That’s right, I said you are almost ready to write. In fact, after
so much creative work, you are dying to! First, however, I want to ensure what
you write is organized in an industry standard way. Whether the following is
new information or a refresher to confirm we’re speaking the same language, in
order to create a professional screenplay – and be able to discuss it with people
using the correct terms – you must understand the simplest building blocks of a
script. Let’s dissect one right now:
Screenplays
You
are trying to write, re-write or develop a sellable screenplay. You have 120 pages. Shoot for 110-115. The first thing
your story analyst is going to check is the page number on the last page of
your script. Don’t turn in 90-page scripts; they will know you have limited
story. And truly don’t turn in 200-page scripts unless you’re Jim Cameron, and
it’s 1995. You are not…and it is not.
Acts
That
screenplay you are writing/re-writing is made up of ACTS. Some say three acts, some say four acts. I say “forget the
acts for now!” VOD, broadband and mobile content are tap dancing all over
traditional format. Just know that you’ve got, at least: a beginning (the
Set-Up through Commitment), a middle (Commitment through the Escalation) and an
end (the Final Battle through the Reward).
Scenes
However
many you have, Acts are made up of SCENES.
Scenes are simple. Every scene begins with someone expressing a desire. When s/he
reverses that desire, the scene is over. It doesn’t matter how many locations
your characters inhabit in the process; once that initial desire reverses, the
scene is over. In its simplest form, a scene opens with someone entering a room
and ends with that person exiting. In a great script, that exit triggers a
chain reaction that forces your Main Character into an even tougher choice in
the next scene.
The
phrase “Whose scene is it?” is easy to answer. Whoever reverses at the end of
the scene owns it. And your Main Character should own the majority of the
scenes in your script.
Beats/Choices
The
Scenes you are going to carefully tweak to make sure someone reverses are made
up of little, building moments called BEATS,
things your characters do or say to get something they want. If you have ever
been in a fight with your significant other or your mom, where what you say or
do does not yield easy or expected results, you understand beats. You say or do
A…and s/he responds with B. That’s a beat. In response, you say or do C…and
s/he counters with D. Another beat. With each beat, you are shifting your
intention further away from your original goal. At one point, you reverse your
original intention, and that beat is the end of a scene. Here are sample beats:
·
Kramer enters his son Billy’s room with
a letter from vanished wife and mother Joanna. He tentatively opens the letter
with Billy.
·
Billy listens excitedly to the letter
and asks lots of questions. Kramer confidently reads on, excited for Billy and
himself.
·
Kramer reads that Joanna has a new home
and a new job and isn’t coming home. Billy instantly shuts down and stops
responding to the letter.
·
Kramer puts a happy spin on the news
and keeps reading. Billy drowns out the rest of the letter by turning up the TV
with his remote control.
·
Kramer gives up battling the TV and
leaves the room with the unfinished letter.
As you can see, Beats are actually CHOICES.
Choices are the building blocks of human behavior. Everything you do is a
choice and a statement of what you value and prioritize in that moment. Similarly,
everything your Main Character does is a choice that tells the audience what
matters in his or her life right now. By facing tougher choices and making harder
decisions, also called “advancing the story,” your Main Character will show
your audience and your story analyst how s/he is changing throughout the movie.
How
do you ensure you are creating “tougher choices” for your Main Character? With
each new decision, you must increase Stakes, and/or increase Jeopardy, and/or
increase the power of an opponent to thwart what your Main Character currently
wants.
Warning!
If any characters are faced with an obstacle and make a choice to move past
it…they do not get to make that same choice ever again in response to that
obstacle, with those stakes or that jeopardy! If they do, that is what’s called
a “repeat beat.” As in – they already faced this and tried that, why are they doing
it again? Your story just lost momentum.
Worse,
if the Beats/Choices in your script are entirely routine, without build, intrigue
or surprise, your audience and your story analyst will utter the hated words:
“That movie was so predictable.”
One
last tip. The term “beat” actually has two meanings in script writing. In story
terms, the beat is a building block of a scene. But during the actual scripting
phase, you will type the word “beat” to indicate a pause in dialogue for
emphasis. Try not to use the second “beat” too often – those pauses are really
directing and acting choices!