#dramaturgi

[burakurnaz]

Devlet Tiyatroları’nda dramaturg olarak görev yapan Eren Aysan KHK ile açığa alınmış, yeni gördüm. Babası Behçet Aysan, Sivas’ta yakılarak öldürülen 37 candan birisi.

"sevgilim dalında bir üzüm kadar mutlu sabahları vesikalık fotoğrafımı çekiyor"

Eren Aysan'ın iki dizesi. Ne kadar güzel!

[nidzomizzuddien]

Satu Hati Dua Dunia

Cinta selalu saja membawa kita pada kisah hidup yang tak terduga, penuh kejutan dan ketakjuban. Cinta tak segan-segan akan menenggelamkan kita pada kisah tragis dan traumatis. Cinta memang selalu unik, ia bukan hanya kisah romantis namun juga kisah yang penuh deraian air mata.

Aku teringat sebuah kisah dari mitologi Yunani kuno, kisah ini disebut mitologi cinta. Tetapi bukan kisah cinta yang romantis melainkan kisah cinta yang tragis.

Dalam kisahnya, konon Orfeus adalah seorang anak dari Dewa Apollo. Dewa Apollo dalam mitologi Yunani adalah dewa cahaya, musik dll. Dari ayahnyalah konon Orfeus mendapatkan bakat memainkan Lira.

Orfeus adalah pemuda yang pandai, ia bermusik dan membuat semua yang mendengarnya hanyut dalam alunan nada yang ia mainkan. Manusia, pohon, binatang bahkan bebatuan pun ikut bergerak karena musiknya.

Suatu hari Orfeus diperkenalkan dengan seorang gadis yang cantik dan menawan oleh Egent sahabatnya. Wanita itu Konon seorang Nimfa. Saat pertama bertemu, jiwa Orfeus langsung tertawan di dalam bola mata Euridike.

Setelah sekian waktu berlalu, cinta mereka semakin kuat. Mereka pun berniat menikah. Lalu tiba-tiba suatu musibah terjadi yang menyebabkan Euridike meninggal dunia.

Orfeus sangat terpukul, dunia seakan runtuh seketika. Lalu dalam kesedihannya ia memainkan musik yang begitu sedih menggambarkan hatinya yang hancur, hingga para Nimfa dan Dewa tak sanggup menahan tangis mendengarnya. Lalu Orfeus pun oleh para Dewa disarankan turun ke dunia bawah menjemput Euridike.

Sambil memainkan Lira, ia melewati para arwah dan penjaga dunia bawah. Semua orang hanyut dalam musik Orfeus, hingga mereka yang mengalami siksaan pun melupakan penderitaannya sejenak.

Sampailah Orfeus di hadapan Hades dan Persefone istrinya, sang penguasa dunia bawah. Dengan musiknya, Orfeus membuat Hades takjub dengan alunannya yang begitu indah. Lalu Hades mengizinkan Orfeus mengajukan satu permintaan. Orfeus pun meminta untuk membawa kembali Euridike ke dunia atas.

Hades mengabulkannya dengan syarat Orfeus berjalan tanpa boleh menoleh ke belakang hingga mereka sampai ke dunia atas. Orfeus lalu menyetujuinya.

Merekapun berjalan ke dunia atas dengan penuh perasaan gembira. Namun di antara kegembiraan itu, Orfeus sedikit khawatir apakah Euridike masih ada di belakangnya. Saat Orfeus sampai di permukaan bumi, ia langsung menoleh ke belakang, ia sempat melihat Euridike, namun Euridike masih berada di pintu dunia atas. Sesuai kesepakatan, Euridike pun menghilang, kali ini untuk selamanya. Orfeus lagi-lagi berduka.

Begitulah cinta, seseorang bahkan akan berjuang demi seseorang yang dicintainya meskipun harus melewati kematian.

Walaupun kematian membuat jarak yang jauh, cinta masih akan tetap tumbuh, bahkan kian subur meskipun mata tak dapat lagi saling menatap dan kata tak lagi dapat bersahutan.

Bahkan langit dan bumi saling mencintai meskipun mereka tak dapat menyatu. Awan dan rerumputan, api dan air, siang dan malam, gelap dan terang. Masing-masing di sisi yang berbeda tapi saling merindukan.

Dan Orfeus, mungkin saja akan tetap hidup sambil memainkan Lira menghibur para Nimfa dan Dewa-dewa sambil berharap di dunia yang jauh di sana, Euridike mendengar ratapan cintanya dan kerinduan yang bersarang di hatinya.

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@nidzomizzuddien

[erlendbv]

The But & Therefore Rule

In improv you are trained to respond with a "Yes, and..." to your improv partner's suggestions. In storytelling the same applies with the concept of causality:

Event A happens, AND THEREFORE event B happens. – or –  Event A happens, BUT THEN event B happens.

It is storytelling in its most basic form.

South Park's Trey Parker explains in the documentary Six Days to Air:

“[I call it] the rule of replacing 'ands' with either 'buts' or 'therefores.' And so it’s always like: This happens and then this happens and then this happens. Whenever I can go back in the writing and change that to: This happens, therefore this happens, but this happened; whenever you can replace your 'ands' with 'buts' or 'therefores,' it makes for better writing.”

If you fall into the trap of “and then” storytelling, as Trey said in the video, “you’ve got something pretty boring.”

via StoryFirst or Nathan B. Weller.

[nidzomizzuddien]

Binatang Sirkus

Menjadi manusia adalah menjadi individu yang lekat dengan masyarakat. Kehidupan manusia tidak mampu tanpa kebersamaan, sehingga ia kerapkali mencari keramaian untuk mengidentifikasi dirinya. Tidak heran jika seorang individu akan tumbuh sesuai dengan lingkungan yang menjadi altar pertumbuhannya. Bagaimanapun inginnya, manusia akan sulit hidup seorang diri, tanpa interaksi dengan manusia lainnya. Akhirnya, hubungan itulah yang membuatnya memainkan berbagai peran untuk menarik perhatian atau bahkan agar terlihat unggul di hadapan orang-orang lainnya.

Tumbuh menjadi manusia itu adalah usaha yang tak pernah selesai. Yaitu tumbuh menjadi al-insan bukan hanya sekedar basyariyyah. Manusia yang tumbuh hanya sekedar jasadnya saja akan kehilangan mahkota dalam dirinya. Ia akan dihargai sebegaimana harga tubuhnya, dan ia tidak lagi menjadi barang yang mewah dan berharga melainkan hanya seonggok tubuh yang memukau kala ia tanpak. Namun seorang manusia yang tumbuh bersama insniyyahnya (akal rasionalnya), maka ia akan menjadi istimewa dan berharga di mata masyarakat.

Karena manusia sebagai masyarakat, ia tumbuh dipenuhi dengan berbagai intrik dan kamuplase, yang selalu menjelma diri yang lain diberbagai kondisi, terus berubah bahkan dengan kesengajaan. Manusia tumbuh ditengah masyarakat dan menjadi peka dengan situasi dan kondisi di sekitarnya, hingga hal itulah yang mendorong dirinya untuk menyesuaikan rupa dan bentuk. Akhirnya ia menjadi tahu dan mengerti harus menjadi apa dan bagaimana dalam kondisi-kondisi tertentu.

Ada yang dalam kondisi tertentu menjadi raja, lalu disaat yang lain menjadi seorang budak. Layaknya dramaturgi, memerankan dua peran atau lebih dalam kehidupan. Ia tampil dengan dada tegap dalam waktu tertentu lalu tak lama kemudian ia tampil dengan kepala menunduk. Hidup seringkali membuat seseorang menjadi yang tidak di kenal, kehilangan identitas diri sehingga lupa bagaimana dirinya yang sebenarnya.

Di hutan rimba, binatang-binatang hidup dengan hukum yang mengintimidasi kelompok yang lemah. Yang kecil dan lemah harus siap menjadi mangsa mereka yang kuat. Yang terkuat adalah yang perkasa dan menjadi raja, yang berhak melakukan apapun terhadap mereka yang lemah. Raja-raja hutan itu penuh kekejaman, buas dan tak kenal ampun. Siap melumat dan mencabik-cabik mereka yang tampil saat perutnya kosong dan hasratnya menggebu-gebu. Kehidupan dalam hutan rimba adalah saling menundukkan untuk bertahan hidup

Namun dibalik kekejaman raja hutan (singa dan harimau) dua predator yang kegarangannya tak kenal ampun, petarung yang tak akan mundur sebelum salah satunya mengalah dan mati. Berbeda dengan serigala yang berada dikegelapan, ia bukan raja namun ia kejam dan tak pernah ingin menggunakan topeng singa agar lebih mengerikan.

Serigala bahkan terkenal dengan kerakusannya dan kengeriannya, namun meski demikian ia tidak mampu mengalahkan seekor singa maupun harimau. Tubuhnya boleh dikatakan lebih kecil dibandingkan seekor singa, namun nyalinya mungkin saja lebih besar, begitupula dengan kelicikannya.

Jauh dari itu, bagaimanapun seramnya seekor singa, atau kuatnya seekor harimau, ia tetap dapat dijinakkan oleh seorang manusia. Seperti dalam sirkus dan pertontonan lainnya, kerapkali singa dan harimau diikut sertakan. Ia tetaplah raja, namun raja yang sudah dijinakkan oleh seorang manusia. Ia kejam, namun ia tetap tunduk pada manusia. Mahkotanya kini telah jatuh. Berbeda dengan serigala, ia tetaplah serigala, yang bersembunyi dalam kegelapan, yang menjadi dirinya, dibenci dan ditakuti. Ia tak pernah ingin ditaklukkan, bahkan ia rela mati demi mempertaruhkan harga dirinya.

Demikian kata Ernesto Che Guevara “Bagi manusia, anjing adalah hewan yang setia. Bagi serigala, anjing dahulunya adalah serigala yang rela menjilat demi sebuah daging”.

Begitulah juga manusia. Ada manusia yang terlihat tangguh, seorang raja, konglomerat, pemerintah, berpangkat tinggi, berstatus sosial mentereng, namun ia layaknya binatang sirkus yang telah dijinakkan, untuk memerankan peran yang diinginkan oleh orang tertentu. Tentu saja binatang sirkus tidak tampil untuk membuat orang serius bahkan menangis. Tetapi ia tampil dengan kengeriannya untuk membuat orang tertawa.

Jarang sekali kita menyadari kemulian kita sebagai manusia, bahkan dengan sangat sadar dan tanpa malu kita menggadaikannya dengan popularitas sesaat.

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@nidzomizzuddien

[erlendbv]

Notes on The Emotional Toolbox

Yesterday, I published a long article on The Emotional Toolbox. Here are my summarized notes on the same model.

The Character

Mask – The Character’s false face/front/façade/camouflage

How is the Character’s Mask challenged in each scene?

Fear – The Character’s doubt/dread/anxiety preventing a Leap of Faith

How does the Character’s Fear manifest in each scene?

Strongest Traits – A coping mechanism, the Character’s strength and greatest weakness, more comfortable than Leap of Faith

How does the Character’s coping mechanism strengthen her Fear in each scene?

Admired Traits – The manifestation of the Character’s highest self, motivating a Leap of Faith

How does the Character move toward or away from her Admired Traits (and Leap of Faith) in each scene?

Trouble Traits – The manifestation of the Character’s self-sabotage (Fear), the cause of his/her problems with self and others, The Character’s inner demons, the traits the Antagonist can play on

How does the Antagonist/Fear challenge and entice the Character’s Trouble Traits in each scene?

Dark Side – The manifestation of the Character’s Trouble Traits in full bloom (capitulating to her Fear), a reflection of the Character’s worst self, the result of the Character relying on her Strongest Traits and thereby declining a Leap of Faith, the Character’s Dark Side is often identical to the Mask of the Antagonist.

How is the Character’s Dark Side (the fruits of capitulating to her Fear) manifested in each scene?

The Story Arc

ACT 1 – The Character’s Fear is hidden by her active choice to hide behind her Mask. But something challenges the Character, making it harder to rely on this coping mechanism (Strongest Traits).

The Character’s Want is a clear, concrete, achievable goal.

ACT 2 – The Character attempts to achieve her goal, relying on her Strongest Traits, but the strengths gradually become her weakness. The Antagonist preys on the Character’s Trouble Traits, creating situations that make her her own enemy. The Character’s Want and Need are in conflict, and the Character must choose to stay with her false illusion of the Mask, or make a Leap of Faith.

The Character’ Need is more abstract, and in line with the Character’s Admired Traits.

ACT 3 – The Character’s choice between Want and Need must come at a heavy price, and both options are equally unpleasant. The Want may give short-term gain but long-term loss, while the Need will give short-term loss but long-term gain. The Character’s dilemma must be life-or-death.

The Leap of Faith defies the Character’s established logic (relying on her Mask and Strongest Traits), confronting and making her vulnerable to her Fear (risking capitulating to Trouble Traits and Dark Side). She surrenders her Strongest Traits, in order to become her Admired Traits.

The Life Lessons are the learning experiences required to embrace the Character’s Need, to let go of the ego-driven Want, to become her Admired Traits. Ignoring these lessons, will push the Character toward her Trouble Traits, Dark Side and Fear.

[erlendbv]

The Emotional Toolbox

I recently discovered the Emotional Toolbox, which is a model for developing characters and stories.

The Character Map consists of a diamond that consists of a few different characteristics and acts to help map out a character. Here I will try to summarize my main take-aways from this method.

More below the fold.

Question 1: The Character’s Mask

Among people who know you but do not know you well—what is the biggest misconception about who you are? What do people say about you in the loo or bathroom if they want to dismiss or belittle you?

The mask is “the greatest misconception” others have of your character. It is the image we project. It is our façade. 

The Character’s Mask is:

The false face (or false self) the character wears or projects in public;

The character’s protective outer shell;

The image the character uses to hide, deny, camouflage or “mask” his or her greatest fear.

The character’s mask is the superficial “first impression” of the character. This is how the movie or television audience first meets the character in the beginning of the story. It’s also the general impression the other characters in the script have of the character. This false impression gradually will be pealed away.

Question 2: The Character’s Fear

What was your greatest childhood worry or anxiety? This is a non-specific generalized fear. What would keep you awake at night as a kid if you thought about it too much?  What was a recurring dream or image that scared you?

The character’s fear drives, fuels or is the force behind the character’s mask. The character tries very hard to hide, deny, bury, camouflage or ignore this fear. Be specific. Get to the real essence of the fear.

For example: “the fear of death” might really be the fear of abandonment; of being separated from loved ones left behind.  Or it might really represent being overwhelmed by a powerful supernatural force.  What does “death” actually mean to the character?  What does “death” feel like?

The Character’s Fear is:

How the character believes he or she is or might become unloved or unlovable.

The inner doubt or dread the character must face in order to live in his or her true self (and not the false self of the mask).

How the deepest anxiety or worry prevents the character from making a Leap of Faith toward the true self.

Whenever you are having trouble with a scene, a sequence or an act, ask yourself— How is the character’s fear manifesting itself in this situation?

How is the character denying, avoiding, camouflaging or hiding the fear? How is the character trying to cope with or manage the fear? How is the fear tempting the character to get into trouble? How is the character facing the fear? Or, how is the character surrendering to or personally manifesting the fear?  Fear isn’t just a prime motivator of protagonists. When antagonists do terrible or extremely evil deeds they are most often motivated by fear. Giving the audience a glimpse of the antagonist’s fear humanizes him or her and makes this character a more complex and fully realized individual in your screenplay.

Question 3: The Character’s Strongest Traits

What are your strongest traits? What is your crutch in hard times? What personal traits get you through when the going gets tough? What traits do you lean on?  What do other people admire about you?

The Strongest Traits are a source of false pride for the character. They offer a false sense of security. These traits never alleviate the character’s Fear. They are simply a coping mechanism to attempt to keep the fear at bay or under control.

In a script we should meet the character just as this mechanism is breaking down. The character’s fear is beginning to outstrip his or her ability to manage or control it. Something happens to kick this process off and the story starts.

The Character’s Strongest Traits are:

The traits the character believes are his or her salvation.

The traits the character relies on to get out of trouble or “fix” problems caused by the Trouble Traits.

The traits the character leans on and uses as a crutch instead of making the Leap of Faith.

The traits the character has to a fault.

The traits the character must surrender.

A character’s greatest strengths are always his or her greatest weaknesses.

The ways the character tries to appease or compensate for the fear only feeds the fear and makes it grow stronger and more powerful.  When the character surrenders the Strongest Traits they don’t just disappear. They simply operate more appropriately in the background. The character won’t cling to these traits as a crutch to try to fend off or deflect the fear. Instead, he or she will turn and face the full force of the fear head-on.

Question 4: The Character’s Most Admired Traits

These are traits you do not have. They are, however, traits you really admire in someone else. When you see these traits in someone else your heart leaps a bit and you wish you could have these wonderful traits yourself. These are not skills or talents they are personality traits.

This answer is a list of traits the character most admires in others. It is the manifestation of his or her truest highest self.

A character never admires something that is not already present in nascent or seed-like form inside him or herself. When the character witnesses the evidence of goodness in others it sets off a sympathetic vibration inside the character. This stirring deep inside the character is the powerful human longing to move toward what is best and true in the self.

The Character’s Most Admired Traits are:

The seeds of goodness that are buried deep inside the character.

The expression of the character’s truest highest most authentic self.

The character’s real self, whole, complete and healed.

The (admirable) person the story is calling the character to become.

Embracing the Admired Traits compels the character to make a Leap of Faith.

Becoming an admirable person filled with truth and integrity is one alternative ending to a screenplay. If the character makes the Leap of Faith (by surrendering the strongest traits and facing the fear) the script ends with a successful emotional journey.

This ending is not necessarily a “happy ending.” For example: A movie character may lose his life but regain his faith like Father Damian does in The Exorcist. Or a character may lose his fortune and liberty (by going to jail) but gain integrity and respect like Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) does in Wall Street. Although this ending might not be happy it feels emotionally satisfying and complete.

Alternatively, if the character cannot make the Leap of Faith, the character eventually falls to the Dark Side. This is tragedy and the other possible ending to a screenplay.

Question 5: The Character’s Trouble Traits

What are the traits that get you in trouble? Sometimes, when things are going reasonably well, this is what will muck it up. This is the way you most often get yourself in hot water with loved ones, co-workers, authority figures or friends.

This answer is a list of the character’s Trouble Traits.

These Trouble Traits are how the character sabotages him or herself. It is how the character falls into self-limiting emotional traps. These are the ways the character succumbs to the antagonist’s fear-inspired temptations to behave badly. The character’s Trouble Traits are the root cause of his or her problems with self and with others.

The Character’s Trouble Traits are:

The combination of traits that make up the character’s Achilles heel.

The traits that the antagonist exploits to push, prod, lure or tempt the character into acting like a fool or against his or her best interests.

The traits that make the character fall into or create emotionally destructive situations.

A character always is or her own worst enemy.

The smart and savvy antagonist simply preys on the character’s fears and then goads or tempts the character into behavior which causes the character trouble, alienates others, complicates already difficult problems or makes a bad situation worse.

A character’s own inner demons are a much more effective force of destruction than any external force exerted by another. Giving your character authentic Trouble Traits will make your character more venerable, complex and interesting. The audience identifies much more closely with fear-inspired troubles than with troubles caused by alien forces outside the character.

Question 6: The Character’s Dark Side

Think of someone you cannot abide. This is someone you know well or someone you’ve observed briefly— it is a person who has actually passed through your life and not an historical or celebrity figure. When you met or observed this person, the hackles on your neck rose and you had a visceral response of intense dislike. What were the traits that this person had that set your teeth on edge?

This answer is a list of traits that make up the character’s Dark Side.

A character dislikes most in others what he or she potentially dislikes most in him or her self. The seeds of destruction inside the character resonate when the character sees bad behavior in others. This behavior, witnessed in others, produces a flash of anger and intense dislike. It is a visceral response of negative identification coming from deep inside the character.

Does the character fall to the Dark Side?

The Dark Side is the place to which the antagonist lures the character. Remember that classic cheesy moment in action adventure films when the antagonist leans across the table and says: “You and I are more alike than you want to admit.” If the antagonist and the protagonist share the same fear then this is psychologically truth. And, in fact, the character’s own Dark Side is often the Mask of the antagonist.

The Character’s Dark Side is:

The seeds of evil or disaster deep inside the character.

The collection of traits that the character dislikes most in others (and would despise most in him or herself).

How the character sinks into his or her lowest, most selfish and/or worst self.

The end result of clinging to the Strongest Traits and failing to make the Leap of Faith.

This is the type of person the antagonist is calling the character to become.

When a character repeatedly falls into the traps of the Trouble Traits and tries to compensate by relying more heavily on the Strongest Traits the character cannot make the Leap of Faith. Instead, he or she goes round and round driven (and eventually is consumed) by his or her fears.

When we live in our Mask driven by our Fear we become the thing we hate. When a character becomes a hostage to fear he or she inevitably falls to the Dark Side. This is the second possible alternative ending to a screenplay. It is the definition of tragedy. Click Here to go to this other possible ending to the story.

Continuing the Mapping Process

All story structure should come from character. Film structure is not a stack of plot points that the character climbs. Character defines action. Character is film structure.

Once you’ve completed the mapping process from beginning to end, you can take apart the diagram and re-structure it as a non-linear narrative, a feature film, a sit-com or a one-hour drama.

Act 1

The Beginning Of The Story

In the beginning, the Fear drives the character to create his or her Mask. The Mask is not the character’s real self, it is the persona the character uses to hide, deny or “mask” his or her fear.  The character is reasonably confident that he or she is hiding the fear very well.

The movie audience meets the character’s false persona at the beginning of the story and makes certain assumptions about the character. These will be proven wrong. Something happens to upset the character’s balance or to initiate some kind of change in the character’s life or situation. Suddenly, it is just a little more difficult coping with or managing the fear.

Every story or script starts with a flawed character driven by his or her fear. It is a mistake to make a character too good, too likable or too self-aware at the beginning of the film or television series. The character has no place to go. There is no real journey and little room for change or transformation.

The Want

The character immediately identifies something he or she desires or wants. The character begins to put all of his or effort into obtaining some very particular concrete, and often, selfish or self-centered goal.

This goal is something real, graspable and very tangible. It is something the character can obtain or acheive physically: seduce the woman, sell the stock, solve the crime, win the tournament, reveal the mystery, get the promotion etc. It is NOT an abstract or amorphous general desire.

The character hurls pell mell after this concrete goal. A gap opens or a turning point event occurs and there is no going back. A door closes behind the character. He or she is compelled to move forward in determined pursuit of the want. The character is then propelled into the Second Act or middle of the story (where myriad complications ensue.)

The Character’s Want is:

A clear simple ego-driven goal.

A physical embodiment of the character’s selfish or self-centered objective.

An objective or object that is real, concrete and graspable.

An objective or object that must eventually be surrendered along with the character’s Strongest Traits.

The want is always an actual “thing.” It is something specific that could be obtained with a bit of concerted effort. For example: a new car, money to pay the rent, a girlfriend, the prize trophy, etc.

The Character’s Want is NOT an abstract concept. For example: be a better person, be a better parent, become more tolerant, become more forgiving, be more honest, trustworthy or responsible.

Act 2

The Middle Of The Story

In the middle of the story or screenplay the Character’s Fear causes problems. Strengths become Weaknesses and the character is pushed or tumbles into a variety of traps. Act Two of the script is where the conflict really develops. The character pursues the Want using all of his or her Strongest Traits. But a character’s greatest strengths are also his or her greatest weaknesses. The antagonist spots those weaknesses and preys on the character’s Trouble Traits. The most clever and effective antagonists use the character’s Fear to prod, push or propel the character into acting foolishly. The character inevitably stumbles into a series of emotional traps (self-limiting or self-harming situations set-up by the antagonist).

The best antagonists create situations or circumstances that tempt the character to become his or her own worst enemy. The Strongest Traits are always a source of fabricated or false self-confidence for the character. They offer the character the illusion of security and control. The character believes he or she can obtain the Want using these reliable time-tested strengths. But the character’s ability to cope with, manage or assuage his or her fear is now under siege. As the traps and obstacles increase, the character’s Strongest Traits can no longer stem the tide. The character is less and less able to cope with, manage or compensate for the Fear. The character tries to retreat into the dark comfort of his or her Mask but a truer desire calls the character toward the light. The Want and the Need begin to do battle within the character.

The Character’s Choice

By the end of the Second Act the character stands at a critical juncture. He or she teeters on the precipice of a crucial decision. The character’s Want conflicts irreparably with the Need. Which (the Want or the Need) will the character sacrifice or surrender? Will the character choose to live in the false self and the illusion of security of the Mask?  Or will the character make a Leap of Faith to embrace the truest highest self? What is the ultimate price the character will pay for either choice?

The Character’s Need is: A deep inner longing of which the character is unaware, denies or ignores. True goodness that is buried deep inside the character. A set of authentic traits which will make the character feel whole, complete and healed. The Need is a more abstract intangible set of internal qualities or Admirable Traits. For example: to be more honest or open, to value real relationships over popularity or prestige, to forgive one’s self and/or others, to love more generously or less selfishly, to act with integrity or to grow up and take responsibility for one’s actions. The Need is a deeper human longing for what is good and true.

The Price

Every story ever told is about the battle between the selfish goals of the world (the Want) and the more altruistic values of the spirit and the desire for real human connection (the Need). Will the character choose the Want or embrace the Need? Each choice comes with a terrible cost. The price is laid out in the ancient words of Biblical Scripture: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?”

The Price the Character Must Pay is: The terrible personal cost of obtaining the Want and abandoning the Need. OR The terrible personal cost of abandoning the ego-driven goal or Want and embracing the Need. If the character chooses the Want he or she inevitably surrenders to the fear and falls to the Dark Side. The story ends in tragedy. If the character embraces the Need, he or she finds completion. This may or may not be a happy ending but it is one of emotional satisfaction and wholeness. Which price is the character willing to pay? The character must ultimately pay one price or the other. The more expensive the price is for your character the more compelling and urgent your story will be for your audience.

The Comedic Turnaround

When a character surrenders the Want and embraces the Need sometimes the Want turns around to meet the character. This happens often enough in life that we believe it in a comedy. For example: A young couple has a solid marriage, good jobs and a comfortable home. They plan to start a family. They try and try but nothing, no personal method or medical procedure, works. What they Want is a biological child. Finally, they embrace what they Need: to be parents to a child who needs them. They adopt a beautiful baby and are deliriously happy. What happens one year later? Answer: The wife gets pregnant. The Want has turned around to meet them. Warning: This doesn’t always happen. It is only an occasional surprise. Surrendering the Want and embracing the Need can’t be used as a clever tactic or cynical strategy or it will feel false. The character must be truly willing and feel fully satisfied to abandon the Want and walk away from the table. The comedic turnaround is only possible by completely embracing the Need. This turnaround is always a totally unexpected reversal for the character.

Act 3

The Price

The most important element at the end of the story is the price the character pays for his or her choices. The Price is the audience’s pay off for watching the character struggle. The Price must be staggeringly expensive for the character in order for the audience to care deeply about the story or the film’s outcome. The higher the price the more audience cares.

The Price the character must pay is:

The personal cost of turning away from the Want and embracing the Need.

The personal cost of turning away from the Need to pursue the ego-driven goal or Want.

Which price is the character willing to pay? The character must ultimately pay one price or the other.

Hard Choices Make Great Stories

When your character faces two impossible choices the audience is riveted.  The more daunting you make your character’s dilemma the more affecting his or her ultimate decision will be. Make your character’s potential rewards enormous and make the price paid for those rewards staggering. Give your character a real struggle between a want and a need.

What the character Wants is a clear simple ego-driven goal. It is something he or she can physically grasp or obtain. The Want is a finite object of the character’s personal desire. It is something concrete that would gratify or benefit the protagonist individually.

What the character Needs is an inner longing that the character is unaware of, denies, suppresses or ignores. It is a deeper more intangible human yearning. To embrace the Need the character must abandon specific selfish goals and address more far-reaching human concerns.

What is the personal cost of obtaining the Want or object of desire? What is the personal cost of embracing the Need and living one’s highest, truest, most authentic values? Which Price is the character willing to pay? What is the character willing to sacrifice to obtain the Want or embrace the Need? The tougher the choice is, the better the story.

Act Three offers two possible story endings based on the character’s choice. The script can end in (1) tragedy or in (2) transformation, renewal and completion.  Great screenwriting is creating a dilemma that forces a character to struggle with his or her values. Great screenwriters put impossible choices before their characters and make their characters pay a devastating price for their choice.

Tragedy

If the story ends in tragedy, the character choose the Want over the Need. The character uses the Strongest Traits to try to solve the problems or to dig his or her way out of the hole created by the emotional trap of the second act. (What happens when you try to dig your way out of a hole? It gets deeper.)

The character has to escalate his or her actions to obtain the Want and becomes more like the Antagonist. The character “fights fire with fire.”

A character who won’t surrender his or her Strongest Traits can’t make the Leap of Faith at the end of the second act.  The character’s actions increasingly are driven by his or her Fear. A character who is consumed by Fear can’t help but eventually fall to the Dark Side.

The Leap Of Faith

The Leap of Faith is:

A leap the character must make against logic, reason, practicality and good judgement.

Trying something new rather than relying on the Strongest Traits.

Letting go of the Mask and surrendering the Strongest Traits.

Becoming open and vulnerable instead of trying to deny, hide or control the Fear.

Asking for help instead of trying to handle everything using the Strongest Traits.

Being totally and completely oneself without apology, justification or excuse.

Accepting and being satisfied with one’s self as one is.

Facing the Fear (of not being good enough or not having enough) instead denying or hiding the Fear (by living in the pretense of the Mask).

At the beginning or the script the character cannot imagine what it would be like to live without his or her Mask. The character can’t imagine having the traits most admired. The character is driven by fear to do more, be more or have more. When the character makes the Leap of Faith he or she accepts him or herself. The character fully and completely lives into his or her own inner potential. The character believes he or she is enough.

Character Transformation

The character who makes a Leap of Faith and surrenders his or her Strongest Traits finds emotional completion. He or she surrenders the things of the world and embraces the things of the heart, the soul and the spirit.

The character lets go of the Want and embraces the Need.

The character confronts his or her Fear.

The character achieves authenticity by being him or her self and being fully satisfied with that state of authentic being.

The Life Lessons

The conflicts in the story give a character the opportunity to learn the lessons needed to make a Leap of Faith and live a more authentic and balanced life.  Unless a character learns these lessons he or she will never be able to face and transcend his or her fear.  The Life Lessons teach the character to embrace what is really important.  They are the lessons of the heart, the soul and the spirit which help the character get in touch with his or her highest and truest self.

The Character’s Life Lessons are:

The lessons the character must learn in order to embrace his or her inner Need.

The lessons the character must learn to let go of the ego-driven Want.

The lessons the character must learn to become whole and complete.

The lessons the character must learn to become the (admirable) person the story or the script is calling him or her to become.

In making choices and pursuing a line of action a character has the opportunity to learn what he or she really Needs. If the character simply presses onward toward what he or she Wants and ignores the Life Lesson, the character takes a step toward the Dark Side. In learning the Life Lesson the character takes a step toward becoming his or her truest highest most authentic self and is transformed.

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YouTube channels for screenwriting

So, since I’ve been studying the screenwriting lessons from Tyler Mowery recently, I thought I’d collect a list of other useful YouTube channels with screenwriting tips.

Here it is – in no particular order... but if in a hurry, I would prioritize the upper half.

The Closer Look

Behind the Curtain

Lessons from the Screenplay

Every Frame of Painting

Just Write

Nerdwriter

Now You See It

Skip Intro

Wisecrack

Film Courage and Film Courage 2

The Script Lab

The Script Department

Outstanding Screenplays

Comedy Without Errors

FAST Screenplay

The Dialogue

ScreenCraft

Screenplayed

This Guy Edits

From Script to Screen

Selling Your Screenplay

The Take

Films & Stuff

Like Stories of Old

Storytellers

Study the Craft

Word Dancer

Script Sleuth

Terrible Writing Advice (parody account)

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The Fundamentals of Screenwriting, part 10

waIn part 10 of my series on Tyler Mowery’s YouTube-course on The Fundamentals of Screenwriting, we’ll look at –

How to Write a Scene

Let’s get to it...

Writing a scene can be broken down into two processes:

Writing the first draft, and rewriting.

First drafts should be kept simple.

Rewriting allows you to analyze in more detail.

First draft

If you aren’t able to identify each character’s want in each scene, the scene may be wrong or the character not properly motivated.

Every scene should turn and permanently change the story:

The character should learn something, or 

something changes in the world, or 

an action is made.

The character’s beliefs and goals must be challenged throughout the story.

In an analysis of the interrogation scene in The Dark Knight, Tyler shows;

Batman’s Story Goal (wants to bring justice and stability to Gotham), and his Scene Goal (wants Joker to lead him to Harvey Dent).

Then, on the opposing side, Joker’s Story Goal (wants to expose Gotham’s lack of moral code), and his Scene Goal (wants to challenge Batman’s faith in Gotham).

Story Turn: Joker reveals that he has taken Rachel, forcing Batman to choose between Rachel and Harvey.

Asking the two questions from the screengrab above can help you kill many bad scenes.

Rewriting a Scene

If you can’t clearly define the character’s goal in the scene and the story, you have a problem.

Next, identifying the scene conflict or obstacle is critical. Without conflict, there is no emotional turn in the story.

Understanding the characters’ actions (their strategy) to try to achieve their goals is also important. Are they necessary? Could they take even stronger actions? How would that change the scene or the story?

Lastly, identify how the scene affects the following scenes, how this scene is placed in context with the other scenes. Maybe this scene should come sooner or later?

Conclusion

Writing and rewriting should be approached differently. With the first draft, keep it simple. Stay on track. With the rewrite, go deeper.