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Lecture 10:Lecture 10:Keeping the Audience Keeping the Audience

in the Storyin the Story

Professor Christopher Bradley

Psycho (1971)

Screenplay by Joseph Stefano, based on the novel by Robert Bloch

Previous LessonPrevious Lesson

• Complications

– Complexity on Three Levels:

• Inner Conflict

• Personal Conflict

• Extra-Personal Conflict

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The Insider (1999)

Screenplay by Erik Roth & Michael Mann

Based on an Article by Marie Brenner

Previous Lesson (Continued)Previous Lesson (Continued)

• Reversals

– In Scenes

– In Sequences

– In Acts

• Assignments

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Fargo (1999)

Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

This LessonThis Lesson

• Maintaining Interest

– The “Center of Good”

– Curiosity and Concern

– Strategies

• Mystery

• Suspense

• Dramatic Irony

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Wait Until Dark (1976)

Screenplay by Robert Carrington and Jane Howard Carrington, based on

the play by Frederick Knott

This Lesson (Continued)This Lesson (Continued)• Storytelling Challenges

– Surprise

– Strict Rules for Using

Coincidence

– Comedic Design

– Point of View

– Avoiding Melodrama

– Logic Holes

• Assignments5

Wait Until Dark (1976)

Screenplay by Robert Carrington and Jane Howard Carrington, based on

the play by Frederick Knott

Maintaining InterestMaintaining Interest

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Central Station (1998)

Screenplay by Marcos Bernstein and Jaoa Emanuel Carneiro,

based on a story by Walter Salles

Lesson 10: Part I

The Center of GoodThe Center of Good

• The “Center of Good” is not necessarily a good person.

• This character can be deeply flawed, even criminal, but the audience must identify with him or her.

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Central Station (1998)

Screenplay by Marcos Bernstein

and Jaoa Emanuel Carneiro,

based on a story by Walter Salles

Curiosity and ConcernCuriosity and Concern

• Raising questions in the minds of your audience

• Give your audience characters to care about!

– Goals

– A Moral Center

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The Godfather (1972)

Screenplay by Mario Puzo

and Francis Ford Coppola

StrategiesStrategies

• Mystery

– The audience knows less than the characters

• Closed Mystery

• Open Mystery

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Donnie Darko (2001)

Screenplay by Richard Kelly

Strategies (2)Strategies (2)

• Suspense

– The audience and characters know the same information

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Rear Window (1954)

Screenplay by John Michael Hayes,

based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich

Strategies (3)Strategies (3)

• Dramatic Irony– The audience knows

more than the characters

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Fatal Attraction (1987)

Screenplay by James Dearden

Strategies (4)Strategies (4)• Pause the lecture now

and watch the clip from The Thing, keeping in mind McKee’s description of Suspense, where the audience and characters share the same information.

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The Thing (1982)

Screenplay by Bill Lancaster,

based on a story by John W. Campbell

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Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

Screenplay by Anna Hamilton Phelan

Based on a story by

Anna Hamilton Phelan and Ted Murphy

Storytelling ChallengesStorytelling Challenges

Lesson 10: Part II

• Not what the audience expected to happen.– The Color Purple– Arthur

• Not how the audience expected it to happen.– The Graduate– What’s Up, Doc? 1414

The Color Purple (1985)

Screenplay by Menno Meyjes

Based on the novel by Alice Walker

SurpriseSurprise

• Cheap Surprise– Not integrated into

story– Detracts

• TRUE Surprise– Integrated– Deepens involvement

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The Shining (1980)

Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson

Based on the novel by Stephen King

Surprise (2)Surprise (2)

• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from the film Carrie. Keep in mind what constitutes true surprise and cheap surprise.

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Carrie (1980)

Screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen

Based on the novel by Stephen King

Surprise (3)Surprise (3)

• Remember the principle of Aesthetic Emotion. Coincidence is real, but inherently meaningless. It can be given transformative meaning in narrative.

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Carrie (1976)

Screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen

Based on the novel by Stephen King

CoincidenceCoincidence

• Bring in coincidence early• No Deus ex Machina• One major coincidence per screenplay

(with some exceptions)

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What’s Up, Doc? (1972)

Screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen

Based on the novel by Stephen King

Coincidence (Continued)Coincidence (Continued)

• The best comedies come, strangely, from anger.

• Comedy is mentally “slipping on a banana peel”.

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There’s Something About Mary (1998)

Screenplay by Ed Dector & John J. Strauss

and Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly

Comedic DesignComedic Design

Point of ViewPoint of View

• Think of the story through the eyes of your protagonist.– A child protagonist will see the world differently

than a superhero protagonist.– Switching points of view can lead to

unintentional comedy. This is one of the problems with films such as Plan 9 From Outer Space and Mommie Dearest.

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AdaptationAdaptation

• Remember, screenwriting is its own art and craft. It’s narrative, but it’s different from playwriting, novel-writing, documentary or biography. What works in one will not likely work in a screenplay.

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Adaptation (2)Adaptation (2)• Novels are the champion of inner conflict.

In a screen adaptation, there must be a character with whom your protagonist externalizes that inner conflict.

• Theatre pieces are almost pure dialog. The omniscience of the camera means that most things don’t need to be said, they are seen. Film is visual.

• Biographies are real. Narrative takes the real and creates meaning with it.

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Adaptation (3)Adaptation (3)• To do an effective

adaptation, you need:– Research– To re-think the story

events to be visual and cinematic, rather than internal or language-based

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Wise Blood (1979)Screenplay by Benedict Fitzgerald & Michael Fitzgerald

Based on the novel by Flannery O’Connor

Avoiding MelodramaAvoiding Melodrama

• Make sure the actions of your characters are thoroughly, believably motivated. You want huge conflict, huge drama, but it must be about something. HIGH STAKES.

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Mommie Dearest (1975)Screenplay by Robert Getchel and Tracy Hotchner and Frank Perry and Frank Yablans

Based on the book by Christina Crawford

Logic HolesLogic Holes

• Forging Links• Moving Quickly• Admit the Illogic

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The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Screenplay by Noel Langley

and Florence Ryerson

and Edgar Allan Woolf

AssignmentsAssignments

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The Shining (1980)

Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson

Based on the novel by Stephen King

ReadingReading

• Read Chapter 6 in Story, “Problems and Solutions”.

• Do the Reading Review to be sure you’re clear on what you’ve read!

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E-Board PostE-Board Post• Post one example each of both Surprise

and Suspense in a film you know well.

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Your First 10 PagesYour First 10 Pages

• Remember! You should be working on this now!

End of Lecture 10End of Lecture 10

Next Lecture:

It’s What They Don’t Know!

True Lies (1994)

Screenplay by Claude Zidi and Simon Michael and Didier Kaminka

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