Lecture 9: How Do I Keep My Story Alive?

1. Lecture 9:How Do I Keep My Story Alive? Professor Christopher Bradley Alive (1993) Written by John Patrick Shanley Based on the book by Piers Paul Read

2. Previous Lesson The Problem and Main Exposition Opening the Movie Writing Exercise #7 Ronin (2003) Written by J.D. Zeik and David Mamet

3. In this Lesson Writing the Middle Suspense Surprise and Reversals Writing Exercise #8 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Written by Jim Jarmusch

4. Writing the Middle Lesson 9: Part I The Thing (1982) Written by Bill Lancaster Based on a story by John W. Campbell

5. The Middle • As in a feature, the middle section of short film can be challenge! • Once the story is set in motion, you need to juggle the important plot elements – action, conflict, character and theme – so that the story keeps moving and has meaning. • The middle is where the battle is won or lost – where momentum must be sustained.

6. Keeping Focused • Conflict informs and directs the flow of information that makes the plot. • Don’t veer off! When developing other elements, be sure they always serve the central story. • If the threads of the main conflict are ignored, or sidelined for action that has no bearing on the main conflict, the links between the scenes break down and momentum and meaning can be lost.

7. Keeping Focused • For example, say your protagonist is an old lady trying to shut down the crack house next door. You want to show her love of animals as an aspect of her character. • Wrong: A sweet scene where we see her feeding and talking to stray cats. • Right: One of the drug dealers has cornered a cat that scratched him and the old lady confronts him.

8. Conflict as a Guide Since the middle must build tension to hold the audience, use conflict to build the plot action. Think basic cause-and-effect plotting. The protagonist makes a move, draws conflict, and is affected, which leads to new steps and new conflicts. Every scene should have conflict. The conflict in every scene should up the stakes. 8

9. Suspense Lesson 9: Part II Rear Window (1954) Written by John Michael Hayes Based on the short story “It Had to be Murder” by Cornell Woolrich

10. Suspense in Narrative • Suspense is a quality of tension in the plot that sustains audience interest and makes viewers both ask and anticipate what comes next in the story. • As the protagonist struggles to overcome the conflict, he will gain the viewer’s interest and often the viewer’s respect. • Tension and suspense need to be stoked!

11. Example • The owner of the crack house next door pretends to be a police officer and calls the old lady to find out exactly what she’s knows and what she’s told the police. • She hears the cat crying and says she’ll call right back. • When she calls the police station, they’ve never heard of a “Detective Hunt”. • She knows the dealers suspect the informant is her.

12. Suspense and the Antagonist • A strong antagonist makes for a strong story! • The stronger the antagonist, the more uncertain we are as to whether or not the hero will succeed, the more involving the story will be. Sleeping Beauty (1954) Written by Charles Perrault Based on an adaptation by Erdman Penner

13. Bring in the Antagonist Early • Bring the antagonist in at the earliest logical moment. We can only start to wonder what happens next once the conflict has been introduced! Cape Fear (1954) Written by Wesley Strick Based on the novel “The Executioner” by John D. MacDonald

14. Jeopardy! • To compound suspense, put the protagonist in jeopardy and keep him there. • Jeopardy for the protagonist can be personal, as in losing love or respect. • Or it can be physical peril such as the possibility of death or the death of someone close to the protagonist.

15. The Dreadful Alternative • To add another layer of suspense to a character in jeopardy, create an obvious negative consequence that awaits the protagonist if he or she fails. • Introducing this negative consequence early on will lace your story with suspense for its entire length. The price of failure must be high. • George Lucas in Love • Powder Keg

16. Unexpected Complications • A sudden surprise, which complicates the situation or creates a new obstacle for the hero, can keep the tension mounting. • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off • Juno • There Will be Blood Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) Written by John Hughes

17. Techniques for Suspense • Two great techniques for creating suspense are the “ticking clock” and crosscutting. • The “ticking clock” establishes a limited time frame for the protagonist to perform. Time is running out on the protagonist’s chances for success with each passing moment. • Crosscutting cuts between opposing forces in a story, showing the progress of the protagonist and the antagonist in pursuing their goals.

18. Techniques for Suspense (Continued) • As one gets closer, the other is in an inferior position and so forth. When the protagonist is worse off, suspense increases due to our worry that he won’t succeed. • Crosscutting can also involve cutting between the protagonist and an obstacle lying ahead of his path. This creates tension as the audience anticipates how the protagonist will handle the obstacles.

19. Maintaining Suspense • Avoid predictability! If the audience easily sees what is going to happen, and their expectations are met without surprise, you will lose them. • The possibility of imminent crisis needs to be foreshadowed. But it is the possibility, not the certainty, which give rise to suspense. • Pause the lecture and watch the short The Hire: Ambush.

20. Maintaining Suspense (Continued) • Thinking about the short, how does this story surprise the audience? • What are some aspects of the story that are set up and then have satisfying payoffs? • Where did you see crosscutting? • At what points are the protagonist and the antagonist in the power position?

21. The Flawed Protagonist • Remember, a protagonist that is so smart and strong that he can solve any problem through might or intellect won’t engender much suspense. • The protagonist needs to be challenged. The greater the odds against the hero succeeding, the more the audience will root for him to prevail. • How is the protagonist of Ambush vulnerable?

22. Sticking with your Antagonist • The early loss of the antagonist risks undercutting suspense. To keep suspense alive, the antagonist needs to be viable until the climax of the film. • If the antagonist is removed from contention in the story before the final crisis and climax, momentum will be slowed and suspense lost. • If you do remove an antagonist or obstacle, make sure to create another to take it’s place.

23. Surprise and Reversals An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1962) Written by Robert Enrico Based on a story by Ambrose Bierce Lesson 9: Part III

24. Surprise • Surprise plays a major part in maintaining suspense. It helps stimulate our curiosity regarding the story, making us ask over and over again: what is going to happen next? • When a plot takes a sudden turn in an unexpected direction it can surprise the audience (as long as it is logical and not completely out of left field).

25. Surprise (Continued) • When a character behaves in a startling way or does something seemingly inexplicable, it can astonish us. • As the film progresses, the audience needs to be frequently surprised by the characters and action. As the end nears, the surprises should intensify. • The final surprise is often the revelation or epiphany that is the whole point of the story.

26. Surprise (Continued) • One way to think about generating surprise is to consider what would be the next predictable move for a character or situation and then write the opposite (staying within the logic of the plot). • This is especially true with emotional surprises. Remember, you can generate a lot of surprise when a character acts according to his buried needs rather than his stated wants.

27. Example Chinatown (1974) Written by Robert Towne

28. The Reversal • A reversal is an unexpected event that spins the story in the opposite direction. It causes the situation to completely change – good fortune into bad, bad fortune into good. • More often than not the new situation is not only unanticipated but also unwanted. • A reversal forces the protagonist to move in an entirely new and unforeseen direction. 28

29. The Reversal (Continued) • Most feature films have at least one major reversal, usually near the midpoint. The major reversal in a feature has life-shaking implications for the protagonist. • Pause the lecture, go to Learning Tasks and watch the clip from Say Anything, and consider the reversal in this scene. 29

30. Reversal and Midpoint • In a short film we most often find a reversal at the midpoint of the film. Here, one of the characters, the antagonist or the protagonist, shifts course, and as a result the film changes direction. • George Lucas in Love • Copy 30

31. Reversal, Set-Up and Climax • Sometimes a major reversal can come in the set-up or the climax, so that the film takes a dramatic turn just at the moment that we’re sure it’s going one way or the other. • Occurrence at Owl Creek • George Lucas in Love 31

32. Emotion and Reversals • Remember, emotion should underlie everything in your screenplay. This includes reversals, which work best when emotion connects with the action. • Emotion can either fuel and cause a reversal, or can result from a change in the situation. • Emotion adds depth to the reversal and enhances the drama. 32

33. The Pseudo-Solution • Another plot strategy for the middle section might be termed the pseudo-solution. • Here the initial story question is answered or solved but the repercussions are more unanticipated problems. • The pseudo-solution usually takes place at the plot’s midpoint. The second half then shows the effect of solving the problem for the antagonist. This can generate surprise and make a film more life-like.

34. Assignments The Hire: Ambush (2001) Written by Andrew Kevin Walker Lesson 9: Part IV

35. E-Board Post #1 Regarding the short film from the lesson, The Hire: Ambush, analyze the film’s middle section: How is tension sustained? Does every new situation faced by the protagonist up the stakes? Can you identify a midpoint? 35

36. E-Board Post #2 Choose any feature film you have seen and briefly identify a reversal in the plot. Where does the reversal fall in the story? Near the beginning? At the midpoint? How does it send the story and/or protagonist off in a new direction? 36

37. Writing Exercise #8 Now that you have the rough draft of your opening, write the first two scenes of your middle. This may or may not lead up to a reversal at the midpoint, depending on how you construct the story. Pay close attention to how you develop the conflict. Ask yourself as you write, how can I get the audience to stay interested in my film? How can I use suspense and surprise? 37

38. End of Lecture 9 Next Lecture: How Do I Fade Out? Donnie Darko (2001) Written by Richard Kelly