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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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StrategiesStrategies
• Mystery
– The audience knows less than the characters
• Closed Mystery
• Open Mystery
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Donnie Darko (2001)
Screenplay by Richard Kelly
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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
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Strategies (3)Strategies (3)
• Dramatic Irony– The audience knows
more than the characters
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Fatal Attraction (1987)
Screenplay by James Dearden
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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
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• 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
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• 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)
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• 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)
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• 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
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• 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)
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• 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
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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
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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
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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
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AssignmentsAssignments
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The Shining (1980)
Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson
Based on the novel by Stephen King
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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!
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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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