Screenplay Writing

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Screenplay Writing

• Lecture 3

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Overview of the Screenplays Core Story

• According to Trottier, your core story should be
  divided into three acts which consist of
• Setting Up the Situation (Act 1)
• Developing the Rising Conflict Between Your
  Central Oppositional Characters (Act 2)
• Resolving the Conflict Between Your Characters
  (Act 3)
• Further, each act should contain a series of
  Critical Events that will lead to the inevitable
  Showdown between your Hero and Villain.

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The Screenplays Core Story Act 1

• Act 1 to the screenplay has these Critical
  Events
• The Opening Scene (or Hook) which should
  capture the readers interest attention.
• The Catalyst which should occur early on it is
  intended to upset the initial balance of the
  Hero, giving him/her a new problem, need, goal or
  mission to accomplish.
• And finally, the Big Event, which should close
  Act 1. The Big Event is something that changes
  your characters life in a monumental way.

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Act 1 to Movie Screenplays

• The Opening Scenes to Planet of the Apes and The
  Shining have Colonel Taylor delivering his
  soliloquy aboard his spacecraft and Jack Torrance
  interviewing for the position of caretaker at the
  Overlook.
• The Catalysts are when Taylors ship crashes into
  the waters of an unknown planet and when Jack
  accepts the job offer and drives his family
  (Wendy and Danny) to their new home.

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Act 1 to Movie Screenplays

• The Big Event to Planet of the Apes is the
  Hunting Sequence the savage humans on the
  planet, including Taylors party, are shot and
  rounded up by gorillas on horseback. This is the
  first image of the apes- and it is a
  frighteningly intense moment!
• The Big Event to The Shining is Jack telling his
  wife Wendy never to disturb him when he is typing
  in the study- thus leaving him vulnerable to the
  ghostly residents of the Overlook.

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Act 1 to The Vidbond Screenplay

• The Opening Scene to The Vidbond Connection
  involves Derek Sullivan recovering from his most
  recent breakup
• The Catalyst is when Derek reluctantly pays 500
  dollars to become a life-long member of the
  video-dating service
• And the Big Event is Dereks first date with
  Karen Sloman it goes badly with Derek nearly
  passing out, experiencing a nightmarish dream
  sequence, and discovering a strange black growth
  on his forehead.

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The Screenplays Core StoryAct 2

• Act 2 to the screenplay has these Critical
  Events
• The Escalating Conflict between your Hero and
  Villain.
• The Pinch which occurs about half-way through Act
  2 it is the point of no return for the Hero,
  when his/her motivation becomes crystal clear.
• And the Crisis which ends Act 2. The Conflict
  has become so intense that it has reached
  life-or-death proportions for the Hero.

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Act 2 to Movie Screenplays

• The Escalating Conflict between Taylor and Zaius
  becomes magnified when he regains his voice now
  the head orangutan must find a means of
  permanently silencing him.
• The Escalating Conflict between Jack Torrance and
  his family rises when he starts drinking again.
• The Pinch for Taylor is when he finds his
  astronaut friend Landon lobotomized he never
  ever wants the same fate to befall him, yelling
  You cut up his brain, you bloody baboon!

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Act 2 to Movie Screenplays

• The Pinch is when Jack physically goes after
  Wendy, threatening her in typical stalker
  fashion.
• The Crisis for Taylor is fleeing Ape City with
  his simian friends Cornelius Zira. But Zaiuss
  gorilla army is right behind him ready to execute
  the human on command.
• The Crisis for Jack is his axing an Overlook
  employee, Mr. Hallorhan. He has been pushed over
  the edge, and now Wendy Danny must flee for
  their very lives.

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Act 2 to The Vidbond Screenplay

• When Derek tells the Vidbond director, Bonnie
  McMahon, that he no longer wants to date Karen,
  this sets the stage for a series of Escalating
  Conflicts between them.
• The Pinch is when Derek finds out that Karen is a
  vampiric creature that must be disposed of by
  hammering a glass shard into her chest.
• The Crisis has Derek, his sister Amy, and close
  friend Matt penetrating the Vidbond Centre to
  discover the real Villain behind the agency it
  is the brain of Vlad the Impaler.

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The Screenplays Core StoryAct 3

• Act 3 to the screenplay has these Critical
  Events
• The Climax (or Showdown) between the Hero and the
  Villain. The Climax should follow directly on
  the heels of the Crisisand everything is on the
  line for the Hero it is the Biggest Event in
  the screenplay.
• And immediately following the Climax, Self-
  Discovery (psychic growth) within the Hero.
  The central character has been through a
  crucible, has shown great courage, and should now
  be changed in some fashion.

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Act 3 to Movie Screenplays

• In the Planet of the Apes Climax, Taylor does
  not kill his antagonist rather, he ties Zaius up
  in the same humiliating manner as the ape militia
  had done to him throughout the course of the
  film.
• The Shinings Climax has Jack chasing Wendy and
  Danny throughout the Overlook eventually, Danny
  traps Jack within a huge hedge maze bordering the
  hotel, causing the man to freeze to death in the
  snow.
• Both of these films have very low-key Showdowns.

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Act 3 to Movie Screenplays

• Taylors Self-Discovery is when he collapses
  before the shattered remains of the Statue of
  Liberty he realizes that this bizarre world is
  actually his home planet Earth!
• The Self-Discovery in The Shining is when the
  camera lingers over a photograph and we see Jack
  Torrances smiling face he has now become a
  permanent resident of the hotel or perhaps he was
  always one of the tenants in a past life

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Act 3 to the Vidbond Screenplay

• The Vidbond Connection is packed with action in
  its Climax. Derek manages to escape the cerebral
  clutches of Vlad, but his partners (Matt and Amy)
  are not so lucky. Before the entire Centre
  collapses, Vlad kills Bonnie with his tentacled
  appendages before perishing himself.
• Dereks Self-Discovery is his realization that
  some of the Vidbond members, including Bonnie,
  have survived and have started a new computer
  training program for Fortune 500 businessmen.
• Derek has fought the good fight, but lost the war.

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Developing the Acts to Your Screenplay Story

• Now think about the essential components of each
  act and develop a rough outline of how you want
  your core story to proceed.
• Make sure there is a logical progression in your
  Critical Events, from the Opening Scene to the
  Heros Self-Discovery.
• A Showdown between the Hero and Villain is
  absolutely essential, but having an open ending
  allows you to retell your story without
  reinventing the screenplay theme.
• Keep in mind there are many ways to tell a story,
  and that your acts will evolve over time.