[Quick Summary: Four thieves steal diamonds, then double and triple cross each other (as well as a barrister) to get to the loot.]
Q: What is one of the biggest keys to a suspense story?
A: What is happening NOW is apt to be less dramatically interesting than what may or may not HAPPEN NEXT.
Q: So this means plot is more important than character?
A: I think the plot comes from characters. (Or characters drive the plot.)
Q: I always hear that it "starts with character." What does that MEAN?
A: To me, interesting characters cause conflict. Their actions - unpredictable, outrageous, rebellious, stubborn - clash with someone else's, thus driving the plot.
Q: So that's where suspense can come from?
A: We can't wait to see how the conflict resolves. What comes next?
In the example below, notice:
- Each character has a conflict with themselves and/or each other.
- The conflicts are visible, i.e., able to be seen on screen.
- Pay particular attention to Otto, the newest member, who disturbs the status quo the most. Notice we can't stop wondering what he'll do next.*
Interior. Living-room, George's flat. Day.
Ken is still feeding the fish. The door opens and the human Wanda enters. She has exchanged the smooth outfit of the opening sequences for the garb of a gangster's moll: imitation ocelot jacket and leather mini skirt. She is followed by Otto, dressed in black. [I am already interested. Why has Wanda changed clothes to MORE of gangster's moll?]
WANDA. Hi, Ken.
KEN. Hallo, Wwwanda.
WANDA. Ken, this is Otto.
OTTO. Hallo, Ken, Wanda's told me a lot about you. Hey! Great fish.
KEN. Oh, th-th-thank...
OTTO. A little squeeze of lemon, some tartare sauce, perfect... [Within two lines of dialogue, Otto has clashed with Ken, an animal lover.]
Wanda raps Otto. Otto squeezes her boob. Ken turns. [Only the audience knows that Wanda and Otto have a secret relationship.]
WANDA. George back yet?
She makes for the kitchen.
KEN. Nnnno. He had to ggggo tttto the bbbb...
Otto stares at Ken, astonished. Ken looks at him.
Wwwwha...
OTTO. That's er, quite a stutter you've got there, Ken. [Again, Otto is being rude to Ken.]
Ken is dumbstruck. Otto smiles at him.
It's all right, it doesn't bother me. So...George needs a weapons man, eh?
Ken looks sharply at Otto. Wanda calls from the kitchen. [Otto has broken the rule about talking too frankly about a potential scam.]
WANDA. Cup of tea, Ken?
KEN. Yyyy...
OTTO. Yeah, he'd like one. I'd a good friend in the CIA had a stutter. Cost him his life, dammit. [Otto is not making a friend of Ken.]
The front door opens and George enters. Wanda runs to him from the kitchen.
WANDA. Hi, George.
She embraces him and he returns the affection with a squeeze of her bottom. Ken is hot on her heels. [Will George find out about Wanda and Otto?!]
KEN. Hallo, George. Get you a Scotch?
GEORGE. Yeah.
Ken scampers off. George eyes Otto.
WANDA. George, this is Otto.
GEORGE. ... So...you're Wanda's brother. [I wonder if George is suspicious?]
OTTO. Good to be here, George. England is a fine country.
GEORGE. She tell you what we need?
Otto makes a rapid movement, causing a knife to appear in his hand, and then throws the knife so that it sticks perfectly between the eyes of an animal on one of Ken's posters in the alcove. Ken stares, horrified. [No one expected this!]
OTTO. Something like that? [Otto challenges George.]
GEORGE. Something like that. [George realizes Otto is unreliable.]
Cut to:
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The chief enemies of suspense? I'd volunteer predictability and lack of conflict.
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
by John Cleese
Story by John Cleese and Charles Crichton
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