Screenplay by syd field, Notes

 Screenplay by syd field, Notes.

Talent is God's gift; either you've got it or you don't. But writing is a personal responsibility; either you do it or you don't.

very engaging so far

Beginning - Act 1 = pages 1-30 (set up) -> plot point 1

Middle - Act 2 = pages 30-90 (confrontation) -> Plot point 2

End - Act 3 = pages 90-120 (resolution)

every story has a beginning middle and end, although not necessarily in that order

a page of screenplay equals a minute of screen time

act1 

sets up story by establishing character, dramatic premise, the circumstances surrounding the action, relationship between main character and the others.

only about 10 minutes 

act 2

during the second act the ain character encounters obstacle after obstacle which keeps him/ her from achieving him/ her dramatic need. 

Dramatic need: what the character wants to win, gain. get or achieve during the course of the screenplay.

All drama is conflict. Without conflict, you have no action; without action, you have no character; without character, you have no story; and without story, you have no screenplay

act 3

resolution does not mean ending, resolution means solution

live or die, succeed or fail, married or not, win the race or not, win the election or not.

how to get between the acts?

create a plot point at the end of both act 1 and act 2

A plot point is any incident, episode or event that hooks into the action and spins it around in another direction

can be a new truth revealed, or as simple as a charcter making a decision

a linear arrangement of related incidents, episodes, or events leading to a dramatic resolution.

isolate your generalized idea into a specific dramatic premise. And that becomes the starting point of your screenplay

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145 buddhism

every creative decision must be made by choice not necessity

research allows you to operate from th position of choice confidence and responsibility

live or text reseach

eg. books or personal interviews (what syd recommends)

principle rule of storytelling. The more you know, the more you can communicate

waldo - dramatic need determines dramatic structure

subject becomes action and character

action is emotional and physical (battle sequence, chase etc) 

character - define the need + action is character

first: define the dramatic need. what does your character want. what is their need. eg. borne supremacy - he needs to know who wants to kill him and why

how your character achieves or doe not achieve their goal becomes the action of your story.

We see ourselves in them and enjoy a moment, perhaps, of recognition and understanding

the first part of any journey of initiation must deal with the death of the old self and the resurrection of the new - joseph campbell

we must show how the character acts and reacts to the incidents and events that he/she confronts and overcomes (or doesn't overcome) during the story line

a character is his actions

if you feel a charcater should be stronger or more dimensional you must determine whether they are an active force. Whether they cause things to happen or whether things happen to them

separate the componenets of characters life into interior and exterior. The interior takes place from birth until the time story begins. It si a process that forms character. Exterior life takes place from when story starts to when it ends. It is a process that reveals character.

in film must find ways to reveal character visually.

waht causes my character to ract in thi manner, not why does my character do this. 

What questions better than why quesitons (try to avoid why qs)

separate your characters into their professional, personal and private life (this links to Mckee develop story (conflict) on all three levels)

free association essay of about a page or two, define your characters professional life. when exploring relationships of main character with other people in his/ her professional life, you're creating a personality and a point of view

if your character's dramatic needd does change it will usually occur in Plot point 1

point of view, how our character sees the world. Our belief system. What we believe to be true is true.

pov examples. Life is unlimited opportunity. You make your own luck. Success is based on who you know. a point of view is aquired through personal experience

eg. if a parent they could reflect a parents point of view. student/ housewife, criminal, terroist, cop, doctor, lawyer, rich mna, poor man.

are tehy enviromentalist, humanist, racist. believe in fate, destiny, astrology?

do they pu tfairth in doctos, the new york times? or the sun 

change makes a good character

can you define the change, articulate it. trace the emotional arc of the character from beginning to end

having a charcter change if it does not fit your character is not a requirement

Melvin in As Good as It Gets

"when I'm with you I want to be a better"

seems to recommend if stuck on anything to write free flowing thoughts essay on it for a few pages (eg. on a characters change)

main character must be active. Must cause things to happen not let things happen to them.

okay to react some of the time but if always they appear passive and weak.

little things eg. is your character late early or on time for appointments, can illustrate a lot about your character.

Henry james describes circle of characters around main character. every time one of those characters interacts with the main character they can reveal something about him

writing it out. You have to write what wants to come out, see how it is. and then can try/ do again.

might take time before your characters really start 'speaking to you'

dialogue either moves the story forward or reveals information about the main character

when writing a screenplay you are writing it for an actor, for someone or a selection of bankable actors - have one in mind.

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in creating a character we're sketching in as much detailed conflicg as we can for dramatic purposes

what is the best way to open your screenplay? in response he says - KNOW YOUR ENDING

-not the shot or the scene or sequence but the resolution . the solution eg. live or die. Married or not. win the race or not.

often ending itself is not really the problem; it's the fact that it doesn't work effectively. It's either too soft or too slow, too wordy or too vague, too expensive or not expensive enough, too down, too up, too contrived, too predictable, or too unbelievable

first 10 pages crucial

before you write a line of dialogue you must know your ending, beginning, plot point 1 and 2. In that order. (mckee explains this better)

it doesnt matter whether it is commercial or not because nobody knows what's commercial or not anyway.

primary rule for the opening is: Does it set your story in motion? Does it establish your main character? Does it state the dramatic premise? Does it set up the situation? Does it establish or set up a problem that your character must confront and overcome? Does it state your character's need?

What is this character afraid of?

what is their deepest fear.

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inciting incident leads us to the key incident. The hub of the story. It reveals waht the story is about.

in some cases the key incident and plot point 1 may be the same thing

plot points move a story forward to the resoltuion. Story may contain as many as 10-15 plot points most of whihc will be in act2

dramatic context for act 2 is confrontation.

if we need to find out who and why they set him up. we create obstacle after obstacle to keep the action going.

watch stuff and think at 30 and then 80-90 minutes what is the plot point

what incident leads us to the next act. 

the reluctant hero must accept the challenge of being who he or she really is

we see who they are by what they do (eg. two people packing in different ways as in thelma and louise)

a plot point is whatever you choose it to be,long or short, silence or action.

new scene = change of place or change of time

scenes are designated

interior/ exterior. location - time

eg.

EXT. MOUNTAIN ROAD-NIGHT

every scene must reveal one element of necessary story information (move story forward or reveal information about the character) rarely does a scenne provide more than one piece of infomation. more can bog down narrative and be confusing

responsibility to know hwy your characters are in a scene, what the purpose of the scene is , how the characters actions, or dialogue are reveleant to the story

by creating context you determine dramatic purpose and can build scene. By creating context you establish content.

What aspects of your character's professional, personal or private life is going to be revealed

when writing a scene finding a way of allowing actors to play it 'against the grain' or a location that could make it visually interesting

Against the grain- an angry scene that is played whilst softly smiling

first establish purpose of the scene. Second where the scene takes place, then when. 

in comedy you cant have your characters playing for laughs, they have to believe what they're doing otherwise it becomes forced and contrived and therefore unfunny.

A sequence is a series of scenes connected by one single idea with a definite beginning, middle, and end.

a specific idea that can be expressed in a few words. Eg. the race between seabiscuit and war admiral

or rescue

often in action stories action overwhelms character - makes story flat and uninteresting

has to be appropriate balance of peaks and valleys.

action can keep the tension taut and the story moviing

sometimes you have to make drastic creative choices to pump up the story line

often the easy way out, a car chase, kiss, shoot out, murder attempt etc draws attention to itself and therefore doesnt work.

"Look at the possibilities: He runs to hide behind the rock. He races over to the rock. He scrambles over to the rock. He crawls frantically on his belly over to the rock... Things like that can drive me crazy. Hurries, trots, sprints, dives, leaps, jumps, barrels, slams. The word slams, that'll appear a lot in an action script."

David Koepp 

generally a good action sequence builds slowly

act one has a beginning middle and end

it is a whole compete until itslef leading to the plot point at the end of it

dramatic context is set up

act 2 is also a whole self contained unit

dramatic context is confrontation

act 3 is also a whole with its own beginning middle and end. dramatic context is resolution. resolution means solution.

you move towards the plot point at the end of each act. so each act has a direction.

3x5 cards

write idea of each scene or sequence on a single card and a fe brief words of description (no more than five or six). Fourteen cards per thiry pages of screenplay.

(herer each sentence is a card)

eg. lousie is at work. Louise calls thelma. Thelma is with darryl, doesnt ask him about his trip. Thelma and luise pack. Louise picks up thelma. They drive to the mountains. Thelma wants to stop. At silver bulet for food. Harlan hustles Thelma. They drink and talk. Harlan and Thelam dance, she feels sick. Harlan takes thelma outside. Harlan attempts to rape thelma. Louise kills harlan.

he suggests 14 card for act 1

fourteen cards for first half of act 2

fourteen for second half of act 2

fourteen for act 3

cards easy and effective and give maximum mobility in building your screenplay

when first laying donw simply write down all those scenes you know you want to include in the script.

you already know beginning and plot points and end when you do this so all you need to do is lay out the action between.

building out cards between gaps. What does your character want? Then create obstacles to that need.

if your character acts in your screenplay, somebody or something is going to react in such a way that your character then reacts - thus creating a new action that will create another reaction.

when things happen to the character, they seem to dissapear off the page.

reactive to incitiing incident is frequent, then active

a lot of people start with too little exploration and developemnt of characters and actions. Therefore forced to feel thier way through act one, they through down too many story points, hoping the story will appear.

seeds planted, but not watered. writer tells his or her story int he first ten pages, then is lost.

tenency in flashbacks is to explain rather than reveal

once laid out cards spend a few days getting to know them and the characters and seeing what happens if you move the cards around a play with time.

An outline is commonly used in tv where you tell your story in scenes in a detailed narrative plot progression (28-60pages lng)

Determine your ending, opening, and Plot Point at the end of Acts I and II. Get some 3X 5 cards, different colors if you choose, and start with the opening of your screenplay. Free-associate. Whatever comes to mind for a scene, put it down on the cards. Build toward the Plot Point at the end of the act. Experiment with it. The cards are for you—find your own method to make them work for your story. Doit

A scene is written in a master shot or specific shots. 

Master shot - covers a general area. eg a room

Specific shot focuses on a specific part eg. the door.

the more white space the better it looks

line 1- slug line or scene heading. Location, 

eg EXT. ARIZONA DESERT; DAY

Line 2 double space then this is single. Description of people, places or action from margin to margin. Not longer than a few lines for descriptions of characters or places. Describing action no longer than four sentences, (a good suggestion, not a rule)

New characters introduced are always capitalized.

CHaracter speaking always capitalized and put in centre of the page.

direcctions for character in parentheses under the character name (use only when necessary)

sound effects or music effects are alwasy capitalized

- something like "we hear something like Norah Jones" - propose the feeling, the way you think things hsould look and feel

CUT TO

DISOLVE TO

FADE OUT

just dont tell the director what to do and how to do it

if you're ever in doubt about whether to use th eword "camera" do not use it.

ANGLE ON - a person place or thing

CLOSE SHOT

INSERT - eg a close shot of a newspaper

read as many screenplays as possibe to familierise with the form

if using the card system you will suddenly discover a new sceen that works better. Use it.

if a scene works use it. Often best to write the first thing that races through your mind.

dont worry about the few scenes you know don't work. The reader will never know. Let them be.

if you dont kjnow whether your choice scenees work, they probably dont. If you have to think aout it, question it, it probably means its not working. You'll know when a scene is working.

adapting:

one reads until it is his own.

writes down scenes then arranges them

one establishes a structural line of events. this happens then this. Then writes down scenees that stick in his mind.

If you are writing a historical screenplay, you do not have to be accurate about the decisions or emotions of the people involved; but you do have to honor the historical events and the results of those events.

Andy Dufrense's line in The Shawshank Redemption? "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

to read:

chinatown

the death of a salesmen

a streetcar named desire

thelma and louise

sideways

borne supremacy

others in notes

once you have finished read it with nothing on you

after a few days do free association essay on what attracted you to the material. the character, the. situation, idea, action line that attracted you orginally. 

second essay - waht kind of screenplay did you actually end up writing.

third essay what do you have to do to change what you did wirte into what you wanted to write

you may have to change anywhere from 65 to 80 percent of act 1

listen and see whether readers have caught the intention of what you wanted to write about 

listen from the point 

of view that they might be right

get feedvback from two people you can trust, not really more

title

a screenplay by

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WGA minimums available online

eyeball price for a screenplay used to be 5 percent of the budget + 2.5-5 percent of producers's net