2021 OSCARS: Promising Young Woman (2020) - Well-Rounded Characters Come With Attitudes/Agendas That Will Cause Conflict

[Quick Summary: After her life goes off the rails, angry Cassie seeks revenge on men with a targeted agenda.]

This is a very sharply written script, very focused in tone and intent.  It is a throwback to the really good female led thrillers of yore.

For me, the script works because the writer stayed true to the character all the way through, and did not shirk back when things turned ugly in Act 3. 

Also, characters are fully rounded, even the minor ones.  

In the scene below, notice:
- How each character has a distinct attitude that is easily distinguished.
- How these attitudes/agendas lead to conflicts that push the story forward.

INT. MAKE ME COFFEE SHOP - LATER 

...GABBY:  Um. A hot chocolate please.

CASSANDRA starts making it. The men are now openly staring at GABBY, whispering.

JEFF: I'd never let my daughter go out looking like that. Nothing to the imagination.

but the way he's looking at her is not that of a concerned parent.

CASSANDRA glares at him. She leans forward and whispers to GABBY.

CASSANDRA: Do you want me to freak those fuckers out?

GABBY glances over at them.

GABBY (low): No, no! Please don't! Please don't say anything. Please.

She is bight red with embarrassment. Almost in tears.

CASSANDRA: It's alright. Don't worry. Don't worry about those creeps. Fuck 'em.

She passes GABBY her drink.

CASSANDRA (CONT'D): On the house.

GABBY (small): Thanks.

GABBY makes her way to the door trying to keep as far from the table as she can while the men watch, sniggering.

CASSANDRA comes over to wipe their table and - oops! - she knocks a hot coffee into JEFF's lap.

He leaps up.

JEFF: JESUS!

CASSANDRA: Would you look at that! Right in the crotch!

GABBY turns and stifles a smile at CASSANDRA as she leaves. CASSANDRA winks at her.

CASSANDRA (CONT'D): Let me get you a fresh one, sir. Hope I didn't burn you.

He watches her go, furiously.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I was particularly impressed how cleanly defined these characters were, unapologetic and driven. I may not agree with their POV, but I understood them.

Promising Young Woman (2020)
Written and directed by Emerald Fennell

2021 OSCARS: Minari (2020) - Using the Match Cut for Meaning

[Quick Summary: Jacob brings his wife (Monica) and kids (David, Anne) to the South to chase his dream of building a vegetable farm.]

It's taken me awhile to understand:

1) Screenplays are limited by their form.
2) You either like it and lean into it, or you find a different form.

ex. A novel is not limited by time and space. It can be stream of consciousness.  

However, a script is limited by time and space.  This form is written, for the purpose of shooting pictures visually.  This is not a natural way to write.

You have to learn to convey what you mean visually but only by using words.   

This script demonstrates one helpful tool: the match cut.

In the scene below, notice the flow of how it works:
- David (7-8 yrs. old) pulls out a heavy drawer --> then match cut to Jacob (the dad) is carrying a chicken crate.
- These are essentially two wooden boxes in two different locations.
- These are two sequential parallel images that result in unspoken meaning to the audience: Both son and father are similar, both dealing with failures.

DAVID'S BEDROOM - DAY

David removes the DRESSER DRAWER slowly. It's too far...

It FALLS! Match this to:

INT. HATCHERY - DAY

A crate of chickens FALLS to the floor.

Jacob has dropped it. Monica hurries to help him pick it up.

MONICA (to Jacob): [Your arms are that sore again?]

MRS. OH: Put the box there; if any are injured, we have to throw them away.

Jacob notices that Mr. H eyes him from the back. Monica notices this too.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I think the match cut here was well thought out, i.e., WHAT are we going from, WHAT are we going to, and WHY.

Minari (2020)
by Lee Isaac Chung

2021 OSCARS: Judah and the Black Messiah (2020) - Creating a Traitor Character Through Motive, Tone, Mood

[Quick Summary: Bill O'Neal is blackmailed into going undercover in the Chicago Black Panthers to spy on its leader Fred Hampton.]

A film critic recently mentioned the fine line that O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) walks as he plays both sides with the FBI and the Black Panthers.

His motive seems to be self-preservation, but we're unsure as the story unfolds.

He's unpredictable, and that is what makes him interesting to watch.   What does he want? Prestige? Money? To belong? We cannot tell.

In the scene below:
- O'Neal has come to FBI agent Mitchell's house to report.
- Notice the tone: Mitchell treats his confidential informant like an equal.  He can afford to because he has leverage. O'Neal basks in the side benefits while he can.
- Notice the mood: O'Neal feels safe here, even though he's betraying one side for the other. 
- Note the motive: He likes nice things, but likes security more. Do you agree?

INT. MITCHELL HOUSE - DEN - DAY

...Mitchell tries to get a read on O'Neal. It's impossible.

MITCHELL: Anyway...I'm going to get those dogs going.

Mitchell rises. O'Neal starts to join him.

MITCHELL: No, no. Sit down. You're a guest.

He grabs his coat.

MITCHELL: If you want a taste of the good stuff, there's a bottle of Scotch in the bottom cabinet. Help yourself.

Mitchell's about to exit when...

O'NEAL: Hey, how much money you make, man?

Mitchell is struck by his forwardness. He bristles ever so slightly before settling.

MITCHELL: It's a...It's a living.

O'NEAL: Say I get you like some good information. Something nobody else knows -- Is there a bonus or something?

MITCHELL: I'm counting on it, Bill. But to answer your question...you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Make yourself at home.

Mitchell EXITS toward the BACK PORCH. O'Neal puffs the cigar. Taking in his surroundings, he savors the house's comparative opulence and the feeling inside of having made it.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked that O'Neal wheels and deals, making it up as he goes along, even though he's in the hot seat. It feels very realistic.

Judah and the Black Messiah (2020)(10/16/19 shooting draft)
by Will Berson & Shaka King
Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Postman (1997) - How to Visually Show Transformation (When a Character Adopts a Guise)

[Quick Summary: When Holnists terrorize a post-apocalyptic world, a loner, who calls himself the Postman, stirs up a Resistance by bringing mail to isolated towns.]

This is a well-written, engaging, earnest adaptation, but LONG.

However, the script lays out how to give meaning visually to a moment. 

The script refers to the protagonist as "The Postman" from the start.  

However, he is never referred to that by name, so the audience is unaware until this moment below.

Notice that the meaning is two-fold:
- He adopts The Postman's guise.
- He is also a dead man walking, as he is still being hunted by Holnists.

EXT. BOTTOM OF RAVINE - NIGHT

He comes to a stop in a forest, covered with undergrowth and dotted with saplings, nothing's been down here in years. He's lying on an unnaturally hard something. He pulls up -- takes stock. The thing is square. He cautiously pulls back a few branches.

An old, rusted Jeep with faded U.S. government markings. Its hood buried under the dirt of an old mud slide. The Postman stoops to look through the passenger side window, comes face-to-face with death. A skeleton sits inside, the skull grinning against the glass facing The Postman. 

But The Postman doesn't jump back. He just stares. The two heads meet halfway as The Postman's face is reflected on the glass, superimposed over the skull. [emphasis mine]

A hypothermic shiver wracks his body. The Postman tries the door, but it won't budge. THe other side of the Jeep is buried. But seeing that the windshield is partly smashed, he clears away the debris, peels back the spider-webbed safety glass and climbs inside.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I thought the superimposed reflection was a great way to explain what The Postman was thinking.

The Postman (1997)(1/28/97 shooting script w/revisions)
by Eric Roth and Brian Helgeland
Based on the novel by David Brin

TODAY'S NUGGET: Conspiracy Theory (1997) - Deepening Emotional Jeopardy w/Multiple Motives

[Quick Summary: Jerry, a raving conspiracy theorist, convinces Liza, a Justice Dept. attorney, that  someone is after him for what he knows.]

I liked this script because: 1) It's more about characters than plot; and 2) To do that, the writer expanded the emotional jeopardy element.  How did he do that?

I think it is because he gave Jerry a multiple motive.  He wants to protect Liza because she's the only one who will help him, but also because he's in love with her.

Every scene has a deeper subtext (see below). The agents think Jerry is concerned about Liza to save himself (plot), but his motive is more personal (character).

INT. CROWN VICTORIA - PARKED - NIGHT

Agent Lowry leans forward to look up to the window of Liza's apartment. Behind him, he hears the back door open, Agent Murphy slide in the backseat. As Lowry eases back: 

LOWRY: How's your bladder?

The barrel of Murphy's black 9mm is pressed squarely against Lowry's temple.

VOICE Not bad. (cocks hammer) How's yours?

It's Jerry in the backseat! Lowry's a pretty cool customer. He regards Jerry evenly in the rearview.

LOWRY: Lots of folks are looking for you.

Lowry's hand toward a .45 on the front seat.

JERRY: Then you must be the smart one. Hands on the steering wheel.

A little nudge of the 9mm and Lowry does as he's told.

JERRY: Thank you.

LOWRY: You're welcome. Where's my partner?

JERRY: I like that. A gun to your head and you ask about your partner. He's okay. May have a headache for a few days. Are you here with honorable intentions?

LOWRY: I'm not sure what you mean.

JERRY: You should think of me as Liza Sutton's guardian angel.

LOWRY: That's ironic. Because we're here to protect her from you.

JERRY: You're here because you figured I might show up.

LOWRY: It seemed like a possibility. What about your intentions? Are they honorable?

JERRY: I'm not a violent man, Mr. Lowry. Not by nature anyhow. But if you hurt Liza in any way, I'll kill you. Does that seem honorable?

LOWRY: Well, I don't know if --

Jerry creases the back of his head with the gun barrel As he slumps over unconscious...

JERRY: Seems honorable to me.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I had not thought to double up on jeopardy like this before.  It gives characters a deeper pool to explore.

Conspiracy Theory (1997)(12/11/95 draft)
by Brian Helgeland