Title: Lecture 10: Keeping the Audience in the Story
1Lecture 10Keeping the Audience in the Story
Psycho (1971) Screenplay by Joseph Stefano, based
on the novel by Robert Bloch
- Professor Christopher Bradley
2Previous Lesson
- Complications
- Complexity on Three Levels
- Inner Conflict
- Personal Conflict
- Extra-Personal Conflict
The Insider (1999) Screenplay by Erik Roth
Michael Mann Based on an Article by Marie Brenner
3Previous Lesson (Continued)
- Reversals
- In Scenes
- In Sequences
- In Acts
- Assignments
Fargo (1999) Screenplay by Joel Coen Ethan Coen
4This Lesson
- Maintaining Interest
- The Center of Good
- Curiosity and Concern
- Strategies
- Mystery
- Suspense
- Dramatic Irony
Wait Until Dark (1976) Screenplay by Robert
Carrington and Jane Howard Carrington, based on
the play by Frederick Knott
5This Lesson (Continued)
- Storytelling Challenges
- Surprise
- Strict Rules for Using
- Coincidence
- Comedic Design
- Point of View
- Avoiding Melodrama
- Logic Holes
- Assignments
Wait Until Dark (1976) Screenplay by Robert
Carrington and Jane Howard Carrington, based on
the play by Frederick Knott
6Maintaining Interest
Central Station (1998) Screenplay by Marcos
Bernstein and Jaoa Emanuel Carneiro, based on a
story by Walter Salles
Lesson 10 Part I
7The Center of Good
- The Center of Good is not necessarily a good
person. - This character can be deeply flawed, even
criminal, but the audience must identify with him
or her.
Central Station (1998) Screenplay by Marcos
Bernstein and Jaoa Emanuel Carneiro, based on a
story by Walter Salles
8Curiosity and Concern
- Raising questions in the minds of your audience
- Give your audience characters to care about!
- Goals
- A Moral Center
The Godfather (1972) Screenplay by Mario Puzo
and Francis Ford Coppola
9Strategies
- Mystery
- The audience knows less than the characters
- Closed Mystery
- Open Mystery
Donnie Darko (2001) Screenplay by Richard Kelly
10Strategies (2)
- Suspense
- The audience and characters know the same
information
Rear Window (1954) Screenplay by John Michael
Hayes, based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich
11Strategies (3)
- Dramatic Irony
- The audience knows more than the characters
Fatal Attraction (1987) Screenplay by James
Dearden
12Strategies (4)
- Pause the lecture now and watch the clip from
The Thing, keeping in mind McKees description of
Suspense, where the audience and characters share
the same information.
The Thing (1982) Screenplay by Bill Lancaster,
based on a story by John W. Campbell
13Storytelling Challenges
Gorillas in the Mist (1988) Screenplay by Anna
Hamilton Phelan Based on a story by Anna
Hamilton Phelan and Ted Murphy
Lesson 10 Part II
13
14Surprise
- Not what the audience expected to happen.
- The Color Purple
- Arthur
- Not how the audience expected it to happen.
- The Graduate
- Whats Up, Doc?
The Color Purple (1985) Screenplay by Menno
Meyjes Based on the novel by Alice Walker
14
15Surprise (2)
- Cheap Surprise
- Not integrated into story
- Detracts
- TRUE Surprise
- Integrated
- Deepens involvement
The Shining (1980) Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick
Diane Johnson Based on the novel by Stephen King
15
16Surprise (3)
- Pause the lecture and watch the clip from the
film Carrie. Keep in mind what constitutes true
surprise and cheap surprise.
Carrie (1980) Screenplay by Lawrence D.
Cohen Based on the novel by Stephen King
16
17Coincidence
- Remember the principle of Aesthetic Emotion.
Coincidence is real, but inherently meaningless.
It can be given transformative meaning in
narrative.
Carrie (1976) Screenplay by Lawrence D.
Cohen Based on the novel by Stephen King
17
18Coincidence (Continued)
- Bring in coincidence early
- No Deus ex Machina
- One major coincidence per screenplay (with some
exceptions)
Whats Up, Doc? (1972) Screenplay by Lawrence D.
Cohen Based on the novel by Stephen King
18
19Comedic Design
- The best comedies come, strangely, from anger.
- Comedy is mentally slipping on a banana peel.
Theres Something About Mary (1998) Screenplay by
Ed Dector John J. Strauss and Peter Farrelly
Bobby Farrelly
19
20Point of View
- Think of the story through the eyes of your
protagonist. - A child protagonist will see the world
differently than a superhero protagonist. - Switching points of view can lead to
unintentional comedy. This is one of the
problems with films such as Plan 9 From Outer
Space and Mommie Dearest.
21Adaptation
- Remember, screenwriting is its own art and
craft. Its narrative, but its different from
playwriting, novel-writing, documentary or
biography. What works in one will not likely
work in a screenplay.
22Adaptation (2)
- Novels are the champion of inner conflict. In a
screen adaptation, there must be a character with
whom your protagonist externalizes that inner
conflict. - Theatre pieces are almost pure dialog. The
omniscience of the camera means that most things
dont need to be said, they are seen. Film is
visual. - Biographies are real. Narrative takes the real
and creates meaning with it.
23Adaptation (3)
- To do an effective adaptation, you need
- Research
- To re-think the story events to be visual and
cinematic, rather than internal or language-based
Wise Blood (1979) Screenplay by Benedict
Fitzgerald Michael Fitzgerald Based on the
novel by Flannery OConnor
24Avoiding Melodrama
- Make sure the actions of your characters are
thoroughly, believably motivated. You want huge
conflict, huge drama, but it must be about
something. HIGH STAKES.
Mommie Dearest (1975) Screenplay by Robert
Getchel and Tracy Hotchner and Frank Perry and
Frank Yablans Based on the book by Christina
Crawford
25Logic Holes
- Forging Links
- Moving Quickly
- Admit the Illogic
The Wizard of Oz (1939) Screenplay by Noel
Langley and Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan
Woolf
26Assignments
The Shining (1980) Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick
Diane Johnson Based on the novel by Stephen King
Lesson 10 Part III
27Reading
- Read Chapter 6 in Story, Problems and
Solutions. - Do the Reading Review to be sure youre clear on
what youve read!
28E-Board Post
- Post one example each of both Surprise and
Suspense in a film you know well.
28
29Your First 10 Pages
- Remember! You should be working on this now!
29
30End of Lecture 10
True Lies (1994) Screenplay by Claude Zidi and
Simon Michael and Didier Kaminka
- Next Lecture
- Its What They Dont Know!