MONDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:
SLEEPER AGENT INFORMATION
When you boil it down to essentials, a
storyteller is just giving information to the audience. WHAT that
information is, HOW it is given to the audience and WHEN it is
given to them is what makes a script good or bad. Today's Script
Tip is going to focus on WHEN we give the audience the
information.
There is no rule that says a story must be told
chronologically. In fact, the most boring method of telling a
story is to start at the beginning and go point-by-point until
you reach the end. This happened and then this happened and then
this happened. Most of the scripts I read that don't work are
told this way - they read as if the writers were making them up as
they went along rather than a story about a real world that
existed before page one and will exist after page 110.
That doesn't mean every script should read like Chris Nolan's
MEMENTO or a Nic Roeg movie. Though the scenes may be in
chronological order, the INFORMATION in the scenes might be out
of chronology. I know that sounds confusing, so here's a simple
example: You're reading a novel and our hero Joe bumps into his
old friend Bob... and the writer gives us a paragraph about how
Joe and Bob became best friends in the 6th grade when they turned
the tables on the school bully one day. Since Joe and Bob aren't
currently in the 6th grade, that information about them was given to
the reader out of chronological order. The writer held the
information until it became important to the story. The information was
like a sleeper agent, ready to be activated moments before their mission. Imagine how
confusing it would have been to start the novel with the birth of
the oldest character in the book! A large part of the art of
screenwriting is finding the best time to release the information
to the audience - the place where it has the most meaning and
emotional impact. When to trigger those sleeper agents.
HIDDEN DANGERS
Kurt Wimmer's SALT opens with Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) in bra and panties being tortured by the North Korean Secret Police - they want her to admit that she is not a business executive, but a CIA Agent who was in North Korea to spy on the government. Just when you think they may kill her, Ted Winter (Liev Shreiber) shows up after making a deal with the North Korean government - a good old fashioned spy swap. As they are walking through the DMZ between checkpoints to South Korea, Salt asks Winter why the US Government rescued her? The rules are - disavow the captured spy and leave them to die. Winter says the US Government had nothing to do with the deal, it was all her husband's work... and waiting for her on the South Korean side is her husband Michael (August Diehl).
The story opens with SALT as a businesswoman accused of being a spy, introduces her CIA pal Winter (so she *is* a spy!) and then adds her husband (and personal life). Each piece of information coming in a specific order that tells us something about the story to come and Salt's character. Because these people are spies, each of them has at least one secret that is revealed in the course of the story - but instead of just dumping these secrets on the audience, they are held back to be revealed at the best possible moment - the exact moment where that secret will have the most impact on the story and the most *emotional impact* on the audience. We are in the emotion picture business, and want to make the viewer feel something...
The film also has two sets of flashbacks that reveal information throughout the film - and the information in the flashbacks is tied to what is happening in the present day story.
The present day story takes place two years after Salt was released by the North Koreans, when Salt and Winter are on their way out the doors at the CIA... and a Russian defector turns himself in... will Salt and Winter debrief him? By-the-book CIA counter espionage guy Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) insists on sitting in on the interrogation - a few scenes later we find out why: he worries that Salt may have broken under torture in North Korea and may not be trustworthy. We don't get this information *before* the interrogation, because it would only confuse us... and give away the twist.
The defector, Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), is an old man who is dying of cancer and wants to give the United States information before he dies. He says that he headed a sleeper agent program, where children were raised from birth to think like Americans... yet really be loyal to Russia. These children were planted in the United States and grew up as normal kids... waiting for the message that would trigger them into acts of terrorism and espionage. One of these sleepers will kill the Russian President when he is in the United States in a few days. The name of that agent is... Evelyn Salt!
You can see why screenwriter Kurt Wimmer held Peabody's reasons for being at the interrogation until *after* this twist - before would have given away the twist and also made us doubt Salt during the time when we are bonding with her. After this twist, we get a bunch of information from Peabody that gives this crazy accusation enough credence to make Salt decide to do a FUGITIVE and run - to find the truth *and* to find and protect her civilian geeky bug expert husband... and the rest of the film is a relentless chase with plenty of plot twists - information revealed that changes the course of the story and shows us that characters and situations may not be what we initially thought they were.
What gives the film heart and soul is the series of flashbacks about Salt and her husband that play out through the film. Because Salt believes to make the frame work, whoever is behind it must kidnap or kill her husband, the main reason why she decides to escape is to find and protect the man she loves... and we get a series of flashbacks during the chase (and search for her husband) about how these two opposites came to meet and fall in love. The flashbacks are not just thrown into the story randomly, the information in the specific flashback connects to the information in the present day scene. So when one piece of information is revealed it escalates the conflict or changes the meaning of the information in the present day. Giving us any of the flashback information earlier in the story would be less effective.
The other series of flashbacks begins with Orlov's confession, and has to do with the Russian sleeper agents - we find out more and more about the sleepers and how they were planted in the United States as the story unfolds. The information in these flashbacks is what "unfolds the story" - we get a new piece of the story puzzle that changes what we thought the story would be.* Parceling out the information at the best possible moment. I'm trying to avoid spoilers - but there is a flashback scene where one of the sleeper agent children has a distinctive facial scar... and then we see a guy with the same facial scar in present day and know he is one of the sleepers. The flashback has a direct impact on the present day scene that follows - and *changes* our perception of that present day scene. We know that some guy in a scene is really a badguy! Watch out!
REVEALING EMOTIONS
A good example of releasing information at the best possible
time *without flashbacks* can be found in the Farrelly Brothers' SHALLOW HAL. Jack
Black plays a "negative polarity babe magnet" who believes that
physical beauty is everything. He only pursues the most beautiful
women in the world... so he's mostly unlucky in love. When he's
trapped on an elevator with Tony Robbins, the mind-power guru
hypnotizes Hal to see people's inner beauty. From that point on,
most of the time we are seeing people in "Hal vision" - their
physical form reflects their inner beauty. Soon afterwards he
meets the beautiful Rosie and falls madly in love with her. Hal
sees Rosie as Gwyneth Paltrow, his buddy Jason Alexander sees her
as a 300 pound "rhino".
Rosie volunteers at the hospital in a
children's ward, and brings Hal to work one day. Hal plays with
the kids, hugging and kissing and giggling with them. When they
leave the hospital, Rosie compliments Hal on how he treated the
kids... but they hold the information about why these kids are in
the hospital until much later in the film - that is the "sleeper agent"
information that is planted in the story to be revealed later. If they had tilted up
to show us what hospital ward they were in immediately, it would
have been a gag about Hal's perception. Just another joke... but turning the information into a
sleeper agent, they created a major *emotional* response later in the story.
Previously we saw Hal on
the dance floor with a totally hot babe in "Hal vision", who was
very unattractive in reality. That was a perception gag - a joke
on Hal. They could have used the hospitalized kids as another
joke on Hal... but that information could be put to better use
later in the story. So the Farrelly Brothers hold on to the
information until the hypnotic spell on Hal has been removed and
he can see people as they really are. That way, the information
can be used for maximum *emotional* impact. Instead of a gag, the
same information becomes a scene so strong it will bring you to
tears. WHEN you release the information influences the meaning of
that information and the impact it has on the audience.
Near the end of the movie Jason Alexander asks a woman at a
party if she likes dogs... and it gets a laugh because the
information as to why this is important to Alexander was revealed
a few scenes before (as the big scene in HIS character arc).
Asking a woman if she liked dogs BEFORE we had that information
wouldn't have been funny. Information about Alexander's character
needed to be revealed to us which makes that question funny.
The
reason why they held the "dog revelation" was so Alexander could
be the antagonist during Hal's emotional journey. Once Hal has
discovered that true beauty come from within, the time is right
to reveal Alexander's MOTIVATIONS for being the antagonist. After
this information is revealed, the audience understands and
sympathizes with Alexander... he's no longer the antagonist.
But
before this can happen, we needed to set up the transfer of
antagonist from Alexander to "the unfair world"... that comes in
a great scene between Alexander and Tony Robbins where they
discuss the morality of hypnosis. Robbins had his opinions on the
morality of hypnosis BEFORE he hypnotized Hal in the beginning of
the movie, but the best time to reveal this information is later
in the film... and revealed to Alexander rather than Hal. Without
this information, Alexander wouldn't be able to take his
emotional journey... which ends with the "likes dogs" gag at the
end.
PLANTING SLEEPERS
Revealing information requires a balance between giving it to the audience at the exact time that provides the most impact, and making sure that it doesn't seem contrived - something that you have made up on the spot. You can't just have some character suddenly pull a gun and kill the Russian President, we need to *plant* the sleeper agent first.
In the SHALLOW HAL example this problem is solved by having the initial visit to the children's ward
omit the information. The children's ward is there - it is established - but Hal just doesn't see the sign
because he's too busy trying to impress ultra-hottie Rosie. She is the diversion. But the children's ward
has been established, and Rosie's dialogue is consistent with *type* of children's ward it is, even if
we didn't see the sign. So there is a *basis* for the later information about the children's ward -
they didn't just pull it out of a hat. The information was *always there*, just concealed until the
best possible time to reveal it.
Same with the SALT twists - when Peabody is making his case against Salt, he uncovers information that makes her look guilty... but none of this is pulled out of a hat. Salt works on the "Russian desk" at the CIA... the reason why? Well, she grew up in Russia - her father was stationed there... and she speaks fluent Russian. Hey, one of the reasons why they want Salt to interrogate Orlov in the first place is that she speaks Russian! So when Peabody begins revealing all of this information that makes Salt look as if she really is a sleeper agent, it doesn't feel like the writer is making it up on the spot because the plot requires it, it feels real and natural - because it was always there - concealed like a sleeper agent ready to be activated at the best possible point in the story. Though you want to withhold information until it has the maximum impact on the audience, you never want the audience to feel as if you are making up the story as you go along - you want them to feel like these people were living and breathing with all of these secrets before the story began.
Concealing and revealing information is one of the most
important parts of our art. We control the order in which the
audience is given information, and THE STORY dictates that order,
not chronology. When it happens isn't as important as when you
tell the audience that it happened. Where in the story will
revealing this information have the most impact on the
audience?
More on this and Concealing & Revealing in the STORY BLUE BOOK.
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All five "Bourne" movies (including "Legacy" and it's potential sequels) - what are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? Reinventing the thriller genre...
or following the "formula"? Five films - each with an interesting experiment! A detailed analysis of each
of the films, the way these thrillers work... as well as a complete list of box office and critical
statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just fans of the series.
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
Over 240 pages!
*** THE TERMINATOR MOVIES *** - For Kindle!
He's back! The release of "Terminator: Dark Fate" is set to begin a new trilogy in
the Terminator story... 35 years after the first film was released. What draws us to these films about
a cybernetic organism from the future sent back in time? Why is there a new proposed trilogy every few
years? This book looks at all five Terminator movies from a story standpoint - what makes them work
(or not)? What are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? How
about those secret story details you may not have noticed? Containing a detailed analysis of each of
the five films so far, this book delves into the way these stories work... as well as a complete list of
box office and critical statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just
fans of the series.
ONLY $3.99 - and no postage!
HITCHCOCK FOR WRITERS!
Strange Structures!
*** HITCHCOCK: EXPERIMENTS IN TERROR! *** - For Kindle!
***
Contained Thrillers like "Buried"? Serial Protagonists like "Place Beyond The Pines"? Multiple Connecting Stories like "Pulp Fiction"? Same Story Multiple Times like "Run, Lola, Run"?
HITCHCOCK DID IT FIRST!
This book focuses on 18 of Hitchcock's 52 films with wild cinema and story experiments which paved the way for modern films. Almost one hundred different experiments that you may think are recent cinema or story inventions... but some date back to Hitchcock's *silent* films! We'll examine these experiments and how they work. Great for film makers, screenwriters, film fans, producers and directors.
Only $5.99 - and no postage!
LEARN SUSPENSE FROM THE MASTER!
*** HITCHCOCK: MASTERING SUSPENSE *** - For Kindle!
Alfred Hitchcock, who directed 52 movies, was known as the *Master Of Suspense*; but what exactly is suspense and how can *we* master it? How does suspense work? How can *we* create “Hitchcockian” suspense scenes in our screenplays, novels, stories and films?
This book uses seventeen of Hitchcock’s films to show the difference between suspense and surprise, how to use “focus objects” to create suspense, the 20 iconic suspense scenes and situations, how plot twists work, using secrets for suspense, how to use Dread (the cousin of suspense) in horror stories, and dozens of other amazing storytelling lessons. From classics like “Strangers On A Train” and “The Birds” and “Vertigo” and “To Catch A Thief” to older films from the British period like “The 39 Steps” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much” to his hits from the silent era like “The Lodger” (about Jack The Ripper), we’ll look at all of the techniques to create suspense!
Only $5.99
AUDIO CLASS!
NOIR & MYSTERY80 minute MP3 packed with information on writing Film Noir and Mystery scripts. Using examples from CHINATOWN to OUT OF THE PAST to DOUBLE INDEMNITY you'll learn how to create stories in this dark, twisted genre. How to plant clues, red herrings, suspects, victims, spider women, fallen heroes, the funhouse mirror world of noir supporting characters... and the origins of Film Noir in literature Noir dialogue and how noir endings are different than any other genre. All of the critical elements necessary to write in this critically popular genre.
The Noir & Mystery Class is only $15 (plus $5 S&H). First 20 on Limited Black Disk!
PAMDEMIC SALE! $5 OFF!
IDEAS AND CREATIVITY - 80 minute MP3 packed with information. Tools to find ideas that are both personal *and* commercial. Hollywood wants scripts with High Concept stories... but not stupid scripts. Developing *intelligent* high concept ideas. How to turn your personal story into a blockbuster - or find your personal story in a high concept idea. Brainstorming and being creative. Ideas and Creativity is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H)
WRITING INDIES - Writing an Indie film? This class covers everything you need to know - from Central Locations to Confined Cameos. Using examples from SWINGERS, THE COOLER, STATION AGENT and others, this 80 minute MP3 is packed with information. How Indoe films challenge the audience (while mainstream films reassure the audience). Structures, using BOYS DON'T CRY, RUN LOLA RUN, HILARY & JACKIE, and others as example. Writing for a budget, writing for non-actors, getting the most production value out of your budget. Writing Indies is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H)
WRITING HORROR - The essentials of a horror screenplay - what do ROSEMARY'S BABY, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE EXORCIST, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE OTHERS and OPEN WATER have in common? This class will tell you! All of the critical elements necessary to write a script that scares the pants off the audience. Writing Horror is $10.00 (plus $5 S&H).
Click here for more information on CLASS MP3s!
Use your creative energy to focus on the content; let Final Draft take care of the style. Final Draft is the number-one selling application specifically designed for writing movie scripts, television episodics and stage plays. Its ease-of-use and time-saving features have attracted writers for almost two decades positioning Final Draft as the Professional Screenwriters Choice. Final Draft power users include Academy, Emmy and BAFTA award winning writers like Oliver Stone, Tom Hanks, Alan Ball, J.J. Abrams, James Cameron and more.
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