TODAY'S 2nd NUGGET: #29 WGA Script of All Time - Sullivan's Travels (1941)

[Quick Summary: John Sullivan, a privileged, successful comedy director, wants to make depressing films for the poor.  Despite the studio's protests, he becomes a hobo to try to experience being poor. 

Sullivan always gets rescued from true poverty... until an old bum ambushes him far from home.  Sullivan goes to jail, & is truly depressed, & poor for the first time.  Then he sees a comedy film & nothing is the same.]

I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know a thing about this Preston Sturges film until today. 

Zilch. Zero. Nada.

I cracked it open & was glad that it was a comedy right off the bat ...then slowly I noticed there was a message.

But it wasn't preachy and it wasn't a "message film."

I scratched my head. How the heck did Sturges sneak that in?

This is a satire, which is defined as using wit to ridicule a political, societal, or moral vice or folly in order to cause change.

Apparently Sturges was fed up with comedies of his day giving up fun for "messages."  So he crafted a script that mocks seriousness. 

ex.  Sullivan, who has never wanted for anything, WANTS TO BE POOR, but there are obstacles to being poor (the girl keeps rescuing him). Now how ridiculous is that? 

For 90% of the script, Sullivan really, really tries hard to be poor.  He's very serious about being seriously poor...then he's in jail & the horrors of being poor are real.

He's alone.  He's scared & doing hard labor.  He's got nothing.

Then the punch-in-the-gut moment:  The warden takes the prisoners to see a comedy.  Sullivan is morose & doesn't want to laugh.  But the film makes the audience laugh...

And he can't help but laugh too.

SHAZAM!  He gets that he was wrong.   

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Sturges' genius is that he makes the journey so enjoyable that you didn't realize you were learning.

Sullivan's Travels (1941)
by Preston Sturges

TODAY'S NUGGET: #30 WGA Script of All Time - Unforgiven (1992)

[Quick Summary: Delilah is a prostitute whose face is butchered by bad Mike in 1880s Old West.  Her prostitute friends offer $1k to whomever kills Mike. 

The Kid finds three fingered, bad ass assassin Bill Munny & asks him to partner up for the job. Problem is, Munny found a good woman (who died), & has gone straight, but needs the money to raise his kids.]


I did not want to read Unforgiven.

It's raw & often dark, but I was glad I did. 

This is a rare script b/c: 1) the stakes never stop rising, & 2) it's still a very lean script. 

A newbie writer will try to "increase the stakes" by action, action, & more action.

Action ALONE is wrong, wrong, wrong.  There must be MEANING to the action.

I define "increasing the stakes" as:
A) we must SEE the jeopardy or obstacle; &
B) we must SEE how it makes it tougher for the protagonist to reach his goal. 

In Unforgiven, this happens in every scene, even the slow ones.

Examples:

- We see Munny practice shooting a tin can at 15 yards.  He misses again & again. The stakes rise b/c how is he ever going to shoot Mike?

- Ned tricks The Kid into confessing he's practically blind beyond 50 yards.  The stakes rise b/c how can Munny trust a half-blind gunshooter to cover his back?

- Munny lets Ned, the only man he trusts, leave town.  The stakes rise b/c we wonder if Munny will come out of this alive to see his kids.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The key to increasing the stakes is to run your protagonist up an increasingly shakier & shakier tree so that we never know how he'll ever get back down.


Unforgiven (1992)
by David Webb Peoples

TODAY'S 2nd NUGGET: #27 WGA Script of All Time - Groundhog Day (1993)

For each of these Scripts of All Time, I'll focus on one skill of my choosing, and how the writer did it.

I'm going to focus on the setup of Act 1 of Groundhog Day.

[Why? Because I just listened to a Creative Screenwriting podcast with Michael Arndt re: Toy Story 3. 

Arndt lays out his steps for a great Act 1 & I'd like to see how it applies here.]

1 - Set up the character, the world he lives in & his passion.

Phil Connors is a man "full of himself" & thinks he's too good to cover Groundhog Day for his Pittsburgh tv station.  His passion is to make it big so he doesn't have to "be stuck with the groundhog for the rest of my life." (p. 3)

2 - Introduce a character's flaw, & bring a dark cloud in the horizon (inciting incident).  Show his fear, which is something that could harm his passion.

His flaw is that he's self-absorbed, & doesn't appreciate Rita, the segment producer. (p. 4)  He's also curt with a correspondent who's fallen for him [this is in the script, not in the movie].

This foreshadows how badly he deals with people (dark cloud), & his fear of having to interact with people in a real and vulnerable way.

3 - Fears are realized as a bolt of lightning appears from an outside source (outside than his regular realm). His world is turned upside down.

Snow blocks Phil from leaving. (p. 21)

4 - Make unhealthy choice to regain what he's lost.

He's rude to everyone at the bed & breakfast, Ned Ryerson, Rita, etc. (p. 27-35).  He desperately tries to get out of town.

5 - The goal of regaining what he's lost will drive the rest of the character's journey into Act 2.

Phil tries to get out of another Groundhog Day by killing himself, driving at high speeds, etc.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Groundhog Day has a great Act 1 b/c it neatly sets up the inciting incident.  We know who Phil is & we want to see if he ever gets out of Punxsutawney. 

I like Ardnt's Act 1 steps b/c they focus on making the character face his fear.  Something is always at stake ---> this leads to tension & a good story.

Groundhog Day (1993) 
by Danny Rubin & Harold Ramis

TODAY'S NUGGET: My November Goal/ Top Scripts of All Time

I'm not doing NaNoWriMo, but felt a bit left out.

So I decided to create my own goal-of-the-month: To read the top 30 scripts of all time.

Perhaps you'd like to play along?

The WGA's Top 101 scripts of all time are listed here: http://www.simplyscripts.com/wga_top_101_scripts.html

[For those scripts that are unattainable, I'll watch the movie instead.]

Seeing as I'm already behind one day, I'll blog about #27 Groundhog Day (since I've read it already).  I plan to start with #30 Unforgiven today and work backwards in order.  I'll blog a nugget each day. 

Hope you'll read along & come back to comment.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Why the Heat, But No Takers?

Today I read a spec comedy script that has gotten several requests. 

The catchy logline made me curious: It's a "What Women Want" with a frat boy twist.

Would the script live up to the promise?

I read.

I scratched my head.

The good news:  The writer can write.  He has a consistent voice & tone, and made sure the characters do arc.  There's a strong antagonist that puts the antagonist in real jeopardy.

The bad news: I wondered who would want to see this movie. 

This is a comedy (It is a comedy, right?  Or is it a rom-com?  No, comedy. I think it's a comedy.  But it could be a rom-com b/c there are sacrifices for love.)

It's aimed at ...well...it's a nightmare.

Maybe guys because of the half that is the frat boy part?  Maybe women b/c the other half is a rom-com?

The problem is that the script tries to mesh the wrong ends of two genres, which left me dissatisfied.

I can see guys will complain there's not enough guy jokes.  Then women will complain the romance is sacrificed for guy jokes.

This script is good as a sample, because it shows the writer can set up a very broad comedy. 

However, I'd want to see more scripts from the writer.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Even if you write a good script that attracts attention, it might not get past the slush pile. 

Your script must be technically great, deliver emotion, AND ALSO meet the audience's expectations for the genre. 

[This is what is often known as a "marketable" script.]

QUESTION FOR THE READER: When They're Lookin' at YOU

A blog reader asked, "What do production companies look for when they're evaluating a script for the writing ability?"

Excellent question!

When a production company evaluates the CONCEPT, they're thinking about
-budget
-marketability
-whether there are similar films in production elsewhere
-whether it adds to the genre or is a repeat

When a production company evaluates a script for WRITING ABILITY, it's slightly different.

Technical skills? Check.

Unique voice? Check.

But what will set you apart is whether you can DELIVER THE EMOTIONAL GOODS.

If it's a father-son drama, does it cause men to weep & call their fathers?

If it's a family Christmas comedy, does it make the reader bust a gut & break out the eggnog even though it's July?

If it's a rom-com, does it hit that romantic chord of love nearly lost?

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I might not like your script. I might not be in the mood to laugh/cry/shout.

But your script makes me feel & puts me RIGHT THERE with your characters. I'm so swept away that for a moment, it feels real.

ex. A friend told me her daughter finished reading Harry Potter, & was so angry that she couldn't go to Hogwarts in real life.

Now THAT is delivering the emotional goods. 

TODAY'S NUGGET: Four Words

Famous crime novelist Michael Connelly was a police reporter before he started writing. 

In yesterday's USA Today, an article about Connelly spoke of his admiration for legendary Miami Herald police reporter Edna Buchanan. 

"Buchanan added to her fame in his eyes with a lead about a would-be gunman shot dead at a fast-food counter: 'Gary Robinson died hungry.'"

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: May we all be this succinct. 

In four words, this reporter tells us:
- the protagonist of the story
- what happened to him
- with some humor

There's no fat on that sentence, yet it has a very distinctive voice.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Does My Arc Look Flat?

Everyone knows there's no good answer if a woman asks "Do I look fat?"

Same thing applies if someone asks me, "Does my arc look flat?"

[OK, no one has ever asked me if his/her story arc is flat.]

[OK, no one really thinks about the arcs at all.]

But this week I had a heavy duty dose of arc work on a couple scripts. 

So here's what has been on my mind.

 - When you don't know what is wrong with your script, I'm almost 90% sure the arc is flat.

- Think of a rainbow arc.  The character arc is the layer upon layer of colors.  The story arc is how it stretches from left to right.

- The best scripts are when the character arc and the story arc parallel each other.  Both should escalate. (Escalate = more conflict.)

- Script problems pop up when all we see is a kaleidoscope of colors (plenty of character) but no story.  Or a single color (great plot & story) but no character.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The answer is yes, it looks flat.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Your Protagonist as Bait

Stop protecting your freakin' protagonist and feed him to the wolves.

Yeah, I'm talking to you.

(Do you see me talking to anyone else?)

You have a comedy? Your lead should slip on a banana peel often.

You have an action flick? Very easy to get run over by a bus, then a truck, then a semi.

Got a sci-fi? Aliens make great eating machines. They even come in different colors.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: If you like your character, then stick his head in the shark's jaw. 

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Rule of Two

I am cranky.

Recently, I covered a script that failed to remember the Rule of Two.

Thus, I am cranky.

And lost.  I got really lost b/c the script wandered from the Rule of Two.

What is the Rule of Two?  Glad you asked.

I will not be cranky at you if you remember the Rule of Two.

The Rule of Two = The story always, always, always revolves around the PROTAGONIST & ANTAGONIST fighting. 

I do not care if you have an ensemble cast.  How does the ensemble support or conflict with the Two?

I do not care about your jokes unless they involve the Two. 

I do not care if there's a monkey stealing the scene.  If the Two are using the monkey as a carrier pigeon, then that's ok.  Otherwise, I don't care about the monkey.

Why is this rule so important?  Because otherwise the script:

- goes off on tangents.  ex. The script veered off from the athlete (protagonist) & became a documentary (bystander started commenting at the camera).

- becomes individual episodes, not one continuous story.  ex.  I can't follow 3 A stories with 3 different protagonists.  Please don't make me do it.

- gets thrown in the slush 'cause it's too hard to follow. 


WHAT I'VE LEARNED: All you need is Two.