Now your script may not make the cut for reasons beyond your control. Reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of your writing including they may not have the budget, the may be looking for a certain type of project (that yours is not) or they may have a specific cast in mind that it doesn’t fit. You can’t control all the variables but at least you got the read and you can “live to fight / write another day.” You will have more manuscripts and next time (now that you have a relationship) you will have something they want. I also, am a believer that the universe will provide. Sometimes you really want something to happen and when it doesn’t you become discouraged only to learn that something even better awaits you just around the corner.
(Audience laughter)
My point here is to front load your work as much as you can to compel or propel your reader (whatever term you like) to consider your work and give it their fullest attention.
That’s why we say WRITING GREAT CHARACTERS IN THE FIRST TEN PAGES.
In all honesty, no one is counting if you introduce the strongest most compelling elements of character fully by eleven or twelve pages. It’s okay. The importance is that it is at the front. Now let’s get to one more mode of presentation. You’re sitting in the theatre and your book or screenplay has been made into a movie. See it, you’re sitting in a darkened theatre as the credits roll… everyone is going to say here… yeah I wish.
(Audience laughter)
5
ALWAYS PUT YOURSELF IN THE AUDIENCE
Writing Great Characters in the First Ten Pages
A COUPLE OF THINGS had to happen. Somewhere along the line, your 250-300-page novel was squeezed into a screenplay. Either you wrote the script or someone else did. So, choices had to be made. What to include what to leave out, then the shooting script was interpreted by a director, later an editor and star. Your original work may have been changed dramatically to fit into the movie you are about to watch. And you are thinking, “My name is on it… what if it’s terrible?” The creation of film is a collaborative art and you hope you have a good director, editor and actors. But assuming they are all very talented and you are there (in the theatre) and after the opening credits – the story begins. The same rule applies, within the first ten minutes of the film; the audience needs to be connected to the main characters and story.
In the first two minutes of (Jurassic Park 1993) the audience sees and hears the menacing Velociraptor as it’s cage is brought in by a forklift. We don’t actually see the whole dinosaur, we just see it’s eye and that’s really all we need. We’re hooked and have to stay to find out what is going to happen.
All this in happens in less than ten minutes. I’m using the number 10 again. Within the first ten minutes of the exhibition of the movie the audience should have an idea of who the main characters are and they should know something about them. And if they don’t, there’s a problem. Now the Velociraptor is certainly not the main character for this story, but it is a pivotal force within the story and frames the main characters the audience meets shortly after this scene. This is essential character development and story telling.
How many times have you been to the movies or a play and you are watching it but you really don’t know who the characters are or what it’s about? Has anyone ever been there?
(Audience reaction – “Yes”)
And then there are examples when an audience can know too much – and they are board seeing what they already know played out over and over again. And then there’s the Goldilocks scenario – when it’s all just right. Not too little, not too much… just right. That’s where you want to be.
Have any of you seen the movie Doubt (2008)? All right, it was a good movie and within the first three setups of the film – the sermon scene delivered by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman – about two or three minutes into the film, we are introduced to Sister Aloysius played by Meryl Streep. As the sermon is given, she walks quietly down the aisle (we haven’t seen her face yet) behind a young boy who is horsing around and slaps him in the back of the head. She then continues walking silently down the isle (as the sermon continues) and comes upon a young boy leaning forward in the pew with his head buried into his arms – he is sleeping. It is here that we finally get our first glimpse of Sister Aloysius’s face when she snaps at the lad and whispers “Straighten it!” The boy jumps back to his seat in attention. After that moment, she stands straight and upright and we get a full view of her face. In a few short moments, the audience has been connected to this character and we can imagine that a lot of the pull comes from Streep’s performance – but she is working as an actor creating a character within the framework of the writer.
When I say the audience has to know about your character in the first ten pages, I’m not saying they have to know their social security number or anything like that. They have to know the important aspects of your character – so much so that they want to learn more and make the journey.
What about The Wrestler (2008)? Has anyone here seen this film?
(Audience – no replies)
You guys have got to get out more.
(Audience laughter)
It opens with the lead character doing what he does. He’s in the ring fighting. It is the same idea as the motion picture DOUBT. You are pulled in to his world and you know right off the bat what’s going on with this guy. You might say to yourself: “I have never been a wrestler, so what do I know about that? How can I identify with that?” Right? But you may think about it another way. “But I do know something about being on the ropes or knowing people that have been on the ropes who want to pull themselves out of whatever they are in.” We all want change? Change for the better? Don’t we? I think so. We all want to make our lives better. So this guy happens to be a wrestler who is fighting for a second chance at his life. We can all understand the desire to change because we want to change. And so, we’re on the bus – we’ve paid our money to take the journey.
(Audience – reaction – agreement)
Let’s think about one other example that’s new. Any of you see the new film out called The Reader (2008)?
(Audience laughter because no one has seen it)
Really, we should just go to the movies tonight.
(Audience laughter)
Here’s the deal. THE READER starts off – I’m not going to tell you the whole story but I will tell you a little. I have a problem with THE READER and will tell you that much. My problem is not so much the film as the way it has been marketed as a Nazi movie. And it is about Nazi’s in a very abstract way. It’s not a movie in anyway about Nazi’s – our favorite villains.
(Audience laughter)
Nazi’s are such great bad boys you just love to hate. However, the Nazi element of the film is only an instrument to further the characters. It is not a major part of the plot. It’s not about the reader (Kate Winslet) being a Nazi prison guard at all. It is really about how two people come together (I’ve already said too much) and because they come together, it irrevocably changes their lives. I’m not going to tell you any more because you can find that out when you eventually see it.
Now let’s think about the motion picture Titanic (1997). The character that was written as Rose (also played by Kate Winslet), within the reality of the film – was part of an arranged marriage and her life was like that of a bird in a cage. Then she has that short relationship the Jack the artist (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). I’m saying short because it’s really only a day and a half and then – the ship—you know -- (points down.)
(Audience laughter)
Right? I mean it wasn’t like they were hanging out together for a long time. That’s why I picked it. Rose has an affair with an artist, a love affair and he paints her picture in the nude – but it’s not about that. What it is about… because they (Rose and Jack) were together, Rose’s life changed. And the very last scene of the movie – you see it. I remember reading the screenplay at the end of the movie shows Rose (as the older woman) fir
st throwing the precious stone back into the ocean. I don’t know if I would have done that…
(Audience laughter)
So she throws the diamond back into the ocean? What’s that about? She could have sold it and got a nice oceanfront condo in Boca… or someplace?
(Audience laughter)
Anyway, she throws the diamond back into the sea. The next time we see her in the present frame, she is lying still in her cabin. And I thought (when I saw the film) is she dead? Did she die after living a full life and is now finally back together with everyone who perished on the Titanic? Or… is she sleeping… in peace? James Cameron, wrote this in his screenplay:
A graceful pan across Rose’s shelf of carefully arranged pictures.
Rose as a young actress in California, radiant... a theatrically lit studio publicity shot... Rose and her husband, with their two children... Rose with her son at his college graduation... Rose with her children and grandchildren at her 70th birthday. A collage of images of a life lived well.
THE PAN STOPS on an image filling frame. Rose, circa 1920. She is at the beach, sitting on a horse at the surf line. The Santa Monica pier, with its rollercoaster is behind her. She is grinning, full of life.
We PAN OFF the last picture to Rose herself, warm in her bunk. A profile shot. She is very still. She could be sleeping, or maybe something else.
And so Cameron is saying, Rose had a full wonderful life because of that almost momentary relationship with Jack the artist. And whether she is dead or sleeping is really up to you… and that’s where he leaves it. And I thought, two characters come together for a very short period of time (and they do get a lot done).
(Audience laughter)
And because these two characters come together in the way they do changes Rose’s entire life. Instead of being forced into an arranged marriage (like a caged bird) she lives a full and wonderful life. In that sense, the last shot of the film visually gave us the entire story in one pan of the camera.
So, here are the modes of expression of character or character frames that can originate from your novel or short story
The Pitch
The Script
Now, one other thing, when you’re developing a character. Let’s go with the first ten pages. What if you are writing for television? Trying to develop your novel into a television series or mini series? It’s different. You don’t have to do the whole job in the first ten pages because most characters in television are a slow roll. You will have the opportunity to flesh out characters in smaller parts. But with that said, you still have to create the most important character elements in the pilot. That’s the initial episode of a series where the audience is introduced to the main characters and the major framework for the show that is to follow.
Since this lecture was given in 2009, many producers and television outlets have decided to do away with pilots all together and produce a limited version of the series from the start. A production such as House of Cards (2013) initially had a limited number of episodes made available to the Netflix subscribers all at one time. They abandoned the idea of a pilot or serial broadcast.
Network television still uses the serial format, but now in television shows such as The Black List (2013) The Knick (2014) and Chicago PD (2014) major characters or what the audience perceives as major/regular characters in the show are killed of routinely. The writers develop these characters in the traditional manner and just when the audience thinks they know them, they are eliminated. So, your development of character within this medium again must be front-loaded. Get the most interesting/compelling aspects of your character out there early because you may not have twenty episodes or several seasons to flush them out on the fly. You might think, why spend a lot of time developing a character that you will eliminate? My answer, would you do it any differently in a book? I don’t think so. And I think anytime you can engage “pull in” your audience with interesting characters, you should do it. Think of William Shakespeare and characters like the Nurse or the Apothecary in Romeo and Juliet. Think about how Shakespeare presented them within the story. He made them interesting and vital to what was going on. You should do the same.
What if you write for the Internet? You adapt your novel as a serial episodic to be shown in smaller segments on the Internet. In this case, you may be developing this on your own and not writing a script for anyone other than yourself. Does this actually work? I mean in the big picture? Does anyone take anything shot for the Internet seriously? The answer is “yes” and “no” depending upon your production values. If your work looks like it’s been shot in your backyard with louse light and sound. No one is going to take it seriously. However, if you spend a little time in creating acceptable production values, you can get a following for your work. As far as character development, that all depends how you present it. If it is serial, then you can do a slow roll a little bit at a time, if it were feature format I would front load the first ten minutes and grab your audience. You can produce your story as a mini series, which is a combination of the two formats. But… what can you really do with it?
Here’s what I think. If you get enough traction with it and get lots of visits to your site, that can translate into something tangible that you can cite in a fuller pitch meeting. If your project has a lot of heat, people will take an interest. You could also, produce a nice expanded trailer for your book. This really is a marketing tool, very much like they would do in a movie theatre. Show them “how” the film could be if it were made. Get it off the page and visualize your idea. That’s a great topic for another seminar!
(Audience laughter)
So depending upon where or how you present your book and characters you will have to be connected the method in which you present it. This means, that not every presentation of one idea will be the same. You have to connect to and reach your reader or viewer by connecting them to your character. You want them to care what happens next. If you produce it yourself, let’s say for the Internet, the outcome will be smaller, but you will have more control. The hardest part, I think in this transition from fiction to film… we have to talk about this.
Fiction… you are the only person writing and when you publish you will work with one person – your editor. And when you get to the television or film medium it becomes truly a collaborative effort – and that could become an issue that can affect the final outcome of the way your project looks. It could actually be better than you ever believed or… it could be worse than your worst nightmare.
Let’s say that you are fortunate enough to get your novel into the hands of Anthony Hopkins and he or his designee reads it… then you get it back with notes for certain changes or additions that would have to occur if he were to attach himself to the project. In this case, your writing becomes part of a collaborative effort and you have to be open to that. Also, by the time your novel is transformed into a screenplay and then shooting script (after the input of designers, stars, producers and others) it’s going to change and like any relationship – you have to give and take a little bit. But you have to make sure that you don’t lose your way and your final script doesn’t become something else. You’ll say that’s not what I wrote. But by that time, it will be too late.
One of my plays was produced in (I’m not going to say the name to protect the guilty). It was a fully professional production that’s all I will say. When I read the reviews – it got great reviews. It is a tale of father and daughter jealousy and cruelty. The father becomes so jealous of his daughter (both are painters) that he breaks her hands in a paint box so she cannot paint anymore. Despite this, she goes on and become s a world famous artist. The play takes place at her mother’s funeral when she (now a famous painter who has gone dry) comes home (from Paris) and sees her father (now an old man) for the first time. Without telling you the whole story, the old man wants her to forgive him for what he has done to her. At the end of the play, she cannot but does understand why he did what he did. She goes back to Paris understa
nding why he did what he did and is able to paint again. I didn’t write it this way… it’s better than that.
(Audience laughter)
The producer of the play thinks “We can’t have that at the end of the production. She has to forgive him and send the audience out the door feeling good about what they saw.” So in that production which I will not name, the ending was changed and she forgives her father and takes him back to Paris with her! So now I’m reading the reviews, which said something, like “The play Autumn Sweet is a poignant drama but chokes at the conclusion with a “Hollywood” ending.” I said to myself “I didn’t write that!”
(Audience laughter)
The producer changed the ending of my play and I got nailed for it. Why? Because I was on a ski trip in Tahoe instead of being where I should have been. At the opening of my play. I was invited but did not go.
(Audience laughter)
The point of this story is that you need to go with the flow – collaborate – but stay true to your core idea, your characters, and your story. Yes, give and take but not to the extent that you lose your original idea or in my case the ending.
6
ADAPTATION – YOUR FIRST TEN SCRIPT PAGES
Description, Action and Dialogue
Writing Great Characters in the First Ten Pages
YOU MAY BE writing for a reader, a producer or an audience and you have got to give. And I’ve we stated before, that’s where the ten pages come in. you have to create a hook in the beginning and once they are on board, they you can roll out any way you need to roll out. How do you get to this with character? Three ways. Description, Action and Dialogue. Essentially on the screen that boils down to what they do what they say, how they look, and what other characters say about them and the physical world they exist within. Your main character may say wonderful things about themselves, but they could be telling a lie. You have to show the truth. Let’s talk about DESCRIPTION.
Book to Screen Page 3
