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Why Write?
• No script, no film
• Good directors are once/also good writers.
• A very accessible discipline
• Very fulfilling
• Some circles consider it as equally important as the Director
• Yes, it can make you rich.
Film and Television
• Both are VISUAL media.
• Each has a story to tell (whether logical or illogical).
• Every film and TV program falls under a specific GENRE (comedy, action, drama or horror, etc.).
• Genres sell the tickets. Producers buy genres and the approach at each genre.
Stereotypical Genres
Romance
Mystery
Disaster
Thriller/ Psychological Thriller
Fantasy/ Adventure
Horror
Sci-fi
Melodrama/
Drama
Action
Comedy
Sample Sub-Genres
• Boy Meets Girl
• Rite of Passage
• Coming of Age
• Unrequited Love
• Dysfunctional Family
• Gay and Lesbian
• Road Trip
• Swashbuckling hero
Genre Elements
• Romance – Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Gets Girl, Misunderstanding alienates Boy and Girl, Rival for Girl throws out Misinformation, Last Minute Reveal of the Truth leading to Joyful Reunion
• Horror Story – Series of Grizzly and Inventive Murders, The Evil Gradually Closes in on the Heroes, Scary Isolated Location, Massive Rainstorm with Lightning and Thunder
Plot-driven or Character-driven
• Each progresses via the story (plot-driven, 2012) or the characters (character-driven, The Queen, Hannibal)
• Everything starts with a script; every script starts with a concept
Sample Concepts
• A superhero creature who has all the strengths of a vampire and none of its weaknesses, except for the thirst for blood
• What if a boy wishes that for a whole day, his father wouldn’t tell a lie
• A bride rises from coma and embarks on a roaring rampage of revenge
• Husband and wife. Man is an assassin, and so is the wife. But they do not know each other’s secret identity
Concepts come from:
• Another movie
• News item/court case
• Someone’s story/real life
• Memoir/diary
• Comics/graphic novel
• Book/novel
• Neighbor’s problems
• A dream
• An experience/MRT ride to Cubao
• From one’s own creative impulses
Scriptwriter as Creative Animal
Ergo, a scriptwriter is a creative animal.
He conceives, he creates, he re-creates, he alters what is already created.
Creativity
• Can it be taught? Yes.
• Can it be acquired? Yes, why not?
• Creativity, like a third eye, is present in all living, rational beings.
Creativity
• In scriptwriting, it is simply telling a story that is previously non-existent. He starts from a germ of an idea, and ends up with a larger than life story.
A detective. A pet detective
An alien. An alien for a stepmother.
A robot. A robot with scissors instead of hands
Creative Exercise: What if?
• Create a cinematic character from a common person/ object/ other worldly things
• A nun. A nun with hidden tattoos.
• A postman. A postman who can’t read nor write
• An angel.
• A neighbor.
• A stewardess.
Creativity
• In scriptwriting, it is when you rationalize/justify something that is previously unheard of, unacceptable or objectionable
What makes a good story?
• Stories with characters that you are passionate about, whether heroes (love them) or villains (hate them)
What makes a good story?
There is something at stake
• Something someone wants (the car in Dude, Where’s my Car?)
• Something someone wants for the good of mankind (nuke, the asteroid in Armageddon)
• Something desired by many characters (the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings)
What makes a good story?
There are always obstacles:
CONFLICT – the heart of drama
Someone wants something and people and things keep getting in the way. It can be physical or emotional
Plot
• A scheme, plan, or method to execute the premise
• The execution of the story
• It is how we get from the beginning, through the middle, and on to the end
Sample Plot Patterns
• Rags to Riches/Cinderella Story
• Journey movie
• Revenge/Vengeance Story
• Road movie
• Rites of passage
• Ugly duckling
• Triangle Story
• Boy meets boy/girl, boy gets boy/girl, or vice versa
• Romeo and Juliet
• Ship of fools
• Whodunit
Why Write the Outline
• It provides you with an overview of the script
• It gives you a good grasp on the structure
• It enables you to develop and improve the story