Recommended Screenwriters
Situations That Sell Your Screenplay, Part 2
- May 29, 2010
- Posted by: HalCroasmun
- Category: Articles
In Part 1, I gave some examples of unique situations in movies we’ve all seen. In Part 2, we’ll use the process below to create some new situations. If you haven’t read Part 1, you can read it here.
Before we do that, let me clarify something.
Situation = Entertainment Value.
When you put your characters in entertaining situations, you entertain the audience. If they are in a scary situation, we worry about them. If they are winning, we’re excited for them. If they are losing the thing that matters most, we are sad for them.
The opposite type of situations are the boring ones. Situations where two people are just talking, or where there’s nothing unique, or where nothing is really happening — those are the boring situations.
What type of situations do you use most?
Well written situations can keep a script fresh and be the thing the movie is remembered for. So it is worth putting a little effort into your situations.
THE PROCESS
Let me give you a simple, yet profound way to brainstorm unique situations. It is only three steps, with some sub-steps that are optional.
Brainstorming more interesting situations:
1. Identify a scene that needs a stronger situation.
2. Make a list of the deeper meaning/issues in the scene:
A. What is the meaning of this scene?
B. What is most important in this scene?
C. What is the biggest consequence to your main character?
D. What does your character want most in this scene?
3. With each of those answers, brainstorm possible situations:
A. What is the most extreme way to present that?
B. What action/situation will support that?
C. What action/situation will oppose that?
D. What would be the best or worst thing that could happen concerning that?
THE EXAMPLE
I’ll take you through the process with a scene that started out as a typical talking-heads scene.
STEP 1. Identify a scene that needs a stronger situation.
Scene: A husband and wife have an argument in their house and blame each other for overspending.
STEP 2. Make a list of the deeper meaning/issues in the scene:
A. What is the meaning of this scene?
They each blame the other for the same thing that they have also done.
B. What is most important in this scene?
A profound lack of trust.
C. What is the biggest consequence to your main character?
Losing his marriage.
D. What does your character want most in this scene?
To stop her from spending so he has access to all their income.
STEP 3. With each of those answers, brainstorm possible situations:
Choosing B from above, I’ll run it through this process. My objective is to create four completely different ways of presenting “a profound lack of trust” and ultimately, I’d like to come up with a situation that will elevate the quality of the entire script.
If I then run A, C, and D through the same process, I’ll have 16 different situations, any of which might be better than the original scene that I’m trying to improve.
As you are reading these, don’t worry about whether the exact scene you’re reading is the best writing or not. Just remember that what we’re doing here is a brainstorm session for situations.
So here goes.
A. What is the most extreme way to present “a profound lack of trust?”
– The husband assures his wife that he has joined gambler’s anonymous and will never gamble again. As they talk, he positions himself in the kitchen where he can see the TV in the living room.
She agrees to take him back as long as she is in 100% control of the finances. Yes, he believes that is the only way it will work. She produces bank documents and he signs them. For the first time, she feels safe.
They hug. She kisses him…but notices that he’s distracted. Suddenly, he jerks and yells “Damn it!” She turns and sees the football game on TV.
She runs over to her computer. Pulls up their bank statement and discovers that the account has been zeroed out. He bet everything on this one football game. She opens the drawer and pulls out a gun.
B. What action/situation will support “a profound lack of trust?”
– At the dinner table is the wife and her parents. The dad is going on and on about what a mistake she made marrying this guy. The dad believes all the financial problems come from the husband. The wife tries to defend him, but has to admit that the dad is right.
The husband arrives, bringing in a shopping bag. He apologizes for being late and accepts the glares. He tells them that he has appreciated their trust all these years and would finally like to pay them back. He reaches into the bag and produces two stacks of money. “I would have written a check, but the last one bounced.” He hands them $20,000.
Within minutes, the dad is talking positively about his son-in-law for the first time. They have a wonderful dinner, until…
…the police arrive. The husband is escorted to jail for robbing a bank. The dad is arrested for possession of the stolen money.
C. What action/situation will oppose “a profound lack of trust?”
The husband walks in to find his wife on her bank web site. He tells her that he has some good news, but she won’t hear it. That is what he said the last time he emptied their bank account.
He gives her a dozen roses. She pushes them away and starts quizzing him about the checks he’s written, his credit card expenses, and what happened to the cash from her wallet.
He comes clean about all of it. But that isn’t enough. She is really mad because he’s overspent so many times in the past. He has no credibility in her eyes.
He begs her to calm down and listen. She won’t. She’s had enough and wants a divorce.
Finally, he pulls out a cashier’s check for $1 million made out to her. Turns out he won the lottery and has given all the money to her because he believes she will do a better job of taking care of it for the future.
D. What would be the best or worst thing that could happen concerning “a profound lack of trust?”
—————
WHAT TO DO?
Actually, we’ve done enough to get the point across. If you read those scenes, you can see how each one is different, at least somewhat unique, and are an expression of what I stated was important to me in the scene.
Really, the purpose of this process is to get you to focus your creativity on a specific issue and create new situations that could possibly express that issue. And you never know when one of those situations is what catches the eye of an A-List actor or a producer.
My advice: It would serve you well to become a master at creating the most dramatic and unique situations.
And have fun with this. It not only improves your script, but the process can actually make you more creative. And if you’re looking for more on this, take a look at a class that was developed based upon insights and examples from the hit TV show LOST. It is our our Pushing The Envelope class. In it, you’ll learn a process that will take your characters, situations, actions, and dialogue to a completely new level.
Here’s to some great situations!