WHAT ‘IDENTITY FOUNDATIONS’ ARE AT STAKE HERE?
FOR THE SAKE OF better stories, I want to get everybody thinking about how important personal identity (or sense of self) is to all good stories — across the entire spectrum from farces to heavy dramatic thrillers! Present in every enduring story, even if for much of the time they’re just quietly percolating off in some hidden corner, there are always clashes of two or more individuals whose identities are being threatened by one another’s worldview (and related behaviors). Think about it: At some level, whether we realize it or not, we are all in some sense “riding on” a
NEEDED: ‘GRAND’ ARGUMENTS BENEATH YOUR CONFLICTS
AS I’VE WRITTEN elsewhere, there is a HUGE difference between mere fleeting “tales” and actual enduring “stories.” Yet far too many writers, producers and even released films end up demonstrating a frustrating ignorance (or careless nonchalance) toward this difference — with much money and talent wasted on passing projects almost certain to be only “here today and gone tomorrow.” Fact is, after a movie’s opening weekend and press push is past, mass audiences will always tend to toss aside or disregard any production that is only a chain-of-incidents “tale.” The reason is, such tales have little “meat” to chew on, and little or nothing to evoke re-watching or telling friends about. Meanwhile, “stories” offer opportunities for meaning and emotional resonance that extend far beyond
WHAT ARE ‘ENDURING STORIES’ BUILT ON?
ENDURING stories (as opposed to passing tales) are always built on a problem-solving, argument-addressing, worldview-analyzing foundation that pushes storyformers to develop Grand-Argument Stories. And what are “Grand-Argument Stories”? Stories of contests (like those below and a few hundred other “classics”) involving “well-worldviewed characters engaged in active problem-solving, where the focused-on problem/inequity
DESIGNING GREAT-FILM STORY PROBLEMS!
WANNA KNOW a crucial key to designing great stories? Here it is: In your current story, what is the “OVERALL-STORY PROBLEM”? And is it complex enough — masked, multi-sided, arguable, twisty enough — that it will fully occupy the audience’s (and the characters’) attentions and energy for the story’s entire running length?? Is it an inequity that may at first appear to be easily solvable in one “act,” but actually is only sending up misleading “simple” symptoms from deep within its complex, lurking core — just awaiting naive “problem-solvers” who will quickly find themselves out of one or more of their “depths” (physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional) and in much rougher “water” than they have ever been in before??? Careful problem-building is essential Indeed, careful problem-building is one of the most important things you can do when crafting the “big picture” of your story.
RESTORING ‘STORY’ TO ITS RIGHTFUL POSITION…
SADLY, THE DICTIONARY’S definitions for “story” begin with such dull descriptors as “a factual or fictional narrative,” “the plot of a novel, play, motion picture, or other fictional narrative work,” and “an account of fictional or factual events.” Oh yes, some in Hollywood do settle for the above definitions of story — including many of the much-promoted screenplays that are still cycling in “turnaround,” are moving from agency to investor to agency to investor, or have been produced… to lackluster results. However — based on audience turnouts, box-office results and audience-satisfaction surveys — far too many of this decade’s “hot” scripts
STOPPING THE SAGGY TENTPOLES!
“TENTPOLES.” THAT’S WHAT all these movies were called in early 2012, back when their releasing studios were relying on — and pouring megabucks into advertising — these “coming-this-summer” films with much-vaunted casts, budgets, stunts, and CGI special effects.
Yet all these tentpoles and more, even with so many hopes, dollars, talents and expectations riding on them, pretty much went (and stayed) “saggy” from somewhere in Act Two onwards (if not sooner).
And so it has been with far too many “tentpoles” over the last 20 years. Ultimately, no matter how “big” their budgets or star “names,” far too many do not end up feeling like complete, satisfying or enduring stories. And we want | Continue Reading…
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