film
Independent Film
Musical
Western

TOOLS FOR DEVELOPMENT

 

An idea for a story can come from anywhere, usually an event:  something happens to someone, or someone is trying to reach a goal.

The Genre is not just a marketing ploy but also captures the essence of what the story is about and provides a framework for the telling of that story:  horror, sci-fi, comedy, drama, musical, western, thriller, action/adventure, love story (and various combinations and sub-genres).

A logline (log paragraph) tells what the story is about in 1-3 sentences.  “This is a story about cars” is not a logline.  “This is a story about cars that get blown up” is still not a log line, nor is it a story.  The logline must include the protagonist, the major conflict and the theme.

An outline usually takes the form of scene by scene (not shot by shot or camera angle by camera angle—shots and angles are only in a director’s shooting script).

A synopsis is more than a logline, usually 1-10 pages or so.

A treatment is an elaborate telling of the story in narrative form, up to 60 pages long.  A treatment can be a short story.  It is a visual telling of the story in narrative form with dialog and scene divisions removed. 

A screenplay traditionally has a 3-act structure equating beginning, middle, and end.  It might have more acts depending on sub-plots.  There is an inciting incident (something happens) which produces a series of conflicts leading to a main conflict and the resolve of that conflict.  Once something happens to a character, there is no turning back.  The character must overcome a series of obstacles to reach a desired goal. 

Movies are generally 2 hours long, with one page of a script representing one minute of screen time (120 pages). 

What is the difference between a movie, a screenplay, a story, a theme, a premise and a plot?  What is a hook?  What is an idea?  What is a concept?  What is the difference between an idea and a concept?  How is concept different from theme or premise?

A story consists of structure, time, place (or space), a journey, theme, premise, style, Protagonist, Antagonist, supporting characters, scenes (a series of events or plot points), acts, sets, locations, lighting, mood, genre, exposition, music, camera angles, beats, vignettes, dialog, action, conflict, climax and resolution.  All of these elements are storytelling devices. 

There are different kinds of stories:  epic, allegory, parody, satire, children’s.

AUDIENCE

·        Who is the target audience?

·        How old are they?

·        What are they interested in?

·        Will they be desperate to know what happens?

·        What topics and issues matter to everyday people?  Where do pirates, ghosts and aliens fit into this?

·        Audiences interpret in many different ways.

·        Audiences identify, sympathize and empathize.  They also cheer and boo.

·        What is a wide audience compared to a narrow audience?

·        Audiences don’t necessarily relate to the character but to the heart of a character (a sympathetic bad guy).

WHERE STORIES COME FROM

·        Novels (Horse Whisperer, Silence of the Lambs)

·        Short stories

·        News stories

·        Children’s books (Harry Potter)

·        Autobiographies

·        Documentaries

·        Non-fiction

·        Military (Top Gun, the Hunt for Red October)

·        Comic books (Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Men in Black)

·        Bubblegum cards (Mars Attacks!)

·        Word-of-mouth

·        Radio shows (The Shadow, War of the Worlds—also from a novel)

·        TV series (Star Trek, the Brady Bunch, Mission Impossible)

·        Newspaper comics

·        Cartoons (Flintstones)

·        Computer games (Rocketeer, Mario Bros)

·        TV Comedy (Blues Brothers, Wayne’s World)

·        Toys (Masters of the Universe)

·        Poems (Jabberwocky)

·        Plays (The Crucible, Romeo and Juliet, A Few Good Men)

·        Myths (Clash of the Titans, Hercules)

·        Songs/albums (Tommy, The Wall, Sea of Love)

·        Legends (Excalibur)

·        Campfire stories (Halloween)

·        Dreams (Eraserhead)

·        Mythical beasts (Dragonheart, Godzilla, King Kong)

·        Historical events (Titanic, Braveheart)

·        Real people (Nixon, Catch Me If You Can, Mommy Dearest)

War, social events, disasters, famous crimes, famous criminals, doctors, lawyers, politicians, inventors, misfits, scientific discoveries, geographical discoveries, explorers, athletes, daredevils