[Quick Summary: After 3 presidential cabinet members go missing in the jungle, a military team goes to rescue them, only to be hunted by a mysterious predator.]
TWO THOUGHTS:
1) PROTECTING YOUR STORY. All screenwriters accept that a script will change because of budget, location, etc.
But how do you protect your STORY from destructive changes? Solid story structure.
ex. The essential structure of Predator does not change much, despite 8+ drafts. All the important beats from the early version (PDF1) are present in the final (PDF2).
2) ONE SMART CHANGE. In the early draft, the whole team never really see the Hunter. In production polish (PDF2), they do spot him at the beginning of Act 3.
This was a very smart change because: a) The protagonists know their enemy is not human; b) The antagonist, who was nearly invisible, now has even higher stakes.
ex. "EXT. THE TEAM - DAY
The limb CRASHES down from the trees, Schaefer, Dillon, Billy and Mac diving for safety. But Ramirez, following the Hunter's leap, SEES too late the pendular movement of the severed limb and is struck a THUDDING blow in the ribs, which lifts him off his feet, hurling him backwards like a rag doll, his shirt torn open, exposing a BLOODY WOUND.
An [sic] Anna runs to Ramiez's side the others, still stunned, look upward, frozen in shock SEEING: THE HUNTER, clinging to a side of a tree, flushed bright crimson.
Dillis [sic] is dumbfounded, like the others, rooted to the ground staring upward.
DILLON: What in God's name...?
The Hunter utters an unearthly SNARL and HISS from his open mouth as an instant later his camouflage resumes and he vanishes from sight...a rapid, furtive movement through the trees."
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Good structure is not 100% guarantee that your story will survive production, but at least you will have a fighting chance.
"You can make a bad film from a good script, but you can't make a good film from a bad script." - Anonymous
Predator (1987)(early draft, 7/17/85; final draft, 4/7/86)
by James Thomas and John Thomas
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