Film 33 Final

How do you reveal character?

BY THE CHOICES THEY MAKE Perception by others Through actions and dialogue How the character feels about how they are perceived What they do and don't do How they speak How they dress and how they carry themselves Conflict and how they react to confict

Integrated elements in School of Rock

Battle of the Rent song, crowd surfing

10 minutes in Mean Girls

Cady gets to have lunch with the Plastics

5-10 minutes in Mean Girls

Cady heron is a girl that is going to high school for the first time after being home-schooled her entire life

90 minutes in Mean Girls

Cady is hated by everyone

60 minutes in Mean Girls

Cady loses Aaron and is confronted by Janis. She realizes that she is a mean girl

45 minutes in Mean Girls

Cady wins back Aaron Samuels

60 minutes in Up

Carl chooses the future (Russell, Doug, Kevin) over the past (Muntz and Ellie)

75 minutes in Up

Carl drags the house to the falls "if it kills him" even though Russell has given up on him

5-10 minutes in Up

Carl is in love with Ellie and they both love to travel, but they never got to go to Paradise Falls

17-20 minutes

Central question (engine plot) is presented

17 minutes in Up

Central question: Will Carl and Russell get the house to Paradise Falls?

17 minutes in the Lego Movie

Central question: Will Emmett become a master builder to stop Master Business?

17 minutes in School of Rock

Central question: can Dewey put together a band to win Battle of the Bands and pay the rent?

What makes movies different?

Character and voice

You should write through ____ and not to _____

Character; plot

Time lock

Characters have only a certain amount of time to do something Creates stakes and tension

Who is the bad guy in UP and what does he want?

Charles Muntz and he wants Kevin to prove he's not a fraud

Purpose of subplots

Complicate the main plot, are obstacles, get in the way, Carry the theme and emotion

10 minutes in School of Rock

Dewey is kicked out of the band

5-10 minutes of School of Rock

Dewey is obnoxious, lazy, loud

60 minutes in School of Rock

Dewey learns he needs to be more responsible and selfless by getting that kid out of the van

90 minutes in School of Rock

Dewey loses, the kids, the band, everything

45 minutes in School of Rock

Dewey wants to teach the children the Battle of the Rent Song because he is selfish

Screenwriting's one unbreakable rule

Don't be boring

10 minutes in Up

Ellie dies

75 minutes in the Lego Movie

Emmett falls down the hole and Lucy has to take control

45 minutes in the Lego Movie

Emmett gives the Master Builder speech in Cloud Cuckoo land

5-10 minutes in the Lego Movie

Emmett is an ordinary guy Our antagonist is President Business

10 minutes in the Lego Movie

Emmett sees Wildstyle and falls into a hole

60 minutes in the Lego Movie

Emmett takes charges and brings everyone together as a team Emmett starts to create his own rules

30 minutes

End of Act I Crossing a threshold All characters commit to a goal

Seven naughty words

Entertainment, commercial, voyeurism, contrivance, exploitation, Hollywood, audience

30 minutes in School of Rock

Everyone pledges to the band

75 minutes

False ending We think we've answered the central question Answers plot, not theme

Difference between the good guy and the bad guy

Good guy does the right thing, bad guy does the wrong thing or takes the right thing too far We have to understand why the bad guy did things

5-10 minutes

Hook Set up charcter, situation, problem The beginning of the movie is the promise of the end

Fundamental screenwriting trinity

Idea, story, theme

What do movies treat at their core?

Identity Characters are strangers, but we learn more about ourselves through them

Minute points

Important things that happen on a page

What are three words for the beginning, middle, and end?

Act I: Desire Act II: Deception (what is getting in their way) Act III: Discovery (answer to character's problem)

Integrated elements in Up

Adventure book, the house, balloons, tennis balls, the Ellie badge, helmet, painting of the house, garden hose, hearing aid

What is the name of a screenwriter that doesn't want his name in the credits?

Alan Smithy

90 minutes in Up

All of the characters have separated, Russell took off with the leaf blower Carl's goal changes to save Russell and Kevin

10 minutes

Inciting incident that upsets the norm and changes the way that the protagonist is thinking First plot point

60 minutes in Raiders

Indiana Jones is locked in a pit with his two biggest fears: snakes and women

90 minute in Raiders

Indie and Marion are caught and the ark is in the hands of the Nazis

75 minutes in Raiders

Indie and Marion have the ark

5-10 minutes in Raiders

Indie is the best explorer in the world, not afraid of danger, but afraid of snakes

30 minutes into Raiders

Indie joins with Marion with the medallion

45 minutes in Raiders

Indie realizes that the Nazis are digging in the wrong place

90 minutes in the Lego Movie

Lucy is running the show and she becomes the special All the stuff happens with the live action

30-45 minutes

Meet your next obstacle

60 minutes

Midpoint When protagonist goes from passive to active in relation to their internal dilemma Always related to theme, always emotional Where the character arcs Where the character becomes something

Character spine

Motivation (pushes them over the ledge) Action Goals (pulls them further into the story) Stakes

Every scene does what two things?

Move the plot forward, reveals character Sets up something else for later

Real vs reel

Movies don't have to be realistic, they can be larger than life Characters should always care about something bigger than themselves

Three rules to creating audience-worthy movie characters

No stereotypes Render everybody somewhat sympathetic Require your characters throughout the table to evolve

Characters should come to each scene with ______

Objectives/goals

Want vs need

Plot (tangible) is what the character wants Theme is what the character needs In the end, the character sees that the thing that they wanted is less important that the thing they needed

Difference between plot and theme

Plot is what the characters want, theme is what the characters need

30 minutes in Mean Girls

Regina George steals Aaron Samuels from Cady and she writes how to take her down on the chalkboard

75 minutes in Mean Girls

Regina gets hit by a bus

45 minutes in Up

Russell reveals that his parents are divorced Carl agrees to let Kevin tag along

Specifics of a scene

Self-contained bit of action Advances story and develops character Each scene should have conflict Each scene should have a connection to other scenes Three beat structure Immediate purpose and long-term purpose Who/What/Why/Do

What do we do in the first act?

Set up character Establish plot and story Establish theme Establish all story lines Establish external and internal conflict

Integrated elements in Raiders

Snakes, the whip, making sure he has his hat

Integrated elements

Something that is set up early on and pays off later

Characteristics of a classic movie

Strong story, relatable themes, specatcle, timely/timeless, cause/effect structure, effectively implemented emotions, integrated elements, engaging dialogue, conflict/obstacles, memorable ending, good casting, unique story, nothing wasted, clear through line, a character obsessed with a goal, universal

Most important skill a screenwriter should poseses

The ability to be creatively promiscuous

Integrated elements in Mean Girls

The burn book, the jungle scenes, the school bus, foot cream, you cant sit with us, choosing where to sit,

Integrated elements in the Lego Movie

The double-decker couch The prophecy The Man Upstairs Spaceships The "Everything is Awesome" song

10 minutes into Raiders

The government comes and tells Indie that they have a project for him

30 minutes in Up

The house lands in the wrong spot, so Carl and Russell have to walk the house by foot

How is the world of the movie used to create conflict in School of Rock?

The kids are in school and are not allowed to go on a field trip

90 minutes

The low point They think all is lost, they are furthest from answering their central question

How is the world of the movie used to create conflict in Mean Girls?

The lunchroom shows how the different cliques do/don't interact with each other They are all teenagers, so they all like to gossip about each other and form a social hierarchy

Integrated elements in Iron Man

The reactor in his heart, his helper arm thing, the freezing issue of the suit

Ultimately the plot goal becomes ______

The theme Because of the pursuit of a goal they want, they realize what they need

No audience wants to see a movie about ___________

The village and the happy nice people

What should a screenwriter write before their first screenplay?

Their own personal story

30 minutes in the Lego Movie

They all go through the porter into the Old West and Vetruvius tells Emmett it is time to start his training

What do the top AFI best films have in common?

They all have characters that are obsessed with a goal

75 minutes in School of Rock

They are going to Battle of the Bands and are playing Zack's song instead of Deweys

What makes a character good?

They don't just achieve their own goal, but they change everyone around them in pursuit of their goal

5-10 minutes in Iron Man

Tony Stark is sexy, shallow, arrogant, rich, genius, charismatic, and he deals arms

30 minutes in Iron Man

Tony builds the first Iron Man suit and escapes the cave

45 minutes in Iron Man

Tony holds a press conference and decides to get rid of all weapons

10 minutes in Iron Man

Tony is trapped in a cave

60 minutes in Iron Man

Tony puts on his new suit and becomes Iron Man

75 minutes in Iron Man

Tony saves the town and becomes a superhero

Unity of opposites

Two characters have the same goal, but different ways of reaching it They are polar opposites that have to join together

90 minutes in Iron Man

We think Tony is going to lose the battle against Obediah

The So-What test?

What is the purpose in the theme? The characters should always relate to us through theme There should only be one theme

What are the four questions you should ask yourself before writing a scene?

Who is in the scene? What do they want? Why do they want it? What will they do to get it?

17-20 minutes in Mean Girls

Will Cady learn all the secrets about Regina George and take her down?

17-20 minutes into Raiders

Will Indie get to the ark before the Nazis?

17 minutes in Iron Man

Will Tony become Iron Man?

What do Carl and Russell both learn at the end?

You have to let go and start a new adventure

The movie screen is not a window, but...

a mirror