Lecture 15: How do I Develop a Longer Script?

1
Lecture 15 How do I Develop a Longer Script?
Jaws (1975) Written by
Peter Benchley (novel and screenplay) and Carl
Gottlieb (screenplay)

• Professor Michael Green

2
Previous Lesson

• Keeping on Track
• Approaching Revision
• Writing Exercise 13

Jaws (1975)
3
This Lesson

• Approaching the Feature Length Script
• Jaws Act I
• Jaws Act II
• Jaws Act III
• E-board

Jaws (1975)
4
Approaching the Feature Length Script
Jaws (1975)

• Lesson 15 Part I

5
Feature vs. Short

• As we have seen, the feature differs from the
  short in several important ways including
• Thematic material
• Audience sympathy with the protagonist
• Number of subplots
• Nature of the antagonist
• Length and complexity of the set-up
• However, as we have also seen, most of the same
  elements of storytelling exist in both.

6
Act I The Set Up

• Inciting Incident
• Problem and sub-problem (related to conflict and
  theme)
• Main Exposition
• Visual interest
• Raise questions/be compelling
• Open up a world at least slightly different than
  ours

Jaws (1975)
7
Act II Development

• Momentum and Focus
• Accelerating Conflict (Cause and Effect)
• The Midpoint
• Reversals
• Obstacles/Complications
• Jeopardy/the Dreadful Alternative

Jaws (1975)
8
Act II Development (Continued)

• Suspense
• Surprise
• A Flawed Protagonist
• A Strong Antagonist
• The Pseudo-solution

Jaws (1975)
9
Act III The Pay Off

• Revelation
• Crisis
• Climax
• Change and Choice
• Resolution

Jaws (1975)
10
Jaws

• Jaws is a famous production that highlights both
  the problems that arise during the creative
  process of filmmaking as well as the innovation
  necessary to overcome them.
• Jaws was a watershed moment in the history of
  film. Along with Star Wars, it is credited with
  ushering in the era of the blockbuster (which we
  are still in). It changed the way that films are
  distributed and exhibited.

11
The Production of Jaws

• Based on a bestseller by Peter Benchley
• Rights acquired by producers Richard Zanuck and
  David Brown
• Spielberg tapped as director
• His second feature film after The Sugarland
  Express and the TV film Duel

12
Problems

• The film was pushed into production early
• It was a technical nightmare
• The shark almost never worked
• Slow production with a lot of pressure from the
  studios to finish it.

13
Jaws Act I
Jaws (1975)

• Lesson 15 Part II

14
The Inciting Incident

• The inciting incident in Jaws is near the movies
  opening when the young girl goes out swimming and
  is attacked.
• After this point, balance cannot be restored to
  the community until the problem set in play by
  the inciting incident is solved.
• Pause the lecture and watch Clip 1.

15
The Inciting Incident (Formatted)

• EXT CHRISSIE IN THE WATER
• Her expression freezes. The water-bulge is
  racing towards her. The first bump jolts her
  upright, out of the water to her hips. She
  reaches under water to touch her leg. Whatever
  she feels makes her open her mouth to scream, but
  she is slammed again, hard, whipped into an arc
  of about eight feet, up and down, submerging her
  down to her open mouth, choking off any scream
  she might try to make. Another jolt to her body,
  driving her under so that only her hair swirls on
  the surface. Then it too is sucked below in a
  final and terrible jerking motion. HOLD on the
  eddies and swirls until we're sure it's all over.

16
The Problem and Sub-problem

• The problem in Jaws is that a great white shark
  has staked a feeding claim off the coast of a
  summer resort island and is eating swimmers.
• The sub-problem is that the town selectmen and
  the mayor insist that the beaches stay open even
  though people are being killed.

17
Problems, Conflict and Theme

• The problems are clearly related to the conflict.
  The protagonists (Chief Brody and Matt Hooper)
  must try to eliminate the danger of the shark.
  In pursuing this goal, they come into conflict
  with the mayor and the town selectman and with
  the shark itself.
• The problems are also related to theme
• Man vs. nature
• Wealth vs. the middle and working class

18
The Main Exposition

• There is a great deal of exposition in the first
  act. Among other things we learn
• About Chief Brody and his family significantly,
  we learn early on that they are outsiders.
• About the character of Amity, the values of its
  people, and how it sustains its economy.
• About sharks and what they are capable of.
• About Quint and what he is willing to do.
• About Hooper and how he can help.

19
Visual Interest

• Even though Jaws has a lot of dialogue, the
  screenplay allows for much of the story to be
  told in actions and images.
• There are frightening scenes on the ocean and the
  beach that work mostly because of the way action,
  characters, images and location interact with
  little dialogue.
• The opening scene
• The scene with the two fisherman and the roast

20
Raising Questions

• The movie raises a number of questions in the
  first act to keep the audience interested
• What is the nature of the shark and how dangerous
  is it?
• How much more damage/terror will it perpetrate?
• Will it be caught and how?
• Will Chief Brody triumph over the corrupt mayor?
• Will Chief Brody conquer his fears/inadequacies
  and be able to act to solve the problem?

21
Opening Up a Different World

• Though Amity bears resemblance to beach towns of
  the time (the movie was filmed in Marthas
  Vineyard), it is not a real place.
• It is strangely self-contained despite the
  problems it is having, it has very little contact
  with the outside world.
• The shark problem is one that few of us would
  ever have to deal with.
• Specific, unique characters.

22
Jaws Act II
Jaws (1975)
Lesson 15 Part III
23
Momentum and Focus

• Maintaining the momentum in a feature-length
  screenplay is clearly more difficult than
  maintaining it in a short.
• The key is developing lots of conflict, and
  inventing enough complications, obstacles,
  triumphs and setbacks for your protagonist
  usually about 60 pages worth in Act II.
• Maintaining the momentum depends on the strength
  of the set-up, problem and goals.

24
Accelerating Conflict

• Remember, the acceleration of conflict works on a
  cause and effect basis your protagonist takes
  action, meets reaction, and vice-versa throughout
  the script.
• In Jaws, Brody is fighting on two fronts, against
  the shark and against the mayor.
• Up until the midpoint, there are a series of
  actions and reactions as Brody fights both
  antagonists with mixed success.

25
The Midpoint

• Finally, at the midpoint, Brody triumphs over the
  Mayor, convincing him to hire Quint to kill the
  shark (this comes almost exactly at the actual
  midpoint of the film, about 62 minutes in).
• The second half of Act II now focuses on the
  battle against the shark though the rest of the
  act is also developing another adversary for
  Brody and Hooper in Quint, who they will face in
  Act III.

26
Reversals

• The midpoint, when Brody triumphs over the Mayor,
  is one reversal.
• Other reversals come at the end of acts.
• At the end of Act I, a shark is caught that turns
  out not to be the real shark and Brodys resolve
  is strengthened when he is blamed for the childs
  death.
• At the end of Act II, the shark attacks them.
• At the end of Act III, Brody kills the shark.

27
Obstacles and Complications

• Chief Brody, Hooper, and later Quint face a
  number of obstacles and complications as they
  pursue their goals, including
• The beaches being re-opened
• Lack of cooperation and obfuscation by the mayor,
  selectman, coroner, citizens of Amity
• Ignorance/lack of knowledge
• A shark thats bigger than previously thought
• Quints madness
• Tools and weapons that dont work

28
Jeopardy and the Dreadful Alternative

• The protagonists (and their families) are put
  into jeopardy a number of times as they work to
  achieve their goal usually as a result of
  getting into a position where they might be
  killed by the shark, though Chief Brodys job is
  also in jeopardy.
• The dreadful alternative to not killing the shark
  is that the protagonists and people close to them
  may be killed if they dont.

29
Suspense

• Jaws is very suspenseful because for most of the
  film the audience never knows when the shark will
  attack or how dangerous it is.
• Spielberg conceals the shark for as long as
  possible to maintain suspense. Instead of showing
  it we hear about it, see the results of its
  attacks, look at pictures from books and hear
  stories about sharks.
• He also uses humor to break and catch us off
  guard.
• Pause the lecture and watch Clip 2.

30
Surprise

• A number of surprises in Jaws keep the audience
  interested and guessing.
• A girl gets killed on a nighttime swim.
• The mayor insists on keeping the beaches open.
• The woman whose son dies blames Brody.
• The panic on the 4th of July results from a
  prank.
• The shark then shows up in the estuary where
  Brodys son is.
• Quint reveals that he was on the Indianapolis.
• Quint busts up the radio/ruins the engine.
• Hooper is alive at the end.

31
A Flawed Protagonist

• Chief Brody is a classic flawed protagonist. The
  screenplay gives him a number of weaknesses and
  shortcomings including
• His fear of water
• His naiveté about the ways of the town
• His ignorance about everything nautical
• His ignorance about sharks
• His mistakes in giving into the town selectman

32
A Strong Antagonist

• Brody does not face a strong antagonist in a
  classical sense, a human foe that matches him
  step for step, is equally powerful, and has
  clearly conflicting goals.
• However, he does face three antagonists at
  different points in the film the shark, the
  Mayor and Quint.

33
The Pseudo-Solution

• The pseudo-solution in Jaws comes near the
  midpoint, when Brody is given the resources to
  make the beach safe.
• However, when this fails (the shark throws
  everybody off by feeding in the estuary) the
  protagonist must make the choice that leads to
  the real solution, in this case, hiring Quint to
  kill the shark.
• On the boat, a number of pseudo-solutions are
  tried before the solution at the climax.

34
Jaws Act III
Jaws (1975)
Lesson 15 Part IV
35
Revelation

• Jaws is a relatively simple story in terms of
  character psychology and the revelations
  generally dont turn on insight.
• However, there are a number of minor revelations
  in Jaws and one major one.
• Minor revelations include the knowledge that the
  girl was attacked by a shark, that the caught
  shark is not the real shark that the real shark
  is bigger than realized etc.

36
Revelation (Continued)

• The major revelation comes when Quint reveals
  that he was on the Indianapolis.
• Exposition
• This explains his behavior and leads to another
  revelation that the three men are in trouble
  and on their own.
• Consequences

37
Crisis

• There are a number of crises in Jaws, which force
  the characters to take action.
• The main crisis occurs when the conflict
  intensifies and increases, causing the action to
  rise for the last time. The main crisis leads to
  the films climax.
• The main crisis happens early in Act III, when
  the men are stranded on a sinking boat and the
  shark is now actively attacking them.
• Pause the lecture and watch Clip 3.

38
Climax

• The climax is the highest, most exciting point in
  the drama, where the conflict must finally be
  resolved, putting the world of the movie back
  into balance.
• In Jaws, the climax comes when Quint is eaten,
  the ship is almost completely sunk and Brody
  blows up the shark.
• Notice how the solution to the problem is
  foreshadowed earlier in the film.
• Pause the lecture and watch Clip 4

39
Change and Choice

• Again, Jaws is not psychologically complex and
  the protagonist does not make a major choice that
  defines and changes him.
• However, Brody does make a series of smaller
  choices along the way that show him to be a
  brave, determined man who is willing to confront
  his fears for the common good.

39
40
Resolution

• Jaws has a very short resolution the shark is
  killed and Brody and Hooper will evidently
  survive to bring the happy news to Amity (unless
  they are eaten by another shark on the way to
  shore).
• The resolution is only a minute or so long the
  screenwriter realizes that tying up loose ends
  involving the characters and the town will be
  ultimately anti-climatic.

40
41
E-Board
Jaws (1975)
Lesson 13 Part IV
42
E-Board Post 1

• How are the themes of Jaws that I discussed
  earlier man vs. nature and wealth vs. the
  middle and working class manifested in the
  film? Are there other themes present that I
  didnt mention?

42
43
E-Board Post 2

• Discuss one or two of your ideas for a full
  length screenplay and your plan for keeping focus
  and momentum as you write it.

43
44
End of Lecture 15

• Congratulations, youve finished the course!