After the synopsis, but before the script...
Screen Writing Idea development After the synopsis, but before the script...
After you have your general idea down on paper(synopsis),but before you begin to write your screenplay try answering these questions...
1. Whose story is it?
2. What do they want? Or what do you, as the author know what they need?
3. How do you introduce the story? What is the opening? Does it help bolster the overall feel and mood of the story? Does it set the tone visually? Is it visual?!!
4. How do you introduce your main character? Do we see them in a way that is expressive? Do you get enough out of the first introduction of your main character? Is it visual? Does the introduction help set the tone of the character? How about secondary characters? Do you give them introductions too?!
5. How do you set up the main character predicament? Do you see the main character in their routine? How is that routine broken? Do you make it clear why this is happning to the main character? What about them that makes them ripe for this experience, for this story?
6.When is the viewer drawn into the story? When is the viewer put into the shoes of the main chararcter? At what moment or break in the characters routine? When do we know what the main character wants? When do we empathize with him?
7. When does your main character make a decision to pursue what he wants? (usually end of act I)
8. Are there adequate obstacles to the charicters goal? Complications? Unexpected turns?
9. Do you use the right locations? Make your character go the very place he doesn't want to go? Make him meet the people he doesn't want to meet? Don't make it easy on your main character, rather make his life miserable?
10. Is there a low point? When does it seem your character is farthest from achieving his goal?
11. What does he do about this final obstacle? is it visual? Do they give up? Do they find something inside themselves that they never knew existed? Do they change? How does your main character change? What has the story done to them? How are they different from the beginning of the story?
12. What is the feeling at the end of your story? What is the end? Is it visual?! How will the audience feel when they leave the theater? Catharsis! You should know this before you start the script.
This type of thing is called the Ideation. Many professionals go through these steps way before the writing accually takes place. I like to write all this stuff down so that I have a template to what im trying to accomplish in the end. It works. Tell me what you think...
[This message has been edited by Erik S (edited 02-15-2001).]
Those are some really good steps to follow. Normally when I write I try a few excercises like having my main characters go to lunch, or several other short scenes so I can get a feel for the kinds of things they do, say, react to. You list brings that out even more and I think I'll give it a try with the next idea I'm working on. Thanks.
I think such checklists are a way of trying to systematize something that is inherently not systematic. You are asking that the script follow a kind of formula. In my own writing the answers are usually "not applicable" or else in the opposite direction that the maker of the checklist intended. For instance in my current project, which is an adaptation of a piece of classical literature: (No, it's not Count Dracula.)
- Whose story is it? It's the villain's story, told from his POV.
- What does he want? What he wants is instant gratification. More precisely he wants to get into the heroine's pants. And if sweet talk and charm will not do the job he will settle for rape.
- When do we empathize with him? Never! I hope the viewer hates his guts.
- When does your main character make a decision to pursue what he wants? He never makes any conscious decision. He goes after what he wants in a kind of knee jerk response.
- Do I make my character go the very place he doesn't want to go? Make him meet the people he doesn't want to meet? Quite the opposite. He goes wherever he wants and meets whomever he wants.
- Do I make his life miserable? No. He is making everyone else miserable.
- Is there a low point? When does it seem your character is farthest from achieving his goal? Again this is upside down. As the story progresses he gets inexorably nearer to achieving everything he wants.
It is only at the end of the story that my villain gets his comeuppance. I'm not sure of that. I'm considering letting him get away scott free. That would be changing my source material but there are reasons for my considering it.
Actor my good man, you got it all wrong! This list was not setup to give you a formula to follow, it was made so that you, as the screenwriter, get to know your story better. The only reason why you might be having a hard time answering some of the questions is because your protagonist is a villan, and not a champion of a cause (although he probably is, and you just don't know it). Protagonists don't have to be good people, but they must have a drive and a goal (a purpose). What you're doing with your story is defying the classic protagonist vs. antogonist structure...or are you? Does anything try to stop your character from raping this girl? Of course, girls don't usally want to be raped. You say that your character always does what he wants and gets what he wants and nothing gets in his way? Where's the drama? I like what your doing, don't get me wrong, your doing your own thing and, in essence, going against how most screenplays are told. Good, I hope it works.
But alas, these questions were not set up to answer with a simple sentence, probably a paragraph and frankly, I don't think you put much thought into the answers that you posted. I think that any story will benefit from going through this list. As I said before, it's not telling you what to do, just enlightining you with what you have already done. When you think about the questions for some time you will be able to answer them seriously. They will apply to your story as well.
We seem to be of two different minds but I would like to respond to one of your points.
quote:
You say that your character always does what he wants and gets what he wants and nothing gets in his way? Where's the drama?
The principle of the omnipotent villain is well established, most notably, I think, in Shakespeare's Richard III and in the character of Iago in Othello. While it is true that Othello begins with Iago's big disappointment, that is merely the event that sets him off. From that point onward he, like Richard, "does what he wants and gets what he wants" until the reversal at the very end.
Then there is Freddie Clegg in William Wyler's 1965 film The Collector. You may recall that nerdish butterfly collector Freddie kidnaps beautiful Miranda Grey and keeps her locked up in his basement.
On the outside Freddie is anything but omnipotent or even villainous. He's a joke, a social failure. But in his basement he has created a universe where he is God. He thwarts Miranda's every attempt to escape. She threatens, begs, cajoles, Finally she strips herself naked and offers her body to Freddie in exchange for her freedom. But Freddie rejects even this and calls her a ****.
Finally, Miranda gets deathly ill. Freddie can either call a doctor, which means he will certainly get locked up in either a jail or a mental hospital, or he can let her die. He lets her die. The movie ends with Freddie stalking Miranda's replacement. Believe me, this movie has plenty of drama.
The drama in these plays/films does not come from the villain's, but from everyone else's, predicament, which is of the villain's making. In Othello only the audience is even aware of the situation.
My villain is more like Freddie Clegg than any of the others but, unlike Freddie, he is not a nerd. He is a wealthy, handsome, confident Ted Bundy type. My heroine is more like Desdemona, unaware of the danger she faces.
You got it man! You can probably answer all of the questions I posted! We are not of two different minds, no way. Any of Shakespeare's stories could be put to my 12 question form and answer every single one, as well as The Collector. They all apply, and so does your story...just think about it.
The only reason I said "where's the drama" is because you made it sound like your villan just walks around and f***s with people and they don't try to stop him. But I see that's not the case. The only thing I can't figure out is who is the main opposing force against your "villan." Is it the villan himself (man vs. himself) or an outside force? If your story kinda follows The Collector it should be interesting...and you should be able to answer all of the questions, that is, if you really know what your story is about.
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