wired to tell it!
Now we need some character and scene development. Most of all, your audience needs to know what every character wants. Let’s look at some fictitious situations. Cousin Larry wants his job back. Godzilla wants to be loved by anyone. Only, you’re not going to give these pesky characters what they want. You’re going to torment your characters, and that, friends, will torment your audience. That’s what we call Cheap Movie Trick’s first holy commandment of storytelling: never give a character what he or she wants.
Just don’t do it. As bad as you want characters to win . . . Don’t let them. This kind of conflict and tension will keep your audience riveted. They will want to know the outcome. Godzilla wants that first telemarketing call to go smoothly. Don’t let it. Another co-worker wants to make friends with the scaly monster. Don’t let it go smoothly. You want the family to notice the television when the meteor is hurtling. This is yours for the taking. Build the tension. Make your audience squirm.
Are there exceptions to our holy commandment of storytelling? Maybe. But don’t you think you should follow our advice for a while to see how your story develops without all kinds of happy little rainbows? Forget rainbows! Harry Potter has a scar on his head day one and never gets what he wants. He can’t even make a potion right.
Let’s take this further. Riveting stories, the ones that make you turn pages or keep Netflix streaming, have the uncanny ability to really get into the main character’s head. This is easier in prose. You can write what a character is thinking, how Jennifer wants to toss her guts because she’s terrified of what the judge might say if she’s caught not just holding up a liquor store but sleeping with the judge’s son, who happens to be a cop. Now dive further, go past specific character thoughts into character feelings. You can describe all sorts of emotions. Make them desperate. Painful. Jarring. Stomach churning. Tortuous. Good job.
In film, feelings and thoughts have to be conveyed through solid acting (and voiceover and other devices, too). We want to feel when we write the story because we want our characters to feel. We want to go on an emotional rollercoaster because we all want an exhilarating emotional experience. You don’t always have to add a meteor or a Godzilla. But remember, exhilarating emotional experiences don’t come from stories that regurgitate the most humdrum parts of our lives. They come from when we up the stakes and the emotional pain.
Write a story you’d want to hear, or read, or see. That will make the entire process a little more meaningful for you as you put pen to paper before you even get to the script.
Oh, and one more thing. Remember what we said about location? Don’t forget to write a story that fits your locations. We’ll remind you again when we talk about scripts.
What’s a scene?
A scene is the primary element of your reader’s powerful emotional experience as you present them with your story. The cause and effect of scene structure has three basic parts:
1. Goals. What the heck do your characters want or need to do?
2. Obstacles. This is the tension and conflict that causes your story to keep going because your character fails to reach the goal(s).
3. No Victory. If every chapter ends in victory your reader will fall asleep. Keep the stakes high. Keep the tension off the chart. Make your scenes full. Give them a beginning, middle, and end. If they don’t have goals, obstacles, no victory, or a beginning, middle. and end, then your scene is not fully developed.
Scene dialogue that works
Remember, in dialogue, characters need to banter. They need to argue over wanting something and shouldn’t be granted any sort of victory. We keep the tension high that way. Meet John and Jennifer. Jennifer wants an apple. John wants Jennifer. Neither reaches their goals in this mini scene. Observe how they ask questions yet receive no answer. If an apple can cause tension in a scene, imagine what else you can do as a writer and filmmaker.
Example: Apple scene
John has a red delicious apple. He takes a bite.
Jennifer wants it. She sits on the edge of his desk. “I love apples. Doesn’t matter what kind. Granny Smith, Fuji, reds . . .”
John’s not buying it. His stomach hurts thinking about where she might have been. “Where were you last night when I went to the store?”
“I just love them.” She watches him chew. “Everything about the crispness, the taste.”
“You were supposed to go with me,” he says. “Where were you?”
“Just cut off a little piece for me,” she whines. “Doesn’t have to be big.”
John takes another bite. “You were with Peter, weren’t you? I don’t like that guy. Never did. You know he did something to Jesse Garner. Everyone knows it. Everyone except the cops.”
“Why does it matter where I was?”
John swallows, holds out the apple. “You want this? Tell me where you were, why you stood me up. Then we’ll talk about apples.”
Action moments we’re proud of
Most storytellers will say the story isn’t in the action—that action is an easy way out. “I can’t think up a good ending, so how ‘bout I blow everything up!” Okay, that’s an extreme example, but the fact is, we love action. We integrate as much as we can. Let’s face it—action will probably help you get attention with your short film. What constitutes action? Someone running. Good. Someone fighting. Even better. Find some stunt actors who need to build a demo reel and suddenly you have more options! Let’s face it: great stunts, car chases, shootouts, and zombie attacks are pretty cool. Did we mention we love action? Here are a few action moments in Hectic Films movies:
1. Explosions: They’re dangerous. Use CGI only. Either way, sometimes they look cheesy, kinda like in the movie we worked on called The Lackey. Even we think we showed too many booms. Sometimes an explosion can be as simple as pointing away from the scene and shaking the camera, then adding some noise sound effects.
2. Cutting up zombies! We sliced a few undead in Naked Zombie Girl with a trusty fake chainsaw. During a screening at Screamfest, folks watching the crazy action stood up and started clapping. Action speaks louder than words, right? (More movie magic on zombie splatters later).
3. Gunfights. We emptied our rifles in the mini-Western Mable. We think shootouts are great for just about any kind of film. Audiences perk up when bullets fly.
What makes a well-developed character?
Ah, our second holy commandment of storytelling: Characters feel everything. Well-developed characters don’t require fancy clothes and a lightning bolt scar when you’re coming up with one to base your story around. Give your character desperation and emotion. Develop that. Let the rest of the story tell itself.
Horror story moments in our films
You know the feelings of terror you want your actors to convey in a good horror scene? That’s why scream queens have to be really good. They reveal that moment of sheer terror that we all want to safely feel when watching a horror flick. Here are a few scenes in our work where we strove to capture that feeling of fright.
1. Familiar Spirit uses what we like
