by Will Dunne
■ IMAGES
While some marketing posters are simply typographical, most are dominated by an attention-getting visual image.
1. Portrait of a character. Describe a poster image that highlights the physical appearance or action of a principal character in your story. For example:
• A woman in an elaborate multilayered Victorian dress, including shoulder pads and a bustle, leans against a closed door of a room, as if eavesdropping. The intense look on her face suggests both shock and interest. (In the Next Room)
• Dressed in hat and coat, a man walks away with his shoulders slumped and head bowed in defeat. He carries suitcases that appear to be extremely heavy. (Death of a Salesman)
• In a room darkened by venetian blinds, a woman lies on her stomach on a bed, propped up by her elbows, with her legs crossed in the air behind her as she smokes a cigarette. A gun, paperback novel, and pack of cigarettes lie on the bed in front of her. (Pulp Fiction)
2. Portrait of more than one character. Describe a poster image that reveals something interesting about two or more characters in your story. For example:
• The rear-view mirror of a car reflects the face of a black chauffeur in the driver’s seat and the face of an older white woman in the back seat. They look at each other in the mirror. (Driving Miss Daisy)
• Thirteen characters, mostly family members, all face us, with the mother dominating the mix. She wears a black dress with pearls and holds a cigarette as she points at us and smiles. A white frame house rises in the background. (August: Osage County)
• Two men in colorful Elizabethan attire stand side by side—one looking off and the other facing us while scratching his head. Strings rise up from both figures to a large pair of hands manipulating them from above as if they were puppets. (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead)
3. Setting. Describe a poster image that focuses on the setting for your story. Look for something unusual or evocative about it. For example:
• A lonely wooden farmhouse stands in the distance under a cloudy sky surrounded by a field of tall dried grasses. The foreground reveals what lies underground: tangled roots stretching down to darkness. (Buried Child)
• A Southern California ranch house faces a swimming pool at night with silhouettes of palm trees in the background. The adjacent rooms of the house are brightly lit and reflected in the water of the pool. All of this is seen through shards of broken glass. (Other Desert Cities)
• The silhouette of a rain forest rises against the sky at sunset, with the edge of the sun barely visible behind the lush treetops. Darkness envelops the foreground. (The Night of the Iguana)
4. Still life. Think about the physical life of your story. Describe a poster image that focuses not on characters but on things. For example:
• An ornate armchair with lines of Arabic writing in the print of the back and seat. Blood is splattered over the image. (Homebody/Kabul)
• A close-up of a grinning skull wearing a red clown nose. (Hamlet)
• An army helmet with “Born to Kill” written on it beside a peace sign and a row of bullets tucked inside the helmet’s outer band. (Full Metal Jacket)
5. Event. Think about what happens in your story. Describe a poster image that depicts an important story event. For example:
• A giant underwater shark with prominent teeth swims up from the dark ocean depths as it eyes a woman swimming alone on the sunny surface above. From this angle, the swimmer looks small and vulnerable. (Jaws)
• A hand from above reaches down to grasp a smaller hand from below, as if helping to pull someone up. A list of names is faintly superimposed over the joined hands. (Schindler’s List)
• A soldier in heavy protective gear stands alone on barren ground. He is surrounded by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that have been unearthed and is attempting to disarm them. (The Hurt Locker)
6. Dreamscape. Describe a poster image of something not normally seen in the everyday world. If your story is realistic, the image might serve as a metaphor for a character or story event. If your story is nonrealistic, the image might depict an important story development. For example:
• A woman with pale white skin and dark eyes looks at us while a butterfly, wings spread, rests on her mouth, as if keeping her from speaking. The butterfly’s head is a tiny skull. (The Silence of the Lambs)
• In the night sky, a boy in silhouette rides a bicycle past a giant full moon with a figure sitting on his front handlebars. (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial)
• A woman in profile looks up at the night sky. It is filled not with stars but with isolated letters of the alphabet. (Wit)
■ THE POSTER
Which tagline and image would work best together to interest an audience in your story? Describe your hypothetical marketing poster now. Then answer the following questions.
• Imagine how someone unfamiliar with your script might react to this poster. What thoughts and feelings might it trigger?
• How well does this poster suit your script, and why?
• Think about what you have learned from reviewing the content of your script and exploring possible taglines and poster images. What new insights have you gained about your characters and story?
WRAP-UP
While theatrical posters for plays and films are designed to sell tickets, they also display what is most important or interesting about the work. Knowing these selling points can be a useful guide not only when you are revising your script but also when you are promoting it later to potential producers.
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. Even if you are happy with your current script title, you can use the naming process to learn more about your story. Go to the “Building Your Story” section and try “What’s in a Name?”
Fixing That Problem Scene
However easily your writing flows, it is inevitable that you will encounter stubborn scenes that demand extra attention. This section offers twelve sets of questions to help you tackle such scenes. These sets can be used in any order. Each concludes with examples of tools from this guide that can help you explore the topic further.
As you answer questions, trust your first instinct, keep it simple, and guess at what you don’t know. Don’t worry if you find yourself responding to different questions the same way. Some overlap is likely as you look at the scene from different angles. If you have trouble answering a question, skip it. This exercise is about getting unstuck—not stuck. Keep moving forward until you find a solution.
You can return to this section anytime you need extra help with a scene. Once you’re familiar with the different sets of questions, you can streamline your analysis and focus only on the sets that feel relevant to the problem at hand.
■ CHARACTERS
Each scene of your story is populated by a certain combination of characters who interact and cause a dramatic event to occur. Your decision about which characters to include—and which to exclude—is a fundamental step in storytelling.
Character 1
1. Who’s here now? Identify the characters in the scene.
2. Which character drives most of the action and makes the scene happen? This is Character 1 for this particular scene.
3. Is the right character driving the scene? If not, who should be Character 1 instead?
4. Character 1 in this scene may or may not also be the main character of the story. If the main character is present but not driving the scene, is there a reason for that, or should the main character be more active?
Other character(s)
5. How do the other characters rank in order of importance for this particular scene? This will be your Character 2 and, if appropriate, Character 3, Character 4, et cetera.
6. What is the relationship between Characters 1 and 2? If more than two characters are present, what relationships exist among them, and what is their relationship overall?
7. Is there any character present who does not really need to be here now? Ho
w would the scene change if this character were removed?
8. Is anyone important missing, and if so, is there a good reason for that?
9. If an important character were added to the scene, who would it be, and how would his or her presence affect the dramatic action?
10. Offstage characters can be important if they influence what happens in a scene. Who, if anyone, is the most important offstage character now, and why?
11. Are there any references to offstage characters that can be eliminated because they’re not relevant to this scene? Any references that need to be added?
Related tools in this guide. To learn more about your characters, try any exercise in the “Developing Your Character” section, including “The Emotional Character,” “Character Fact Sheet,” or “Nothing but the Truth.” To find out what characters are hiding, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “Classified Information.”
■ TIMEFRAME AND SETTING
The dramatic action of a scene is also affected by when and where it occurs. The timeframe and setting can contribute to how the characters feel, what they want, and what they can accomplish here and now. Most scenes unfold in real time in one setting.
Timeframe
1. When does the scene take place in the lives of the characters?
2. Whether it’s an ordinary day or a special occasion, why is this the best timeframe for this scene?
3. How would the dramatic action be affected if the scene happened at a different time in the lives of the characters?
Setting
4. Where does the scene take place in the world of the story?
5. Why is this the best setting for this scene?
6. How would the dramatic action be affected if the scene happened elsewhere in the world of the story?
7. Large or small, what is the most important object in this place at this time?
8. What role, if any, does this object play in the dramatic action? Could it play a more important role, and if so, how?
9. Have you overlooked opportunities to use the physical life of the scene—the setting and what’s in it—to show, not tell, the story?
Related tools in this guide. To learn more about a certain setting at a certain time, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “The Real World” or “The Color of Drama.”
■ HOW THE PAST AFFECTS THE PRESENT
Characters enter a scene with knowledge, needs, and problems that are consequences of what they have experienced in their lives up to now. Some of these experiences may have occurred earlier in the story. Others may have happened before the story begins. Knowing this past can help you gain new insights about your characters and why they behave the way they do.
1. What previous event in your story ties most directly to this scene, and how? If this is scene 1, look for the previous event in the backstory.
2. Are there any other events earlier in the story that also contribute to the main event of this scene, and if so, how?
3. Have you overlooked opportunities to use the physical, psychological, or social consequences of a past event to influence the characters in the present?
4. Experiences from long ago may still be affecting the characters now, even if they are unaware of this influence. Do you need to dig deeper into the backstory to uncover facts from the distant past that could influence character behavior during the scene?
Related tools in this guide. To dig deeper into the backstory, go to the “Developing Your Character” section and try “Meet the Parents” or “What Is the Character Doing Now?” Or go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “The Past Barges In.”
■ GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES AND POINT OF ATTACK
The moment a scene begins is sometimes called the point of attack. Ideally, it is a moment when something important is in progress but there is still room for conflict to build. Setting the point of attack is a key decision because it determines who is doing what as the scene begins and sets the emotional tone for the dramatic action.
Given circumstances
1. Think about the world of your story as the scene begins. Identify any physical, psychological, social, economic, political, or spiritual circumstances that could affect the dramatic action here and now.
2. Should any of these circumstances have more of an impact on the dramatic action of the scene, and if so, how?
3. How would the scene be affected if any given circumstances were changed or eliminated? If any new circumstances were added?
Point of attack
4. How does each character feel physically and emotionally when the scene begins? Are these feelings appropriate for this character in this situation, and why?
5. What is on each character’s mind as the scene begins? These thoughts may be trivial or profound and may or may not relate to the dramatic action at hand.
6. What is each character doing as the scene begins?
7. Who has the first line of dialogue in the scene, and what is the line?
8. Have you found the right point of attack for this scene? How would the scene change if it began earlier in the lives of the characters? If it began later?
9. Think about what we see as the scene begins. Have you overlooked opportunities to create a compelling visual image that will engage us immediately in the action?
Related tools in this guide. To learn more about what’s happening in the world of the story as the scene begins, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “What’s New? What’s Still True?,” “The Emotional Onion,” or “Why This? Why Now?”
■ OBJECTIVES, CONFLICT, AND MOTIVATION
Story is what happens when a character wants something important (objective), faces obstacles that will make it difficult to get (conflict), and has a compelling reason to deal with those obstacles here and now (motivation).
At the scenic level, Character 1’s embodiment of these elements is what makes the scene happen. The other characters present also have certain needs, problems, and reasons to act. These dynamics often create the conflict of the scene. For example, if Character 1 wants something contrary to what Character 2 wants, and if they are equally determined to succeed, they will find themselves on a collision course that will force a dramatic event to occur.
Character 1
1. In most cases, Character 1’s scenic objective is behavioral: to affect whoever else is here now. For example, Character 1 may want to make Character 2 feel good or feel bad. Or Character 1 may want to convince Character 2 of something important or to find out something important. Character 1 may occasionally have a physical objective—for example, to acquire a certain object or to complete a physical task. Using the specific terms of your story, what does your Character 1 want most in this scene?
2. Why does this scenic objective make sense for this character in this situation?
3. Suppose Character 1 wanted something else. What would the new objective be, and how would that change the scene and the story?
4. A character may enter a scene with an objective in mind or may develop this desire during the scene as a result of something that happens early on. Either way, there is a specific stimulus for the objective, such as an idea, memory, discovery, action, or event. What triggers your Character 1’s scenic objective? When does this occur?
5. A character objective generates the most focused action when there is a measure of success: a certain statement, action, event, or other outcome that would let the character know that the objective has been achieved. What is the measure of success for your character in this scene?
6. What problems make it difficult for Character 1 to achieve this objective here and now? These conflicts may arise from the character’s own physical or psychological limitations, from other characters with opposing needs, or from the current situation in the world of the story.
7. Have you overlooked opportunities to increase the conflict of the scene? Can you add any new problems or strengthen existing ones?
8. Remember that conflic
t means obstacle—anything that stands in the way of an objective—and that argument is only one form of this. Is conflict present to some degree from the beginning of the scene to its end?
9. Think about what’s at stake for Character 1. Why is it important and urgent to achieve the scenic objective now? In other words, why might the character consider compromise or surrender impossible? If the character doesn’t have that level of urgency, you may need to rethink the terms of the scene.
Other character(s)
10. For whoever else is present—Character 2 and, if appropriate, Character 3, Character 4, et cetera—what does he or she want most in the scene?
11. Why does this character’s objective make sense at this time in the story?
12. How would the scene be different if the character’s objective were changed?
13. What triggers the character’s objective? When does this occur?
14. How will the character know whether or not the objective has been achieved? Define the specific measure of success.
15. What obstacles make it difficult for the characters to achieve this objective? Identify at least one significant conflict.
16. Why is it important and urgent for the character to achieve the objective here and now? Identify what’s at stake.
Related tools in this guide. Any tool in the “Causing a Scene” section can help you flesh out the dramatic action of the scene. Try “Levels of Desire” to explore objectives, “Mother Conflict” to identify obstacles that make objectives hard to achieve, or “Why Did the Character Cross the Road?” to examine motivations.
