Make Your Screenplay Sell: The Simple Art of Persuasion

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Make Your Screenplay Sell

The simple art of persuasion

by Nick Dunning Head of Development at http://www.screenwriting-on-the-net.com

http://www.screenwriting-on-the-net.com

39 Ulverton Road Dalkey County Dublin Ireland Contact me at [email protected] Copyright © 2004 Nicholas Dunning

Every effort has been made to ensure that MakeYour Screenplay Sell is free from error. I’m selling it to you with the understanding that though I’ve worked hard to provide accurate information, I cannot take responsibility for loss or action to any individual or corporation acting, or not acting, as a result of the material presented here.

All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction or translation of any part of this work by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying beyond that permitted by the Copyright Law without the permission of the publisher is unlawful.

If you feel compelled to share this manual, send it to a reputable newsletter for review. Please don’t copy it to give away - You receive it at a very reasonable price! Allow me to take my profits so I can live to write another value packed manual for you. Thanks... Nick.

The Screenplay Sell navigation chart This manual, in PDF form, is more than just a convenient way of reading your document on screen. You get some superb ways of navigation that you’ll never see in a printed book or even a web page, using the Contents and Index. If underlined blue text has either a standard http:// or www. internet address, then clicking on the link will open a Netscape Navigator window. If you are connected to the Internet at the time, then that web page will open. Text coloured red or blue simply means I have put an emphasis in the text for clarity. The Contents pages follow this page. You can click on any of the Chapter contents and Subheading contents, or their page numbers, and you will be immediately taken to the relevant subject on that page. Note that the Contents page links are not blue or underlined. The Index pages are at the back of this manual. You can click on any of the Index entries or their page numbers, and you will be immediately taken to the relevant subject on that page. Note that the Index page links are not blue or underlined Your Acrobat Reader program may have already automatically opened your manual. Here’s how to change your viewing size settings: To change the size of your PDF page You have 2 ways to do this: 1) Sizing At the bottom of your Acrobat Reader screen, you’ll see some sizing controls. Click the one on the left to change the screen size more accurately. 2) Icons At the top of the Reader screen, you’ll see 3 icons. Click on each one of these in turn and discover how the page increases and decreases in size. Choose one that’s comfortable for your viewing.

Navigation Panel Your screen may open with the bookmark panel open on the left hand side of your screen. If this takes up too much screen, you can close it using the Navigation Panel icon - just click on it to close it. Turning Pages There are 4 ways to turn a PDF file page. 1) Use the Arrow keys on your keyboard. Use either Forward or Back or Up and Down

2) Use the scrolling bar on the right hand side of your screen. Notice that when you click your cursor on the scroll button, the page number is revealed in a small window close by it. 3) Bottom panel operation. By using either side of the page counter window, you can ‘turn’ the page forward or back. 4) Top icons. Click on these icons to move forward or back. Returning To Previous Pages Click on the BACK ARROW icon. It will return you to the previous page view, keeping your original page size the same.

Contents Contact Contact Details........................................................................................... 2 Navigation Chart How to get around this manual easily......................................................... 3 Contents pages An overview of what is in this interactive manual......................................... 5 The Hero. Do we need him? What is a hero? The tools you need............................... 9 The Inner Toolkit. The First exercise.......................................................................................11 Inner Secrets The journey begins.................................................................................... 12 How to know what story to write in the first place? The Inner Checklist.................................................................................... 15 The power of the premise. How to write it easily.The Logline............................................................... 17 V.I.S.T.A. The easy way to feel secure about character........................................... 19 Structure The Essential Overview. Don’t start writing without it................................ 20 The most important elements of 3 Act Structure. The Opening.The Inciting Incident. Plot point One. The Midpoint The final plot point................................................................ 25 The Vulnerability. The willing suspension of disbelief............................................................. 28 How to really identify it... And add depth to your screenwriting.......................................................... 29

Psychological vulnerability. What really runs this business................................................................... 31 How to deepen the audiences identification with your Hero. The Compass. How to find the heart of your Hero..................................... 33 Moral Vulnerability. How to easily find three major weaknesses for your Hero........................ 36 The Struggle. How to intensify it. Another exercise......................................................... 37 How to connect to my Hero in a meaningful way. The Secret Meditation.................................................................................40 The Absolute change. How to make it definite.............................................................................. 43 The Journey so far. Where you are in the course...................................................................... 44 A compelling outline for your character. How to do it knowing what you didn’t know before..................................... 45 129 Questions to deepen character biography. How to deepen the lifeline inside the character.......................................... 47 The Backstory Creation Template. Print this out to keep a record of your decisions.........................................49 Adding rich emotional details. Emotional Triggers and Sensory moments................................................ 52 How to find specific and precise sensory moments. An exercise. Stanislavski............................................................................ 54 The Timeline A Special technique from the theatre........................................................ 57 The Hero’s Timeline Shuflle How to connect your character to the timeline........................................... 59 Three dimensional characters. How to add inconsistency and paradoxes.................................................. 60

Another approach to character creation. The Way of the Seedling.............................................................................62 How to quadruple the power of your Hero instantly. Adding the greatest strength possible to the storyline............................... 63 How to attract star actors for your screenplay Write a very powerful Opponent............................................................... 65 How to supercharge your characters to another level. The power of the strong desire line........................................................... 66 How to strengthen and deepen motivation The Stakes. Winning and Losing................................................................ 69 The power of the strong attitude An exercise to step into a characters attitude. And keep it........................ 71 The power of the strong point of view Increasing depth....................................................................................... 73 Writers block Get rid of it now, once and for all.............................................................. 74 4 easy ways to write better than you do at the moment The subconscious. Keep the pen moving...................................................75 How to easily deepen theme Choices and Values................................................................................... 77 Writing really is re-writing How persistence really does pay off.......................................................... .80 Show don’t tell Make pictures with life inside..................................................................... .82

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Quick Tips Archive Quick Tips - Genre..................................................................................... 83 Quick Tips - Great Dialogue....................................................................... 84 Quick Tips - The Midpoint.......................................................................... 86 Quick Tips - The Inciting Incident................................................................87 Quick Tips - The Mask.............................................................................. 89 Quick Tips - The Three P’S....................................................................... 90 Quick Tips - Introvert V Extrovert...............................................................91 Quick Tips - Stuck? Release Now.............................................................. 92 Quick Tips - The Ending............................................................................ 93 Quick Tips - 7 Tops sales tips................................................................... 94 Quick Tips - Easy Structure....................................................................... 96 Quick Tips - Agents - 9 Tips......................................................................97 Quick Tips - Energy Levels....................................................................... 98 Quick Tips - 3 Rules of cutting...................................................................99 Quick Tips - Synopsis Testing..................................................................100 Quick Tips - How to get by........................................................................101 Why you are a Hero..................................................................................102 The Top Ten web sites for screenwriting research.................................. 104

The Hero Something’s up... I have been a Screenwriter/Actor for over 20 years. My very first film, “The Lorelei” was produced by the BBC as a Screen on 2 Film within weeks of it being sold...Directed by Terry Johnson (Insignificance, Dead Funny, 99-1) and was produced by Robert Cooper (Ballykissangel) I was then commissioned to write another “Taking Steps”. I have also written and developed five feature films, a Television series( I have just sold the script to a prominent Film Company in Ireland - Samson Films (The Ambassador). I have acted in over thirty five television programmes, six feature films, countless plays (Classical and Modern) with major companies like The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Court Theatre Company and the Royal National Theatre Company, and have worked with all the major TV companies on the main networks in the UK, the U.S and Europe...During this time I have read literally thousands of Screenplays, Theatre Scripts and TV scripts, some extraordinary, some abysmal, but ninety five per cent of them were worse than that, they were dull. Flat. Dead. The characters were wooden and lifeless. What we needed was a...

Hero ...someone who would take charge and stir things up, someone who would light the fire...do the unexpected, and challenge us as we sat in our rehearsal rooms waiting for inspiration to strike...

...but who is this Hero?...and how do I create him?

This eBook is about thinking deeper, being brave enough to risk going further into the main resource you have as a screenwriter - Yourself.

The origin of the word Hero is Greek...It means..

”To protect and to serve...” A Hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice his own needs on behalf of other people. Self-sacrifice, the noble course of action, the right thing to do...morally right. It means the giving up of something...When a teenager jumps into a frozen pond to save a drowning baby...they become a HERO. No thought for themselves. Only the wider world...Remove GHANDI, THATCHER, CLINTON, MADONNA...EINSTEIN, RICHARD BRANSON, EMMA B from the world and notice the difference... And you don’t have to write larger then life characters for them to be heroic.Think of the Lawrence Family in the Stephen Lawrence case. Is the courage they have shown in the relentless search for their son’s killers not inspiring, heroic? What must they have given up?

What will your HERO give up on his journey? We need Heroes. We all need inspiration at certain times in our life and Heroes show us the way to go. Are you willing to take the plunge and...inspire us....

You need the right tools to do that... you need...

The inner toolkit

...Without thinking...get a pen... and start writing down...exactly what “To protect and to serve...” means to you right now...see what happens when you relate that phrase to your own Hero, at whatever stage of development he is at...in fact whenever you see the clapperboard sign...

...that’s your cue to open your own inner toolkit and do the exercise that goes with it...don’t think about doing the exercise...Just Do IT! Look what it did for Nike! (By the way when I use the term HERO, I use it to mean equally a man or a woman. There is absolutely no sexism intended here. Some of the best ever Hero’s have been women. I just hate writing things like he/she or s/he...it grates me...)

OK...Let’s take your

HERO

on an adventure...let’s find out his...

Inner Secrets Let’s create a Hero so powerful Readers recommend him right away... But how...? This guy is going to be around for some time so we had better like him. He drives the plot, he makes the difficult choices and faces all the hard decisions. He’s also got to be different from anything we have ever seen before, he’s got to be unique in every way and he must have a lot going for him, we have to care for him, we have to identify with him - we must root for him like nobody else on God’s earth. He is extremely important.

How do I make him strong and powerful? He needs deep and permanent foundations What? Ground him in solid rock. Sink the steel girders deep into the ground. Huh? Everything that has stood the test of time has been built on...

...firm foundations.

Look at the Acropolis.

Look at any Historic Greek building

Have they stood the test of time?

Will your characters? You bet they will.

your characters

Think what will happen to your characters when you support them like this? Think what will happen to your screenplay...imagine it, start to see it now and it willl begin to unfold before your very eyes....this really is magic. How do I build these foundations? First thing you have to do is this... Make a decision to really participate with me. Make an agreement, a quiet one inside of yourself that what we will do together will really make a difference to your writing. I know this may be a little unusual...and not what you might have been expecting but...if you trust the process it will work. A lot of the time I will make suggestions for you to follow, the best way to get the most from this work is to actually do the exercise suggested, and also to review them on a nightly basis if you can...the more you can review at night, the better... What we are going to do is to ask for support from your subconscious mind in this. By the way I do not imply anything strange or unusual by this. The subconscious mind is the part of you that is there all the time beneath the surface. It usually lies just outside of your awareness. Think of your phone number. Where was that number a second ago?

In your subconscious. And this part of yourself is a very powerful part of you. It breathes for you, it sleeps you, it regulates your breathing and your heartbeat, it keeps you alive and protects you from outside influences...imagine what would happen if this force was working for you...on your side...Just picture what you could achieve now. GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO SIFT FOR GOLD BENEATH THE SURFACE OF YOUR MIND When something just feels right, or stirs you, when you feel that type of connection to the page you are on the right track. That is when your subconscious mind kicks in to help you out. You will be amazed what’s in there and pretty soon things will start to make some kind of sense, and pretty soon you will be making some amazing discoveries about the characters you know and have yet to meet. Why all this inner focus? The one thing that seperates you from any other writer, any other human being for that matter, living on earth today is that you are totally and utterly unique. There isn’t another you anywhere in the world. Imagine if you could bring that to mind...and then started to write. Think you just might be able to...

create something unusual and highly original now.

How to know which story to write in the first place One of the hardest decisions you ever have to take as a screenwriter is which story do I write. Bearing in mind that the average screenplay can take anywhere between eight weeks and a year to write, sometimes even longer, this is obviously very important. What you do is apply :-) THE INNER CHECKLIST 1. What does your gut instinct tell you, and if you’re not sure, close your eyes and just mull on it…you will get an answer eventually. Don’t rush yourself. Take your time…Ask yourself as you prepare to sleep at night "Which story could I choose to tell…?" Be open to what you hear in reply...and you will hear a reply... 2. Is there a pulse underneath your idea? Can you transmit that energy to others? Does it excite you? Really excite you? 3. Do you care enough about it and will other people. Is it truly worth telling? 4. What is at stake? Is the journey hard and difficult for your hero and does the hero move from a position of vulnerability through a struggle to a position of absolute change. 5. Is it original? Ask yourself if you’re responding to a movie you saw and are you trying to tell the same story again. If you take the basic story and add a truly unusual spin to it, it could work but in general if you think you are following a trend or just want to write something to make money – stop now. It will not have the energy inside to carry it. 6. Is it too personal a story? Is it so specific to you that it could be hard to let others into the telling? Would an audience of strangers really be interested in your life story, for example? Be honest...have you had such an interesting life that thousands of people will pay money to hear about it? Probably not? (Life stories in general can be source of very powerful inspiration but rarely powerful enough to carry ninety minutes of screen time. If you’re not sure, don’t.)

7. Now play Devil’s Advocate: think of all the objections to that idea: All the reasons why you should under no circumstances whatsoever write this story. I often find when I’m doing this that I find a whole raft of other ideas. 8. Look for the astonishment factor. The WOW! moments. Is there a sense of...yes...I must tell this...and I must tell it...NOW. 9. I you find yourself unable to think of anything but your idea, it’s good!

Screenwriting is a process. What has this got to do with character building? Everything. To have a world for them to live in you have to have a story, and to really develop a strong compelling story you need to find a premise. A what?!

Want to know how to avoid the big mistake beginning screenwriters make?

Use...

THE POWER OF THE PREMISE The premise is the first step in creating a strong Hero. It is the cornerstone, the first building block. It is the soil that the roots of your characters will spring from. What exactly is a premise? It is your story or LOGLINE stated in a single sentence. THE MOVIE ‘Witness’ “A tough New York detective hides on an Amish farm from corrupt officials who want to kill him and falls in love with an Amish woman.” THE MOVIE “Batman” “An eccentric and reclusive millionaire lives a secret life as Batman and battles a ruthless villain who rules corrupt Gotham city.” Want to see some more...? Just click on the link below...(N.B. You must be connected to the internet for this to work) http://www.donedeal/scriptsales Most new writers make their main mistake right here - choosing the basic premise for their screenplay. Why? Because they don't know in what direction to take their initial idea. And they don’t know how vital this is. ...you’re standing by the cappuccino machine at the cinema,,,you have what seems like a great idea...a female cop is chasing a drug baron along the rooftops of Harrods...and then...she...and then...er...maybe she could...er...and then after about a week, perhaps more, and if so you have my sympathies...you totally run out of steam...NO STORY! What you must do is determine what your story is really about. ****************************** Hold on a second - can’t I start with character? - YES - Absolutely - But screenwriting is a PROCESS remember - Some people like to start with character, some with the Premise - I start with the premise and then add to it for me it builds a deeper and stronger Hero. And the stronger the Hero the stronger the other characters. ******************************

The way to find out what your story is really about is to determine the deep structural sequence of your story first. That is, the sequence of action that shows the most fundamental change in your hero. This is what satisfies the audience at the deepest level...no matter what form the story takes.

This is so important to grasp I am going to go over it again... The way to find out what your story is really about is to determine the deep structural sequence of your story first, that is, the sequence of action that shows the most fundamental change in your hero.

Another way of describing it is like this:

...bury your Hero in a deep pit with nothing but his fear, make him struggle hard as he climbs out of the pit and onwards to the top of the highest mountain. Then have him find something of great use and value...make this something extremely dificult for him to have accomplished and extremely important for him to have learned. Make what he finds gold dust for him. Make it something that will protect him (and others) for ever...

“...To Protect and to serve...” How do we do this...?

V. I. S.T. A

V. I. S.T. A This is the STEEL ROD that underpins the whole of your story and is the most powerful construction tool there is. It will help you create a strong Hero and an even stronger script.

Vulnerability In Struggle Towards Absolute change How do I use it? It’s easy... 1. Determine the Vulnerability that your Hero begins the journey with... 2. Identify the Struggle he goes through during the journey and... 3. Define the Absolute change he experiences by the end of the story. ****************************** • Take a look at a movie like...Die Hard: John McClane (Bruce Willis) follows his wife to Los Angeles where she has taken a job that he doesn’t want her to do. The tower block she works in is attacked by a group of european terrorists, and she is among those taken hostage. By overcoming the terrorists, McClane solves the main problem for the community and also saves his wife and his marriage that was in deep trouble at the beginning of the movie. • Vulnerability = The marriage is in trouble. • Struggle = He must overcome the terrorists and save his wife and other peoples lives by libearating the building. • Absolute change = He has totally destroyed the terrorists and saved his wife and his marriage. Also he has saved the whole community from the ravages of terrorism and transformed their lives completely. ****************************** • Is that absolute change? I think so. • What does your premise look like? Have a go...leap in... But before we do...let’s have a closer look at STRUCTURE. • Want to read Die Hard? Click on the link below... http://www.screentalk.org/gallery.htm

STRUCTURE A quick and easy introduction to Screenplay STRUCTURE Beginning, Middle, End. Thank you and goodnight. This manual is not a detailed look at structure, this is just an overview but is so linked to character that I am including this as an added bonus for you. The structure of a screenplay is the way you lay out your story isn’t it? It is the best possible way to construct and build a clear, exciting and emotionally engaging story. The most dramatic order of the events in your screenplay. In fact… "SCREENPLAYS ARE STRUCTURE" William Goldman said this and it is totally true. What the character does and when he does it is how the story is revealed during the course of the screenplay. This is quite a hard thing to grasp at first, but it will become very clear to you soon. And feel and sound more acceptable to you now. Can you see a link between the VISTA and structure? This is what’s known as Linear Narrative. The story is laid out on a LINE, hence LINEAR. A policeman searched for and eventually caught the ruthless criminal. Sometimes though it can feel like you are swimming in mud or walking through dense fog when you are writing. You need a compass and a map. The most widely used MAP in the business today is called...

THREE ACT STRUCTURE This is an easy way to break up the whole story into more manageable chunks to enable the writer (YOU) to to focus more clearly on the story elements used to tell your tale. Because a movie can be anywhere between 90 minutes and 120 minutes of screentime it can really help to manage this amount of work easily. And becasue writing it can feel overwhelming at times dividing it up can really make it easier to handle.

You can look at each little piece or tile of the mosaic if you like and then see how they all fit together to make up the whole picture. This all breaks down into several easy to remember units...a bit like...

BAKING A CAKE You assemble the ingredients necessary, and let’s choose the best ingredients we can afford - mix them in a particular way and in a particular order, add other elements, leave to rise (Very important in any kind of baking) re-examine the cake, bake it till it’s perfectly cooked, and only when it is ready… Ask a few good friends to help you eat it and show them what you have made. What’s a movie made of? 1. Acts 2. Sequences 3. Scenes 4. Beats Put them all together and what have you got? A movie Ignore structure and what happens? Your movie falls apart and what happens to your characters - they have nowhere to live. And your movie will not get made. Your cake will not rise. And you will not make any... ££££

$$$$

££££

$$$$

££££

If you haven’t thought your idea through in terms of structure then agents won’t be able to represent it, producers won’t be able to buy it and actors won’t want to be in it...

?

Commerciality is not a good enough reason alone to write a story, but you do want to do this easily don’t you? So let’s get structure working for us not against us...

The best way to manage the larger block of structure we call a movie is to break it down into 3 ACTS. Take your story and write it down in a simple three sentence structure. Each sentence then represents an act.

Basics The 120 minutes of screentime breaks down into the following pattern. 1/4, 1/2, 1/4. Beginning, middle, end.

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Page 1 Page 90-120

Each block of time represents the number of minutes allocated to each act. So ACT ONE lasts 30 mins, ACT TWO lasts 60 mins and ACT THREE lasts 30 mins. And I hope you can see how this relates to the beginning, middle and end of your story. How could the VISTA be useful here? Write it down...?

So you can see why people say the hardest part of any screenplay to write is the middle. It’s an hour long. That’s a whole episode of a TV series like Kavanagh QC for example. You need to write double that amount for a screenplay. So you had better know what your story is about, and what happens in it, right?

You need to know your VISTA.

The more you make a complex and challenging journey for the hero to travel, the easier it will be to have enough detailed and compelling material to pull your Hero through the obstacles necessary to challenge him. Ever sat in a cinema and thought…mmm this popcorn is good, look at that lady in front of me…how long till the ads…is that all it was about? Me too. Not enough substance. Not enough theme. Not enough depth. The more extreme the journey the character travels the more chance you have of keeping an audience entertained and involved. By the way, these basic proportions apply equally well to TV Drama even though the length may differ. TV shows may only be an hour long, 40 minutes long or half an hour long. But the same proportionate breaks apply. 1/4, 1/2, 1/4. Why do this at all? To tell the story better and to make it manageable. Having these convenient breaks enables you to focus more clearly on a piece of it at a time and what’s the best way to eat and Elephant?

One bite at a time To me this phrase encapsulates all you need to know about HOW you construct a screenplay. Slowly. Bit by bit. So the screenplay layout can look like this:-

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Or in story terms... Timid cop

chases corrupt villain

captures him and wins promotion

I am deliberately trying to keep the story ideas small and manageable here to give you a clear idea of what this is all about. Try laying out your own basic story against this template. Experiment with putting the story elements in a different order. See what happens if you do...?

This is a very important thing to learn. If you can grasp this properly, not only will your writing improve, but you will also be able to use it on your own as a selling tool when pitching it to executives. Pitch in terms of 3 Act Structure and you pitch to what they want to hear. It is the way they speak, it is what they are looking for. I am often asked...where is the beginning of act two? What happens in Act one? Where is the inciting incident...? And you can do this as well....easily. Why? Because...

This is still the most widely used format in the industry today And if you can match what is required you are more liable to sell your screenplay. By all means head off into the unknown...but maybe sve that for your second script, handle the basics first. Next time you see a movie, begin to look for what are known as the "Act Breaks". See if you can identify where the different portions of the story begin and end. Practise makes perfect. Someone also said somewhere, "All stories have three acts. In the first, put your hero up a tree. In the second act you throw rocks at him. In the third, get the hero out of the tree." A tiny bit of history... Three-act structure developed from Aristotle's idea that Dramatic Tragedy, being the imitation of a whole action, has a beginning, middle and end. So you can start to see that what we are doing here is continuing a long line of the besy way that human beings have found for telling each other stories.

The most important elements of Three Act Structure The Opening Make it visual, make it tell your story immediately. Let all your writing focus on the power of the images you create here. It is the first impression and is the moment when the Readers (And don’t forget we are talking about Actors, Agents, Producers here) will know whether what you have written is worth following or not. Demand the reader forget lunch and take the phone off the hook. Introduce your main character quickly and powerfully. Set up the problem the character is dealing with immediately. Bang. Read some..? Click here... http://www.screentalk.org/gallery.htm The Inciting Incident This is the precise event that sets the story going. Some external event causes the hero to come up with a goal and make the decision to take the action needed to fulfill that goal. At the beginning of the story the hero is typically undecided or confused in some way. Something happens that jump starts him out of his inertia and forces him to act, forces him to come up with a compelling goal and forces him to act upon that information. I like to think of it like this: I have wound the Hero up to such an extent, like a clockwork spring fit to burst…so much so, that the force unleashed when the event occurs will be powerful enough to set him off on the journey of a lifetime. Plot point one. This is a point in the script where the line of the story suddenly shifts direction. Usually it is found around page 25-30. It relates to an exact point when something happens, a word, a gesture, a piece of information, an event (usually) that spins the story off in another direction. For example: The detective has been following one course of action convinced it is correct when finger print evidence leads her off in pursuit of another criminal. Often this can mean the Hero going from one type of world to another. Assume the female detective is looking in the open fenlands of Dartmoor for the first suspect. The finger print evidence suggests she should trawl the nighttime bars in London’s Soho.

Do you see how the choice of plot point can also have a marked visual effect on the story? Where might yours lie? Where could you go that is even more unusual than you thought possible? Challenge yourself continually. The Midpoint aka The Point of No Return Another event happens, again it could be a word, a phrase a sighting of another character…that makes the Hero, who may have been doubting his ability to get his goal maybe even failing in his plan to succeed... ...totally commit to a new plan of action with renewed vigour... It is like "Right. I’m going for it now, and I’m going for it in a really big way!" Step inside that feeling now...get the feel of what that decision feels like, sounds like and looks like...experience it...now. Lean in to it...let yourself explore ... It also can be a moment of great focus for the story. And a moment when the audience who have been with you for an hour now need to be surprised. The detective who now has finger print evidence starts another course of action to find the killer and at the MID POINT finds out this man didn’t do it and that the killer has falsified the fingerprint evidence using a false thumbprint of a completely innocent man. – whooshh! I like that. I might use it. OK you can have it... Free. These are also sometimes called revelations or reveals. Something is revealed to the hero which he didn’t know before and which causes him to switch gears. I like to think of it as changing from second to third gear on a car. The engine stalls for a second and then – whooshh!! The Final Plot Point Similar in design to the first one in that it takes the story by surprise and sends it off in yet another unexpected direction. The President of the United States is just about to capture the terrorist who kidnapped his wife when he learns that the terrorist is in fact an Iraqi and action against him would spark another Gulf war. What does he choose to do now? Save his wife or have the war? Get the picture. Also it could be round

this area that the hero looks as if he’s going to fail. Not rescue his wife. Not kill the terrorist – Danger!! Obstacles all over the place. Or the killer is now after the detective and has managed to move undetected into his sons school and capture his son. How do these events affect the world of the story?

Act 1

II

II = TP1 = MP = FPP =

Act 2

TP 1

MP

Act 3

FPP

Inciting Incident Turning point 1 Midpoint Final plot point

What do you think? How will you apply this to your own story? Cut back to:

V.I.S.T.A Start looking for the connections that exist between the structure of the screenplay and the way in which your Hero and the other characters move through the story. For example, the deeper the pit you start in the higher he can climb...and about half way throught the story it looks as if he’s going to slide right back to where he started from and then he makes a decision and...climbs out of the pit and resurfaces with renewed energy and climbs the hardest part of the mountain until he reaches the top...

• In VISTA the letter V stands for...

VULNERABILITY When your film starts you have to grab the audience...On page one and not let go...so we must identify with the HERO, be in his shoes, empathise with him, and care deeply about what happens to him. The sooner you can expose his vulnerability, the quicker the audience gets on board...the sooner they agree to get on board and support him. The sooner they enter into...

“The willing suspension of disbelief” You know you’re at the movies, you know it’s not real...but you are willing to go along for the ride eTip When you have found his vulnerability, put him straight away into a place where this weakness is tested to the hilt. Remember Indiana Jones in the snakepit...”I hate snakes...” Immediately he has to deal with what (we already know) is hard and painful for him so we start to empathise... ****************************** ... RE-Read the Die Hard example again - Now. ****************************** http://www.screentalk.org/gallery.htm ****************************** Do I always have to empathise with my Hero? Absolutely. Do I always have to like what my hero does? Not at all. The Hero can be making all sorts of wrong decisions, immoral choices as he begins the story...in fact it’s better if he does...What’s important here is that he has changed and learnt from the experience by the end of the story, otherwise...where is your story...?. And as Syd Field says...”...if you don’t know what your story is...who does?..” ****************************** http://www.screenwriting-on-the-net.com

How to really identify vulnerability in people and add depth to your writing ...Today, tonight - start looking for it. Look for vulnerability in everyone you meet. Look for the unusual quirks that make people vulnerable and human. Look at the people you have taken for granted. Look at the people you thought had no vulnerability. Look at your parents, look at your husband, wife, girlfriend, lover, bus conductor, garage attendant. ..everyone you meet. What do you see? Write it down. Why do you care about them? And if you don’t...why not? Why do you care about people who drive you mad? What else do you see inside them...? What do you see that nobody else can see? Be original. Three things I see in my best friend. 1. The way he automatically forgets any French names in conversation. 2. The way he talks and plays with his deaf daughter. 3. The way he will not stop convincing me to go surfing with him. Are we beginning to see how we can make our Hero and all our other characters more compelling...? Ask yourself this…and sometimes this is really difficult. If I absolutely had to say that this person had a vulnerability of some kind...what would it be? And what exactly would I care about? What could you care about in Sadam Hussein? Hitler? Delia Smith? If you’re Hero isn’t someone you care about...why should we? Doing this will really give you valuable insights for your storytelling...Doing this will open up real possibilities for some truly original work...Look for the paradoxes and inconsistencies ( Much more later...)

***************************** I have a friend, a screenwriter, who calls this...

Psychological Hoovering

....you look at everyone you know and then you hoover up all their details and information you can find...and... write it down...(If you have any doubts about doing this, ask permission first) ******************************

What exactly do we mean by vulnerability?

There are two areas to focus on here... 1. Psychological Vulnerability. The Brain. The mind. What we look for are the weaknesses as they relate to the premise. In The Godfather “The youngest son in a famous mafia family takes revenge on the people who killed his father and in so oing becomes the new Don” Michael is kind fearfula dn seperate fromthe core of the main part of the mafia gang. As he progresses he becomes more and more ruthless until in the end he is the ultimate tyrant, worse than his father before him. 2. Moral Vulnerability. The way we behave towards others in the world.(Also known as Weaknesses or flaws) In Casablanca “A tough and bitter Man is runited with his ex lover only to give her up so she can join her husband to help defeat the nazi’s” (Unselfish act or what?” Rick is selfish, bitter and certainly a hater in the world of men. His moral attitude affects everyone around him, and he is not Mr Popular until he makes the sacrifice.

Psychological Vulnerability Fear is the driving force behind this one...heights, spiders, elevators, public speaking, women, confrontation, emotional commitment...by the way, did you know that in America, Public Speaking is considered a stronger fear, than the fear of death itself...is there a movie lurking behind that little known fact...? What are you frightened of? What are you really frightened of? The stuff you wouldn’t tell anyone about? Yes that stuff...? The stuff that makes you shiver at night, the stuff that makes your stomach go tight...That stuff.

****************************** ...write it down...now...and this time relax a little while you do....go deeper...deeper...be honest with yourself...the more you put in, the more you get out and the more unusual and original your Hero will become...and the more chance you will have of making some very serious...

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How to deepen the audience’s identification with your Hero Open the doors to yourself and you let the audience in to your Hero. Make the reasons and beliefs that motivate your Hero things we can all relate to. We all understand the need to be loved, the need to belong, the need for revenge, the desire for cruelty, the needs for freedom, success and commitment. Tap into your own needs and desires and you will find the answers and they will be different to all the mainstream nonsense you find out there. Similar but different. And that is what will sell your scripts. How to find the heart of your Hero. ... Exercise: The Compass. List three main fears and vulnerabilities your hero has or might develop during your story. When you have these three things...draw a circle around each of them and then draw a line off to the right, left and then one going right down...like this..

In the centre of each circle, write down the main fear...just write it down..public speaking, women, the criminal, whatever...Now at each of the points on the compass, E and W...describe a powerful story event that created that fear in the first place. What we are doing is going for the deepest and most traumatic story event your Hero will have encountered so far in life. The

greater the trauma, the harder the Hero will have to fight to conquer it....and so...the stronger the Hero...the more likely you’ll attract Star Actors and the more likely you’ll sell the script. HOW TO PREPARE TO FIND THE HEART OF YOUR HERO? You need to relax a little ...just relax...and allow yourself to go inside to somewhere quiet and peaceful... Sitting in a comfortable place, a chair or a bed...breathe in...hold it...and breathe out...totally...let go all tension....go further down than you did before...really sigh everything out of your body... Look out of your window...and just name three things you can see...name them to yourself inside your own mind...quietly... Breathe in again...hold it...feel the tension and then...breathe out...totally letting go more and more of the tension you used to feel...listen to the sounds outside your window...name three of them...really listen...the birds...the cars...whatever you hear... Breathe in again...hold it...feel the tension and then...breathe out...totally letting go more and more of the tension you used to feel...now name three of the feelings you recognise in your body...these might be the tension in your arm...the frown on your head as it relaxes...the nape of your neck relaxing...whatever you feel.. Now...Look out of your window...and just name two things you can see...name them to yourself inside your own mind... Breathe in again...hold it...feel the tension and then...breathe out...totally letting go more and more of the tension you used to feel...listen to the sounds outside your window...name two of them...really listen...the birds...the cars...whatever you hear... Breathe in again...hold it...feel the tension and then...breathe out...totally letting go more and more of the tension you used to feel...feel the feelings inside yourself...name two of them...One more time for one of each of the three senses...seeing, hearing and feeling.....start to think of the vulnerability for your hero.

As you feel more relaxed now...let’s say your Hero was that female cop chasing the drug baron across the rooftops...and you found out her main vulnerability was a fear of attack...after you drew your circle you found you had two main story events on the East and West pointers...... 1. The time, aged eleven, when a group of schoolboys attacked her in the playground and called her names. 2. The time at the Police training school she witnessed a brutal attack on her first day’s training. Ever read silence of the lambs? http://www.screentalk.org/gallery.htm ...now go even deeper...for your third pointer, really stretch yourself...right into the darkest area’s of life you don’t want to go...go deeper...and deeper...down....you can close your eyes for this if it helps...it usually does...and when you find yourself resisting, that is when you know you are on to something deep and meaningful. Keep going...to...something like... 3. Her wedding day, aged seventeen, when her husband was brutally stabbed in front of her. How would you feel about someone who had experienced something like that...what are the chances other people will think the same kind of thing...?

eTip Can you see how the choice of this internal story event could have a big effect on her outer life. Maybe it’s why she joined the police force in the first place?...perhaps her overwhelming desire for justice was created on that day. See how that connecting the story event to the goal really intensifies the need and drive of the character...so you... Link the trauma the Hero has experienced in the past to what he must achieve in the story now. Vital!

Moral Vulnerability Moral vulnerability - weaknesses and flaws - have to do with the way the Hero acts towards other people. ...usually mistakenly or wrongly...he treats women badly, maybe he is rude to waiters, condescending towards black people...insensitive towards vulnerability in others...

...List three main moral weaknesses your hero has or might develop during your story. Again use the compass to deepen the moral vulnerability for your Hero. Why did he start behaving like that towards other people? Why do you? Have you ever been rude to people...? Ever said things you later regretted...Get the idea...Been abusive...? I know I have, and I’m sure you have too...dig a little deeper...yes, that stuff. Look for the behaviour that is so appaling, and so human at the same time...Kosovo, Northern Ireland...Why do people behave like this? How is it possible for them to really change? Is it possble...?

eTip You must do this kind of research for all your characters...I often read a screenplay or TV script where the Hero is sketched in reasonably well, but the other characters have been conceived as an afterthought...this truly dimishes the power of your story...and by extension...the power of your HERO - Don’t fall into this trap.

All things are linked in a screenplay. ...What was that...? All things are linked in a screenplay.

THE STRUGGLE The Hero is on a journey. The struggle is what he faces and has to react to over the course of that journey. The harder the struggle, the more obstacles he faces, the stronger the character is...the more likely...fill in the blanks... ****************************** Remember “Die Hard”...Not only was Bruce Willis alone in facing the large number of vicious terrorists intent on destroying the tower block, not only was his wife held hostage, not only had he had a bad row with his wife the last time he saw her...but after an explosion which blows out the windows, shattering glass everywhere...Bruce, bare foot to deny detection...cuts his feet to shreds on the shards of broken glass. Now that adds to his character enormously...it makes him THAT kind of a guy...and Actors want challenges. Star Actors want bigger challenges...Give it to them. ****************************** Something is developing here...I begin to see a connection between the beginning and the end of my story...the weaker he is at the beginning the stronger he can become by the end...you’ve got it...

How to intensify the struggle for your Hero Throw road blocks in his way..the very ones’ that you as a writer do not want to write. The one’s you want to protect your HERO from experiencing...That’s right, the one’s you do not want to write for him. It’s not going to work to make his life easy. Or your life easy...No way...because if you...

Challenge yourself...you challenge your Hero. Challenge your Hero...you challenge your audience. So, for example, if your Hero has a fear of heights, and it is critical he overcomes this...make the journey he goes on one that forces him to climb tall buildings, scale mountains or jump out of aeroplanes, something that will fundamentally challenge him at the deepest gut level possible...get the idea...by confronting his deepest fear, he goes on a gruelling journey and arrives at the end of the story a changed person. That is an achievement. That is what we care about, why we go to the cinema...

What if I want to write a love story or a drama, or a comedy? Same thing applies. Suppose your Hero has a fear of paper, a domineering mother or tyrannical father...or water...whatever it is...put them up against what they really do not want to come into conflict with. Stretch them to pieces. Wring them dry... Why do we need all this struggle? If there is no STRUGGLE, you feel cheated...don’t you? You sense he could have done this easily all along and so...give up on him...it’s the most soul destroying thing...resist it fiercely. ****************************** In the recent movie The Bone Collector starring Denzel Washington. I had this exact sensation.. It had a lot going for it, an unusual main character, a bed ridden police officer who was severely injured when a piece of metal fell on him. This injured his spinal cord leaving him nearly totally paralysed. He only had the use of his index finger and not a lot else except..his...wait for it...incredible mind...All sounds promising so far...With limitations like these he is in for a real struggle, right? Wrong. Physically he was challenged, absolutely, in fact in the final confrontation (The Battle) with the Opponent (Antagonist) he even had to resort to biting an ear off as a way of redressing the balance...so what was the problem? To my mind, the fact that he had no intellectual weaknesses meant that he could solve everything too easily. In their efforts to make the character vulnerable and original they had to increase his mental capacity...They went too far. Sure he made a few mistakes, but these were mistakes of timing, not of character. I think they could have made the blackouts he suffered actually affect his crime solving capacity...maybe he could have doubted his powers, had regrets...and then struggle to overcome those limitations. ****************************** Didn’t see the movie? Why not? You must go at least THREE times a month to keep abreast and to learn. Go in the afternoon or before 5pm at the weekends and most cinemas will let you in at a greatly reduced cost...and no NO VIDEOS - except for study purposes. Movies are for AUDIENCES.

******************************

eTip Sit as near to the front and the side as you can...when something happens that affects the audience - watch their reactions? Learn what created that response. then model it. More on modelling later. But for now know that modelling is not copying. Modelling is what actors do all the time and is what you are going to learn to do more of as we travel along the road. ****************************** Back to the female cop...I’m beginning to like her... What is her goal. To catch the criminal. What is her main vulnerability? The sight of seeing her husband killed in front of her on her wedding day.

...use the compass again here. Describe three things she would least like to meet on her journey and deepen with each one... I did the exercise and found these...these events relate to her inner life. 1. The box she keeps with the clothes he wore on the day he was murdered. 2. Seeing newly weds coming out of a church, happy. 3. The vicious criminal she must catch...looks and sounds like her husband. What did you find? 1........ 2........ 3........ You might find more events that relate to her external life...like these... 1. The chief of police suspends her for insubordination. 2. The criminal evades her finely tuned trap and makes a fool out of her. 3. The criminal captures her and holds her and her child for ransom.

HOW TO DEEPEN MY RELATIONSHIP TO MY HERO? I have a grasp on my Hero...he’s beginning to take form...but...it’s still a bit fuzzy...a bit unclear as to who he is...

..at times like this you need...

The Secret Meditation This is extremely powerful. It is derived from acting exercises I was taught at drama school...we were taught this by Dr Brian Bates a distinguished psychologist when I was at R.A.D.A. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. It starts the same way as the previous meditation, but it’s different... You might like to print this out first, or record it on to a tape machine for future use. Speak gently and calmly in a supportive tone... Read it over a few times gently and easily...and then prepare a time when you know you can give it your full attention...it helps if you can relax...now... Sitting in a comfortable place, a chair or a bed...breathe in...hold it...and breathe out...totally...let go all tension....go further down than you did before...really sigh everything out of your body... Look out of your window...and just name three things you can see...name them to yourself inside your own mind... Breathe in again...hold it...feel the tension and then...breathe out...totally letting go more and more of the tension you used to feel...listen to the sounds outside your window...name three of them...really listen...the birds...the cars...whatever you hear... Breathe in again...hold it...feel the tension and then...breathe out...totally letting go more and more of the tension you used to feel...now name three of the feelings you recognise in your body...these might be the tension in your arm...the frown on your head as it

relaxes...the nape of your neck relaxing...whatever you feel.. Now...Look out of your window...and just name two things you can see...name them to yourself inside your own mind... Breathe in again...hold it...feel the tension and then...breathe out...totally letting go more and more of the tension you used to feel...listen to the sounds outside your window...name two of them...really listen...the birds...the cars...whatever you hear...

And now...close your eyes...as you name two of the feelings you recognise in your body...these might be the tension in your arm...the frown on your head as it relaxes...the nape of your neck relaxing...whatever you feel.. repeat the whole process once more seeing, hearing and then feeling only one thing...relaxing more and more...you can still se with your eyes shut, right? Now start to bring your Hero to mind...start to see him...taking shape...becoming clearer now...if you look upwards it is easier to imagine pictures... Now see the image of your Hero and make it bigger and bigger, see him filled with all the wonderful qualities you would like him to possess...courage, determination, perseverance, a sense of humour, charm... add whatever you would like him to become... When you can see, feel and hear the changes you want fully completed...invite your Hero to come towards you and on...into you..actually feel yourself become the Hero. ... feel, think and see like your Hero...with all those qualities he possesses...start to take your Hero on a journey...discover his history...his background, family...schooling...anything that will add to your understanding of your Hero. Let the feelings strengthen and continue to grow and develop over time for you...now...and on into the future. Open your eyes when you feel ready

eTip This exercise is so powerful, it can be used to create some extraordinary things...over time your knowledge and understanding will grow and this will soon start to filter through into your writing. Bonus This exercise is so powerful it even works while you sleep. ****************************** This exercise works for each and everyone of your characters...just imagine how rounded, complete and powerful your script will become if every single character you create has this kind of deep emotional foundation. Guaranteed For even greater benefit...Do this as you go to sleep...just ask your unconscious mind to help you fill in any areas you need help with. This will work. Give yourself permission to do this.

Some writers, writers just like you... even start to dream like their HERO...and so can you...

NOW............

ABSOLUTE CHANGE The Hero has moved from a position of vulnerability... through the fundamental struggle...and arrives here. At a position of absolute change. By the way, this must be a point from which there is no return, no way for him to get back to where he was before, or to who he was before....he must have changed for good! No temporary solutions! You will obey. Example ****************************** In WITNESS, John Book starts the journey as a hard bitten cop from New York(That’s his vulnerability, his flaw...) , his whole life has been about crime, murder and city life. The story plunges him into the middle of one of the most peaceful societies any where in America, the Amish community. He hides there to avoid the detection by the corrupt police officials who are after him and want to kill him (That’s his struggle) They want to kill him because he knows what they are up to...and he falls in love with an Amish woman and gains an understanding of a completely different way of life. (That’s his absolute change) ****************************** Need the script? - Here it is http://www.screentalk.org/gallery.htm ****************************** His life has changed as a result of his journey, he is not the same person at the end as he was at the beginning. And this is what underpins the story and this is what is essential for you to grasp. Getting a grip on this will make your HERO truly come to life. He will vibrate when people read him...Do the same for all your other characters...and they too...will start to feel the pulse of life like never before. You can create more lifelike, more real and more emotionally involving characters than all the stuff you see that leaves you limp, bereft...and bored...you know the stuff...the cliche’s... the tart with a heart, the geek, the computer nerd who discovers the secret to the bomb...that;s going to explode the universe in just under eight minutes - enough - stop DON”T GO THERE!

SUMMARY OF THE JOURNEY SO FAR You’ve looked at the structure of your story, you’ve started to bring the characters to life...you’ve applied the VISTA fully now and given yourself a head start over all the other new screenwriters in the world today who only rely on outside influences. So now...

...your characters...

...are developing fully..and you encourage their growth at night as you sleep...you relax when ever you need to and allow new things to develop in your mind.

Now it’s time to add the details that make them even more solid and secure, even more compelling and involving to audiences and producers alike. It’s time to learn...

How to create a compelling outline for your Hero First step - do the obvious. Give your character a factual history. Work from what absolutely has to be the case, what must be true about him, what relates to the

VISTA If the story is about a (Premise coming up) “...a shy female mechanic who unearths the truth about her fathers unpleasant war history, takes him to trial and wins” (by the way that is a pretty powerful premise and it’s...yours...free...on condition you invite me to the premiere) Find the things that must be true for your Hero... First: Determine her vulnerabilities She is shy .why? What happened? Was she dominated a lot as a child...Bullied? Illness? Bad skin? Braces? Fat? Did her school teachers oppress her? What was her father’s attitude to her as she grew up? Use the compass. Seek and ye shall find...and...go deeper... How did she become interested in cars? Why? Did this set her apart from the other girls? Was it to get closer to her dad? Did the other girls prefer make up and barbie dolls? Did she cover up her feelings? How did she get interested in her fathers past? Why? Maybe she always had an interest in history? Stamp albums? Research... Determine her struggle. She unearths the truth about her fathers unpleasant war history. How? Did she always know? Suspect? Was a letter left lying around the house.Did some strange men come to call? Did she have to travel to find out? Where? Kosovo? The gulf? Or is it a story set against the backdrop of the second world war? Or the first? The crimean?

Determine her absolute change. If she starts out as a shy daddy’s girl and ends up prosecuting him in a trial...she is going to end up confident, assured and powerful. Wow! Now that’s a journey isn’t it. It could conjur up all our feelings about fathers and families...it’s very exciting...I might do this myself!...She must also have learned about the legal process. If you increase her vulnerability now...maybe she was illiterate as well as shy, you supercharge her achievement. Get the idea...Bingo!

You must answer all of these basic questions...because...

...If your hero fails to ABSOLUTELY CHANGE you will leave the audience with no sense of journey, no sense of completion and no sense of having gone along for the ride - flat - dull. And believe you me...the sharks will get you... your own internal sharks the ones who know you are a better writer than that. And you are...aren’t you? Already...?The audience wants to know...and is curious..so let them in.. And who won’t sell their script...? So..

Make a list of all the basic facts you know about your HERO . You could begin here with...

129 Questions to deepen your character biography (just a reminder that we are talking about male or female characters here)

Where was he born? Where did he grow up? Who are his parents? Where are they from? What is their relationship like? Who are his brother and sisters? Older? younger? Where did he go to school? Primary? Secondary? What is his physical health like? How much does she weigh? Build? Age? Colour of hair? Left handed? How does she feel about her weight? Any squints, facial hair, moustaches? What does her voice sound like? Tone, timbre, quality? Language use? Slang? Received pronounciation? An accent? Dutch? Belgian? Sheffield? Welsh? Married or single? Several lovers? Affairs? How do they feel about what they do in love? Happy? Lying, trusting? Deceitful? Are they good with money? Bills? Investment? PEPS? Isas? Accountants? Parents alive? Dead? Near by? Conflicts? About what? Rows? Pretences? Feeling? What are they like alone? Do they pray for guidance? Meditate? Seek solace? Read pornographic magazines? Knit? Eat too many doughnuts? Do they read? What? Novels? Magazines? Periodicals? Brochures? Going out. Do they prefer movies? Bowling? Antiques? Lap dancing? Football? How does their home look? Furnished well? Ghastly carpets? Pictures? Prints or originals? Taste? Hobbies? Cars? Stamp collecting? Train spotting? Butterflies? Bird eggs? Self image? Sexy? Confident? Braggish? Loud? Mouselike? Military background? School teachers? Moving all the time? Relationships? Charged with passion? Cold? Indifferent? Any body lost to them through suicide recently? Grieving still? If not why not?

Odd practices? Count steps? Pick teeth with combs? Shave head? Like toffees? Ambitious? Always get what they want? Never get what they want? Think they deserve more? Bad temper? Controlling? Charming? Serene? Laughing all the time? What do they want from life? Now? Tomorrow? In three months? In six months? A year? Three years? Five years? Before they die? God? How do they evauluate themselves spiritually?

Not enough detail yet, not enough depth...? Then use the...

BACKSTORY CREATION TEMPLATE PRINT THESE SHEETS OUT TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR HERO AND ALL YOUR OTHER CHARACTERS

MY HERO’S NAME: SEX: HEIGHT: WEIGHT: AGE: HAIR: EYES: VOICE: COMPLEXION: NATIONALITY: SPEECH: HEALTH: ADDICTIONS: MARKS/SCARS: DRESS SENSE: FAMILY B/GROUND: EDUCATION: MONEY B/GROUND OCCUPATION: ASSOCIATIONS:

PAST OCCUPATION: INTERESTS: MORALITY: LEVEL OF AMBITION: PHOBIAS: FANTASIES: LIKES: DISLIKES: ACTOR TO PLAY HIM: Now fill in some of the blanks with some of your own ideas...some of the things that stir you up...

...but...

Watch out!

...there’s a shark about...

How to add the rich emotional details actors need in screenplays to make them say yes. Actors look for emotional triggers...to show range of emotion.. These are called sensory moments. They are the moments when deep emotion is stirred up inside of the character...they relate to the events we have been talking about, the deep story events we found inside ourselves when we did the compass and the other exercises.

Don’t just write a list...it’s essential background of course and you have to know who his parents are etc...but don’t only rely on it...it can turn into just a dry exercise...you know, ticking off the blanks... ...and dry is dull and deadly on screen.... Agree? Disagree?...this is why I developed the compass and am encouraging you to go into yourself..deep inside...to find the truly remarkable and unusual things that only you can know and feel...these are the quirks, the oddities, the strange characteristics that actors love and...

...look for... ...it’s what drives them and makes them want to act, it’s what makes acting fun. I’m sure you can come up with some fantastic things here...it’s a fun process and easy...and if it’s not...it gets easier everytime you do it...and guess what? Every time you do this you are adding to your ability to find more and more information for your other characters as well as your HERO...

eTip Build your own Juice file. Every fact, memory and detail you don’t use in your current script...willl be there for your next script...so keep what I call a Juice file on your desk...a file or folder that you can add all sorts of information to...it’s really inspiring and when you write your next script...there it all is...waiting...because... SCREENWRITING IS A PROCESS

SCREENWRITING IS A PROCESS Look also for things like... THE SECRETS HE KEEPS: THE TOYS HE STILL HAS: THE TIME HE WAS ILL: WHO HE LOVES: WHO HE HATES: WHAT HE DESPISES ABOUT MEN: WHAT SHOCKS HIM MOST: WHAT DEPRESSES HIM: WHAT HE’S APATHETIC ABOUT: WHAT HE’S ANGRY ABOUT: WHAT HE’S CONTENT ABOUT: LIKES ABOUT HIMSELF: LOATHES ABOUT HIMSELF: ACADEMIC FAILURES: INTELLECTUAL HIGHS: TOOK TOO MANY DRUGS: DRANK TOO MUCH ALCOHOL: INTROVERT: EXTROVERT: FEELINGS ON RELIGION: POLITICS: AFFILIATIONS: SEXUAL ORIENTATION: FRUSTRATIONS: HATES: LOVES:

HOW TO FIND SPECIFIC AND PRECISE SENSORY MOMENTS:

...As you relax again...imagine you are your HERO... Become him or her again...and let yourself go back in time to the major story events of your characters...and let go... be easy on yourself...free asscociate...be imaginative...go beyond the expected....beyond...and deeper...

...explore... When you surface, take a pen and paper...and jot down what you have found, just write...it’s important not to evaluate your responses here...just write them down...DO IT...LOOK WHAT IT DID FOR NIKE! This is private work...and all about your innermost self...trust yourself to explore...Look for some of these moments... specific moments when he felt... Drained, exhausted, overwhelmed, abandoned, grief stricken...longing, moody, forgetfull, melancholy, morose, needy...hysterical, obsessive... ...greedy, hungry, seductive, self centred, resentful, defiant, rude, smelly, merciless, tyrannical, cool, vain,...alert, assured, alive, acceptance, flowing...warmth, free....serene...

eTip Just in case you feel a bit odd or uncomfortable doing this...relax, breathe and welcome the feeling, actually allow it to be there inside of you at that moment...welcome it, let it be there, and soon any discomfort will pass...guaranteed... Three examples: I have an acquaintance, who was raped in her teenage years. She has put on weight ever since that time perhaps in an attempt to surround herself with the protection she needed that night. Her major memory is the glowing red bar on the small electric fire as it took place...

Another acquaintance is a highly intelligent, academic man, who has consistently chosen the wrong women in his life. Something inside him will not let him have the happiness he craves and deserves. He believes his loneliness stems from the time when his mother caught him masturbating. Since then he has become a sexaholic and attends regular AA style meetings. When I was fifteen, my father left home to go and work miles away from the family home, during this time I rebelled at school, smoking, drugs etc...causing myself and my mother a great deal of heartache. That need in me still haunts me. I needed to do well at school but instead hung out with the very characters who would make sure I did no work at school whatsoever. I remeber the way my father held me when I was hitting him in a burst of rage. By the way, it is possible that the experiences you find might be positive ones, many people have very profound and illuminating experiences as well...it’s OK if you find these as well...it will probably depend on the story you are telling as to the kind of events you bring to the surface. ****************************** Stanislavski recommended all actors do this kind of research...Who? KONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKY - GREAT MAN (1863-1938), A Russian actor and director, who developed a system of actor training that became widely accepted throughout the world. This is the DADDY of them all...this is what “the method” was based on and in my opinion, actually is the method.

(Brief biography)

Stanislavsky was born Konstantin Sergeyevich Alekseyev in Moscow, in 1863. In 1897. Stanislavski and another actor/director Vladimir NemirovichDanchenko co-founded the Moscow Art Theatre (Known as The MAT), Russia's first truly professional ensemble theatre. Stanislavsky's system of actor training was rigourous and based on his major discovery that actors who recalled their own feelings and experiences and substituted them for those of their characters (Or in our case their HERO’S) were able to achieve a special link with the audience. Sound good...? The superficial reality or truthfulness of the script became immaterial to the

emotional reality of the actor. Stanislavsky later explored the possibilities of a totally improvised theatre and attempted to allow performers to break down text according to character motivations and the beliefs of the playwright. (What we are doing) This was traditionally under the director's control. Stanislavsky also experimented with a formula that once again gave the director total intellectual control over the rehearsal process.

****************************** Questions on Screenwriting books and software? contact Rinaldo at http://www.screenwriterstore.co.uk Rinaldo is great and provides excellent advice and support ******************************

THE TIMELINE This is a common technique used in the theatre for focussing in on the events that occur during a characters life. It works especialy well for film when you are working with a PAIR of characters, like the HERO and the OPPONENT...or ROMEO and JULIET (LOVERS) or FATHER and MOTHER...SON AND DAUGHTER...ETC, ETC...you can use this in any way you like...it’s very versatile...adapt it, maybe post a message on the SCREENSPEAK FORUM about your discoveries... It’s very simple...like all the best things. Make two headings one for each character, we’ll use HERO and OPPONENT, put each on either side of the sheet of paper and then draw a line down the middle of the page.

HERO

OPPONENT

On each of the small black lines you write a date, 1957, 1962, 1974, 1988,1999, 2000....that corresponds with the timelines of the characters.and their life before and during the events of your particular screenplay. At each of the dates you then write down some of the important events that have occured, using the material you found from the compass research earlier. What this will allow you to do is to find corresponding moments even if the characters didn’t meet that may be of use in the screenplay, it’s a great way of finding and adding conflict to the relationships... Now, obviously some of these characters may not have met...it doesn’t matter...thay may still have a charge that could carry through. Example: The HERO thinks that the death of JOHN LENNON was a major milestone and the loss of a national and international superstar, while the OPPONENT may think - good riddance, another long haired hippy with wishy washy ideas about peace and love out of the way. It’s terrific for people who come from the same family, where the major events will be much more shared. That’s the intellectual part over now...

It’s time to use it in another way...the inner way....time for...

The Hero’s Timeline shuffle ...wherever you are in your research...and you can do this anywhere, all through the day, on the way to work, on the way to the pub...whatever...imagine the HERO’S timeline stretched out before you...then give a date (The ones that correspond to your screenplay and the timeline sheet you have just completed)...to various places along the way...suppose you are looking down your street and the first lampost is 1957, the tree is 1960, the car is 2000 etc... Actually make a line in your mind and see all the dramatic story events that happened along that line...now, in your mind go to the beginning of the line, this may be the birth of the character, the day he went to school, whatever is appropriate for your HERO and then... ... become the HERO at that age, really get into it, lean in...dive deep...you may even find yourself feeling smaller inside and viewing the world as a small child does...that’s great..it’s what you need to do...Now...walk along that line and as your HERO develops...so will you...and you will start to see the connections between these events in a much more connected way.

...explore... The benefits of doing this: More concentration More insights More amazement and exploration More indepth sense of the HERO (Or the OPPONENT) Real knowledge of the history of the HERO (Or the OPPONENT) Fun Easy to do Can be done almost anywhere Can be done at any time of day Eliminates the areas where you were unsure You can even play scenes between various characters here...and guess what...it also stimulates the subconscious...and as we know now, this is our greatest ally and friend, someone who will help us in our research and development...and it works at night...as we sleep. Good stuff what!

How to develop Three Dimensional Characters Meet Norman...the one dimensional character.

Human beings are unpredictable. They can express different traits and a whole variety of responses to any seperate situation they find themselves in. Make your HERO and all the other characters vary their attitude to different situations...isn’t that how you respond in life? One day you can ask for the newspaper fom the newsagent and have warm friendly chat. The next day, both of you can have had a hard day and hardly speak or even argue, or even have a flaming row...what changed? This is what makes characters seem real. The flat thin and dull character (One dimensional man!) has little variety about him, no air inside, no imagination. He has not yet become distinct and rounded as a human being, a real HERO. One dimensional man is boring and dull...and you do know when you write like that...don’t you? I know I do...something is lacking...the juice... It is vital to hold your hands up and admit these things...no-one else is going to know...only you. So do yourself and your HERO a real favour and be true to yourself...let go of the baggage that stands in your way...be amazing...Why not? Think of all the people you know on an intimate level, friends family etc think of some of the stranger odder traits they assert

I know a timid and shy man with a tick who gets very aggressive when discussing Manchester United football club. I know a woman in her seventies who laughs like a hyena as she tells you she has got irritable bowel syndrome. A greengrocer who picks his teeth with a comb while you buy apples from him. A casting director who carries a flick knife in her handbag. A 34 year old Cambridge graduate who had a green monster doll as a real friend and drank small bottles of vodka on a daily basis. A Horror novelist who dresses in versace and weeps as he smokes. A professional deep sea diver who lives in a basement. A woman who never looks at you when she speaks, and drinks like a fish and smokes cigars at parties. A manic depressive who is extremely glamorous but will never be seen in a bathing costume because of her Catholic background. A computer programmer who barks at his son. An Italian woman who nudges you with her elbows as she speaks. Continually. An actress who gets excema on her birthday and only on her birthday.

Yet another approach to character creation The way of the seedling Start with a mannersim, something very small, tiny...lets say…licking lips a lot...and then start adding to it. Then let the ideas flow let them expand outwards...Give this HERO a shuffle as he walks...asthma...a dream of being a horserider, let him work in a supermarket...let him meet a chinese girl who hates rice... let them go bungee jumping minutes after they have visited the temple she belongs to....you see... The more you can add these little observations to other observations the more you will be able to trust the images FORMING in your mind now as we speak. The goal here is to let them develop fully so that they start to inform you what it is they want to do and where they want to go and with whom?

****************************** Family members and friends live in your mind on many levels. Take your mum and put her in a different situation to what she is used to. If she is quite conservative, what would happen if she were to go to a rave wearing her twin set and pearls? It does not matter what type of story you write you will ALWAYS benefit from doing character research of this nature. It means that when you sit down to actually write you will have a great swathe of material sitting next to you and if you keep on adding to this pile you will make the actual writing so much easier and so much more enjoyable...and we should be having fun, shouldn’t we?

****************************

Have you been here...?

http://www.screenwriter.com/insider/main.html

How to quadruple the power of your Hero instantly Hero’s DO NOT work alone They work in relation to all the othe characters and the most important other character is the OPPONENT, or ANTAGONIST, or VILLAIN (I don’t like this term, it implies badness and melodrama, but you know what I mean)

The OPPONENT If you can master the relation between the HERO and the OPPONENT you will have a very secure footing for your story. The battle between these two is what we really pay money to see. Who would James Bond be without Dr NO? Who would Luke Skywalker be without Darth Vader? Who would Martin Brody be without the Shark? (Jaws) Who would Dr Grant be without the Tyrannosaurus Rex? Who would Michael be without Sollozo? Who would Sarah Connor be without the Terminator? Who would Rick and Ilsa be without Major Strasser? Who would Clarice Starling be without Hannibal Lecter? And the question is always who would the HERO be without the OPPONENT. It truly is about the HERO’S identity. His identity is formed in the conflict he has with the OPPONENT. A good OPPONENT will add depth to your story, he can show the way to the fundamental moral argument you are writing about, the battle between good and evil, the time honoured stuff of stories.. He opposes the HERO on every level. But get this... The OPPONENT should not be just a roadblock to the HERO’S goal, he must be a fully fledged character in his own right. He must have the same backstory detail as the HERO, you absolutely must know as much about him as you do about the HERO. In fact he needs a good dose of...

Vulnerability In Struggle Towards Absolute change Determine his vulnerabilities, his struggle and the absolute change he goes through. This will add enormous power to your story. Usually writers focus only on the HERO”S journey...imagine how powerful your story will be when you have the samefirm foundations underneath the OPPONENT? Use the...

Secret OPPONENT’S Meditation It’s the same as the HERO’S...you just change character. Become the OPPONENT. Also use the TIMELINE here as well...

..watch out...

...but...

Make sure you really and truthfully discover the secrets you need to know about the OPPONENT because this has a huge significance in relation to...

£££££ and $$$$$

And what is the name of this business?

HOW TO ATTRACT STAR ACTORS FOR YOUR MOVIE Write a hugely powerful OPPONENT. Most STAR actors want to be seen to be the good guy who wins the battle. The tougher and more considered the OPPONENT, the greater the chance of selling your material. ****************************** In WITNESS...PAUL, McFEE and FERGIE are the opponents. At first we don’t know who they are but it soon becomes clear and then JOHN BOOK has a real battle on his hands. HARRISON FORD had to defeat THREE... In CASABLANCA...it’s MAJOR STRASSER and the Nazi’s. HUMPHREY BOGART had it even worse...sometimes it felt like the whole of the German Army were against him! Stack those odds and stack them high.

Make it impossible for the HERO to succeed...then finally at the last moment...solve the problem in a new and amazing way. ******************************

Vulnerability In Struggle Towards Absolute change ******************************

HOW TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR HERO AND YOUR OPPONENT TO YET ANOTHER LEVEL A mans desire must exceed his grasp. (Emerson) You need three things... 1. A POTENT DESIRE LINE - OR DRAMATIC NEED 2. A STRONG ATTITUDE - HELD WITH A FIRM CONVICTION 3. AN UNUSUAL POINT OF VIEW - A QUIRKY VIEW OF THE WORLD

THE POWER OF THE POTENT DESIRE LINE We all have dreams and desire things in life . The HERO gives us these things Maybe we want to be more suave and sophisticated...James Bond, more courageous, Mel Gibson in Braveheart...more wacky...JIM Carrey in Liar Liar...These are all gifts to humanity. Develop your story with this in mind Desire is what your hero wants in the story, his particular goal. He wants to score, he wants to put his ...

in the net....The desire line is the trail the audience "tracks". It’s what they care about when they want to see the HERO achieve.

eTip Make sure the desire line grows steadily over the journey and becomes more important for the HERO to attain as he gets nearer and nearer to the goal. The power of the desire line should build as he gets closer and even his desire should increase, he must really want the goal, perhaps what started out as “I want to win the gold cup at Cheltenham”, becomes “I absolutely will win the gold cup at whatever cost”. Get the idea, add the driving power of dramatic need beneath the surface of his desire.

Make sure the desire line is absolutely clear... exactly what he wants, don’t make it vague or shapeless, make sure it is hard to get and even harder to keep. Bad goals are Badly conceived goals. Back to the setting up of the premise. See how it all ties in. (Re-read The Power of the Premise.) Bad goals look like this... Sharon a small 7 yr old girl wants to count all the Barbie dolls in the world. Cute but...? Please...No. It’s a small idea. It might be useful as a momentary aside but ...would it keep you on the edge of your seat for two hours? or... Billy thinks it might possibly be a good idea to get into college, or at least he thinks it might be a good idea, but he’s not sure... These describe an aspect of character. BILLY might indeed be an indecisive chap...but give him a clear desire line. BILLY wants to go to University. Make the indecisiveness part of his make up not what he is after... These kind of goals belong in the...

eTip Make sure that the goal is not accomplished (If at all) until near to the very, very end of the story, hold back as long as you possibly can.

http://www.screenplay.com

OK. What drives the HERO to get the goal. Why is he after it? Why is it important to him? Yes folks we are talking about...

HOW TO STRENGTHEN CHARACTER MOTIVATION As a Screenwriter you must show the audience why the HERO wants what he does. It is his reasoning behind the desire. The WHY I WANT THIS GOAL? The reason JOHN BOOK in WITNESS wants the young boy Samuel to identify the killer is because he is the only witness to a cop killing. It is also the name of the story, it provides the goal and the motivation and the desire line. Now that is why it’s a fantastic title and a fantastic film because... All things are linked in a screenplay. ...What was that, Nick...? All things are linked in a screenplay. Also it is never enough just to know why the HERO wants to get his goal, we also must know what will happen to him if he gets it or not. Again UP those stakes. Make him reach. Burn this into your mind...

A mans desire must exceed his grasp. The desire line also provides the stakes of the story. If the goal is valuable and if the hero wants the goal with intensity, the audience will care deeply if the hero succeeds or fails. What exactly do we mean by

stakes?

There are always at least two levels that stakes operate on. The one most screenwriters put in to their work is the first one. What happens if the HERO wins the goal and achieves his desire. He gets the girl...Saves the world or...fill in your own HEROS desire line.....

My HERO wants to...

So what would the outcome of the story be if he got the girl? Happiness. If he saved the world? Peace. Even more important is what happens if the HERO fails to get the goal, fails to get the girl, doesn’t save the world...Not getting the girl =misery. Not saving the world = Destruction. Get the picture. Each of these are seperate and powerful forces that always act upon the HERO. Fill in what would happen if...

...My HERO wins ... and if... ...My HERO loses...

Need some more research resources....? Try Here...

http://www.thesaurus.com/

And bookmark it for later on if it’s useful....

THE POWER OF A STRONG ATTITUDE “The way the man (or woman) does “his (or her) thing” Try and isolate the core beliefs of the HERO. Do you know your own? I can’t win. I always get my way It’s easy when you know how Try these ideas on for size. Just relax again...breathe out... (The reason I talk about relaxing is because it is what most good actors do before they go on to the stage. They release as much of the unnecessary tension they can and focus on the job in hand.)

So just relax...and then see how your attitude changes when you try them on for size. Literally wear another person’s ideas. Do you behave differently? What do you do? Write it down...then try another core belief. Make up some more of your own. Here are a few to help you on your way. Really get into them...they will make an enormous difference. Use them whenever you like, they will clear the baggage out of the way hen you feel stuck, and they will really help you discover new and exciting ways of writing HERO’S with convincing and powerful inner lives. Walk the TIMELINE with different core beliefs in place...change them...challenge them...go for it. I’ve had it up to here. I will never succeed. I’m a sad lonely loser. I just can’t do it properly. It’s not fair. It’s all my fault.

Poor me. Nobody loves me. I can’t control it. What if they hate me? What if I screw up? They’ll kill me. I’m going to get fired. I want her. I need food. I want this to happen and I want it now. I need more. I’m starving. Drop dead you bitch. All men are bastards. All women are bastards. You’re dead. Never. Get off my case. Get off my back. I’m better than you will ever be. I know everything. I’m tops. Do it my way, it’s the only way. I’m the saviour. I can do it. Yes! I’m willing . I know we can. I love you. Everything is unfolding as it should.

THE POWER OF A STRONG POINT OF VIEW I am a vegetarian and there is no way on earth I would eat a piece of animal flesh. The only way that our great country will truly be great again is when all the black people are repatriated. The world owes me a living and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make a fortune. I know that utilising education for all is the only way to make a society that cares for itself and for others. I absolutely know that I am the only man who can control the way the stock market works. Let’s do some...

Hoovering

Look around...what Points of View do you see manifested around you. On TV...Politicians, friends family...what? Write it down...

Why it’s difficult writing sometimes...and... How to make it easier instantly Meet...

The Frustration devil - Resistance Resistance in the writing process. Everyone suffers from it, and I mean everyone.This happens all the time and it happens to professionals and beginners alike. It can jump out at you from anywhere, fom behind a bush, from on a plane...anywhere. You’re writing well, all is going fine and then...the motor starts to choke...and maybe you...feel a palpitation, a sense of panic...filling you up...you worry...you flounder and...oh god...you dry up...you kick start yourself...no go, no good, nothing seems to work...FRUSTRATION has reared his ugly head...and he speaks... ***%%%$$$£££@@@!!!! You know the sort of thing...in a sort of sneering laughing tone...a kind of...picky, nasty little voice... “What about Act One…I mean there’s no development…god this is dreadful…how can you possibly allow yourself to create such nonsese…this is rubbish and not worthy of what you can do…you can do better than this…well maybe you can’t…maybe you should give up now…ever thought of suicide? There’s a bridge right over there...it’s about forty feet high...perfect" How do we take some of the sting out of his tale? How do we silence him? Simple. Write him down...and write him out.

Take him to The Clean up Saloon Get a sheet of paper and write down all the objections and disagreements the frustration devil is hurling at you. Just write them down... and remember...this is a process... write it all out and then stand back and look at it...and see...how it all dissaperas easily and quickly....still got a bit left? Keep going...there, it’s all gone...for good... You have to move through it to get to it.

Four easy ways to write better than you do now What gets in the way of the creative process? What actually is it that stops you from writing great characters? To write well you need 2 things. The ability to create material and the ability to edit material. This isn’t always easy. Sometimes it feels like asking chalk to get on well with cheese, or oil to love water. These seperate parts of yourself just don’t like each other very much, so you have to start coaxing and encouraging our trusty friend the subconscious mind to get in on the act. You have to get wise. Editing uses critical thinking (Front brain thinking) to look at what’s useful and helpful to us and attempts to get rid of anything that’s not useful and helpful. The best kind of editing takes what is good in your story and using clarity and simplicity rewrites it till it is better. Clearer, sharper and more easy to read. Creative thinking, also known as free association, or stream of consciousness, uses the subconscious (Or back brain thinking) and leads to wonderful surprises just waiting to bubble up from inside.. Every night before you go to sleep do these four things that will help you create material and also enable your subconscious mind to co-operate with itself a little better. 1. Focus on a good and pleasant thing that happened in the day, feel it, see it, hear it in all it’s detail. Experience it completely. It can be anything that you enjoyed, anything...and it can be small...it doesn’t have to be like winning the oscar for best new screenplay...that comes later... 2. Focus on the task you have in your writing. (Creating, brainstorming, Act one, Act Two – Character needs…whatever…) 3. Ask politely and gently for the subconscious mind to assist you in your endeavours and to give you answers or suggestions or solutions…listen to what you hear...sometimes it’s very surprising... 4. Encourage yourself to find agreement inside, actually get agreement between the parts of yourself that are fighting and then...Thank your subconscious mind for helping…

If you do this and do it often... you will encourage continued and lasting success in all the things you do. This process has never let me down yet and still continues to amaze and delight me. And do you know what? If you think this is a bit weird, and I know I did when I first heard of this kind of thing. (Critical voice here perhaps…? Lets write that little sucker out right now!) NICK (Whispers) Nobody needs to know you are doing it. Another thing you must do is to...

“Keep the pen moving” I was told this by the great Irish playwright Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa, Translations, Aristocrats…) It took me quite some time to get what he meant, but it’s true, the more you keep the pen moving ...the more you access the muscle of the inner mind...the more you free up yourself and the more you focus on what is really important to you as a writer.

HOW TO DEEPEN THEME IN YOUR SCREENPLAY OK. You have your logline, your basic story. A female mechanic unearths the truth about her fathers unpleasant war history, takes him to trial and wins. On the surface this could simply be a courtroom drama about the lawsuit she chooses. If this is the case then your film is going to be about the legal process and about the relationship between father and daughter. What do you want to say about that? Time to use the What if?… again. What if the father has two daughters and the mechanic is his favourite? What if she always idolised him and learnt everything she knows from his knee? Are you interested more in the legal application of law to a diffcult case? Or the morality of actually putting your parents on trial? Is it a story about the war? Is it the act of vindictiveness the elder daughter perpetrates on the younger? What? Could the father be pleading for his past based on his knowledge available at the time. He only acted the way he did because he was following orders. What interests you? Theme is the why of Why do I write? Think that that sounds like a moralistic argument. Yes sir – Take away the morality from GOODFELLAS or KING OF COMEDY or FOUR WEDDINGS…what do you have. Read some more scripts....go to... http://www.screentalk.org/gallery.htm What was the theme of FOUR WEDDINGS? The power of friendship. Friendship is one of the most valuable and important resources we have. It’s also universal. People all over he world can relate to this, from any culture, any city anywhere...anyplace at all...so...? Have you ever fallen out with a friend? A good friend? A best friend? All audiences can relate to this – unless of course we have no friends. And even then we still realate to this, it’s human, it’s what makes us people. It wasn’t weddings or marriage or commitment although these all were impacted upon. The main aim of the film was to show the depth of feelings between friends and their value to each other. I am sure the writer (Richard Curtis) was writing a tale about the right way to live.

In this difficult world one way to survive is to nurture friendships. It affected every single relationship in the film. When Angie McDowell’s character married HAMISH (Corin Redgrave) she didn’t really like him, not the way she did Hugh Grant’s character. In her wedding acceptance speech she mentioned the “nice thing someone said to her and if things didn’t work out with Hamish she would bear him in mind”. A value system is being expressed here. FRIENDSHIP. And that is what Theme is about, the expression of value. Value is all about what we hold dear in life. People will go to great lengths to to defend their values, the emancipation of women. the rights for black people, the rights for disabled people...Justice, freedom, liberty, friendship, love, family...Martin Luther King was killed for his values system as was Mahatma Ghandi. As was...Bobby Sands, as was Malcolm X,,,the list goes on and on...What are your values? How did you come by them? Why? Do you stil hold the same values you held as a child? Prbably not...What changed? Why? What do you value above anything else in life? Would you kill for it? However if your characters start sounding like preachers or are for ever reaching for the Bible or telling other people what to do or how to live then you can forget it. As soon as you start to sound like you know what’s what, preachy and judgmental about things then you will surely lose. Don’t you find it offputting when someone goes on and on about the right way to do this, the right restaurant to eat it, the correct way to dress, the real and only true way to teach children…drone, drone, drone…Do you want an audience to feel like this? So the task is to cleverly and subtly let your thoughts and feelings and opinions be expressed by the characters in ways that are not at all obvious. For example the thematic line of ET may be something like "Love and friendship know no limits at all in the known universe" In a film like JAWS the thematic line may be something like, "Man must respect the dark side of nature in order to overcome it’s fiercest creature." You may not agree with the exact phrasing, it is a very subjective thing…make up your own examples and look out for them wherever you are in the movie house, or as we used to call them The Flicks.

Diversion. Do you know why they used to be called the flicks. It goes back to one of the earliest forms of moving mage. Packets of still photographs held in the corner of the hand and then literrally flicked to produce a moving image. You’ve seen them, right? These things are a good metaphor for the way to make movies today. Take each picture in your mind and think how the next one will come along and link to the first –Good way to keep continuity between your ideas. Or my favourite, attributed to director Sidney Lumet. Each shot should be like a tiny mosaic tile. Gradually you sort the tiles into the right to order to get the right emphasis on the overall picture. A great way to add real intensity and power to your HEROS value system is to have him decide at a moment of great intensity, to choose the right way of doing things. This will powerfully illuminate the themes you are writing about. If the female mechanic decides she will expose her father’s unpleasant war history in court...she is making a choice which shows she values TRUTH and HONESTY above FAMILY LOYALTY. She is choosing between TWO very powerful and OPPOSING things. Two values that are absolutely at odds with each other. She cannot expose her fathers history and at the same time remain totally loyal...she has broken the code that keeps mpst families together...Never tell on your own. The harder the choice the more the audience will be moved and the more they will care about what it is you are writing and therefore the more your THEME will be transmitted to them. What is the point of making an easy choice?

WRITING REALLY IS RE-WRITING How many re-writes were done by Richard Curtis, the Screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral, before the shooting script was finalised? Put your guess in the box below. Actually see your answer in there, visualise it... TAKE ACTION, key word to building a good script. ACTION. GO!

The answer appears on the next page. Don’t look now. Please do not look now. No, stop!

Don’t....!!!!

17

Show don’t tell Film is about revealing behaviour. Because we are using pictures to tell the story we need to see what a person DOES in order to understand who he is. A man walks into a shop, as he does people move aside. A woman begins to shake and quickly runs out of the shop slamming the door behind her. The bell on the door rings as she goes. The man approaches the counter and staring hard at the man behind the desk looks out of the corner of his eye at the cash till. The cashier looks worried. He puts his hand slowly into the inside pocket of his jacket. The cashier is terrified. The man pulls out a wallet. See what I mean. Now if he had pulled out a gun as we are expecting we would have had another story. Which story are you telling? Make sure you show us the story For example. A man is beating a dog. How do you feel about him? For me. I hate him. Lets now look and see why he is beating the dog. The dog is attacking a baby. Where does that dilemma put you? Do you care more for the man, the baby, or the dog? And does your attitude, as I suspect it does, change as more of the story is revealed to you.

Make pictures with life inside Think of all the moments you loved the best from the movies. Butch and Sundance jumping over the cliff. The scene from Reservoir dogs with the ear torture, James Bond jumping off the dam. Laurence coming across the desert. The guy sticking his head down the loo in Trainspotting… Etc…they stick in the mind because they are lively! These moments may be arrived at in a second but generally they are attained after a great deal of sifting. Remember the gold dust analogy. Keep on digging. And…when you think you’ve dug as deep as you can. DIG DEEPER because ...just around the corner, and just that little bit DEEPER is ...

REAL GOLD

QUICK TIPS AND HINTS ARCHIVE Genre Match your basic STORY idea against a genre template. GENRE IS A SYSTEM OF HISTORICAL CONVENTION... A PARTICULAR WAY OF TELLING A STORY. Does it matter if my story doesn’t seem to fit? ABSOLUTELY NOT. In many ways the less it fits the more original it can be. Also it may be a cross between two genres, occasionally even three, but no more. There are TEN basic genres and each of these has a basic driving force in terms of action, in terms of the type of VISTA the Hero pursue. 1. COMEDY – To gain love or success with comical outcomes. 2. DETECTIVE – To examine and search for the truth. 3. THRILLER – to avoid being attacked from an outside force. 4. CRIME – To catch the perpetrator of the crime. 5. ACTION – To fight another force, generally to win and win morally. 6. LOVE STORY – To gain and receive love. 7. HORROR – To kill the "Dragon" or the "Beast" 8. MYTHOLOGICAL – To journey to the centre of the self or the society 9. SCI-FI – To cope with threat from other foreign worlds 10. FANTASY – To engage in uninhibited flights of fancy This is not a hard and fast rule, there are many exceptions, ie FILM NOIR but this is a cross between the THRILLER and the LOVE story, The Last Seduction, LA Confidential etc. Also COMEDY/ LOVE, Four weddings and a funeral etc…Can you think of others? Its a good way to generate ideas. What if I crossed a mythological story with a western? Hollywood buys Genre. The UK buys Genre. It’s a bit easier in England but we’re still heading that way. The more you can define the story by Genre the easier it will be to sell it. The clearer the idea is expressed the simpler it is to understand. Also with the break up of TV stations and the onset of Digital TV with more and more channels becoming available on a daily basis, companies are going to be looking more and more for Genre specific product to match the needs of a channel. You already have The Movie Channel, but I predict you will soon be able to have the ROMANCE channel, the LOVE CHANNEL, the DETECTIVE channel etc. So again, being specific to a genre will help you actually sell your script. What genre does your story fall in to?

HOW TO WRITE REALLY GREAT DIALOGUE (It’s really hard to do this properly and some people are just born with the ability to do this...but there are some easier ways of doing it and I will write more on this at a later date.) All dialogue is action based not conversation based. It’s a three-way thing. 1. Hit the action line in the scene. A person is what a person does. A person speaks what a person does. Character is action .Get under the surface of the dramatic situation to determine what a character is doing to the other person. Is he trying to coax, titillate, pressure, push, punish, charm another character to do something and then...how does the other character respond? Accepts, belittles, hurts, harms, coaxes back...That will give you the dramatic line through the scene. This then compresses the needs of the characters towards their story objectives (Goals) and fits into the characters VISTA. 2. Stakes What is at stake? What are they fighting for? Back to the value system we touched upon earlier. Love, passion, reality, the girl. Who wants what and who gets it? Who has the most powerful need for what? Let the intensity of desire for the goal force the characters to speak in certain ways…how do you react under pressure? 3. The Magic. This is the other stuff; the stuff dreams are made of, the symbolic and mythical elements that add colour and depth to your writing. Can you find common elements that touch all of our lives? How do the people in your family talk about death, life, birth…the old woman across the street…what slang do you use that no-one else would understand…Identify it, colour it, shape it,...

BUT…

Make sure it is disguised beneath the surface of your writing. e.g...Suppose you are writing a scene about a family at war. And a word you might choose to express this situation thematically might be.BLOOD.

DO NOT WRITE LIKE THIS: "John is haemorrhaging every time we see each other, I wish I could feed love into his veins. " TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS "John is cut up about us…falling apart…If I could stroke him…he might soften"

Relate the language to the theme

THE MIDPOINT – AN EXPLANATION A midpoint is first and foremost exactly what it says it is, ie it is the central pivot to your story. Using the three act structure it locates the moment when the story takes a change of direction from the first half of act two to the second half of act two. EG Our Hero sets out to catch the criminal (That's act one) He tracks him down to a small bar in Spain (Ist half of act 2) THE MIDPOINT IS e.g WHEN HE DISCOVERS THAT HE'S BEEN FOLLOWING THE WRONG MAN and sets out to track down the right man (2nd half of act two) He reaches a final plot point) where the criminal captures him and then (Act three starts now)...the final battle occurs to determine who wins the goal. (resolution of the story.

HOW TO ADD PUNCH TO THE INCITING INCIDENT Ask yourself...? Have I made it absolutely clear to someone reading my script for the first time what the precise event is that sets my story going? I like to think of it like this: I have wound the Hero up to such an extent, like a clockwork spring fit to burst…so much so, that the force unleashed when the incident occurs will be powerful enough to set him off on the journey of a lifetime. Or maybe it’s more like a stone in a catapult drawn as far back as possible…what works best for you? Does that particular moment relate to the climax of the story in a very powerful way?Supposing the inciting incident is about a criminal getting out of jail to prove his innocence, the climax of the story will be about his success or failure of achieving that goal. Innocent or guilty? The two are absolutely and specifically related in terms of story. Does that particular moment relate to the midpoint of the story in a very powerful way?Take the above example. The criminal gets out of jail and at the midpoint discovers a vital piece of evidence about his being framed. This leads him towards the climax where he will prove his innocence. Does the inciting incident mean it is inevitable that this Hero will meet this Opponent? The incident that starts it all will set our Hero on his journey to win the goal (Innocence, the girl, the gold, the right to love…) of the story. Is the person who stands in his way the most powerful person there is to stop the Hero getting the girl or the gold…In the above example the criminal must meet the person who set him up. This means there will inevitably be a battle scene…and inevitability creates a sense of…what’s happening next…the page turning effect…more drama…more sales. Does this scene express itself in the best possible way without dialogue? Can I change a line to a reaction, a speech to a look, to create a more visual sense of story action? What can I remove? How much can I take out and still tell the story…and then take one more thing out. (I find this really helps…don’t know why but it does)

Is there a strong connection between the reader and the Hero before the inciting incident occurs? The quicker we have become able to identify with the Hero, the more we will root for him on his journey. Give the Hero a major problem to cope with. He comes home from his work as a postman to find his wife and child missing, his filing cabinet open and empty and no clothing left in his wardrobe… How strong is the desire line set up for the Hero by the inciting incident? What the Hero wants (His desire) is what takes the audience on the road to get the goal. Strengthen it as much as you can. Give another two reasons why he must, absolutely must go on this journey.

Ever seen Shakespeare’s signature...?

THE MASK

..Take your character and take a major feeling he has inside...choose one that seems apprropriate to your story. Le’s say it’s insecurity... Feel the feeling, then see how that really feels...deepen it...then develop ways of covering it up. Put on The Mask... Place the character feeling this insecurity into the most threatening and challenging of situations. See how he deals with this now... Also to really test it, go into character and take him out into the world, how do you feel...how does he feel? Then find another situation and another...

Want to post a question at the forum...?

http://www.screenwriting-on-the-net.com

PRIVATE, PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL MASKS Take your character again and this time place him into any one of the following three situations. This is a great exercise for extending the reality of your character in different situations. Take insecurity again... PRIVATE How does he feel about this emotion on his own...last thing at night..before God...alone...How insecure can he feel...what does he do to this emotion in this situation...Cover it? Feel it? Express it? Deny it? What? PUBLIC How does he feel in social situations, at a party, at a funeral at a wedding...what does he do to this emotion in this situation...Cover it? Feel it? Express it? Deny it? What?

PROFESSIONAL Then how does he feel at a at a business lunch...at the AGM...? During the final meeting to decide the fate of over three thousand employees? what does he do to this emotion in this situation...Cover it? Feel it? Express it? Deny it? What?

http://www.thesource.com.au/scripts/script-library.htm

Introvert versus extrovert Most characters in Movies are extroverts...from Clark Gable in Gone with the wind, through to MR Blonde in Reservoir Dogs...to Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar...to Jim McLane in Die Hard Why follow convention? Turn it on it’s head... If the character you feel most comfortable writing is an introvert, make your leading character one. Or, make him change from an introvert to an extrovert over the course of the journey or vice versa? Be bold? Dare...

STUCK IN A SCENE AND DON’T KNOW HOW TO GET OUT? HERE’S HOW.

...whenever you find yourself stuck, it’s just a momentary logjam...you can release it easily if you let yourself just feel the stuck emotion...name it and then...flip it to it’s opposite attitude...and see where that leads you...why not approach the scene from that new perspective. 1. Happiness 2. Misery 3.Bravery might lead you towards... 1. Sadness 2. Joy 3. Timidity What would happen if you were Bruce Willis and you read Die Hard and had to play exactly the same story line. ..but this time the character had the flu, an aversion to heights, and fainted at the sight of blood? Get the picture...?

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/ Check out the video clips..

The Ending When you nail down the PREMISE for your screenplay make sure that the ending of the story looks and feels exciting. Build the drama into the concept itself. Really spend some time working on the premise, I can’t stress this enough.

EG: The young admirals daughter, betrays her corrupt father, and in so doing leads to a state of national emergency.

7 Top Sales Tips 1. Write for an audience of one. Only one person at a time reads your script, whether it is a reader, a producer an actor, director or literary agent. Your task is to elicit a powerful emotional response from that one person. As you write, sense a connection to that person as you focus your writing on this goal. This is your primary aim as a screenwriter. 2. Make certain your script is formatted correctly. It is your first impression, your calling card. If the format is wrong, it screams amateur. Give yourself the start your screenplay deserves, and format it correctly. There are many inexpensive screenplay style sheets for computers nowadays. Contact me at Screenwriting-on-the-net.com [email protected] for a great opportunity. Consider a screenplay formatting programme like Final Draft or Movie Magic. These programmes are good, (I use Final Draft) but they do start at £200 +. 3. Connect your Hero’s desire for the goal to his weakness. When you set a goal for your Hero make his weakness the one thing that stands in his way of achieving it. He has a profound fear of heights and the goal is to rescue the baby from the mountain top hideaway. Then give the Hero another problem to handle. Not only has he a fear of heights but he lost a child in a car crash and the baby he must rescue looks like his son. 4. Make your antagonist a human being. The relationship between the Hero and his Opponent is the most fundamental element in creating a strong screenplay. You absolutely must grasp this. If there is no conflict between these characters the script will not work. The essence of drama is conflict and the struggle between the Hero and Opponent (Protagonist and the Antagonist ) essential. No conflict = No Drama = No Actor Interest = No sale of script...it’s that simple. Even the devil felt jealousy, gentleness and compassion.

5. Show what would happen if the Opponent won. This creates a deeper sense of the Opponents power and strengthens the Hero’s capabilities when he finally conquers him. If the drug baron did sell the drugs throughout the school…If the criminal did blow up the dam above the village…?Spread the effects of the likely consequences throughout your story scenario. 6. Create a compelling Hook to draw the reader in to your story. Grab her by the throat on page one and make her beg to read more. Which do you find more compelling? 1. A tough man returns home from work, throws his coat on the sofa, has a whisky and picks up a copy of Football Weekly. 2. A tough man returns home from work, throws his coat on the sofa, has a whisky and changes into a pink velvet mini skirt. 7. The big one - Write backwards. This is so important. If you don’t know where you are going, who does? Grab the ending, hold it ...and nail it down. (If it changes, change with it) When you get to the end, it is easier to see where you have been and the changes you will need to make to get there will appear before you... Keep the pen moving....

Easy Structure To get a proper grip on structure divide your story into 4 separate documents or files, corresponding to the usual breakdown of a three act format, ie in file number one, you place the first act, leading up to and finishing with a major plot point, in file number two, you place the first part of act two leading up to a powerful mid point decision , in file number three, you place the second half of act two leading up to plot point two, the major piece of information or event that spins you towards and into file number four where you resolve the drama of your screenplay. A danger here is that you will "write to the point", by this I mean that you create a story that is too rigid, too structured...so beware. Always try and discover the organic structure of your story first before you put a box around it. However, once you have found it this is a really useful way to help you to think in terms of acts.

Name each of the Acts. It helps clarify your narrative drive. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Hero decides to set up a detective agency. Hero searches for the killer. Hero is on the run from the killer's accomplices . Hero confronts Killer, and destroys him.

Try this with your own story, it really helps.

9 Hot Tips to getting an Agent 1. Get a recommendation. (OK it's not easy) If you know a writer or, someone you know knows one...make contacts, join writers groups, use the BSI...network...Join the N.P.A. Writers guild etc...Network 2. Find a writer who's work you like. Find their agent and write to them. Whatever you send in must be good (And it will be after using what you have learned here) and will in all probability take anywhere between three to six weeks for a reply, even longer. This is normal. You will possibly receive a NO. This in your mind needs to become a YES..a, “Thanks and let’s move on”...it is not a personal rejection...they may (Genuinely) be full, may have their quota of new writers exceeded etc..be strong and believe in yourself. At all times. This is very important. NEED a list of agents..? In the UK it's in the Writers and Artists Yearbook (Waterstones) In here you'll find fee structure, reading fees etc... 3. Talk to other writers. Post at the BSI? Network, network, network... 4. Cold Calling is dodgy...most agencies take calls, but not most agents...you usually get the secretary. If you do get through to her (Usually a her) build a sense of humour in ...be charming, polite and always friendly. They DO REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE and this business is all about manners. 5. Make sure you have a short pitch prepared in case they want to know there and then. It does happen. Rehearse it. Everybody pitches - If you hate it learn to relax...use the inner secret meditation just before you go in to see someone or before you call them...Relaxation says more about you than tension. Relax...More later about pitching. I will do a 7 Tips....Special. 6. If they ask to see your work - write a short note about who you are and the logline. Maybe a short synopsis (Four sentences - no more) Make it enticing...make them want more...this business is called 7. Show BUSINESS! 8. Always send an SAE. They'll bin you otherwise. Straight away. 9. Network, network, network....and then...NETWORK SOME MORE.

ENERGY LEVELS Rid your script of characters that have low level energy. (Sometimes this can work...Accidental Hero for example...) but generally speaking make your characters desire greatly whatever they pursue. It's much easier for an audience to get behind people who care about what they are doing and expend energy and time to get it to happen

THE 3 RULES FOR CUTTING If the character you are writing doesn't wear it, say it or do it...

cut it.

Bad writing (What we don't do here) is about including information a camera can't capture.

SYNOPSIS TESTING If you can write a snappy one page synopsis you can win a free in depth SCRIPT ANALYSIS plus a free copy of FINAL DRAFT SCREENWRITING SOFTWARE in Hollywood's new Monthly Synopsis Writing Contest. Check it out: http://www.thesource.com.au/hollywood/ The first ever Screenplay Synopsis Contest.

HOW TO GET BY IN SHOW BUSINESS Terms explained... You can trust me, man = You must be new It needs some polishing = Change everything It shows real promise = It stinks It needs some fine tuning = Change everything I'd like some creative input = I want total control It needs some honing = Change everything Call me back next week = Stay out of my life It needs some tightening = Change everything Try and punch it up a tad= I have no idea what I want It needs some streamlining = Change everything You'll never work in this town again = I have no power whatsoever.

WHY YOU ARE A HERO The archetype of the Hero represents what Freud called the ego, the part of a human being that considers itself seperate from the rest of the personality and the rest of the human race. A part outside of oneself. The part of you that seems split off from yourself needs to be incorporated. "I’m a nice guy – how come I just screamed foul abuse at my partner who I love so dearly" That part. Or the part that is stubborn or argumentative , or vain, or bolshy...whatever. Write from this point of view that lies deep inside yourself and you will touch others. Guaranteed. See how the notions of vulnerability, struggle and Absolute change link together... If you have never read Freud or Jung – Do...if you have a moment... (SHAMELESS PLUG - I recommend Dreams and Reflections by Jung and almost all of Freud. JUNG is sensational on our shared dream lives and sense of community through story - Fantastic. Freud is always contentious and always challenging but certainly a major force in the way the world was shaped at the beginning of this century. If all this psychology babble freaks you a bit... there is a really good introduction to both of them and others, Darwin, Nietzshe, etc written by the Writers and Readers group.)

Screenwriting is of great value Screenwriting is about the way human beings relate and grow. This is why writing for the movies is so important, it’s what makes our stories so vital. We are helping our communities to grow and function more successfully...we are assisting the planet to develop. Inside all of us there exist all the strange, weird and bizzarre sides of our personalities. Sneaky parts, devious parts, tricky parts...wonderful loving warm and generous parts as well – the lot. Our task as people is to integrate those separate pieces to form a whole. Our task as writers is to encourage our heroes to embark on these journey’s and to grow. We hope to show the way... We all feel these things...we all have vulnerabilities, we all struggle in the process of becoming who we are, we all look for absolute change from the dark sides of ourselves...It’s what makes us human. It’s what makes us real. We are all on a journey...a lifetimes journey...

...Our very own Hero’s Adventure. Follow these suggestions and your writing will improve. Absolutely. It will not improve if you don’t ACTIVELY TAKE PART. This is a bold and envigorating journey we are on and gradually and sometimes dramatically, changes will start to appear in the way you write and the way you perceive the world of scriptwriting....and the world of your..

characters

will start to shine

Top ten web sites for screenwriting research The best search engines, in case you don’t know are... www.dogpile.com and www.askjeeves.com and www.google.com At the Jeeves sites you can literally type in a question and Jeeves will go find it for you. Also if you are looking for information on an indidual add “ to either side of the name” -e.g. “Nick Dunning” Try this one for size.... http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/rbeard/diction.html

The conspiracy theory homepage http://www.cruzio.com/~blackops/

Frequently asked questions http://ps.superb.net/FAQ/

For computer hacking, cyber terrorism and related articles. http://www.infowar.com/

A mythological encyclopedia http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/

The ultimate historical refernce library http://www.thehistorynet.com/

Another great history site - includes a link to Encyclopedia Britannica http://www.hyperhistory.com/ Legends... http://www.legends.dm.net/ Historical text archive http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9061/index.html Gangland... http://www.ganglandnews.com/ I will be adding to these pages and will update them as more become available. Let me know of any great sites you find so I can make them available to others. Good luck in your writing. Nick Dunning The Script Doctor

http://www.screenwriting-on-the-net.com