tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84497885106488059682024-03-04T03:03:57.173-08:00GENRE HACKSA blog about screenwriting active from 2008 to 2017, but it is currently used in conjunction with with classes taught at The School of Cinematic Arts at USC.
For the current projects of "Breckenridge Hood," please visit UNDERGRIDS.COM.Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-42414466511797139162020-08-07T21:22:00.002-07:002020-08-07T21:22:33.318-07:00416 Lecture Class <p> This Fall I will be teaching "Advanced Motion Picture Script Analysis" to a class of 215 students entirely online. If you are a student in my class, check out some of the articles I've written over the years:</p><p><a href="https://www.quora.com/Whats-it-like-to-have-your-film-flop-at-the-box-office" target="_blank">What's It Like When Your Film Flops At The Box Office</a></p><p><a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-not-to-pitch-to-studio.html">How NOT to Pitch to a Studio</a></p><p><a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2016/08/writing-is-rewriting-interview-with.html">Writing is Rewriting: Interview With Jack Epps </a></p><p><a href="https://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-dinner-with-marcus.html">My Dinner With Marcus</a></p><p>See you on Zoom.</p><p>- Breckenridge Hood</p>Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-80377653623234783922019-10-12T12:16:00.001-07:002020-01-08T10:37:36.820-08:00Genre Hacks Is Active...However, it is written in conjunction with the classes I teach at USC and is mainly for those students. In the Spring of 2020 I will be teaching "Writing the Short Script" and "Advanced Rewriting The Feature Script." I'm using this a chance to revise articles that I have already written, as well as to write specifically about teaching filmmaking.<br />
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So in a way, this blog has shifted from "How to Write a Screenplay" to "How to Teach Screenwriting." If it is helpful to you in any way, please email me at seanbhood@gmail.com.Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-47874676567711499202017-09-27T13:32:00.001-07:002017-09-27T13:32:53.464-07:00Writing The Short Film - Week Four (And Five)This article follows, week by week, the course I teach at USC's School of Cinematic Arts called Writing The Short Script. You may want to check out previous weeks (click on):<br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-one.html"><br /></a>
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-one.html">WEEK ONE</a><br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-two.html">WEEK TWO</a><br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/09/writing-short-film-week-three.html">WEEK THREE</a><br />
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In week four (and five) of "Writing The Short Script" students have started writing short scripts based on material generated from the exercises. As an example, take a quick read of one student's first draft, by clicking the link: <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2017/09/week-four-student-script.html">Pencil People</a>.</div>
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The writer developed an idea from the earlier "Memory" exercise, in which she wrote about playing with colored pencils as a child, pretending the pencils were people.<br />
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Notice how she establishes a clear protagonist who <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/want-versus-need.html">WANTS</a> something. Then she builds the tension on the playground as this protagonist has trouble getting it (recall our definition of <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-one.html">STORY</a>.) Notice how the pencil-play on pages 1-2 is a scene of <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/preparation-aftermath.html">PREPARATION</a>, and how the ending on page 4 prolongs a moment of heartbreaking <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/preparation-aftermath.html">AFTERMATH</a>. The pencil people scene <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/plant-pay-off.html">PLANTS</a> an expectation/hope as Tobi (the pencil) chooses Tracy. The playground scene <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/plant-pay-off.html">PAYS OFF</a> that moment as Tobi (the real boy) chooses Ada.<br />
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In general, the point of this exercise is to take a vivid and unique memory and build a short script around it that plays with the concepts we've been talking about in class. Effective short scripts are usually built around one climactic moment (like Tobi's Choice,) with all the supporting beats before and after heightening that single moment's dramatic (or comic, or frightening) impact.<br />
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Now that the writer has done the first draft, if she wanted to develop the project further and shoot it, we could give her more feedback. We might suggest she revise the script to make sure that it will be clear to the audience that the Brown Pencil is Ada and the Yellow Pencil is Tobi. We might suggest ways of shooting the playground scene so that it feels like we are experiencing it from Tracy's point of view.<br />
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<u>Always, always, always</u> get feedback on your script and revise before shooting. You can revise a script a dozen times, but you usually only get to shoot once.<br />
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Character</h2>
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Continuing with screenwriting terms, in week five we discussed "character." There often isn't a lot of time for complex characterization in short films. There are no long "character arcs" or deep explorations of backstory. None the less, there are a number things we can consider to keep our characters from becoming one-dimensional and boring.<br />
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1. <b>Make them specific. </b>Imagine your characters not just as a DOPEY BOY or HOT GIRL. Visualize the little details of appearance, dress, attitude, speech and behavior (especially when under pressure) that makes them <i>uniquely</i> themselves. Often all that is needed is a few choice details and behaviors to imply a complex personality.<br />
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2. <b>Make them pertinent</b>. Ask yourself, "<b>Why them?</b>" Why is this character the perfect person (the funniest/most interesting/most ironic/most dramatic) to experience the ordeal of the story? Since you can pick anybody, choose the person whose specific characteristics make the events dramatically, comically, or terrifyingly acute.<br />
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3. <b>What can we SEE? </b>Specific details that reveal character have to be obvious to the viewer. They have to be things we can see or hear... and understand in an instant.<br />
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4. <b>Choose your best</b>. If you could only pick <u>three</u> details to reveal to us everything we need to know about this character in order for the story to have the greatest emotional impact, what would they be? As per 1-3, they should be specific, pertinent, and visible. In a short film, you are likely not to have time for more detail and depth than that.<br />
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Furthermore, for a reader/viewer to truly empathize with a character, we have to have a sense of his or her wants, needs, and motives. In other words, we have to have a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind">Theory Of Mind</a> about them. We have to sense what they are thinking and feeling, moment by moment, as they struggle towards some sort of objective.<br />
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If we have no idea what a character is doing or why, we are liable to lose interest.<br />
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Short Films Of The Week</h2>
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There are several problems with many of the short films I have shared on this blog so far. Popular shorts on the web tend to be dialogue-driven comedies with a twist ending, and they are often not particularly cinematic. Several students pointed out that the setup-punchline structure gets old... very fast. Since my goal is to help my students develop their craft and expand their vision as filmmakers (not just help them make a popular short,) many of the films I'll explore in upcoming weeks will move beyond what has gone viral on youtube.<br />
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This week, I'd thought I'd stress visual storytelling without dialogue. Some of the best short films ever produced were filmed in the silent era. So this week I am suggesting you watch <u>at least one</u> of three classic SILENT shorts. They are...<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj2Kno5jTEo">Ménilmontant</a> (Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926)</h3>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIgrpFCmK6I"></a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIgrpFCmK6I">Un Chien Andalou</a> (Salvidor Dali and Luis Buñuel, 1929)</h3>
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My guess is that you have not seen at least one of these three, and every serious filmmaker should study all of them.</div>
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Short Film Scripts</h2>
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By Week Five, students started writing their short scripts for a project that they will <u>actually shoot</u>. The variety of subject matter, from narrative films to experimental, from comedy to drama, was very encouraging. Some examples of first drafts (and there will, of course, be revisions) include <a href="https://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2017/09/week-five-student-script.html">American Fried Rice</a> and <a href="https://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2017/09/backup-week-five-student-script-2.html">Unfinished Image</a>.<br />
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In <a href="https://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2017/09/week-five-student-script.html">American Fried Rice</a>, notice the use of atmosphere and environmental detail to give us a sense of the protagonist entering a new world. Notice how the title and the opening image are paid off in the climax. This short a good example of how <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/plant-pay-off.html">PLANT and PAYOFF</a> can be used to deepen and explore <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/theme.html">THEME</a>.<br />
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In <a href="https://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2017/09/backup-week-five-student-script-2.html">Unfinished Image</a>, notice how the protagonist's <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/want-versus-need.html">WANTS and NEEDS</a> are explored, and how sexual tension (See Week One) is heightened entirely without dialogue. Characterization is achieved with just behavior and context. One of the suggestions I had for this script was for the writer to explore the final <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/preparation-aftermath.html">AFTERMATH</a> moment a bit more deeply.<br />
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Since many of you are going to want to put music in your films, check out:</div>
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2011/04/filmmakers-and-music-rights.html"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2011/04/filmmakers-and-music-rights.html">Filmmakers and Music Rights</a></div>
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Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-69889904595312816582017-09-07T15:08:00.001-07:002017-09-27T16:59:18.094-07:00Writing The Short Film - Week Three<div style="text-align: left;">
Short films are not mini-features, and some of the screenwriting tools we associate with features - <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/story-structure.html">Three Act Structure</a>, <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/05/blake-snyders-beat-sheet.html">Save The Cat Beat Sheets</a> - don't necessarily apply to pieces that are 2-7 minutes in length. However, there are other tools that are powerful and useful - at any running time - for heightening emotional impact as well as creating unity and cohesion.</div>
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In Week Three of "Writing The Short Film" at USC's <a href="http://cinema.usc.edu/writing/index.cfm">John Wells Division of Writing for Film and Television</a> (that's our new name btw), students are writing short scripts around the prompt, "Preparation for a Date or Significant Event." The idea is to explore three concepts:<br />
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Plant and Payoff</h2>
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In <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tools-Screenwriting-Writers-Elements-Screenplay/dp/0312119089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504630607&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Tools+of+Screenwriting">The Tools of Screenwriting</a>, </i>David Howard writes, "A 'plant' is a preparatory device that helps to weave the fabric of the story together. It can be a line of dialogue, a character's gesture, a mannerism, a prop, a costume, or a combination. Later in the movie, when the circumstances have changed, there is a "payoff" in which this line, gesture, prop, whatever, is repeated and <i>takes on a new meaning</i>."<br />
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As you write short scripts, you should look for opportunities to introduce an object/dialogue/activity and then bring it back later in a different context, infusing it with new a meaning, one that tells us s<i>omething essential has changed</i> for the characters. Some examples...</div>
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<b>An object/prop plant and pay-off:</b> In <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375063/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Sideways</a>, a wine bottle dated back to 1961 is introduced as one of Miles’ most prized possessions. He looks forward to drinking this wine at a special occasion. Later in the movie, after he has been to his ex-wife’s wedding and realized she will not get back with him, Miles ends up drinking this prized wine in a McDonalds by himself, from a cheap plastic cup.<br />
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In an example from the short film we saw in <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-one.html">Week One</a>, objects are "planted" in <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epuTZigxUY8&t=5s">The Lunch Date</a> - </i>the shopping bag and the boxed salad - both of which are possessions that the old woman is worried might be stolen by homeless men. Near the end, both the shopping bag and the salad are "paid off" creating a new meaning and an emotional punch.<br />
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<b>Dialogue plant and pay-off:</b> In <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/?ref_=nv_sr_1">300</a>, before raping Queen Gorgo, Theron says: “This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I am not your King.” Near the end of the movie, Gorgo speaks the same words back to him as she thrusts a knife into his chest: “This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I am not your Queen.”<br />
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By way of example in a short film, here is "A Man Walks Into A Bar." Notice how the film is structured around two conversations, one before an event and one after that event. Notice how the lines of dialogue in the first half have one meaning and context. Then notice how they come up again in the second half with a different context and meaning.<br />
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Preparation and Aftermath</h2>
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In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Screenwriting-Sequence-Approach-Paul-Gulino/dp/0826415687/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504631165&sr=1-1&keywords=screenwriting+the+sequence+approach">Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach</a>, Paul Gulino calls a scene of Preparation "an important tool that can greatly enrich an audience's experience of a film...which is explicitly designed to create an expectation in the audience - usually Hope and Fear (see <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-two.html">Week Two</a> and the definition of Tension)...These are scenes that can often be cut without affecting the plot, but they greatly enhance the emotional impact" of an important event in a film. </div>
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Later, Gulino writes that a scene of Aftermath "provides punctuation in the story, lending emphasis to certain important moments. They inevitably follow emotionally charged scenes, and are usually characterized by little or no dialogue or activity, and are heavily atmospheric, often enhanced with music."<br />
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A famous screenwriting saying goes: “Tell your audience you’re going to do something and, afterward, tell them how you did it.” </div>
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Preparation could be anything from the planning before a heist to an athlete practicing to the point of exhaustion before a big match. In these cases, the Aftermath scenes might be the criminals celebrating a successful caper, or the athlete facing the disappointment of a loss.<br />
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In general, we don’t want to jump right into an important event; we want to be with our characters as they plan, worry, dread, predict, avoid, and eagerly await what is coming. And afterward, we want to see how much this important event has changed them or their surroundings. Often the audience needs a moment to "take in" what has happened and to understand the consequences. </div>
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So, scenes of Preparation heighten the Tension by triggering Hope and Fear in the audience as they imagine a future event going well or going badly. Scenes of Aftermath dissolve tension as the audience catches their breath, and comes to terms with an event that may have unfolded in a way they didn't anticipate.</div>
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The long briefing for the Osama Bin Ladin raid in <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790885/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Zero Dark Thirty</a></i> is an example of a Preparation scene. The somewhat muted celebration after the team comes from the operation is an example of an Aftermath scene. In <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504320/?ref_=nv_sr_1"><i>The</i> <i>King’s Speech</i></a>, King George and Logue warming up to the climactic speech is a Preparation scene. The uproarious success of the speech as the crowds salute King George is an Aftermath scene.<br />
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In short films, there is often only a single "event" that occurs near the end of the story. Most of their running time is spent building anticipation with scenes of Preparation for that single coming event. Here is one example, in which a man asks his friend to do something for him, and the short builds more and more tension as the time comes for the friend to actually do it. The last comic bits of the piece surround the unexpected aftermath.<br />
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In a longer example, the short film <a href="https://vimeo.com/album/3846337/video/152339147">First Match</a>, notice the multiple scenes of preparation leading up to a girl's first wrestling match. Notice how the final scenes of Aftermath are handled with minimal dialogue and thick atmosphere. </div>
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Repetition with Variation</h2>
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Many of my students this semester have experience in the arts: music, painting, architecture, dance, and so on. In all the arts, establishing a pattern (a melody, a rhythm, a set of movements, and so on) creates a set of expectations in the audience. As that pattern repeats itself, the variations can create surprise, delight, shock, and further expectation for the next cycle.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M C Escher</td></tr>
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The same is true of narrative storytelling. In this short film, "Black Hole," a man reaches into a hole <u>over and over again</u>, with various intentions, various results, and an ultimate consequence.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/maGQKNiF8-A/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/maGQKNiF8-A?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Another one to watch for Repetition with Variation is <a href="https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2017/03/12/standby/">Standby</a> by writer/director Charlotte Regan. The four minute short is a series of scenes that all take place in the front of the same police car - essentially the same shot repeated again and again over time to explore the friendship between two police officers.<br />
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Next week I'll be lecturing about Character, specifically how to create and establish compelling characters in a limited time frame. Please respond in the comments if you have questions or suggestions! For the previous classes, check out:<br />
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-one.html">Writing The Short Film - Week One</a><br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-two.html">Writing The Short Film - Week Two</a><br />
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And the subsequent classes...<br />
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/09/writing-short-film-week-four-and-five.html">Writing The Short Film - Week Four</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-Kop7pXJ-pqzPUlwXUecdz728Q3QaQvQ-ED1_Q84KGmlajdjFzFbRGHkqd_vNde59xdF7GKAXFgx9EPif02w8sBP7rb01FjlygqdDW5JxwscIdgDiQMu_mproacbi4oA8ENc1zo4qosV/s1600/GenreHacksBanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="800" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-Kop7pXJ-pqzPUlwXUecdz728Q3QaQvQ-ED1_Q84KGmlajdjFzFbRGHkqd_vNde59xdF7GKAXFgx9EPif02w8sBP7rb01FjlygqdDW5JxwscIdgDiQMu_mproacbi4oA8ENc1zo4qosV/s320/GenreHacksBanner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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For more on screenwriting and filmmaking in general, check out:<br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2014/02/writing-feature-script-week-three.html"><br /></a> <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2014/02/writing-feature-script-week-three.html">Writing the Treatment</a></div>
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Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-13845031938115940432017-08-30T08:29:00.001-07:002017-09-27T17:00:05.342-07:00Writing The Short Film - Week Two<div style="text-align: left;">
In Week Two of "Writing The Short Film" at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, students bring in exercises and read them aloud to the class. Each exercise focuses on a specific memory: a secret place they used to go, their favorite toy, a person who frightened them.<br />
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The idea is to look at story elements - environment, props, character - and notice what kind of specific details are vivid and evocative. Much of rewriting involves moving away from dull, generic, cliche choices and finding those that are pertinent, memorable and unique. Short films in particular, where there is little time for exposition, require finding visual and aural details that tell us everything we need to know in an instant.<br />
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Moonlight</h3>
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Next, we discuss the first 32 pages <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4975722/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt">Moonlight</a>, </i>in light of our definition of Story from <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-one.html">Week One</a>: a story is about someone who wants something very badly but is having trouble getting it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classroom Whiteboard</td></tr>
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In this first section of the screenplay, it is Juan's story. Although the larger movie is about the boy, "Little," in three stages of his life, we (the reader/audience) experience the first act from Juan's point of view, as he tries to get the boy to speak, tries to find out where he lives, teaches him to swim, confronts his mother, and finally admits to the boy the truth. In this first section, we feel <i>sympathy</i> for the boy and his troubles, but we feel <i>empathy</i> for Juan as he tries to help him. We are "in Juan's shoes."<br />
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What does Juan want? He wants to father (to mentor, to protect, to teach) the sensitive child.<br />
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Why does Juan want this so badly? We see the relationship's potential when Juan teaches the boy to swim. We see what the boy faces without Juan in the abusive scenes at home with the boy's mother. This sets up the TENSION (see definition below): we HOPE that Juan can help and protect the boy, but we FEAR that the boy's home life and street life are too dangerous and abusive.<br />
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What are the primary obstacles Juan faces as he attempts to get what he wants? Well, Juan is the mother's drug dealer, as so, he himself is (ironically) the source of the boy's primary problem.<br />
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Juan's attempts to help the boy reach the highest point of tension in the final scene of the Act when Juan has to answer the boy's direct and unflinching questions. Am I a fagot? Do you sell drugs? Do you sell drugs to my mom?<br />
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It is also the moment of greatest empathy for Juan. We (the reader/audience) sit with him at that table, feeling his struggle to say the right thing. We know what Juan knows, and what the boy doesn't know. We feel Juan's struggle and heartbreak.<br />
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Screenwriting Term of The Week: TENSION</h3>
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There are many forms of tension in movies, but tension always creates anticipation and anxiety about what is going to happen next. Tension is what makes you turn the page. Tension keeps the audience in their seats.</div>
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Tension is created when the audience can imagine or sense what is might happen next in the story, sequence, or scene, but isn't sure which way it will go. The story elements suggest several possible futures. We (the audience) HOPE for one outcome(s), but we FEAR another.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classroom Whiteboard</td></tr>
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There are many forms of tension. Cinematic tension can be created by music, editing, blocking and camera movement. Mystery tension creates a puzzle, whodunnit, or intellectual problem for the audience to solve. In a feature screenplay, there is overall story tension, sequence tensions, scene tensions and tension within individual beats.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classroom Whiteboard</td></tr>
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In this class, however, we will explore comic tension, romantic tension, suspense/fear tension, and more generally dramatic tension. In all cases, the writer leads the reader/audience to imagine something funny, romantic, or scary is about to happen next.</div>
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More importantly, while we can imagine (hope) for a good outcome we can also imagine (fear) a bad outcome, and <i>it is not clear to us which way it's going to go</i>.</div>
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In general, tension rises (i.e. the stake rise) when the possible good outcome gets better and/or the possible bad outcome gets worse. Likewise, if we have no sense of the future or if we feel like we know how things will turn out, the tension dissolves. To engage the audience, we must keep the tension high.</div>
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For example, in last week's short-of-the-week, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epuTZigxUY8">The Lunch Date</a>, tension is established right off the bat as we see an elderly, white woman in an environment filled with homeless African American men. We sense (as we are confronted by a homeless man who steps in front of the camera and speaks directly to us) that she may be harassed. As the story later plays out in the cafeteria, we see examples of dramatic, comic and even comically romantic tension, as we wonder what the conflict over the salad will lead to next.</div>
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Festival programmers who read screenplays and watch short films tell me that one of the biggest problems of most submissions is that <b>they lack Tension!</b><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Short Film of The Week</h3>
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Ahhh, so hard to decide which to short film to recommend. If you are a USC film student in the mood for comic tension, watch <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ49Smi2SLQ&t=283s">George Lucas In Love</a></i>. It's set in at USC's School of Cinematic Arts and it stars my former TA (from back when I was a student in the 90s.)<br />
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If you are in the mood for intense dramatic tension along with edge-of-your-seat modulation of hope and fear, watch the short film <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VEwcAAJ-LE">Wasp</a></i>. </div>
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Since my students will start out making very short films with no dialogue, I thought I'd show this clever two-minute piece. Notice how it uses point-of-view, selective details, and the withholding of key-information to create fear/suspense tension, with a twist. </div>
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For a variety of current short films try this collection of <a href="https://www.shortoftheweek.com/channels/award-winners/">Award Winners</a>.<br />
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For previous and subsequent classes, check out:<br />
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-one.html">Writing The Short Film - Week One</a><br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/09/writing-short-film-week-three.html">Writing The Short Film - Week Three</a><br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/09/writing-short-film-week-four-and-five.html">Writing The Short Film - Week Four (and Five)</a><br />
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Next week I'll be lecturing about Plant and Payoff, Preparation and Aftermath. Please respond in the comments if you have questions or suggestions!</div>
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For more on screenwriting and filmmaking in general, check out:<br />
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2011/04/filmmakers-and-music-rights.html">Filmmakers and Music Rights</a><br />
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-write-screenplays-for-amazon.html">How to Write Screenplays For Amazon.</a><br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2016/08/writing-is-rewriting-interview-with.html"><br /></a> <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2016/08/writing-is-rewriting-interview-with.html">Screenwriting is Rewriting: An Interview with Jack Epps</a></div>
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Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-21751668251498328432017-08-23T09:28:00.000-07:002017-09-27T17:59:35.426-07:00Writing The Short Film - Week OneAnother semester at USC begins, and this time I will be teaching a group of twelve graduate students about "Writing the Short Film." Of course, writing short scripts is really an introduction to scene and sequence writing, the building blocks of all longer-form movies, TV, and new media.<br />
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I love this class.<br />
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For many students (and many reading this blog,) this will be their first attempt writing scripts and working in standard screenplay format. The class covers fundamentals and assumes no previous experience. So, on the first day, I urge everyone to...<br />
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Read Screenplays</h3>
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My students will start by reading the screenplay for <i>Moonlight</i>, but other readers can find other classic screenplays here: <a href="https://www.evernote.com/l/AC6rpi1Yc5FLZqeYHaGi4qk4tRr2W2SqAus">Screenplay Examples From Each Genre</a>.</div>
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Watch Short Films</h3>
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If you want to make short films, you should watch them... lots of them. It's easy to find great ones online. If you feel like binging, start with <a href="https://screencraft.org/2015/08/18/9-short-films-all-filmmakers-should-know/">9 Short Films Every Filmmaker Should Know.</a></div>
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In this blog I'll be showcasing one short film a week. To start, <i>The Lunch Date</i> is a classic example of a conflict and characterization student film, with a clear moment of "epiphany."<br />
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Write Scenes, Get Feedback</h3>
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The structure of the class is extremely simple. Every week there is an assignment of 3-5 pages. Every class we read those assignments aloud and discuss them. This includes exercises and actual short film scripts for projects the students will actually produce and shoot in another class.<br />
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All blog readers should consider mirroring this process by forming a <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/08/rewrite-how-to-begin.html">Writers' Group</a> of 2-10 people, meeting regularly, reading work aloud and offering feedback. This introduces new writer/filmmakers to the most important and powerful screenwriting tool: <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2013/12/this-is-what-rewrite-looks-like.html">The Rewrite Loop</a>.<br />
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What you will discover, as you write short films is that "<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2013/12/this-is-what-rewrite-looks-like.html">all writing is rewriting</a>."<br />
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Learn Terms and Tools</h3>
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Since this is ultimately a writing class, I'll be introducing all sorts of screenplay concepts and <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/screenplay-terms-glossary.html">terms</a>, from <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/plant-pay-off.html">Plant-and-Payoff </a>to <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/theme.html">Theme</a>.<br />
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But the term and definition I always start with is the most basic: <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/story-structure.html">Story</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">A story is about someone who wants something very badly and is having trouble getting it.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span>In class, we discuss students' stories in terms of each piece of this definition. "<span style="color: #cc0000;">A story is...</span>"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #cc0000;">About someone..</span>." Whose story is it? Through whose eyes, and more importantly through whose <i>emotions</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>do we experience the story? Who takes the actions that drive the story forward? Who changes as a result? How does that character's viewpoint allow the story to be told in a unique way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes you write a first draft thinking it's a story about one particular character but discover that a different character is </span>actually <span style="font-family: inherit;">the one taking action, making decisions, and changing as a result. The feedback on your script might reveal that a different character is the one the audience actually cares about and identifies with. Take this feedback seriously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...who wants something...</span>" What does this protagonist want? What primary desire is forcing him/her/them to take action? Whether or not the protagonist gets s/he wants is the DRAMATIC QUESTION that the story tracks and ultimately answers. This <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/want-versus-need.html">WANT</a> has to be very specific and concrete, so that the audience understands what is driving the plot forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Often in first drafts, the protagonist is passive. Circumstances don't force him or her to take action towards some sort of specific and concrete goal. Stuff happens, but all the tears, twists and tornadoes are not married to any clear objective, and so the audience loses interest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...very badly...</span>" Why does s/he want it so much? What's going to happen if he/she DOESN'T get it? This defines the <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/stakes.html">STAKES</a> of your story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Often in first drafts, the story lacks tension because if the protagonist doesn't get what they want, it's not clear that it would be all that bad. Not getting what they want should be an emotionally </span>devastating<span style="font-family: inherit;"> outcome for our hero. It should be, figuratively or literally, a matter of life and death.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...but is having trouble getting it.</span>" What are the obstacles? Who is the antagonist, or what are the antagonistic forces that are keeping the protagonist from getting what s/he/they want?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Often in first drafts, things are too easy for the protagonist. Lucky coincidences help them along. Antagonists don't put up much of a fight. Problems are solved without much trouble. A former acting/directing coach at USC, Nina Foch, had sharp advice for writers on how to handle their protagonists. "Make Them Suffer!"</span></div>
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Of course, short films don't always take the form of "stories" according to this definition. Shorts can be driven by poetic tension, thematic tension, and cinematic tension. They can be experimental, didactic, experiential, commercial and otherwise non-narrative. However, in my own writing and in the kind of writing one does as a professional in film and TV, this definition has been extremely useful and almost universal.<br />
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Screenwriting Software</h3>
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Anyone who is planning to make writing a central part of their filmmaking future should probably buy a copy of <a href="https://www.finaldraft.com/">Final Draft</a>, as it is the industry standard. However, for the purposes of writing scenes and short films, you can take advantage of all the free screenwriting software available, including <a href="https://www.celtx.com/index.html">Celtx</a>, <a href="https://story.adobe.com/#/projects">Adobe Story</a>, and <a href="http://www.toptenreviews.com/business/software/best-screenwriting-software/">Trelby</a>. You can read reviews of all the available screenwriting software here: <a href="http://www.toptenreviews.com/business/software/best-screenwriting-software/">Best Screenwriting Software</a>.</div>
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Next week I'll be lecturing about Dramatic Tension, so check out <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/writing-short-film-week-two.html">Writing The Short Script: Week Two.</a> In fact, you can check out <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/09/writing-short-film-week-three.html">Week Three</a> and <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2017/09/writing-short-film-week-four-and-five.html">Week Four</a> as well...<br />
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And, please respond in the comments if you have questions or suggestions for the class. :)</div>
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For more on screenwriting in general, check out:<br />
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-not-to-pitch-to-studio.html">How NOT to Pitch to a Studio</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.quora.com/Whats-it-like-to-have-your-film-flop-at-the-box-office">What's it like when your film flops at the box office?</a><br />
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2014/02/writing-feature-script-week-three.html">Writing The Treatment</a></div>
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Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-26601924720966628792017-08-18T11:45:00.001-07:002017-08-18T11:45:42.544-07:00Instagram as a Writer and a Director's Tool<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Filmmakers are using technology and social media in surprising ways. Recently, I spoke with Jingyi Shao, a writer/director who was once in my screenwriting class at USC, but is now a peer working with me in a writers’ circle. I share the conversation because I'm interested in how filmmakers use technology in creative ways. Feel free to comment and join the discussion...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Sean: So, you mentioned this in our writers’ group, but tell me about how you use Instagram as a creative tool, both as a writer and a director. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Jing: Originally I saw Instagram as a visual tool. As a director, I would use it in a multitude of ways. First, most obviously, you can follow your favorite filmmakers - cinematographers especially like to post stills of what they shoot, post pictures of where they are, and post other images that just interest or inspire them. On one level you're looking for what you admire, but you're also seeing what they admire. It’s a very interesting way to quickly scan visual pallets of color, mood and imagery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> Then I started using it more as a practical tool for location scouting. Say you are shooting in Los Angeles, and you need a boxing ring. You can very quickly search for “boxing ring” on Instagram and scroll through several hundred pictures within a minute. Many have geo tags, so you can immediately go there. But also, you can see other people’s perspectives of these places. You might walk into that boxing gym and say, "Okay, I want to shoot this punching bag." On Instagram someone might have posted a shot from the floor looking up or from above looking down or from the perspective of the speed bag itself. You know what I mean? The images are both practical and inspirational. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> Ultimately, Instagram inspires my writing because I can follow people's online “personality,” and see what they're interested in. Sometimes how they tag or how they caption their own posts is interesting and revealing. You get a peek inside their character: how they speak, what places they might go, and what they value. When we populate a screenplay with characters, we have to imagine the details: what foods do they like to eat, what clothes do they like to wear, what friends do they hang out with, what do they do on a Friday night? You can see all this within the app. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> Of course, we could get into an argument about whether what they post is their “real” selves. We could ask… Is that just a public face? But since we're just fleshing out characters, we can just take the traits and details we need from what these people reveal of themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Sean: It seems like Instagram is a great character building tool because regardless whether it is entirely “real,” all sorts of information about Instragram users is conveyed in the pictures they take, and the places they go, and the things they share about themselves. Screenwriters are often asked to write about characters who are nothing like them (the writers) at all, characters we don't have necessarily have an intuitive understanding of, and this is certainly a way to observe people we might otherwise not have direct access to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Jing: Absolutely, and it's always those little details that seem really random, but in the right context, they become very powerful - details that enrich the story. When you approach a character abstractly and break down his reasons, motivations, and “Wants,” the story can become too logical. Every person has an inherent logic, but that logical pattern is revealed over time, with an accumulation of details. I feel like sometimes in writing, we start with that logical breakdown instead of discovering these organic and authentic patterns through observation. On Instagram, I can just observe complete characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Instagram is also a pop culture machine that can quickly divulge a lot of information about how people are living, behaving, and speaking <i>right now</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">It’s extremely fast. I think we work in a medium that is very, very slow. It's the slowest art form because it takes so much money and it takes so many people and you have to jump through so many hoops to get a thing out there in the world. I don't think it's a coincidence that so many of the films coming out of Hollywood are remakes. I think the people who have worked for decades to get their films made about what is important to them don't always have a clear idea of what young creators are paying attention to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d9ead3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">By that I mean that older Hollywood filmmakers make things that are important or powerful to them, but these things might not be as relevant to young people of today as they think. There is more of a generation gap between film/tv leaders than other industries like music, art, fashion. Because it takes less money and resources to create their music, art and clothes, the development in these other industries seems a bit faster and of the moment.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -1in;">Sometimes I'm on Instagram and surprised by what I find. I'm like, "This has 100,000 likes?" Really? But if you spend a little time and look into it, you realize, "Wow, this is actually what's powerful to people. It’s what people are interested in. You actually start to understand it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Sean: So, you see Instagram as a window into millennial culture, but also a window into pop culture - a kind of culture that isn't necessarily represented in movies yet. Movies are still working from a traditional template of characters. For you, Instagram gives you a whole new pallet of people, imagery, behaviors, and concerns that aren't being reflected in movies and TV right now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Jing: Yes. Especially when you're a writer and you want to create something naturalistic and authentic. You have to be able to operate in that space. You have to include social media and technology in the story. In television, there are multiple episodes of shows like <i>Atlanta</i> and <i>Master of Non</i>e that deal with social media. It's essential to the experience of the character's lives. So to take that out or to leave that out would make it artificial and dated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">My conversations on this subject will continue…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-76322330986398415772017-08-12T15:46:00.001-07:002017-08-12T15:46:30.479-07:00INDEPENDENT FILM, NOW!Filmmakers Alliance's amazing Master Class is now called <a href="https://independentfilmnow.splashthat.com/">INDEPENDENT FILM, NOW!</a> and it returns on Saturday, August 26th at Canon's new facility in Burbank.<br />
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I will be part of the first panel discussion of the day.<br />
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"If you haven't ever been to one in the past, you've missed a lot of amazing and important information. If you have, come get the latest and most comprehensive overview of making films in the digital age."<br />
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Click <b><u><a href="https://independentfilmnow.splashthat.com/">here</a></u></b> for tickets.<br />
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Filmmakers Alliance has supported the production of hundreds of independent shorts and features since 1993 and once again brings you INDEPENDENT FILM NOW - a state-of-the-union look at the indie film landscape, as well as an A to Z, step-by-step seminar for independent filmmakers, providing the KEY information needed to get your next project MADE and SEEN. </div>
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INDEPENDENT FILM NOW is a clear, concise and complete view of independent filmmaking, helping you create a blueprint for your life as a filmmaker!</div>
Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-52755517507035743822017-04-18T11:22:00.001-07:002017-04-18T11:22:30.575-07:00Preposterous FilmAlong with Genre Hacks, I've been posting preposterous ideas and storylines for feature films on my spinoff blog...<br />
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<a href="http://preposterousfilms.blogspot.com/">Preposterous Film</a><br />
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So check it out.<br />
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Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-68987842662072042792016-10-12T12:45:00.001-07:002016-10-12T12:45:56.649-07:00Levin's Tips, Week 6 -- Let's talk about the First Act!Hello everyone,<br />
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Let's make a quick analysis of the "First Act" and its components. The First Act is composed of the two opening <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-sequence.html">S</a><a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-sequence.html">equences</a> of your movie. Usually, the <u>First Sequence</u> (the first 12-15 minutes of your script) sets up the the character and the <u><a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-status-quo.html">Status Quo</a></u>. If your script was a fairy-tale, the first sequence would be the "Once upon a time, there was a Hermit who washed his laundry in a river".<br />
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Then comes the <u><a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-sequence.html">Point of Attack</a></u>. This is the "But one day, a GIANT SHARK emerged from the river and prevented the Hermit from washing his laundry!" This is the wrench that's thrown into the machinery, the problem that makes the movie change gears!<br />
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The <u>Second Sequence</u> is usually the protagonist grappling with the problem. For example, in our imaginary movie, this is the sequence where The Hermit tries to find different rivers to do his laundry (there are no other rivers!) or calls the cops (the cops laugh at him!) or simply tries to live in his filthy clothes (he can't, his imaginary friend complains about his smell and kicks him out of the house!) or tries to bait the Great Shark to the different part of the river with an otter he found downstream. (The Great Shark is displeased by the taste of the otter! Otter, it turns out, is an acquired taste!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">"The Studio vetoed the scene where the Shark eats the Otter. Apparently Otters are just too cute to be eaten on screen!"</td></tr>
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Then comes the <u>End of the First Act</u>. This is a major turning point that launches your movie in a new direction. This is usually a moment of "<u>This is what my movie is!</u>"<br />
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Maybe The Hermit wages war against The Great Shark after The Great Shark eats the Hermit's Hut! Your movie is a battle for survival! It's a heart pumping thriller about the Man and the Beast because this little mountain creek is too small for both of them!<br />
<br />
Or The Great Shark eats The Hermit's Hut and the rest of your movie is a low-key road movie through the woods, examining the relationship between The Hermit and his imaginary friend Mr. Goldfarb who has an insatiable craving for Oreos! (Mr. Goldfarb and his obsession with Oreos symbolizes The Hermit's desire to go back to living in civilized society.)<br />
<br />
Or this is where The Hermit discovers The Great Shark can talk! It's a comedy in the tone of E.T. where the two friends seize each other up and establish a symbiotic relationship! (Watch out for the adorable scene where The Hermit not only gets to wash his laundry again, but he also <i>washes the fins of the Great Shark!)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The Great Shark's name is Mr. Fizzles!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Either way, there needs to be a feeling of "Alright, off we go!" moment at the end of your first act. An explosive launch, a propulsion of momentum! Status-Quo should shift in a real way, your protagonist should commit to a road that s/he can't return from.<br />
<br />
For example, there should be no more question of "Oh, The Hermit can just go back to his house..." NO! THINGS HAVE CHANGED FOREVER FOR THE HERMIT! <b>Nothing will ever be the same! </b>Either he has no Hut anymore to go back to or he just discovered a talking fish! Again: <b>Nothing will ever be the same!</b><br />
<br />
And, finally, let's have a quick talk about the <u>Opening Image.</u> This is an underrated tool when it comes to finding out what your movie is supposed to be, especially if you're doing a rewrite. This opening image should, ideally, distill the theme/tone of your movie into a perfect scene.<br />
<br />
For example, is your movie a cynical, global biting satire about the gun trade around the world? Why not start it with a montage where we track a single bullet from its inception in an industrial factory in the West to its eventual destination: the head of an African Child Soldier. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHn1zogeyO4">See it here</a>.<br />
<br />
Or your opening could be more dialogue driven. Maybe you're writing a low-key romantic comedy and your main character is a neurotic comedian obsessing over his mortality. Then, maybe, you can have him speak right to the camera and tell a joke that completely captures who he is. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsHwIBR6ivA">See it here.</a><br />
<br />
While I'm at it, here is what I think is a <i>bad </i>example of an opening scene. Here is the opening minute or so of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQdeLbNYHrg">Interstellar</a>. It establishes the world through narrative exposition (a device that will not be used consistently through the movie), introduces Cooper through a weird dream sequence where Cooper's plane is crashing (which makes it seem like the movie is going to be about Cooper dealing with his anxieties of flying or something). Of course it's beautiful as fuck because it's Christopher Nolan we're talking about here, but it's a rather lazy opening to what the movie is eventually about.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCgZL4_EAUyxjAo3Gw4hiFOMqxP0ZCiB7gthXmts5RGdvH76p07w6TV8On1oTdMU0_k9quWeUgU1jykTugGwkyqGAnUmqXIBmk1VKEn8cwBeBUMDQ8zuX75N4NHiCdVGmUE3swlQ7m7ao/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCgZL4_EAUyxjAo3Gw4hiFOMqxP0ZCiB7gthXmts5RGdvH76p07w6TV8On1oTdMU0_k9quWeUgU1jykTugGwkyqGAnUmqXIBmk1VKEn8cwBeBUMDQ8zuX75N4NHiCdVGmUE3swlQ7m7ao/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">We told you never to badmouth Nolan ever again! NOW, PREPARE TO DIE!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Alright, well, that's it from me folks. Hope you've picked up a thing or two and somewhat smiled.<br />
<br />
Footnote: Some people have commented that Sharks do not live in rivers. To that, I say, here is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark">wikipedia entry that might tickle your fancy</a>! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-63284457589197381262016-09-27T12:36:00.002-07:002016-09-27T12:36:28.162-07:00Levin's Tips Week 5 -- PlotWhat's the difference between a Song and just Noise? A song is still noise, essentially. It's just orchestrated and conducted to evoke emotion out of you.<br />
<br />
Plot, as a concept, is similar. It's just a bunch of events. But if you make them connected and emotionally resonant, then you can make it sing.<br />
<br />
So, what makes a good plot? Let's talk about two very simple, fundamental elements.<br />
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<h2>
<b> CHARACTER CARES</b></h2>
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<br />
If it's not personal, it's probably not that good.<br />
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There is a reason in all the detective movies the protagonist is looking for his wife's killer. There is a reason Liam Neeson in Taken didn't go all around the world tracking down... just another client. No, he was looking for his <u>child.</u> In the Hangover, our gang aren't tracking down their best friend out of some weird obligation, they're doing it because it's his wedding on the line. In Bridesmaids, the entire premise is based on how our main character feels like she's being frozen out of a real important part of her best friends' life.<br />
<br />
We talked about how one of the major objectives you have in your screenplay is to make your characters suffer. This is how you make them suffer. This is how you imbue an "event" with emotional resonance so that your plot sings. This also makes your character ACTIVE as he will WANT that personal thing very, very badly.<br />
<br />
Of all movies, James Bond series gives a pretty good glimpse into this phenomenon by the way. When Bond has a personal stake in what's going on in addition to saving the world, the movie is suddenly much better. Golden Eye (his relationship with 006), Casino Royale (his relationship with Vesper Lynd), Skyfall (his relationship with M) are much better movies than Quantum of Solace and Spectre.<br />
<br />
So if your character saves the world/does something objectively important and it still feels underwhelming, maybe you need to hit a place closer to your protagonist's heart. Walter White did a plethora of stuff more objectively important than what happened with his family, but very few things hit as hard as that personal story does.<br />
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<h2>
<b> ESCALATING OBSTACLES</b></h2>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<br />
Here's a sequence of events that really happened to me:<br />
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- I was writing in a coffee shop just like any other day.<br />
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- Fortunately, the writing was going great. I was writing the final sequence of a script and it was thrilling as intended.<br />
<br />
- Unfortunately, my heart started pounding like mad and it got freaky after ten minutes.<br />
<br />
- Fortunately, there were other people in the coffee shop and they were helpful and soothing. They said I must have drank too much coffee and that's that!<br />
<br />
- Unfortunately, then they started to freak out, saying: "Holy shit, your heart is beating out of your body. I can see your clothes shaking!"<br />
<br />
- Fortunately, someone who seemed to know what she was doing approached me and asked if I was feeling okay. I was elated and asked if she was a doctor.<br />
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- Unfortunately, she said "kinda" and proceeded to say that she believes in the power of prayer and knelt down and started to speak to Jesus.<br />
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- Fortunately, we called 911 and the paramedics arrived promptly.<br />
<br />
- Unfortunately, even they were freaked out and put an oxygen mask on my face.<br />
<br />
- Fortunately, one of the paramedics said "I know what to do!" and went for his bag.<br />
<br />
- Unfortunately, it was the biggest motherfucking needle I ever saw and he said, verbatim: "Now you're gonna feel like something just punched you in the heart. Like in Pulp Fiction. You've seen that movie, right?" which freaked me the fuck out.<br />
<br />
- Fortunately, just as the needle touched my sin, my heart rate -- after the needle put the God's Fear in me, I guess -- stabilized and I no longer needed the giant needle.<br />
<br />
THE END. (Also, I'm fine. It was a silly thing.)<br />
<br />
So, that's not what I would call a great plot (I'm a pretty passive protagonist) but it has one thing you need in a plot that works: Those twists and turns and escalating obstacles.<br />
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The audience know there's going to be an "all is lost!" moment in your movie. Your challenge is to make it much worse than they think it's going to be. Like, for example, they could be like: "Hey, at least the paramedics came! He's safe!" but then THAT gets even worse by the revelation of the giant needle.<br />
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Also, this doesn't mean make your movie an endless series of defeats. Every story needs to have balance and dynamism. We need victories that bring us to glorious highs and defeats that bring us down to deep, dark lows. Neither can exist without the other.<br />
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Alright, that's that. Next week, we're going to talk about the First Act!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-17907444627960564352016-09-20T11:50:00.000-07:002016-09-20T11:50:14.478-07:00Levin's Tips, Week 4 -- StructureStructure is a tricky thing, because it's very easy to mistake the map for the territory. Some of the worst scripts I have ever read were perfectly structured with eight clear sequences, but they had no life to them. It was like watching a funeral procession made of eight little caskets pass by.<br />
<br />
Unless you're self-financing your feature, your script will go through some readers and they will write comments to their bosses, or maybe to you directly. Here's a comment that no reader has ever written:<br />
<br />
"I loved this script. It made me laugh, it made me cry. The characters are indelible and feel like real people. The ending fucking wrecked me. I hope this gets made by someone who understands the material, it might even be an Oscar contender. BUT I couldn't figure out where the sequence 6 started and ended, plus the mid point turn was unclear. So, unfortunately, I have to PASS on this script."<br />
<br />
Your end game is to write something that moves people, makes them laugh, scares them, [insert emotion you mean to evoke]. It's not to write a "perfect" script. So, these terms and concepts are just tools for you to bring life to your script. Not the other way around.<br />
<h2>
On the other hand...</h2>
Have you ever watched a movie and thought to yourself:<br />
<br />
"Why is this plot even in the movie? Who cares about that bullet or whatever, go back to Batman!"<br />
<br />
"What the fuck, it feels like this movie had 11 different endings! Oh wait, more Hobbits."<br />
<br />
"Didn't they already introduce Deadshot? Why do we need a second and a third introduction?!"<br />
<br />
"Oh wait, the movie just... ended? Really? I sat through this and it ended on... Joaquin Phoenix fingerbanging a sand woman?"<br />
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"Man, I really liked the first half with Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler, but this stuff with Eric Bana and the house is really dragging-- Holy shit, why is this movie almost 3 hours?!"<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
I'm a firm believer that this movie could have been a stone cold classic with just a little bit more structure.</div>
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You should know about Structure because that's how you fix all these problems.<br />
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For example, what does it mean when a movie "drags"? It means your character has been following the same goal in the same way for a long time, and maybe you need to throw in a curveball. So, the solution is clear: Your sequence/act is running too long. Remember how we need to be switched up every other 15 pages? You didn't do that properly.<br />
<br />
Structure is also a good tool to get to that honest, authentic place where you evoke the emotion of your audience. For example, Community and Rick and Morty are deliriously anarchic and it might feel inconceivable that they are actually really tightly plotted... but they are.<br />
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So, I know this has been especially on the esoteric side of things but, to me, the Structure part is pretty clear: Keep your audience engaged, 15 pages at a time, build to a <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-1st-act.html">First Act Ending</a> where your audience has that "Here we go!" feeling, throw them a curveball at the <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/mid-point-aka-first-culmination.html">Mid Point</a> they didn't expect that either focuses your movie or diverts it in an interesting way, then hurt your heroes until they bleed and are forced to change as the <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/end-of-second-act-aka-culmination.html">Second Act Ending</a> comes in... and build to a satisfying <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/resolution.html">Resolution</a> that addresses the <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/theme.html">themes</a> you worked through in your story.<br />
<br />
So, yeah, do that friend, and you're golden!<br />
<br />
See you next week with a discussion about Plot and how that fits into the scheme of things!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-23615415677216426462016-09-13T10:46:00.001-07:002016-09-13T10:46:08.039-07:00Levin's Tips, Week 3 -- CharacterPeople fall in love with characters, not stories.<br />
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<br /></div>
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There are dozens of predictable romantic comedies that only work because the characters are so well drawn and we want the central duo to end up together. There are thousands hours of listless TV shows involving doctors, lawyers and cops that are just... existentially unjustified to exist at this point and time. But they work because the central character is amusing/fascinating/different, take your pick.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
There is no easy way to teach people to create indelible, memorable characters. But, hey, here are two "tricks" I use. Maybe they'll work for you too!<br />
<br /></div>
<h2>
<b> Online Impersonation</b></h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No, no, it's way less sketchier than it sounds, I promise!</td></tr>
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<div>
There are lots of sites (reddit being the chief one among them) that have personal advice/help forums.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So, let's stay you're writing a thriller about a stay home suburban man with a wild past who discovers an alternate version of himself, the road-not-taken version of himself who did not settle down and kept on roaming, is haunting him.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Let's say you have the structure of the story but this character, you can't quite get into his head. What does he sound like? What are the specific details that differentiate him from the rest of people? What does it mean to have had a crazy past and a serene present?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, maybe you create an account on reddit and write a post asking for advice. Something like <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/relationships/comments/1jx2lj/i_32m_dont_think_im_happy_in_my_marriage_anymore/">this</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Chances are, you will get a lot of advice from people who have been in your situation. They've been there. As they talk about themselves, you get a better idea of what it must feel like.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
I know this sounds a bit morally fucked up or something but I feel like, or maybe I justify it by saying this, we sort of become our characters at the moments when we inhabit them, so it's okay?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
So, there you go. That's character-building-exercise number one. Then there is...</div>
<h2>
<br /></h2>
<h2>
MBTI TABLE</h2>
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If you haven't heard about the Myers-Briggs test, go <a href="https://www.16personalities.com/">here</a> first. If you have the time, take the test.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm an INTP, my wife is ENTP. So, naturally, we get along... Just like Varys and Tyrion!</td></tr>
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<div>
Now, I know many people think this is all bullshit, and it might be honestly, but if you have a bunch of characters and you want to figure out their voices, assigning them MBTI types works wonders. Of course, it's all broad outlines and you don't want to write stock characters, but it can be a helpful start in getting into their shoes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, let's say you created your characters. Then what? What do we do with them in, you know, the actual screenplay?</div>
<h2>
<b> CHOICES</b></h2>
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Choices reveal character.</div>
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<div>
Let's say your character is a brave woman.</div>
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The best way to convey this to the audience is to put her in a situation that %99 of people would get the fuck out of, but she doesn't. She stays and she helps.</div>
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Or, say, your character is logical and introverted. Then maybe you put her into Disneyland, but instead of enjoying the rush of the place like her friends, she chooses to figure out how a certain roller-coaster works on a structural level.</div>
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You see the pattern? Give her a choice that contrasts with what anyone else would have done.</div>
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And super-bonus points if you put your character in a situation at the beginning of the movie where he/she makes a certain choice, then, at the end of the movie, you put him/her in a similar situation and he/she makes the other choice, conveying to us his/her change.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The poster child for this is Robert De Niro's character in The Deer Hunter. At the beginning of the movie, he has a deer in his sights. He shoots, he scores. After his experience in the War, he goes hunting again. This time, he can't bring himself to shoot the deer.</div>
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But change is hard. In fact:</div>
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<a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/character-change.html">Nobody changes until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change.</a></div>
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And once they do, they make different choices to prove to us that, yes, they <u>have</u> changed.</div>
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Well, that's that for now. Next week, we will talk about more heady stuff like screenplay structure and sequences. Stay tuned!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-71922620191535761262016-09-01T08:43:00.004-07:002016-09-01T08:43:53.991-07:00Levin's Tips -- Storytelling 101What does Transformers 3, The Godfather and Dude, Where's My Car have in common?<br />
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They're all stories.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><b>The Story</b></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">A story is about someone who wants something very badly and is having trouble getting it.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span>Let's break that down, shall we?<br />
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"<span style="color: #cc0000;">A story is... a</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">bout someone..</span>." Whose story is it? Through whose eyes, and more importantly through whose <i>emotions</i> do we experience the story? Who takes the actions that drive the story forward? This is the first big choice the storyteller must make, and there is always more than one answer.<br />
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"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...who wants something...</span>" What does this protagonist want? What primary desire is forcing him/her/them to take action? Whether or not they get it is the DRAMATIC QUESTION that the story tracks and ultimately answers.<br />
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"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...very badly...</span>" Why does s/he want it so much? What's going to happen if he/she DOESN'T get it? This defines the STAKES of your story.<br />
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"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...but is having trouble getting it.</span>" What are the obstacles? Who is the antagonist, or what are the antagonistic forces that is keeping the protagonist from getting what s/he/they want?<br />
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But why? What happens if you bungle this up?<br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span>Introducing: The Care-O-Meter!</h3>
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Cinema is a visceral medium. 99 percent of the time, whether we like a movie or not depends on whether we gave a shit about the people/animals on the screen or not. Imagine the TV Show House if House wasn't interesting, would anyone have watched it and thought "Oh my, look at all those fascinating medical mysteries!" The intellectual component of it is definitely a part of what makes a story tick, but unless you have lovable characters/engaging situations, it's tough for the audience to care. Think of how your non-film-school friends/family members talk about movies. "I love the Joker, he was so fun! He was the best part of the movie!"<br />
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The Care-O-Meter is a tool we use in the class to help you identify which parts of your script are "cooking" and what parts are "falling flat". For example, you might discover people really care about those supporting character you have, and maybe you should bring him/her more up to the forefront of your story. Maybe people are really not feeling that funny set piece with the lions running around the circus.<br />
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What can you do to fix this?<br />
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<h2>
<b> TENSION!</b></h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first photo that came up when I googled TENSION!</td></tr>
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You've probably had this experience: A character is about to do something and you want it to succeed so badly. You're FEARING he/she is going to fail, you're HOPING he/she is going to succeed. Best movies evoke this in us and no matter how complicated they may seem, they can be traced back to that very simple "Someone wants something very badly and has trouble getting it!"<br />
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<b>12 Angry Men</b>: You're desperately hoping the Juror 8 is going to convince the others and fearing that the accused young man is going to be hanged/go to prison for the rest of his life.<br />
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Why did I choose this film specifically?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because look at that poster helpfully spelling it out!</td></tr>
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Of course not all tensions are life or death. But if you write a romantic comedy, you better make sure that we <b>HOPE </b>love will bloom between your central couple and <b>FEAR </b>they're not going to make it. The trick is go deeper instead of bigger. Whiplash, for example, makes you care about whether if a kid is going to become a jazz drummer or not SO MUCH that the entire movie feels like a heart attack.<br />
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Look at your script. Is there a way to heighten the audience's engagement with your story? Perhaps your antagonist isn't strong enough, so we don't <b>FEAR </b>that much. Perhaps your character doesn't seem to want that much from life, so we don't <b>HOPE </b>that much either. 90 percent of script problems can be boiled down to this Tension/Hope/Fear triangle.<br />
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And next time when you talk about your script with someone who has read it, pay specific attention to how they feel about it <u>emotionally</u>. Ask them where they felt most <u>engaged</u> and where their Care-O-Meter hit zero. This is essential for you to pinpoint the problem areas and the strong elements in your script!<br />
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On that note, feel free to check out some tips on <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2014/06/getting-and-processing-feedback.html">How To Take and Process Feedback</a> and <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-to-give-feedback.html">How to Give Feedback</a>.<br />
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For more on finding the story, check out <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2014/01/writing-feature-script-week-two-finding.html">Writing The Feature Script: Week Two - Finding The Story</a><br />
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For more tips from Levin, check out <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2016/08/levins-tips-rewriting-aka-welcome-to.html">Rewriting (A.K.A. Welcome To The Rest of Your Life)</a><br />
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See you next week!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-32849896310487072532016-08-23T10:36:00.002-07:002016-08-23T11:14:55.706-07:00Sceenwriting Is Rewriting: Interview with Jack Epps!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">As part of the class I teach at USC, Rewriting The Feature Script, I encourage my students to read <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Screenwriting-Rewriting-Craft-Professional-Revision/dp/1628927402/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471813553&sr=8-1&keywords=Jack+epps">Screenwriting is Rewriting</a>, by Jack Epps. Not only does the book mirror all the week-by-week assignments in my course, it is one of the most useful screenwriting manuals I have ever read (and I've read quite a few,) particularly for <i>advanced</i> students.</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Jack Epps Jr. has been working as a screenwriter for over forty years. He is best known for co-writing iconic movies like <i>Top Gun </i>and <i>Dick Tracy. </i>He also did extensive revisions on movies such as <i>Sister Act </i>and <i>Die Hard 3.</i> Today, he is the chair of the writing division of USC's School of Cinematic Arts.</span><br />
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<b>SH: Why do we need a book on "Rewriting" and how is this book different than all the other books </b><b>on screenwriting?</b><br />
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<b>JE: </b>As professional writers know, most of our time is spent rewriting our own work or someone else’s work. The importance of first drafts is way over-rated. If you want to succeed as a screenwriter, then you better be a great rewriter or they will hire someone else who is a great rewriter. First drafts are fine, but they are only a sketch of an idea. The real work is done in the rewrites – that’s rewrites with a huge “S.” Knowing how to rewrite successfully is the key to a successful career.<br />
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Most screenwriting books only focus on the first draft and pay scant attention to rewriting. Screenwriting is Rewriting assumes the writer has written a first draft. The primary goal of my book is to focus on rewriting. There are chapters that review essential fundamentals, since it is the failure to execute these fundamentals that cause major script problems. The book is based on my years of professional experience as a screenwriter. Most of my time was spent rewriting. I expected to rewrite even before I began the first draft.<br />
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<b>SH: Why do you distinguish between different kinds of rewrites or "passes"?</b><br />
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<b>JE: </b>One of the great mistakes aspiring writers make is they often try to resolve every note in one giant rewrite that usually results in a much weaker, flawed, screenplay. I learned during my career that it was much easier, and more effective, to execute a series of small focused rewrites rather than one giant rewrite. Each pass focuses on a different essential aspect of screenwriting. First, start with the major fundamental elements, and then work through the notes.<br />
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The challenge in writing the book was that every rewrite is different. There is no “one size fits all” approach to rewriting. I broke the book into eleven different passes so writers can choose which pass best fits their needs. They may also consider combining passes. This is not a “checklist” book. It’s a resource guide, and it is meant to be flexible.<br />
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<b>SH: What are some common mistakes screenwriters make while rewriting? How can the book help?</b><br />
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<b>JE: </b>“Preciousness” is probably the biggest mistake an aspiring writer can make. They’ve written a first draft and they are enamored with it. They think it’s perfect, and not a word should be changed. In my experience, that’s not the way it works professionally. Another common mistake is that aspiring screenwriters often favor plot over character. Plot serves character. A great plot is essential, but it must serve character. Another mistake is to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” and start all over again on page one. Page one rewrites usually result in a weaker, less inspired, imitation of the first draft. There must be some gold that can be mined in the next draft. It’s important to know what works. Try to protect what works and revise the problems.<br />
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<b>SH: Much of the book is structured around responding to notes - notes from producers, executives, and peers. Why is it so important to get feedback while rewriting a script? </b><br />
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<b>JE: </b>It is really hard to have distance and perspective on your own work. Good notes give the writer perspective on how the work is “actually” being perceived—not how they “think” it is being perceived. But notes are not always clear or right. One of the challenges of rewriting is learning how to interpret notes. Notes are not always what they seem, and often the solution to the note is not what is suggested or apparent. I focus a lot in the book on interpreting notes. It’s also important to find people you trust to give you good notes, and to learn to let go and embrace the change necessary to take your screenplay to the next level.<br />
<b><br /></b> <b>SH: Manuals like "Save The Cat" are directed at amateurs who say to themselves "I've got a movie </b><b>idea, and I think I'll write the script!" Is it fair to say that your book targets more advanced writers, students, and professionals?</b><br />
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<b>JE: </b>Rewriting itself is an advanced skill. My book is written for aspiring writers as well as professionals. I am assuming the writer is experienced and has written one or two scripts. For the professional, I hope it works as a way to help jump start their rewrite— to serve as a refresher. As professional writers, we often drift from away from screenwriting essentials. The book also serves as a refresher for professionals and helps them refocus their work.<br />
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<b>SH: What is the best way to use the book when tackling a particular rewrite?</b><br />
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First, use the book to help organize notes and create a game plan to attack the rewrite. Secondly, decide which elements to prioritize in the first pass. It’s really easy to get lost in the middle of a rewrite, and the book can serve as a guide to help the writer work through their rewrite. I stress throughout the book how much work rewriting is, but I also hope it will serve as inspiration for those times when the writer feels like throwing in the towel. We’ve all been there, but it’s those writers to stay at it, and continue to dig deep, who will succeed.<br />
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Rewriting is hard work. If you stay at it, not only will you get a significantly better screenplay, but you will also become a much better screenwriter by going through the rewrite experience. You will definitely know what you “must” have before you begin your next project. The goal is to become a better, more efficient screenwriter. As I tell my students, writing never gets easier, but you can become more efficient.<br />
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Also on Genre Hacks...</div>
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Interview with Head of Amazon Studios Roy Price: <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-write-screenplays-for-amazon.html">How to Write for Amazon</a>.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-80813892851149778732016-08-23T10:30:00.001-07:002016-09-01T08:44:45.739-07:00Levin's Tips -- Rewriting (A.K.A. Welcome To The Rest of Your Life)Hey, you!<br />
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You wrote a script! Maybe it was your first! Let's get two things out of the way. Here's the first:<br />
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<b><br /></b> <b>GO YOU!</b><br />
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No, seriously. It's a huge fucking deal. I hope you're happy with it, but even if you're not... Remember: There was NOTHING on those pieces of paper/virtual agonizingly white screen of Final Draft and now there IS.<br />
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Revel in the miracle of that, friend! Last time someone did that, they wrote a bestselling book about him!<br />
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Oh, shit. Wait. There was also a second thing. Oh yeah. Now you gotta do a, GULP, a REWRITE. And, well, if you don't know what that looks like...<br />
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To some, like yours truly, rewrites seem like a labyrinthine process. Some people are creators, they are not fixers. They don't know where to begin. A blank page was blank enough, but how do you make a better marble statue out of the marble statue you have already carved? When you first carved it, there was nothing to destroy, it was just stone. Now it's a statue. Why should you risk destroying the statue you have so much time building?<br />
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Can't the marble statue you have already carved be good enough?<br />
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Chances are, it's not. In today's market, your screenplay needs to be A+ good to rise above the clutter. It's pretty, pretty rare for someone to write an A+ first draft. It's not impossible, sure, but then neither is winning the lottery.<br />
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Have you ever read the first draft of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? It starts in a future where people travel in massive tubes. There is a whole subplot about Joel's ex girlfriend. It ends not on that poignant "Okay." moment. It ends in a future where people are getting sucked up in tubes.<br />
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The first draft of Back to the Future? Marty is a suicidal alien from Pluto! No, really.<br />
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The first draft of Birdman, the Oscar Winner? That last scene is pretty iconic, right? Emma Stone looks up, that ambiguity. I'm not the biggest fan of the movie, but there was something there. It at least reached for something ineffable... In the first draft: Last scene was Jack Sparrow and Johnny Depp talking about Pirates of the Caribbean 5.<br />
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<br />
In case you're still not convinced, BRUCE WILLIS WASN'T DEAD IN SIXTH SENSE until the 7th draft. YES. Sit with that for a second.<br />
<br />
So, good. Glad to have you on board!<br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
LET'S REWRITE!</h2>
<br />
First steps are hard, especially if its your first time taking them. You look at your script now and you don't even know where to begin your rewrite journey. You need an anchor, a starting point.<br />
<br />
Good news: It's already in your script. More good news: People will tell you.<br />
<br />
You wrote this script from a starting point. Maybe that was thematic: You wanted to write about the injustices in the five different institutions of Baltimore. Or maybe you had a spontaneous image when you were walking down the street one day listening to Kanye West. Whatever it is -- an image, an idea, a memory -- there is a core to your idea.<br />
<br />
And then you had to take that core and mushed it through the meat grinder that is your brain so that little letters and words can appear on the page. That core muddled a little bit, maybe. Some parts of it didn't turn out the way you wanted to.<br />
<br />
Your anchor, your starting point, is that one scene where you fucking nailed that core. It's that miracle of a moment where, for a second, your vision is actualized. You point your finger at it and say: "This is what I wanted to write. This is my movie!" If you can't find it, the chances are the people reading your script can tell.<br />
<br />
Hold onto that scene. It's going to be your key, your anchor. This is why Sean likens the rewriting process to an excavation. You're going to find your spot and dig deeper.<br />
<br />
And you will do this in one of two ways. Either you're an Architect or you're a Gardener.<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b>Gardener</b></h2>
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<br />
A Gardener writes from Inside Out.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
They have ideas, memories, scenes and they shuffle them around, put them in a bottle and shake them until something special comes out. I saw Paul Thomas Anderson give a talk once and someone asked him: "How do you write?" He said: "I put two people into a room and make them have a conversation. Hopefully it's interesting. If it's not, then I put them in a different room. If it's still not working, I'll change one of the people. Maybe I'll change both."</div>
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<div>
The Poster Child for this method of writing is... George R. R. Martin.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He waters his garden with your tears.</td></tr>
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<div>
The challenge for this kind of writer is usually molding the scenes and the tone of the script into a coherent, satisfying structure. This might end up forcing you to cut some wonderful character moments or even entire characters in order to write a screenplay. This is of course a maddening, cruel process but a necessary one.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Or maybe, you're an...<br />
<br /></div>
<h2>
<b> </b><b>Architect </b></h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talk about a script that needed a few rewrites.</td></tr>
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<br />
An Architect writes from Outside In.<br />
<br />
They build the World of the story first, then zoom into the scenes. They love charts and highlighters and cards and maps. They want to have the blue print before they start building the house. They know the ending before they start writing.<br />
<br />
The pitfall for this kind of writer is to turn in stories that feel stiff. They tend to lean on their influences a bit too much when writing their first drafts. So, instead of the incoherence of a Gardener, an Architect might suffer from producing a work that is too predictable or perhaps with a tone too familiar to the movies that influenced it.<br />
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For those of you in our class, Sean is an Architect and I'm a Gardener. We deal with that dreaded Writer's Block different ways. He writes on index cards and re-composes his structure. I write fake reddit posts from the point of view of my main character and try to figure out what he or she should do in a scene. Different strokes for different folks.<br />
<br />
Of course maybe you fall somewhere in the middle. That's alright too. Creative process is a fickle, schizophrenic thing. But knowing your process intimately will help you in the rest of your creative life. After all, in the class, we're not only learning writing as a craft, we're also learning HOW to write.<br />
<br />
Alright, that's that for this week. Next week is going to be more about the nuts and bolts of it all (Story! Tension! Feedback!) as we dive deeper into the quagmire known as... Re-writing!<br />
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Also on Genre Hacks...</div>
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2013/12/this-is-what-rewrite-looks-like.html"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2013/12/this-is-what-rewrite-looks-like.html">This Is What A Rewrite Looks Like</a></div>
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/08/rewrite-how-to-begin.html">Rewrite: How To Begin</a></div>
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More <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2016/08/levins-tips-rewriting-aka-welcome-to.html">Tips From Levin!</a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-41742324795056040092016-06-06T11:15:00.001-07:002016-06-06T11:15:25.321-07:00On-Camera Acting Workshops for Kids and Teens<div>
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Scenes created in On Camera Workshops are often stilted and awkward, and recently Saturday Night Live parodied these "professional" services for kids. Watch <a href="http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/spotlightz-acting-camp/n43350/" target="_blank">Spotlightz</a> and laugh.<br />
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As many of you know, I work with <a href="http://www.deborahlemenactingstudio.com/" target="_blank">Deborah Lemen Studios</a> and I direct scenes for Deb's<i> On Camera Workshops.</i> You can see the difference in the kind of work she does in scenes like this one...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a4VIlHmkf48" width="560"></iframe> <b><i><br /></i></b><b><i><br /></i></b><br />
I recently interviewed Deb and asked her about what makes her workshops unique.<br />
<b><i><br /></i></b><b><i>How is your approach to teaching young actors different than other studios?</i></b></div>
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There are many on Camera Workshops out there in LA. Many do not spend time with each individual actor, preparing and rehearsing them for his or her scene. They do not shoot on professional cameras. They do not shoot on location, but instead shoot against a black wall. They don't provide professional directors to work with the students. They are also extremely expensive and provide a result that looks nothing like a real movie or television program. As a result, these filmed scenes are usually a bad showcase for actors.</div>
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After my workshops, actors get two scenes that look like clips from an independent film.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R_lfjFjd73U" width="560"></iframe></div>
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<i><b>Why do your students look so natural on camera, as opposed to the awkward stagey-ness so often seen on young people's reels?</b></i><br />
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With intense study and practice in the classroom, on set and on camera, I place special emphasis on training the actor to respond quickly and fully to all stimuli, enabling each student to make fearless, confident and ultimately winning choices. This leads to more natural, more engaging, and more stand-out performances. Younger actors are taught with the same emphasis on craft and authentic human behavior as are adults.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>I take special care with each student.</b> Every young actor has specific needs and individual strengths. I don't rely on any one method at the exclusion of others. I take all I have learned from a variety of renowned teachers and I find an approach that is best for each student - both teen and child actors who may be learning these approaches for the first time, and young adults who may already be comfortable with a particular method.<br />
<br />
I myself have studied with George Morrison and Jack Waltzer in New York (Meisner, Strasberg, Stanoslavsky, Adler.) In Los Angeles I studied with Peter Flood (Strasberg, Meisner,) and for 15 years in a Master Class with Ivana Chubbuck. I was founder of the Youth and Teen Division of the Ivana Chubbuck Studio, and <b>I was the first to adapt the Chubbuck technique for kids and teens. </b><br />
<div>
<br />
So often kids, teens and young adults are taught wrote memorization and this can lead to stiff, stilted and unnatural performances. <b>My students <i>learn </i>their lines rather than memorize them</b>. They know what they are saying, and they listen before they speak. If the words are not there, I teach them <i>to breathe, </i>and the words come. In life we often do not know what we are going to say next. So if the words are not there as an actor, I tell my students"That is a gift". Often times something will happen and forces the actor to be present. It forces the actor to be in the reality of the moment. Forces them to breath. To just... be.<br />
<br />
<b>I also teach script analysis</b>. Each student - kid, teen, or adult - is taught to break down the script in Beats, Actions, Moments Before, Personalizations, Inner Objects, and Inner Monologues. We discus Doings and Previous Circumstances. Most importantly, I teach that after this rigorous script analysis, the actors Lets It Go. Once the work has been done (really done) it is <i>inside</i>. The actor knows what it is that he or she wants and what to do to get it, or what to do "to win."<br />
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My teaching is about Human Behavior. It's not about the words, but rather <i>what is underneath the words</i>. </div>
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<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s_rFXLiKwQ0" width="560"></iframe> <i><b><br /></b></i><i><b><br /></b></i><br />
<i><b>Why is it important to have experience working on camera as opposed to working in class.</b></i><br />
<br />
There is a huge difference between learning how to be an actor in a classroom environment and actually putting it into practice. My workshop is an opportunity to test an actor's work in a professional environment, which can be distracting and overwhelming to actors experiencing it for the first time. We take what they know and what they have learned and we put it into action.<br />
<br />
My On Camera Workshops give the student the authentic experience of being on a movie set: Real Locations, Award Winning Directors, Professional DP, State of the Art Epic Red Camera, and a Professional editor. Students receive two edited scenes. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
I offer classes, for kids, teens, young adults and adults. The On Camera Workshop is a wonderful compliment to the acting classes. Everything learned in class is applied to the on camera experience. After taking On Camera Workshop a student's work grows exponentially in terms of craft, but they also learn the practical skills that only comes from experience in front of a camera.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vOT8NhGbrJM" width="560"></iframe> <b><i><br /></i></b><b><i><br /></i></b><br />
<b><i>What is the advantage to having scenes shot professionally when building a reel? </i></b></div>
<div>
<br />
If one wants to be a professional actor they need to show their work to the world. Getting cast in a film or on TV will do that, but often in order to get those gigs or to even get your foot in the door you have to find a way to show them where your talents lie. That is what an actor can gain from your on camera workshop. They will ultimately leave with two professionally, directed, shot and edited scenes that promote their talents. It is perfect reel footage!<br />
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When professionals in the industry look at scenes shot professionally, they take the actor more seriously. They are able to see an actors look and talent without by bad picture or sound. If the scene looks like a movie clip, a professional can imagine casting the actor in a movie. The work will grab their attention. And that is what is all about, to have people understand an actor's talent, her beauty, and all the ineffable qualities that makes an her unique.</div>
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Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-60547083973114792242016-04-18T09:19:00.001-07:002016-04-18T18:42:38.763-07:00Can Video Games Create Empathy?<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>An Intro To Narrative Video Games </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Or</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"How To Start Playing Video Games and Enjoy The Hell Out of This Beautiful Medium."</i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another post by Levin</td></tr>
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Video Games have always fought an uphill battle for legitimacy. Roger Ebert famously said they were not art. Even now, I meet people who flat out dismiss them as "stupid" or a "waste of time".<br />
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I believe Video Games are not only a legitimate medium of storytelling, they are, in many respects, an evolution of Movies and soon, pretty soon, they are going to take over as the dominant medium of storytelling because they do everything Movies do, and they do them better.<br />
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Here are some reasons why I feel that way and, if you have never played a video game, how you can get into this beautiful medium. But first, let's get something out of the way:<br />
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<b>YES, MOST GAMES ARE TERRIBLE AT STORYTELLING</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: Storytelling in 95 percent of Video Games.</td></tr>
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Most Video Games use story as an excuse to get to the explosions, rather than using explosions for the service of the story. As a young medium with a young audience -- not to mention crazy expensive development costs that require them to cater to the most common denominator -- most games are focused on spectacle rather than an emotional experience.<br />
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So, no, in this article, we're not talking about those. Not that there's anything wrong with blowing shit up once in a while, just like there's nothing wrong with watching a Michael Bay movie once in a while to relax, but we're going to focus on games that have loftier goals.<br />
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Now that's out of the way-- Why Games?<br />
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<b> EMPATHY</b><br />
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Screenwriters are familiar with the note: "We need to be in her shoes in this scene!"<br />
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That is short-hand for: "We need to empathize with the character." Remember your favorite movie-going moments, you probably felt like you were <u>right there</u>. You knew what the character was feeling, you empathized with his/her plight or a terrible choice s/he had to make.<br />
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Well, good news: in Video Games, you <u>are</u> that character. You are not watching someone save the world, you are not reading about someone saving the world, you <u>are</u> saving the World. This added dimension of intimacy gives great meaning to anything you experience.<br />
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But saving the world sounds abstract, right? It's too big, it's hard to care. Well, how about deciding whether your friend should go to police after possibly being raped?<br />
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In <i>Life is Strange</i>, your friend Kate comes to you for help. During a party, she lost consciousness. A student named Nathan Prescott walked her back to her dorm room and probably raped her but she has no proof. On top of this, Nathan comes from a prestigious family and you know that if she accuses him, he's going to lawyer up and destroy her life. You know the police are going to accuse her of lying and she already seems incredibly fragile and she asks you: "Should I go to the police?"<br />
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You can tell her to go ahead. Or you can tell her to wait until you look for proof. There is no right or wrong answer. Me and my wife chose to tell Kate that she shouldn't go to police for now.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was her anguished reaction.</td></tr>
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Imagine this moment in a TV Show. Perhaps that's the wrong answer and Max (the character you're playing) is going to suffer the consequences. But, in a game, <u>you</u> will. And it will hurt.<br />
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We have another saying in the screenwriting trade: "Choices reveal character." As in, if you want to find out what a character is really made of, then put them in a bad situation. Give them a really difficult choice and their choice will reveal who they are.<br />
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In a game, you will reveal to yourself who <u>you</u> are.<br />
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<b>A NEW WAY OF STORYTELLING</b><br />
<b><br /></b> We are all familiar with the Murder Mystery trope. Someone is dead, there are suspects, the genius detective figures out how it happened, yada yada...<br />
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<i>Her Story </i>is a video game where you're the one trying to figure out the mystery. It looks like this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_4KpQLa95gHx0dBYN9ekOeRzokYtnfCmB2fVuViDX-s3HKLZr0ikJay2LMt7lDBo6Z7ZS7fitHIa37vNSYe49yllcfuDqUJmkJL_USH-jPKD41zeMXdkFBbVzVS0TvHUaLE6scf_5S3o/s1600/2893760-herstory-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_4KpQLa95gHx0dBYN9ekOeRzokYtnfCmB2fVuViDX-s3HKLZr0ikJay2LMt7lDBo6Z7ZS7fitHIa37vNSYe49yllcfuDqUJmkJL_USH-jPKD41zeMXdkFBbVzVS0TvHUaLE6scf_5S3o/s320/2893760-herstory-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What you can do, as the player, is write in keywords into the video archive. With correct keywords, which are essentially clues, you will unlock more videos and get access to more of the narrative.<br />
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By connecting one clue to the next, you untangle a web of mystery. The gameplay is deceptively easy as it simply consists of putting the player typing one word after the next, but the rabbit hole is deep and you will get lost in the where/when/who and why.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OubpYu6onP4dt1qU67KQQ3wmjJIow-N30xiJvvTLPLHV-IG8mbkhct0ON0v6s_11I2jhTdhUDcMjDvqXpGqY7qNWiT_kJbju55_tmfzHTabWlDcHvTgcuDIzWE9TXB8BViyQmsT233M/s1600/hernotes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OubpYu6onP4dt1qU67KQQ3wmjJIow-N30xiJvvTLPLHV-IG8mbkhct0ON0v6s_11I2jhTdhUDcMjDvqXpGqY7qNWiT_kJbju55_tmfzHTabWlDcHvTgcuDIzWE9TXB8BViyQmsT233M/s320/hernotes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: How to play this particular video game.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The resulting experience is thrilling. Not only because you are put into the seat of the detective and have your "a-ha!" moment, but because the way the narrative unfolds is so unorthodox and unique. It's not linear or even non-linear. It's interactive, which is an element only a video game can provide.<br />
<i><br /></i> <i>Her Story </i>also excels as that "empathy" part. It has a few tricks up its sleeve as to who <u>you</u> are.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b> GAMEPLAY AS SUBTEXT</b><br />
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It's tricky to make the gameplay enhance the narrative, just like how it's tricky to make the big action set pieces in a blockbuster serve the story and the character. As a result, most games, even those with amazing stories, are guilty of separating these two elements. You siege a castle, then get treated to a video of your character having a dramatic moment, then queue a fight scene, followed by another character moment and so on. The gameplay itself has trouble complementing the narrative... Except in some cases, the developers have found a beautiful way to merge them together.<br />
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In <i>Last of Us, </i>the gameplay itself serves as <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/subtext.html">subtext.</a> You play as a man named Joel who is escorting this young girl named Ellie across the country during a Zombie apocalypse. Joel has lost many people in his life when the shit hit the fan and he now actively resists talking/taking care of Ellie. He knows the less he cares, less it will hurt when he loses her again.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe3aEVtRwD4klhSgDBr75yDDpa2mxcNetb63ebd8qPzozykjX_lcmz9wnz5_cCm8Z_nEfeDZc5ZRj2f4Yk7DgTVyzP4erL2zADqDaccqd4WuoRwL3gmgIAymJ-fujXcRmhg8A-iNx6Vk/s1600/8261726837_60287c5da3_o.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe3aEVtRwD4klhSgDBr75yDDpa2mxcNetb63ebd8qPzozykjX_lcmz9wnz5_cCm8Z_nEfeDZc5ZRj2f4Yk7DgTVyzP4erL2zADqDaccqd4WuoRwL3gmgIAymJ-fujXcRmhg8A-iNx6Vk/s400/8261726837_60287c5da3_o.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It also looks absolutely beautiful AND has explosions AND zombies.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The <i>Last of Us's </i>game play consists of the player acting as Joel and defending Ellie against countless varieties of zombies and scavengers. (In true Walking Dead fashion, it's always the latter that's more dangerous.) So, despite Joel actively trying to avoid forming a bond with Ellie, the game play is all about building that bond. Ellie doesn't know how to swim, so you pull her along wooden rafts. She is short, she can't climb certain obstacles, so you help her up. Sometimes, you save her from the grasp of a terrifying zombie. Sometimes, she saves you.<br />
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Thus, the game play has genuine meaning and complements the narrative perfectly. Rather than <u>telling</u> you, it <u>shows</u> you how the bond between these two characters develop.<br />
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<b>SO, WHERE DO YOU START YOUR JOURNEY?</b><br />
<b><br /></b> If you have never played video games but you are curious, I super-duper recommend the three games I mentioned above:<br />
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<i>Her Story </i>doesn't require a strong computer and it's pretty cheap (it's 6 bucks online!). The gameplay is really easy to get into as you really just type in words into a screen.<br />
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<i>Life is Strange </i>is a longer game divided into 5 chapters. All five chapters cost around 30 bucks and you will need a good-ish PC or a gaming console to play it. The game play is on the easier side. It could be the very first video game you play and you will adjust to it pretty quickly.<br />
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It has a rather weak beginning (due to French writers trying to mimic American Teenager Slang that, thankfully, diminishes as the series goes on) and sort of a wobbly ending BUT playing it is completely worth it. It's emotional impact is almost unparalleled.<br />
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<i>Last of Us </i>is the perfect game. It has a better story than 99 percent of the movies/books/tv shows out there and really shows you what games are capable of. It's violent but not gratuitously. The only downside is that it's exclusive to PS 3 and PS4. And the gameplay is a bit more demanding than the two above, but if you're keen on figuring it out, I'm confident you will.<br />
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If your child/friend has it, simply borrow it, go to a dark room and play the beginning of the game. Trust me, it will be worth it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrW9UtRKZ-PrXFGIeMqFpCzkZmukiwe9KwPDPPLl5WI7qJDtgOtORLbr7iSMQ4ALj9OnAqs7fhySttARAXyrqNRucOzWwuJltfQHWjnCuMyybmdwrKj_D2BQ_suiaa797H1Zig38mAI_w/s1600/aladdin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrW9UtRKZ-PrXFGIeMqFpCzkZmukiwe9KwPDPPLl5WI7qJDtgOtORLbr7iSMQ4ALj9OnAqs7fhySttARAXyrqNRucOzWwuJltfQHWjnCuMyybmdwrKj_D2BQ_suiaa797H1Zig38mAI_w/s320/aladdin.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look! A whole new world!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And that's only the beginning. There are other beautiful, affecting games out there.<br />
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But for now, that's my 2 cents on this subject. I hope you enjoyed reading this post and maybe you will give gaming a chance. I am excited for you!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-5228936055885277422015-12-29T09:43:00.002-08:002015-12-29T09:43:41.641-08:00The Hero Is Dead<div style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #676767; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
Here is an article that I wrote that originally appeared on Screencraft.org.</div>
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<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We have killed him </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">— you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea?” — </span></em><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Friedrich Nietzsche, </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Gay Science</i></div>
<div style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #676767; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Claiming that </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hero’s Journey</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> is dead just after the opening weekend of </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_episode_vii_the_force_awakens/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Star Wars: The Force Awakens</i></a></strong></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> may seem a bit foolish. How could anyone question a worldwide phenomenon worth uncounted billions? </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hero’s Journey</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, as articulated by<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Joseph Campbell</a></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, has been canonized both financially, as a corporate business plan, and creatively, as the very definition of Story. Even as I begin this post, I can smell the hate mail brewing. But understand that I’m not challenging <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Star Wars</strong></em></span> itself or the mythologies it echoes, but rather the simplistic template that screenwriters use in an attempt to emulate its success. Even as we continue to celebrate the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Monomyth</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> in screenwriting classes and story meetings as the master beat-sheet for movies and television, our actual stories cast it aside.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I think you already know this. You watched the Hero die when Ned Stark put his head on the chopping block, and you watched him die again when Rob Stark was ambushed at the Red Wedding. <i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Game of Thrones</strong></span> </i></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">is a story not of unity and growth, but of multiplicity and chaos, in which a crowd of supporting archetypes — the Wicked Queen, the Wise Dwarf, the Fair Princess — all orbit the black hole left by the hero’s absence.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #676767; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I maintain that “the Main Character” and “the Hero” are no longer synonymous, and perhaps never were. Insofar as the archetype does appear in our stories, the Hero is often not center stage. Take <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mad Max: Fury Road</i></strong></span></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. While the main character in the script and film is Max, he is not the Hero; that archetype is embodied by Furiosa. She’s the one who goes through all the traditional stops of the hero’s journey, and she does it </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">as a supporting character</i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. The main character, Max, is what Campbell would call a “Helper,” someone who assists the hero on her journey. Structurally speaking, it’s as if the Wizard of Oz were told from the point of view of the Scarecrow.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #676767; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As another example, the Showtime series <i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Homeland</strong></span> </i></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">is not a story about the Hero either; it’s about the woman who foils the Hero’s plots. Carrie Mathison is not Odysseus sailing home from war; she is Circe thwarting his progress. She’s not Hector defending the walls of Troy; she’s Cassandra making prophecies no one will believe. She’s not Theseus slaying the Minotaur; she’s the Delphic Oracle driven mad by her visions. When the other would-be heroes of </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Homeland</i></strong></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> challenge Carrie, they don’t face the club of Hercules but rather the flashing gray eyes of Athena. Very, very different archetypes than the Hero are at work here. Carrie is a chorus of complex myths.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #676767; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ll go so far as to claim that we don’t even identify with the Hero. Or rather, we identify with far more than </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">just</i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> heroes. We are also villains, with dark urges to tear, rend, torture and burn. Our psyches are jam-packed with identities: mentors and tricksters, blacksmiths and chambermaids, sad queens and wicked children, femmes fatales and stylish pimps. To understand ourselves and tell our authentic stories, we must listen to each of these inner voices equally. The Hero likes to believe he is “the One,” but he is just one among a multitude.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #676767; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That’s why, in <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Orange is the New Black</i></span></strong></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, the ostensible “hero” seems like such an insufferable narcissist, and we endure her journey only to follow the myriad supporting characters. Each of these other women has a vivid story to tell — a story that has everyone trapped in the “belly of the whale.” To call every character with a story a “hero” is to forget what the Hero Archetype really is.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #676767; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Remember </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/?ref_=nv_sr_1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Walter White</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">’s Hero’s Journey? His monstrous inflation of ego that resulted in the bloody murder of innocent men, women and children?</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I think you know this already, but the thousand faces of the Hero are often masks for the Herculean Ego—inflated, shallow and vain. He sees himself as the center of the universe, the Son of God, the One. No matter what happens at each signpost of the</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hero ‘s Journey</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, no matter what other characters or stories populate his world, it’s all about </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">him</i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. While it may be nice to have this type of conceited blowhard on our side when we’re sacking a city or slaying a monster, we don’t have to let him rule us.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes, any aspiring writer must read </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Faces-Collected-Joseph-Campbell/dp/1577315936/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450377129&sr=8-1&keywords=Hero+With+A+Thousand+Faces" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Hero With a Thousand Faces</i></a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, because its insights are timeless. But try reading James Hillman</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">’s </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Underworld-James-Hillman/dp/0060906820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450377235&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Dream+and+The+Underworld" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Dream and the Underworld</i></a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> as well. Hillman argues against the “Herculean Hero/Ego.” Rather than seeking unity, balance and the One, as the Hero does in the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Monomyth</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, Hillman argues that the imagination, especially in dreams, seeks diversity and fertile chaos.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What Hillman says of “the Dream” can be said of the Story. “We can no longer turn to [the Story] in hopes of progress, transformation and rebirth.”(41) Authentic stories “make no attempt at achieving undivided individuality or…unified wholeness.” (41) Our characters are not single, heroic egos, but a complex “multiplicity of forms.”(41) And only by recognizing this plurality can we reach our story’s potentials. The story, like the dream, “works through destruction, [a] dissolving, decomposing, detaching, and disintegrating process.” (27) It is meant, not to cure our symptoms, but to interrupt our structured templates so that we may engage with our lives more deeply. To identify with the Herculean Ego, is to take the hero archetype literally, instead of seeing it as just one metaphor among an endless variety.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If we take Hillman’s perspective, The Hero’s Journey has an Apollonian structure: ordered, balanced, idealized, unified and monotheistic. It’s just the sort of rational and predictable action plan that will appeal to anyone with a business degree and a share in box office receipts. Yet our best stories recognize other gods besides Apollo, especially Dionysus and Aphrodite, who rampage over our index cards and outlines and who seize our fragile egos with ecstasy, inspiration and insight. Hillman suggests that the imagination, and the stories that delight it, are </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">polytheistic</i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But alas, Hollywood loves Monomyth</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">s and Herculean Egos. I tried to write a Hercules movie myself once — a Hercules who subverted the Greek myth of the Hero, a Hercules with doubts, fears and divided goals, a Hercules who winced at pain, avoided conflict and resented the role he was born to fulfill. After reading the script, Brett Ratner</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> told me I had made Hercules too metrosexual. He chirped, “Hercules needs to be BADASS,” and then moved on to a rival project. </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Renny Harlin </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">had a similar take and rewrote my script top to bottom to infuse it with Gladiator-style badassery and </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">300</i></strong></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-style action. As it turned out, audiences, for the most part, jeered both movies.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To be fair, audiences wouldn’t have liked my version either. Hercules is a hard nut to crack. That’s why the only authentic embodiment of the Hercules myth in all of cinema is Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Shining</strong></em></span></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">). Or did you forget that Hercules, hero of heroes, murdered his wife and children in a drunken fit of madness? Disney forgot too.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So, in challenging the Monomyth</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> I am not forgetting mythology but turning back to look at it more closely. The sanitized Monomyth</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> tends to cover up the violence, horror and perversity of myths. In the original version of </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sleeping Beauty</i></strong></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, Prince Charming rapes the princess while she is unconscious, and she awakens nine months later with twins suckling her fingertips. Then, </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Prince Charming, who is already married, burns his wife alive so he and Sleeping Beauty can live happily ever after. As I’ve argued before, </span><a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2013/11/real-myths-are-weird.html" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Real Myths Are Weird</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, from Gilgamesh to Jar Jar Binks</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes, when they are all taken together in the mythical – symbolic equivalent of a statistical average, you get a Monomyth</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, but it is precisely the way each of these particular tales diverge from the norm that determines whether they succeed or fail. Joseph Campbell made a deep, lifelong study of myths in all their peculiar variety. Too many writers skip over the myths themselves, and go straight to the template, confusing the map with the territory.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And did we ever really love the Hero? Really? George Lucas, Lord of the Hero’s Journey, never understood that we secretly hated Luke and his quest for self-actualization and personal growth — and we hated Anakin even more. We loved the supporting characters; they were the reason we bought all the toys. We loved Han most of all, because he was full of grit, wile and contradiction. He was the archetypal “Helper,” “Rogue” and sometimes “Mentor,” who was just as likely to delightfully thwart our expectations as he was to fulfill them.</span></div>
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<i style="box-sizing: border-box;">(Here I’d tell you what I love about Rey and Finn, but… no spoilers.)</i></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In truth, what we love about the </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Star Wars</i></strong></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> movies — the good ones — is the inventive and chaotic multiplicity of characters and their quirky, charismatic individuality. If the Hero’s Journey template was all it took to thrill us, then <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Phantom Menace</i></strong></span></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> would be considered ideal and <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: navy; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Empire Strikes Back</i></strong></span></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> deeply flawed.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What I’m arguing is that while Joseph Campbell’s work remains classic, and the Monomyth</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> remains a powerful insight, to recognize story only in terms of one abstract schema is to ignore both the idiosyncrasy of ancient myths and the complexity of contemporary cinema and television. As writers, we become like Freud and his Oedipus Complex—seeing all of human experience through a single, narrow lens. Yes, “the hero” can be so vaguely defined as to cover any main character with a problem to solve, but why limit ourselves to this single model?</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So, my advice to aspiring movie and TV scribes is this: As you go on your </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Journey-Mythic-Structure-3rd/dp/193290736X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450376123&sr=8-1&keywords=writer%27s+journey+vogler" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Writer’s Journey</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> with plans to </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Save-Last-Book-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450376176&sr=1-1&keywords=save+the+cat" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Save the Cat</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Fire-Gods-Complete-Filmmakers/dp/1932907114/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450376219&sr=1-1&keywords=Stealing+Fire+From+The+Gods" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Steal Fire from the Gods</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, remember that now, as it was in the beginning, stories are polytheistic, myths are myriad, and dreams are pluralities without center —and no one master myth can contain these multitudes. Instead of laying out index cards in the ordered slots of the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #160552; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px !important; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Monomyth</a><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, consider beginning your story at the Hero’s wake, when all the wives, witches and wild women, and all the sailors, suitors and sons, find voices of their own.</span></div>
Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-77489784068027344682015-12-17T17:55:00.000-08:002015-12-21T08:55:53.187-08:00Redux: Real Myths Are Weird<div class="p1">
If you are a screenwriter, you already know <i>The Hero’s Journey</i>. Every writer, agent, producer and executive in Hollywood knows all about Joseph Campbell’s <i>The Hero with a Thousand Faces</i> as popularized by Christopher Vogler’s <i>The Writer’s Journey</i>. Perhaps you’ve analyzed “the refusal of the call” and “the symbolic death and rebirth” in Star Wars. Maybe you’ve identified mobsters in <i>The The Godfather</i> as “Mentors," “Tricksters” and “Supernatural Aids.” It's not hard. We really can find reflections of the “monomyth” in movies as diverse as “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2278871/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Blue Is The Warmest Color</a>” and “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300854/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Iron Man 3</a>.”</div>
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But… have you read any <i>actual</i> myths lately? They're weird. Really weird<i>. </i> So weird they make me wonder if <i>The Hero’s Journey</i>, as interpreted by screenplay gurus, ignores the uncanny, disturbing, and intriguing <i>weirdness</i> of the myths on which it is based. </div>
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For example, take <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gilgamesh-English-Version-Stephen-Mitchell-ebook/dp/B003P9XHZ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1384739764&sr=1-1&keywords=gilgamesh" target="_blank">Gilgamesh</a></i>. First composed some 4000 years ago, it is our oldest story, and the mother of all mythic quests. Yet it contains none of the clarity, simplicity, or easy classifications found in screenwriting books. In his introduction to his recent translation <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Mitchell/e/B000APBHIO/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1384739856&sr=1-2-ent" target="_blank">Stephen Mitchell </a>writes, “The more we try to fit Gilgamesh into the pattern of this archetypal journey, the more bizarre, quirky and postmodern it seems.” </div>
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The story goes like this: Gilgamesh is our hero, but he is also a tyrant, a rapist, an egomaniac and a coward in the face of death. His counterpart, the yin to his yang, is not a princess or goddess, but a wild, hairy man, Enkidu. The major female character in the story is a high priestess but also a prostitute who civilizes Enkidu by having sex with him for six days straight. She then hands him over to King Gilgamesh, who first brutally attacks his “other half” but who then “takes him in his arms and caresses him the way a man caresses his wife.” </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enkidu</td></tr>
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Next, these two best-buddies set out to face a monster, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbaba" target="_blank">Humbaba</a> (which is what heroes do after all, slay monsters) but these particular heroes weep at the sight of Humbaba, they fail miserably in their battle with him until a god steps in and fixes the fight in their favor, and when the now-helpless monster turns out NOT to be evil at all, and simply the guardian of a sacred forest, they kill him anyway and clear-cut the old, sacred trees for their own glory and profit. </div>
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All this, of course, angers the gods, and they respond by killing Enkidu and causing our hero, Gilgamesh, unbearable grief and suffering, mostly because he now realizes that someday he is going to die too. So, egotistical a fearful as always, Gilgamesh goes on a long, painful journey to find the one mortal man who was given <i>the secret to eternal life</i>. However, when Gilgamesh finally finds this man, all the wise mentor can tell him is that quests like his are pointless and that he should <i>get over himself</i>. </div>
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As Mitchell writes. “By preemptively attacking a monster [who was a danger to no one], Gilgamesh brings on himself a disaster that can only be overcome by an agonizing quest that results in wisdom by proving its own folly." This is a story with NO light and dark side of the force. "In its refusal to side with either hero or monster, it leads us to question our dangerous certainties about good and evil.” </div>
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Which is to say this story is <i>weird</i>. It’s not the kind of thing that would make a good pitch to Disney. And, if you spend time reading various original myths, you start to discover that <i>they are all weird</i>. Did you know that sleeping beauty was NOT awakened with a kiss? She was raped in her sleep and abandoned by Prince Charming only to finally awaken a year later to find two babies suckling on her fingertips. Did you know that the story of the 12 labors begins with Hercules murdering his wife and children in a drunken rage? Great stories are strange. Myths are bizarre. And, while all these heroes and heroines still reflect, at least in part, the generic features of the Hero’s Journey, <i> it is precisely the way these tales diverge from the norm that makes them memorable</i>. </div>
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It's also a good idea to remember that while all classic movies do reflect some aspect of the monomyth, all <i>lousy</i> movies do as well. Stories - great, mediocre, and dreadful - all follow the same patterns. The Hero’s Journey is not a recipe for success; it is a description of the collective building blocks of any story - including those for <i>Gigli</i>, <i>Catwoman</i>, and <i>Troll 2</i>… or for that matter, <i>Star Wars Episode One</i>. The monomyth is a kind of symbolic and spiritual<i> average</i>, not some storyteller's "secret to eternal life." Maybe instead of searching for "control, order, and meaning" in magical templates, what we screenwriters really need is to face the futility of "the quest," as did Gilgamesh, and embrace life's chaotic <i>weirdness</i>.<br />
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So, consider all this before you spend too much time with “step-by-step guidelines for plot and character development.” (Volger, back cover) Be less obsessed with fitting a story into a “Hero's Journey,” and more concerned with finding those excessive and inscrutable human experiences that cannot be so neatly contained.<br />
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<i>(Originally posted Monday, November 18, 2013)</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 13px;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 13px;"><i>You might also like:</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-not-to-pitch-to-studio.html">How NOT to Pitch to a Studio</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.quora.com/Whats-it-like-to-have-your-film-flop-at-the-box-office">What's it like when your film flops at the box office?</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2014/02/writing-feature-script-week-three.html">Writing The Treatment</a><br />
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-write-screenplays-for-amazon.html"><br /></a>
<a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-write-screenplays-for-amazon.html">How to write screenplays for Amazon Studios</a></div>
Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-59908190621820642342015-11-11T10:31:00.001-08:002015-11-11T14:24:51.148-08:00Great Job/Shitty Job -- a Breakdown of the Good and the Bad of True Detective Season 2<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Levin</td></tr>
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<br />
Hello folks!<br />
<br />
Welcome to another edition of Great Job/Shitty Job. I recently finished watching the fascinating season 2 of True Detective and, well, holy fuck, it was one of the most uneven pieces of art I have ever seen. One scene would bring me to the edge of tears, while the next would feel like it was written by a 13 year old who is trying way, way too hard to be edgy.<br />
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Without further ado, let's jump into it:<br />
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<b>Great Job -- Compelling characters with rich inner lives</b><br />
<b><br /></b> Even if you thought True Detective Season 2 was a piece of shit, I bet you thought the characters had some potential or, at the least, they were intriguing. Here's what Pizzolatto did right and why he got a cast of the highest caliber: His characters had <b>built in conflicts</b>.<br />
<br />
For example, Ani Bezzerides is introduced as someone who is so extremely kinky that it freaks out her boyfriend/fuck buddy. Then we see her sister is a webcam model and Ani sexually shames her. This immediately points out that there's something inside Ani that doesn't quite add up and hints at an active inner conflict and inner life.<br />
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Similarly, you have Vince Vaughn's Frank Semyon. Semyon is a man who has to become his past brutal self in order to become legitimate again. His actions are <b>at odds </b>with who he wants to become. If you can put a character into this position (he's doing something he hates in order to get something he loves) it always pays off in dividends when it comes to conflict and drama.<br />
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Velcoro is another man who is torn inside as his want (to provide the best life for his son) is what drives him to do pretty crazy fucking stuff. This crazy stuff is what drives him away from his son.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warning: He might buttfuck your mother with your father's headless corpse.<br />
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<b>Shitty Job -- A convoluted plot that squanders the characters</b><br />
<b><br /></b> Okay, yes, the plot is convoluted and all that. You've heard that a thousand times before. But what's worse than that: The plot doesn't utilize what makes these characters special.<br />
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Think back to Season 1. Rust is a man beaten down by the worst of humanity. So, it makes sense that the STORY pits him against a dark force that is almost cosmic in its evilness. From that conflict, he is reborn and finds some optimism... "Once there was only dark. You ask me, light's winning."<br />
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In Season 2, we learn that Semyon has a dark past with his father. Does this ever come back in the PLOT of his story? No, except this one really clumsy scene where his old Russian partner -- out of nowhere -- says "Frank, you're like a son to me" right before Semyon shoots him. We have a bizarre and long story line where Frank is trying to have a child... but that doesn't come back into the PLOT of his story at all. Seriously, even if you absolutely loved this season, take out that plot with Frank and his wife and their endless discussions about child rearing... What changes?<br />
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To contrast with that; there is one sequence where the show actually utilizes the unique nature of the character to make its plot stronger. When Ani goes into that weird orgy and remembers the face of the man who abused her, that's a great example of coherence of character and plot! If you have a character who has issues with her sexuality, of course, put her into a creepy orgy! That just yells OPPORTUNITY!<br />
<br />
On the flipside... How does that insane action set piece at the end of Episode 4 feed into Velcoro's desire to be a better father or Ani's complex relationship with her family? How does that action set piece service character? It doesn't. It's just plot without character, without meaning, without drama.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Who, why, what doesn't matter! What matters is that we are going to shoot at stuff and it's going to be exciting television!"</td></tr>
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<b>Shitty Job -- Earn your Goddamn Ending!</b><br />
<b><br /></b> Look, nobody hates fake as shit "Happy Endings" more than I do. Ninety percent of movies have zero tension in them because you KNOW everything is going to be alright by the end. You know that Matt Damon is coming back from Mars, you know Liam Neeson is going to take back whatever/whoever the fuck has been Taken from him. As a result, most Happy Endings are unearned because the characters never sacrifice/lose important things.<br />
<br />
But, wow, Season 2 goes so far to the other end of this spectrum it's almost surreal. It's cynical/dark/tortured ending is like watching a series of puppies beaten to death with a hammer. But, hey, you say... There's this guy with a huge beard that made a career out of punching his audience in the balls over and over again!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THE PUFFY FACE OF EVIL!</td></tr>
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But it really is different. When characters die in Game of Thrones, it feels like the end of an arc for them. It feels satisfying in a sick, perverted way. There is an inevitability to their doom. For the most part, they die because of their unrelenting righteousness cannot survive in the unjust world of Game of Thrones.<br />
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Contrast that with the slaughterhouse of True Detective. Let's take Paul Woodrugh's death. His arc is about rejecting his homosexuality and burying himself deeper and deeper into denial, even going as far as to enter into a loveless marriage. His death? His death has nothing to do with this arc. He just dies when he's ambushed by the faceless PLOT PEOPLE who shoot him. He is cast aside for the wheels of the plot and in a callous, random way.<br />
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Or let's take a look at the other two main characters who perish: Ray Velcoro dies after paying one last visit to his son before leaving the United States for good. This speaks to the inner tension of Ray; he is a bad man with this one shining light in his chest and it's his son. He thought being around his son would only spread his sickness, but he finds himself unable to just stay away. That leads to him being found out by the cops who were scoping Ray's son's school and now he's in the shit.<br />
<br />
So far, so good! This speaks to his character arc and his unyielding love for his son!<br />
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But then he leads the corrupt cops to a forest where he is shot to death. He tries uploading his last words for his son, but the internet is shit and it doesn't work.<br />
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Him going to the forest (to grant a free shooting gallery for the Corrupt Cops after him and to make it as hard as possible for his phone to upload his last message to his son) is as forced and convoluted as the forced HAPPY ENDINGS of 90% of shitty movies. Semyon being taken out by a bunch of random Mexicans who were barely established feels like a similar cheat. Just as you can't force good endings by introducing a bunch of unicorns at the last second to fly away your main character, you can't just bring in a bunch of random characters to kill them either.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BE DEPRESSED! BE SAD! BE VERY VERY SAD!</td></tr>
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<b>Great Job/Shitty Job Double Combo! -- Find Something Amazing, Then Ruin It</b><br />
<b><br /></b> "Poetic" is such a hard thing to do. It's ineffable. That's why it's so hard to visualize on screen. Most of the time, it comes off forced or juvenile. God knows most student movies are filled with this bad variety. Imagine that plastic bag scene in American Beauty. Now, imagine a lesser filmmaker trying that scene and it not working at all. How stupid would that look like?<br />
<br />
If True Detective has one strength, in both seasons, it's that effortless reach for the Poetic. It's making the ineffable visceral. And by poetic, I don't mean beautiful, it's the opposite. I still remember seeing Le Doux for the first time, in that grotesque jock strap and gas mask combination and being shaken for some reason. Or in dialogue: "<i>This place is like somebody's memory of a town, and the memory is fading."</i><br />
<i><br /></i> Season 2 has the dark Bird Masked Man that stands over Ray like the Grim Reaper. Or Frank Semyon's long walk out of the desert. Or Paul Woodrugh's screaming motorcycle ride into the deep dark... But, for my money, the thing that nails the poetic nature of True Detective in this season is Lera Lynn's melancholic voice.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No joke here. I find her un-sarcastically, un-ironically fascinating.</td></tr>
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I've been listening to her songs in repeat and they're so effortlessly poetic. I don't know how they found her, but they did. And they knew they had someone, something that can bring that ineffable poetic energy into the season... So they fucking double downed on her to the point where all that poetic, ineffable quality of her evaporated.<br />
<br />
Look, it's fine that she's not just in the soundtrack but an actual character in the show. It's bizarre, but sure, she's good enough that it's not a problem. But then you have long scenes between Velcoro and Semyon where they stop and listen to her. They look at her. The camera wants us to REALLY REALLY make sure that WE GET THAT SHE'S SINGING ABOUT THEIR LIFE. At some point, instead of being a part of the atmosphere, she is reduced to an unnecessary, and sometimes unintentionally funny, musical interlude.<br />
<br />
And, look, in the grand scheme of things, she's such a small part of True Detective Season 2. But, I believe, this idea -- that they found something great and focused on it so much that it become annoying -- is emblematic of the problems of Season 2. It's as if everything that people loved about Season 1 was taken and put under the microscope until it became an eyesore.<br />
<br />
- You loved the darkness of Season 1? We're going to make it so fucking dark, you're not going to feel anything but sadness and despair! Kill everyone!<br />
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- You loved that gun play sequence in Season 1? We're going to give you an even BIGGER action sequence with so many more guns, why and what be damned!<br />
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- You loved Rust's erudite speech? We're going to have all the character speak that way! Yes, we will have the corrupt gangster Semyon and detective Velcoro talk using words like "apoplectic" and "sublunar" as if that's the most normal thing in the world. No, we don't need a Marty to balance out this relationship, it's Rust all the way because people loved Rust!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contrast. Contrast is your friend. Imagine if Marty also talked like Rust.</td></tr>
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Well, that's that from me. I hope you were informed/entertained a little bit. I wish you all a great day and feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section if you think I'm full of shit.<br />
<br />
For the other Great Job/Shitty Job's, feel free to check out my take on <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/03/great-jobshitty-job-breakdown-of-good.html">Interstellar</a> and <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/07/great-jobshitty-job-breakdown-of-good.html">Jurassic World</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-25780089830537889152015-10-04T10:21:00.000-07:002015-10-04T10:23:09.926-07:00What is the 2nd Act?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbPuDmtb0Ws8yFLr_bcoNQs_3F0uztRN7eIAw-gdHDoYLWeFa59P-F80IsiUrpe8mMucrPKura-CycoBUwCQAvpghC_dObBpSXJtp_PvcjVddq5UIOEFoUIepuQqF1odR-UJEMWnP6dqRd/s1600/Levin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbPuDmtb0Ws8yFLr_bcoNQs_3F0uztRN7eIAw-gdHDoYLWeFa59P-F80IsiUrpe8mMucrPKura-CycoBUwCQAvpghC_dObBpSXJtp_PvcjVddq5UIOEFoUIepuQqF1odR-UJEMWnP6dqRd/s200/Levin.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<br />
Hello everyone... Levin here,<br />
<br />
Let's tackle this question of "What is the Second Act?"<br />
<br />
In the simplest of terms, it's the middle of your story. It's also, usually, the most complicated, excruciating part of a screenplay. You usually know how your story begins when you start writing. You probably have some semblance of an idea as to how it's going to end. But the middle part where you know "a lot of things happen!" but you don't know what or how exactly... That's the abyss, my friends.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to the Second Act! Please enjoy your stay through the next 5 rewrites!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, how do you get through this abyss with minimal damage to your sanity? Well, that's where some structure and those pesky screenwriting terms might come in handy.<br />
<br />
<b>Main Tension</b><br />
<b><br /></b> What is your protagonist trying to do?<br />
<br />
If this question is clear -- "Liam Neeson wants to kill the motherfuckers who kidnapped his daughter and get her back, will he able to?" or "Charlie Kaufman wants to adapt this damn book, will he be able to?" -- then chances are you're on the right path. In the maze that is the Second Act, a clear want is the brightest beacon that will guide you.<br />
<br />
In very simple terms, the Second Act is a series of victories and defeats as your protagonist either gets closer or further away from his/her goal. He or she can't always win, because this would be boring. He or she can't always lose, because that would be boring too. Make sure that every scene you write advances towards either a Win or a Loss. This way, you can keep the momentum going.<br />
<br />
Let's say you're writing a movie about a young girl who is obsessed with Penguins. She runs away from home and travels to Antarctica where she'll steal her very own Pet Penguin!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
So, maybe, in one sequence, she runs into the antagonist (a Polar Bear who uses the Penguins in Antarctica as slave labor to catch fish for him!) and gets her ass kicked. Maybe, in another sequence, she steals a Penguin only to find out it was a decoy Husky put there by the evil Polar Bear.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet the Evil Polar Bear. His name is... DINGUS!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And then there are little victories: Our protagonist infiltrates Dingus' evil fortress and has a meet cute with the Penguin she wants to take home! She enlists the help of the Eskimo's living nearby and want to take down Dingus as much as she wants to!<br />
<br />
<u>Alternating between victories and defeats is the key to a dynamic second act!</u><br />
<br />
Important structural points of your second act are the <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/mid-point-aka-first-culmination.html">Mid Point</a> and the <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/end-of-second-act-aka-culmination.html">End of the Second Act</a>.<br />
<br />
So go ahead and dive into the abyss, my friends! Keep it simple and dynamic and you might have a great Second Act by the end of your journey!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-12167243687774061842015-09-10T08:46:00.000-07:002015-09-10T11:39:12.622-07:00What is the 1st Act?Hello everyone,<br />
<br />
Let's make a quick analysis of the "First Act" and its components. The First Act is composed of the two opening <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-sequence.html">S</a><a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-sequence.html">equences</a> of your movie. Usually, the <u>First Sequence</u> (the first 12-15 minutes of your script) sets up the the character and the <u><a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-status-quo.html">Status Quo</a></u>. If your script was a fairy-tale, the first sequence would be the "Once upon a time, there was a Hermit who washed his laundry in a river".<br />
<br />
Then comes the <u><a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-sequence.html">Point of Attack</a></u>. This is the "But one day, a GIANT SHARK emerged from the river and prevented the Hermit from washing his laundry!" This is the wrench that's thrown into the machinery, the problem that makes the movie change gears!<br />
<br />
The <u>Second Sequence</u> is usually the protagonist grappling with the problem. For example, in our imaginary movie, this is the sequence where The Hermit tries to find different rivers to do his laundry (there are no other rivers!) or calls the cops (the cops laugh at him!) or simply tries to live in his filthy clothes (he can't, his imaginary friend complains about his smell and kicks him out of the house!) or tries to bait the Great Shark to the different part of the river with an otter he found downstream. (The Great Shark is displeased by the taste of the otter! Otter, it turns out, is an acquired taste!)<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Studio vetoed the scene where the Shark eats the Otter. Apparently Otters are just too cute to be eaten on screen!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then comes the <u>End of the First Act</u>. This is a major turning point that launches your movie in a new direction. This is usually a moment of "<u>This is what my movie is!</u>"<br />
<br />
Maybe The Hermit wages war against The Great Shark after The Great Shark eats the Hermit's Hut! Your movie is a battle for survival! It's a heart pumping thriller about the Man and the Beast because this little mountain creek is too small for both of them!<br />
<br />
Or The Great Shark eats The Hermit's Hut and the rest of your movie is a low-key road movie through the woods, examining the relationship between The Hermit and his imaginary friend Mr. Goldfarb who has an insatiable craving for Oreos! (Mr. Goldfarb and his obsession with Oreos symbolizes The Hermit's desire to go back to living in civilized society.)<br />
<br />
Or this is where The Hermit discovers The Great Shark can talk! It's a comedy in the tone of E.T. where the two friends seize each other up and establish a symbiotic relationship! (Watch out for the adorable scene where The Hermit not only gets to wash his laundry again, but he also <i>washes the fins of the Great Shark!)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Great Shark's name is Mr. Fizzles!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Either way, there needs to be a feeling of "Alright, off we go!" moment at the end of your first act. An explosive launch, a propulsion of momentum! Status-Quo should shift in a real way, your protagonist should commit to a road that s/he can't return from.<br />
<br />
For example, there should be no more question of "Oh, The Hermit can just go back to his house..." NO! THINGS HAVE CHANGED FOREVER FOR THE HERMIT! <b>Nothing will ever be the same! </b>Either he has no Hut anymore to go back to or he just discovered a talking fish! Again: <b>Nothing will ever be the same!</b><br />
<br />
And, finally, let's have a quick talk about the <u>Opening Image.</u> This is an underrated tool when it comes to finding out what your movie is supposed to be, especially if you're doing a rewrite. This opening image should, ideally, distill the theme/tone of your movie into a perfect scene.<br />
<br />
For example, is your movie a cynical, global biting satire about the gun trade around the world? Why not start it with a montage where we track a single bullet from its inception in an industrial factory in the West to its eventual destination: the head of an African Child Soldier. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHn1zogeyO4">See it here</a>.<br />
<br />
Or your opening could be more dialogue driven. Maybe you're writing a low-key romantic comedy and your main character is a neurotic comedian obsessing over his mortality. Then, maybe, you can have him speak right to the camera and tell a joke that completely captures who he is. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsHwIBR6ivA">See it here.</a><br />
<br />
While I'm at it, here is what I think is a <i>bad </i>example of an opening scene. Here is the opening minute or so of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQdeLbNYHrg">Interstellar</a>. It establishes the world through narrative exposition (a device that will not be used consistently through the movie), introduces Cooper through a weird dream sequence where Cooper's plane is crashing (which makes it seem like the movie is going to be about Cooper dealing with his anxieties of flying or something). Of course it's beautiful as fuck because it's Christopher Nolan we're talking about here, but it's a rather lazy opening to what the movie is eventually about.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We told you never to badmouth Nolan ever again! NOW, PREPARE TO DIE!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Alright, well, that's it from me folks. Hope you've picked up a thing or two and somewhat smiled.<br />
<br />
Footnote: Some people have commented that Sharks do not live in rivers. To that, I say, here is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark">wikipedia entry that might tickle your fancy</a>! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-69825340799588142302015-09-10T08:42:00.000-07:002015-09-10T11:47:57.853-07:00Rewrite: Revisit The Story<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<i>This is a summary of my lecture notes for WEEK 2 of Rewriting The Feature Script, which I teach at the <a href="https://cinema.usc.edu/">USC School of Cinematic Arts</a>. Before reading it, you may want to check out the summary for Week 1, <a href="http://genrehacks.blogspot.com/2015/08/rewrite-how-to-begin.html">Rewrite: How To Begin</a>.</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After rereading your first draft and gathering lots and lots of feedback, its time to sort, collate and summarize all these notes. I usually assign my students this Summary of Notes.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now it is essential to step back and consider your STORY. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You have been so embroiled in SCENES and DIALOGUE, so distracted by complex questions of CHARACTERIZATION and <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/theme.html">THEME</a>, that you likely have lost track of what your story is about in the first place. Your story may have changed over the course of writing the first draft. If you are like me, you probably have become overwhelmed by how complicated your story has become.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's as if you were designing a swiss watch, and you've gotten so focused on the springs and </span>gears<span style="font-family: inherit;">, you can't remember how many hours there are in a day. So let's get back to basics.</span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Story</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is the simplest definition of a story that I have
encountered:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">A story is about someone who wants something very badly and is
having trouble getting it.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</span>In class, we discuss students' stories in terms of each piece of this definition. "<span style="color: #cc0000;">A story is...</span>"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #cc0000;">About
someone..</span>." Whose
story is it? Through whose eyes, and more importantly through whose <i>emotions</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>do we experience the story? Who takes
the actions that drive the story forward? Who changes as a result? How does that character's viewpoint allow the story to be told in a unique way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes you write a first draft thinking its a story about one particular character, but discover that a different character is </span>actually <span style="font-family: inherit;">the one taking action, making decisions, and changing as a result. The feedback on your script might reveal that a different character is the one the audience actually cares about and identifies with. Take this feedback seriously.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...who
wants something...</span>"
What does this protagonist want? What primary desire is forcing
him/her/them to take action? Whether or not the protagonist gets s/he wants is the DRAMATIC
QUESTION that the story tracks and ultimately answers. This <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/want-versus-need.html">WANT</a> has to be very specific and concrete, so that the audience understands what is driving the plot forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Often in first drafts the protagonist is passive. Circumstances don't force him or her to take action towards some sort of specific and concrete goal. Stuff happens, but all the tears, twists and tornadoes are not married to any clear objective, and so the audience loses interest.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...very
badly...</span>" Why does s/he
want it so much? What's going to happen if he/she DOESN'T get it?
This defines the <a href="http://genrehacks2.blogspot.com/2014/01/stakes.html">STAKES</a> of your story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Often in first drafts, the story lacks tension because if the protagonist doesn't get what they want, its not clear that it would be all that bad. Not Getting what they want should be an emotionally </span>devastating<span style="font-family: inherit;"> outcome for our hero. It should be, figuratively or literally, a matter of life and death.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #cc0000;">...but
is having trouble getting it.</span>"
What are the obstacles? Who is the antagonist, or what are the
antagonistic forces that is keeping the protagonist from getting what s/he/they
want?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Often in first drafts, things are too easy for the protagonist. Lucky coincidences help them along. Antagonists don't put up much of a fight. Problems are solved without much trouble. A former acting/directing coach at USC, Nina Foch, had sharp advice for writers on how to handle their protagonists. "Make Them Suffer!"</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Telling the Story</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once, these basic (but difficult!) questions are answered, we can
take a shot at<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>telling<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>the story. Brian McDonald,
in both his blog and book<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Ink-Practical-Building-Resonate/dp/0984178627/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390324080&sr=8-1&keywords=invisible+ink+brian+mcdonald">Invisible Ink</a>, claims that all effective stories have the basic structure of a
fairy tale:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once upon a time_____________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And every day________________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Until one day_________________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And because of this___________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And because of this___________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And because of this___________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Until finally__________________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And ever since that day_______<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Does a fairy tale template seem too simplistic for your grown-up,
complex story? It's not. Even three hour epics like The Godfather
can be told this way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Once upon a time</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>there was a Godfather who ran a family
business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">And every day</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the Godfather did favors and got favors in
return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Until one day</span>, the Godfather did not grant a favor, and
the snubbed rival tried to kill him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">And because of this</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the Godfather's sons took over the family
business: Sonny started a war and Michael killed the rival.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">5.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">And because of this</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Michael was exiled and Sonny was murdered
in the war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">6.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">And because of this</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The Godfather made peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">7.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">And because of this</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Micheal returned to take his father’s
place, but the family was weakened by the Godfather’s sickness and eventual
death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">8.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Until finally</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the rival family bosses turned against
Michael, and so Michael killed each and every one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">9.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">And ever since that day</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Michael was the new Godfather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What we want to avoid when getting a general idea of our story is
a series of disconnected events. "And then this happens, and then this
happens, and then this happens." Telling a story as fairy tale beats
forces the writer to think of the narrative as a chain of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>cause-and-effect</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>driven by the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>choices<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>of the protagonist. All the ANDs get replaced by BUT and BECAUSE OF THIS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a shot at telling your story in this simple way, using these simple story definitions. The parts of the story that you find difficult to summarize often defines the biggest problems in your script that you will tackle in your 2nd draft.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">(Tune in next week, when we discuss the next step in a rewrite, RE-OUTLINING your script)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<!--EndFragment-->Sean Hoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06231519321386029271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8449788510648805968.post-3342216611050652092015-09-03T10:33:00.004-07:002015-09-03T10:33:27.905-07:00What is a Sequence?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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Hello everyone, welcome to a new series of posts where I will be defining common screenplay vocabulary. This post, our first attempt, will define "A Sequence". Other terminology we will explore will range from "Plant and Payoff" to "False Ending Twist" and a myriad of other terms we use at the USC Cinema School. If you've heard the terminology used in a different manner, we'd love to hear about it!<br />
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Well, then, let's start with the million dollar question: What's a <b>Sequence</b>?<br />
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A Sequence is a collection of scenes centered around a central question. This question revolves around a Sub-Goal, as opposed to the Main Goal of the movie. For example, In Star Wars, the Main Goal of our heroes is to "Defeat the Empire, rescue the Princess!" but they have to build upon many sub-goals to achieve that end. "Will our Heroes escape from The Death Star?" is a sub-goal. "Will our Heroes destroy the Death Star?" is another such sub-goal.<br />
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Or let's take the recent movie, Nightcrawler, which you must have surely seen it by now because you love great movies, Bloom's Main Goal is to build his empire and get rich. Throughout the movie we see him rise as he achieves his sub-goals. At first, it's "Will he get a great shot of a crime scene?" then it moves to "Will he be able to sell his crime scene footage to a TV Station?" and so forth.<br />
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Building your movie using Sequences allows you to keep your main character active and changing your protagonists' goals is a good way to keep your audience's attention. After all, if your protagonist is after one thing the entire time using the same method, it's going to get rather stale. Imagine if Bloom in Nightcrawler spent the entire movie trying to get a perfect crime scene photo... That's rather simple, isn't it? But if he gets a photo, sells it to the news station, then, ultimately, evolves to creating the perfect crime scene... Then there is a sense of escalation, a sense of build upon his victories and defeats on his way to his Main Goal.<br />
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Each Sequence runs for <b>12-15</b> pages and you will usually find movies have <b>Eight</b> of them. <b>Two </b>in the First Act, <b>Four </b>in the Second Act, and, finally, <b>Two </b>in the Third Act.<br />
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Why, you may ask. How did this concept of a Sequence originate?<br />
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Back in them olden times, the projectors needed to switch film reels every once in a while. (Hence, that little cigarette burn at the right side of the screen) The projectionists found that if they did this every 12-15 minutes, the story came to an organic shift. And that's your little bit of trivia for the day!<br />
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Stay tuned in for next week's episode: "What is the <b>1st Act?"</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02318302379568459038noreply@blogger.com0