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Lecture 14:Lecture 14:How do I Make My Script Better?How do I Make My Script Better?

Professor Christopher Bradley

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Written by Steven Spielberg

Previous LessonPrevious Lesson• The Role of Subtext

• The Emotion Beneath the Lines

• Revealing the Subtext

• Writing Exercise #12

Rob Roy (1995) Written by Alan Sharp

This LessonThis Lesson• Keeping on Track

• Approaching Revision

• Writing Exercise #13

What’s Love Got to do With it? (1993) Written by Tina Turner & Kurt Loder (book)

and Kate Lanier (screenplay)

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Keeping on TrackKeeping on Track

Lesson 14: Part I

Sullivan’s Travels (1941) Written by Preston Sturges

Staying FocusedStaying Focused• One of the most important things for a

screenwriter to master is keeping the story focused.

• This is more true of short screenplays. A feature might survive an inventive interlude away from its main theme, but wandering from the central theme in a short screenplay can mean failure.

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Keeping FocusKeeping Focus• Pay attention to feedback. If your readers

sense a lack of a clear plot, a loss of momentum or a lack of a cohesive narrative, your theme may be poorly defined.

• In a first draft, you may have too many ideas competing for attention.

• Don’t panic! That’s common in first drafts. Pare back and focus.

Two QuestionsTwo Questions• When a screenplay begins to wander, with

too many ideas competing for attention, or if writer’s block strikes, the best way to get back on track is to return to the two questions you asked regarding your screenplay when you started:

1. What is the story really about? (“If you do x-and-x, then y-and-z will happen.”)

2. What does the protagonist really want (a goal we can see and/or hear)?

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What is the Story About?What is the Story About?• It is inevitable that as a work-in-progress

develops, it will change. A theme or controlling idea that led you to write the story may bear little resemblance to the central idea in the finished draft. The theme may have changed without you even being aware of it.

• Coming back to the original question of what the story is about can remind a writer what he originally found interesting and exciting in the material. 8

Re-discoveringRe-discovering• To rediscover - or discover, if the theme

has significantly changed - what the story is really about, you need to look at the screenplay as a whole and determine what the unifying idea is.

• If there isn’t a self-evident theme, and you can’t with confidence say what your film is about anymore, than there are few things you can do to uncover it.

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The ProtagonistThe Protagonist• First, look at the protagonist. If he or she

succeeds, what special quality enables that success? If he or she fails, what lead to the failure, and why has the antagonist won?

• The answers to these questions should provide a clue to what your film is about, since the fundamental qualities that lead to the protagonist’s success or failure hold the answers to what you are writing about.

• You can ask yourself later if a theme is valid, but first you have to know what it is. 100

What does My Protagonist Want?What does My Protagonist Want?• Many screenplays wander because the writer

forgets what the characters want or need, or it isn’t presented in specific enough terms.

• In other cases, the protagonist’s want or need may not be compelling enough to involve the audience.

GoalsGoals• A protagonist must have a clear goal or

need that drives the character and screenplay forward.

• Every scene must depend on this driving action: revealing character and information that motivates and stokes the central conflict as it rises to the crisis and climax.

• The driving force demands that other characters react to and oppose our hero or heroine as he or she acts.

Cause and EffectCause and Effect• The interactions between characters with

opposing goals should lead to a direct cause-and-effect relationship from one scene to another that keeps the plot linked.

• If the scenes of the plot are interdependent, that is, if one scene leads inexorably to the next, thematic problems can be more easily discerned and worked through.

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The Set-UpThe Set-Up• The set-up of a screenplay must introduce

the character’s want or need right away. It can be in place before the story opens, or grow out of the opening situation.

• Many short screenplays stall because the protagonist’s story goal doesn’t emerge soon enough or is too vague.

• Short films don’t have much time to work with. They must hook their audience quickly!

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Humanizing Your CharactersHumanizing Your Characters• The character’s want or need must be

compelling, definite, forceful, and believable enough for the audience to identify with – to win their sympathy and hold their attention.

• It must also be clearly important to the protagonist. Scenes that show the emotional reactions of the protagonist to loss or gain will strengthen the audience’s understanding of the want/need and humanize them.

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The AntagonistThe Antagonist• A primary antagonist gives strength and

clarity to a screenplay.• The antagonist makes the conflict distinct

and understandable.• Just like the protagonist, the antagonist must

have a want and a need and the same questions apply: is the want/need sufficient enough to drive the story conflict and, if not, how can you make it so it is?

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The Antagonist in the Short FilmThe Antagonist in the Short Film

• A short film can survive without a main antagonist to oppose the protagonist.

• However, if this is the case, the controlling idea or theme must be all the stronger or more clear to bind the drama together and get the audience’s attention.

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Success is Satisfying!Success is Satisfying!• Writing a good screenplay, short or long, is

a difficult job, but when you end up with a great story, compelling characters, and a powerful theme, it’s thrilling.

• Approach your material in a fresh and inventive way. (Scrooge is right? She really shouldn’t marry her soulmate?)

• Be prepared to do a lot of revising!

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Character and ThemeCharacter and Theme• Remember, the best short films embrace

complex personal issues – themes that feature films tend to avoid – and often this is the source of the short film’s success.

• The plots of short films are often simple, but the characters can be very multi-layered.

• Think of the plot as the story you tell to explain how a character emerges from an initial state to a final, changed state.

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Character and Theme (Continued)Character and Theme (Continued)• A story where character pushes plot, and not

the other way around, is what distinguishes all good drama and literature.

• Characters thrive in short films.• Characters are why the art form exists. Your

short film will be as complex, intriguing, exciting and satisfying as your lead character.

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Approaching RevisionApproaching Revision

Lesson 14: Part II

American Pie (1999) Written by Adam Herz

The Writing ProcessThe Writing Process• Some strategies for addressing “writer’s

block”:– Write at the same time each day.

– Write at the same place each time.

– Free write.

– Visit news sites for inspiration.

– Exercise / eat well before you write.

• Whatever your strategy, you must come to write with adequate mental energy.

RevisionRevision• Revision is changing and rewriting a draft

to make it better. In this step, we add, rearrange, or eliminate story elements.

• Revision is crucial. Revision is moving from brainstorming to real writing.

• The screenplay for every good movie you have ever seen has been revised countless times!

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Re-visionRe-vision• Re-writing is the fun part! Once you have

committed to the first draft, shaping it and perfecting it is a joy.

• Re-vision is seeing the story anew, creating it again with the advantage of having been down the road once already.

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Strategies for RevisionStrategies for Revision

• Journaling

• Freewriting

• Layering

• Breaks

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Written by Harper Lee (novel) and Horton Foote (screenplay)

Seeking out FeedbackSeeking out Feedback• Revision is facilitated partially through the

workshop process. Since you are writing for other readers and, ultimately, viewers, it is important to listen to the constructive criticism of others.

• Though we must trust our own instincts, we must also have the wisdom to look beyond our own scope and consider the advice of others—particularly other writers.

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Making it BetterMaking it Better• A screenplay gets better not just by

polishing and refurbishing, not just by improving various individual lines of dialogue, but by taking risks in the structure, re-envisioning and being open to new meaning itself.

• “Talent is a long patience.” – Chekhov

• “In the first draft is talent, in the second is the art.” – Paul Valery

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EditingEditing• With editing, we carefully examine our

screenplay for errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation.

• We edit to achieve clarity and quality writing, and also in the interest of professionalism. Spelling and grammar errors can say “amateur” to the agents, contest judges and producers who will be reading your work. Give yourself your best chance!

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Sticking With ItSticking With It• No one produces a brilliant result on the first

draft. Think of writing as sculpture. You begin with a chunk of marble and only consistently whittling away at it will produce the eventual masterpiece.

• To be successful with your writing, you must stick with it!

AssignmentsAssignments

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Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) Written by Harve Bennett

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E-Board Post #1E-Board Post #1• What is your experience with revision,

either in regards to this project or a project in the past? For example, you might say how you've seen your characters grow and change, or how your plot has shifted or how you realized that the theme you originally thought you were writing about was something completely different.

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E-Board Post #2E-Board Post #2

• Name a few of the concepts that you have learned in this course or in the past that have been most helpful with your writing.

• What are some things you would like to learn in the future?

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Writing Exercise #13Writing Exercise #13• Write a comprehensive list of the things in

your script that you know that you need to revise. Make the list as detailed as possible and use it when writing the final draft of your screenplay.

End of Lecture 14End of Lecture 14

Next Lecture: How do I Develop a Longer Script?

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Written by Trey Parker & Matt Stone and Pam Brady