Be Specific

Every line of dialog and every action should be an attack on the other character to get something specific.

Dialog - instead of "you people", should be "you"

Defining Concept - Screenwriting

What is a concept?

In business....it's the unique aspect of a product or service that addresses a problem, makes a task easier, simpler, more fun to do, etc.

In screenwriting?  It's the unique way a character addresses a problem.  It's their "job", their skill set, their Goal, their Reason for going after the goal, it's their world.

Developing your Theme - Screenwriting

How do you develop your theme?

You develop your theme by having characters ask the other characters why they want what they want.

You develop your theme by looking at How the characters go about getting what they want.

For example:
Your main character might lie to other characters.  Jerry in Fargo does this consistent behavior throughout the story.

"Who" is your Topic - Screenwriting

Every scene may contain your main character.

However your main character may not be the Topic.

The topic is the character in the story that every character in the movie is concerned about for selfless or selfish reasons.

Every Reaction scene should revolve around this "Topic Character"

Every Action scene should revolves around your "Main Character"

Staying on Topic - Screenwriting

Every scene should concern the specific person place or thing your main character wants.

Being Vague about "relationship problem" - Screenwriting

When to make the "Relationship Problem" clear and not vague.

Can it be vague at the start of a story?

For Example - In Shawshank Redemption the relationship problem is coined "Institutionalized" at the midpoint when they talk about Brooks dying and we see him try to make it outside the prison as a free man.

At the end we understand that the story argues that having Hope, using Hope, will allow a person to overcome their "institutionalized state"

At the start of the film we don't know that this is the Relationship Problem.
But we are led to see how a man could find himself in that state...we see Andy's daily routines, we see him being abused by fellow prisoners...we see the power the warden and his security guards have.

Or do we?

The way in which the antagonists, and sometimes even the protagonists go about getting what they want will reveal in the most subtle of ways what the Relationship Problem is in your story from the first scene to the last.

In Shawshank Redemption the Relationship Problem is Suppression.

During Andy's trial, instead of arguing, fighting to stay out of jail, instead of demanding the prosecutor to check the facts, instead of doing anything at all to convince them that he did not kill his wife and her lover...he suppresses his emotions, he suppresses any fight within himself.

Once he gets into prison and he's raped by other prisoners...he begins to stop suppressing a little bit at a time...the same way he chips at the prison wall a little bit at a time.

When to Start your Story - Screenwriting

The first scene of a story should be the scene in which your character engages with the character that they will bond with by the end of the story.

Alternative Theme - Screenwriting

In a pure a story every scene to scene is Action - Reaction.

All of the Action scenes will have a Theme.
All of the Reaction scenes will have another Theme.

Let's say the action scenes are about attempting to get a bag of cash.
That's the theme - "to get a bag of cash" Every action scene will be about this.

Then let's say all of the reaction scenes are about attempting to understand why your character wants that specific bag of cash, why another character wants it, what happens if your character doesn't get it, so on and so for.

That's the theme - "Why this bag of cash."  Every reaction scene will be about this.

By the end of the story you may be able to distill both themes down.

The action theme will probably be MONEY.  The reaction theme could be honor, love, respect, freedom...depending on what you uncovered as you had characters exploring why they want that bag of cash and why others want it.

Once you decide what you think the reaction theme is, you can phrase it like this:
Money leads to Respect.
Money leads to Freedom
Money leads to honor.

Note: the above arguments may turn out to be false by the end of the story.  Money leads to Respect may be the belief your main character has at the start of the story but once they get the bag of cash...maybe they still aren't getting respect.

Shawshank Redemption - Closed Book Theme

Andy Dufresne keeps his escape plans to himself.  He hides his rock hammer in a book.  He and the Warden keep their financial papers in a safe.  The contractor gives Warden a hidden envelope of cash in a pie box.

I would call this a "How Theme."  It's How Andy gets what he wants...he hides things.

Thesis:
Chipping Away leads to Life
Hope leads to life
Getting busy living leads to life

Vs.
Thesis 2
Getting busy dying leads to death

Action scenes about getting busy living -
Reaction scenes about why, how,

Theme - How and Why

Theme is general derived from motivation.  Why a character wants what they want.

However, how they go about getting what they want can be a theme as well.  If it's consistent.

Take a look at Fargo - Jerry lies to get what he wants.

The Coen brothers use this "How Theme" and lie to the audience by placing text in the beginning of the movie claiming the following story is true.

The reaction scenes explore how and why the character wants what they want and why they want it and how they might be going about getting it.

Emotional Vs. Intellectual Screenwriting

I read a scene today that clearly set up the problem some characters were facing.

It was a scene in which top military officials in WWI discuss their next site of attack.

On an intellectual level, it completely made sense and moved the story forward.

And by intellectual, I mean informational.

The author clearly illustrated the scene, "generals decide where to send troops"

On an emotional level, it didn't do a thing.

One: the main character was not in the scene

Two: none of the official's arguments brought up what their decision would be to the main character from a relationship stand point.

Two possible ways this scene could have worked on an emotional level.

One:  The top official could have said, this is the plan, and I'm going to send my son in there to get it done. (if the son was the main character, even stronger)

Two: One official could have said, "There will be too many casualties."  And the top official could have said "Do I look like I care?  What's a soldier's life worth?  I want this done.  Now."

You may have noticed that one) emotional scenes address relationships and two) emotional scenes evoke Theme.

In my first solution - we're talking about Sacrifice.  We're possibly talking about selfless honor.  And we're talking about a man and his son.

In my second solution - we're talking about sacrifice.  We're possibly talking about selfish glory, selfish honor. And we're talking about a leader who cares nothing for the men who fight for his country, that make him look good.

So for a scene to work on an emotional level, the writer must address a relationship issue.

For a scene to work on an intellectual level, the write must address informational issues.

Note of Caution:
If you are a write who outlines their story before writing scenes, make sure you are addressing the emotional level.
It can be easy to write: in this scene my character goes here and does this and so on and so forth.
However, when you start writing scenes, you'll find that you've only addressed the intellectual, informational aspects of the story.

Question for my readers:  What's a good way to outline emotional information?

Showing Opposing View Points - Screenwriting

Your main character will Want something and have a Reason for wanting it.

Another character will Want something.  It may be the same thing.  It may not.  But they will have an opposing Reason for wanting whatever it is they want.

These Opposing Reasons will be in the context of a relationship problem.

In other words.

If one character argues that the main characters motivation, that their reason is flawed and suggests another goal and reason....allow that second character to go after that goal and prove their reason.

Feeling Stress from Screenwriting

I thought I had "The Key" to writing screenplays.

I thought I had a solution that would allow me to write, to "fix" my story, from beginning to end.

75 pages in I felt stressed.  I felt that I didn't know if everything I had written up to that point was unchangeable.

I felt that I may have just spent six hours changing my story rather than making it better.

I didn't sit down and read my story as a pdf without judgement.

I didn't sit down and read my story, as a pdf, as if it were someone else's story

I sat down, came up with a general solution to apply to every scene, and I began changing scenes.

Prior to this writing session, I had received feedback from two people on trigger street labs.

I had reviewed seven writers work on trigger street labs and noticed a common element that I felt was missing in their work.

When I looked at my story, I felt I too was missing this element.

So I decided to change everything in my story until it contained it.

Did it make it better?  I don't know.

This is a feeling of uncertainty that I get whenever I come up with a "missing element" or "missing piece in the puzzle" idea that I think would make a "great" screenplay.

Then I decided to go back to the initial touchstone for my story: "Fargo"

I wanted to see if Fargo, a script I view as "Great" contained the same element I assumed must be in great scripts.

And low and behold it doesn't.

So what did I learn?

Before I jump in and start to tweak my story I need to:
1) Sit down and read my script as a PDF from beginning to end and take notes in MS Word.
2) Write down my solutions to my notes.
3) Check to see if produced screenplays utilize these solutions.

Then, start changing, tweaking, moving things around.

Screenplays - Present or future tense

Screenplays are written in the present tense.

However the audience is concerned with the future.

"If" and "What if" suggest the future.   They are the source of story.

Main character and their want - Your spine - screenwriting

When you cut away to another character in another place - whatever it is they are doing - the audience should understand how it will affect your main character's want.  Is it going to make it harder for them to get.  I hope so.  If it's not...who's going to stamp out the flame of hope.

Thesis Statement = character want

Your character's want and reason for that want are the thesis statement of your story.

In an essay's first paragraph you make a point.  You put forth an argument.

In the first scene of your story, your character should make an attempt and explain what they want.

In each scene after that, there should be a thesis.  A scene objective.  An attempt toward the reaching the story objective.

The thesis statement should remain flexible until the paper is actually finished. It ought to be one of the last things that we fuss with in the rewriting process

The above quote rings true when it comes to stories.  If you change the story want, you change the story.

Character Want - Screenwriting

If you change the WANT, you change the STORY.

Stick with the want.

Relationships - screenwriting

At the end a scene....what should my understanding be of the relationship of the characters in that scene?  How has their relationship been established in their first scene together and how has it changed in this new scene?

Point of View - Screenwriting

Is your main character the POV character in all their scenes?

Don't let you be the POV or your reader be the POV or the audience be the POV.

Your main character should be the POV.

Start and end the scene with your main character.  Make sure their want is driving the scene and everything else in the scene is an obstacle.