I’m honored to have my original screenplay “Donnington” reviewed on the fantastic site “Scriptshadow,” which is run by the indomitable duo of Carson Reeves and Roger Balfour. I’m a big fan of the site and check in daily to see what the guys have written up. It’s the best way to keep up on what’s hot in the Hollywood spec market.
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Christopher Nolan and his co-screenwriter Jonathan Nolan used the Story Maps method to structure the screenplay of Inception. If you analyze the narrative, you will see every one of the elements of the “Basic” and “Full” Story Map.
The most important element in the Inception screenplay is the GOAL of the protagonist, COBB, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. It is so important to this particular story that it covers up potentially problematic story decisions and inhabits three of the nine main dramatic elements in the Basic Story Map…
8 WEEKS of firm DEADLINES and FEEDBACK on each week’s assignment from myself and your peers, using the simple yet powerful Story Maps method used by 95% of commercial movies.
Robert DeNiro and Bradley Cooper on the set of "The Dark Fields"
The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn was one of my favorite books I read on the job for Miramax Films back in the heyday of literary development and now it’s in production as a major feature film starring Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro (from Rogue Pictures and Universal Pictures). It’s been a long road for screenwriter/producer Leslie Dixon and she deserves a great big hit movie. Of course, she’s no stranger to hit movies with a resume that includes Hairspray, The Thomas Crown Affair and Mrs. Doubtfire.
But even for a hugely successful studio veteran, it was a struggle to get a green-light. It took her years to get this film made. And this is how she did it: when Miramax failed to green-light it, she took the material on her own and never gave up on it. There were several stops and starts, including a big break when Shia LaBeouf signed to star in the thriller [Variety: 4/13/08], but when Shia dropped out the film would have gone back into development hell if not for the tenacity of Leslie Dixon.
So, once again, I tell you…Don’t Give Up.
Harvey is great with ballsy, mouthy bitches like me… The deal was struck.
Since I only knew my side of the origin of this project — I was tasked to do two rounds of notes on the book, the first pre-publication and the second post-publication when there was a script treatment — I emailed Leslie Dixon in ’09 and asked her about her stint with Miramax. Here was her reply…
Million Dollar Baby is an incredibly focused story. Screenwriter Paul Haggis achieves what I call “story cohesion” by making sure that every element logically flows from strong main dramatic elements while generating conflict.
The first level of focus is on a crucial element in the “Basic” portion of my outline method which is called Story Maps: Theme.
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Congratulations and further good luck to my clients Joe Puterbaugh and Ron Cecchini and fellow The Writers’ Building member Stephen Hoover on making the semi- finals of the Silver Screenwriting Competition, the Top 20 which represents the top 2.5% out of more than 1,000 entries. Silver is quickly becoming one of the premier screenwriting contests so it’s fantastic validation for these hard-working writers and I’m proud to have worked with them.
Good luck to all the semi-finalists!
The Dark Knight is an expert example of building an active story around Theme, one of the main dramatic elements in the “Basic Story Map.”
Click to read more
In a movie, especially a superhero action thriller, there must be HIGH STAKES with SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. Life or death. Loyalty or betrayal. Love or Duty.
In The Dark Knight, the screenwriters wisely push the story to the extremes of the conflict. To find those extremes, they began with Bruce Wayne/Batman’s character and mythology and used those elements to push him into an impossible situation.
Here are three “essential truths” of Bruce Wayne/Batman:
The screenwriters will push Bruce into a position where he has only two options:
In other words: an impossible choice. This is what great drama is built upon.
The glue that holds it together is Theme.
The writers use theme to create Bruce’s actions and the trials that he will face in his fight to achieve his goal. This is why I call it the “controlling” theme, because it can be used to essentially control a character’s actions and dialogue and guide the plot of your story. It maintains your crucial “story focus” that holds a Reader’s attention.
The writers began by making a list of extreme actions (things that Bruce Wayne would normally never do) that would express this theme:
It then becomes the screenwriters’ job to get Bruce into a position where he would logically (within the heightened “world” of a Batman movie) perform these actions. Since a great script focuses on a Protagonist that drives the story with their active decisions, it’s not hard to think that the above list of actions formed the basic spine of the plot, the signpost story beats that make up the “Full Story Map.”
This theme also forces other characters to take irrational action, for example:
And it “controls” the goal of the Antagonist, The Joker:
Click on image to read excerpts
Ultimately, the screenwriters used their unique theme to construct an active story with multiple lines of action and a large ensemble of characters that fills 2 hours and 24 minutes of screen time.
It also seems likely that it was a theme relevant to the times; the post-9/11 “War on Terror” era in America and abroad. The theme had urgency. And it took a well-known character that we’ve seen portrayed in several films into new dramatic territory.
In closing, if you know what your story is about – the idea you want to explore or what you want to say – then the blank page will not seem so daunting.
Good luck and happy writing!
Dan Calvisi
P.S. For more detailed analysis and lessons from the pros, please see my Story Maps book series…
The E-Books Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay and Story Maps: 12 Great Screenplays include Full Story Map analyses of 20 hit movies, primarily from the last decade.
These successful films are great examples of professional screenwriting in many different genres and budget levels aimed at varied audiences. I stand by each title as a strong example of its genre and as a primer to learn the screenwriting craft at the level that you need to be: the “submission ready” tier that makes a good script into a GREAT script.
You know who your story is about and what it’s about and why you’re telling the story…but HOW are you going to tell it?
Think about the general way that you’re going to tell the story before you start to lay out the scene list. What’s your way into this story?
E.T. was crafted to be told from the perspective of a young boy, Elliot. We pretty much only see what he sees, know what he knows. The film even employs low angles to give the audience the perspective of a child.
The Usual Suspects is literally told to us by Kevin Spacey’s character, who spins a long-winded tale meant to answer the question “Who is Keyser Soze?” The answer is not revealed until the climax when we learn that he is Keyser Soze.
Citizen Kane uses the framing device of a reporter’s investigation, thus motivating a trip through the life of Charles Foster Kane, all in answer to the question “What is Rosebud?”
Slumdog Millionaire uses the questions in the quiz show as catalysts for flashbacks that show us Jamal’s journey from the slums to his lower-class job as a Chai server to his chance to win a million dollars on TV — these scenes show us how he gathered the information to answer the question at hand, a deft use of Cause & Effect. The quiz show becomes the spine of the story, providing the foundation for Jamal’s pursuit of his external and internal goals, which are, put simply, the money and the girl. It’s interesting to note that these two goals represent Jamal’s two worlds: the upper class world of money and the lower class world of danger and desperation.
These examples were the screenwriters’ chosen perspectives and central engines for the story. They could have chosen 100 other devices with which to tell these particular stories, but they chose these narrative devices, probably because they best exemplified the key elements in their Basic Story Map, like Goals, Theme and Arc.
Working, professional Reader Carson Reeves runs a site named “Script Shadow” — if you haven’t checked it out, you should do so now.
Script Shadow consistently publishes detailed reviews of spec scripts that have recently sold in Hollywood. Carson reads and reviews the Black List finalists (in which most of the top scoring scripts have been optioned, sold and/or put into production by the time of publication) and any spec that’s hot and garnered a six to seven figure sale or a greenlight. He also runs small contests (with the prize of a published review from him, not cash, which I like) and publishes articles about what goes into a great screenplay.
I’d like to highlight a particular post from May 2010, titled “Why Bad Scripts Sell and Why It Shouldn’t Matter To You,” which has a lot to say about bad scripts but what I love the most about it are the conclusions drawn about GOOD scripts. From the article…
So now you know Hollywood’s dirty little secret. Bad scripts do sell! But here’s the thing about all of the above examples: THEY DON’T APPLY TO YOU. You don’t have agents or managers or the luxury of pitching movies over lunch to people who can actually make them. The ONLY thing you have…is your screenplay. And that’s why YOUR screenplay DOES have to be great.
I always suggest opening with a compliment — the “kill ’em with kindness” approach — that way you don’t just sound like you want something from them but you’re here to contribute something to their obviously stellar output. Plus, everyone likes a little ego stroke, especially in Hollywood.
Open the letter by congratulating them on the success of their latest film and tell them how much you love one of their smaller, critically-acclaimed films. They will appreciate you noticing one of their lesser-known, more artistic efforts. I also suggest doing some research and pointing out an obscure fact about them and their work that could only have been known by someone who took the time to do their homework.
Dear Screenwriters,
I have been an Inktip member for years and I recommend it to every screenwriter I meet, coach or collaborate with. I know several writers who have found success by listing their scripts on Inktip.
In fact, Inktip is the only site outside of my own that I’ve ever endorsed for the simple reason that they have an incredible track record when it comes to getting films made.
I am proud to be selected by Inktip as one of their approved Consultants for the first annual Inktip Pitch Summit.
It’s the only pitch event that I’ve ever been involved with.
After emerging from my sub-basement cryo-chamber as my alter-ego Telematic Dan, I covered the red carpet premiere of Mad Men Season 4 in Hollywood, CA at the Mann Chinese Theater 6 (in the same complex as the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre).
For a round-up of the night, go here.
One moment that stuck out was when I asked actor Vincent Kartheiser (who plays advertising accounts man Peter Campbell on Mad Men) about what he looks for in a screenplay… his first response was…
Dear Screenwriter,
you gotta be willing to kill your puppies.
Here’s a quick rule that is deceptively simple, very powerful and utterly crucial. This is a rule none of us can escape. This applies to every scene in your script:
If a SCENE does not:
Louis C.K. in "Louie" on FX
I’ve hired a lot of writers… The more original, the more unique your stuff is, the better, I think, rather than trying to hit a certain place that’s going to get you employed. That usually just makes you like everybody else.
Continuing my coverage of FX Networks programming, I took part in a conference call interview with comedy veteran Louis C.K. who is premiering his new 30-minute comedy show “Louie” tonight.
Louis had some great insights into comedy writing and, for my money, elucidated the problem with network television and why it’s been getting its ass kicked by cable television for the past decade. Louis C.K.’s credits include Late Night with Conan O’Brien, “TV Funhouse” on Saturday Night Live, Lucky Louie on HBO and the cult hit movie Pootie Tang.
Premieres June 24, 2010/11:00 p.m. PDT
Dan Calvisi: You are listed as the only writer on IMDB. I don’t know if I missed some press materials where it lists other writers, but if that’s the case, what exactly is your writing process for writing these episodes?
Louis C.K. I am the only writer. That was a decision I made because I just wanted to write and make the show. Writers’ rooms, they kind of gravitate towards a certain place. There’s a need to perfect things in a writers’ room, and that can take a lot of fun out of a show sometimes. It’s a struggle. It depends on your personality. Some people love working with a writing staff. I had a great writing staff on Lucky Louie, but it sometimes felt like Congress or something. It’s like if you’re the president and you have the ability to just fire Congress, life would get kind of fun all of a sudden. Read more
A while back, I was sent an advance copy of Tales from the Script: 50 Hollywood Screenwriters Share Their Stories and I can report that is a fantastic book that gives you the inside word from the best, most influential and most legendary screenwriters in the business. If you’re working on your first screenplay, have written 50, or you’re just a movie buff, this is an invaluable glimpse into a segment of the industry that is absolutely CRUCIAL but rarely explored in such detail.
From Mike Binder to Nora Ephron to Steven E. de Souza to John August to Paul Schrader to Mick Garris to Frank Darabont to Larry Cohen to Josh Friedman… there’s bound to be a writer in here that changed YOUR life with their words that were translated into film. So don’t just worship the actors and directors; work a little harder and learn about the scribes that the pretty people need but will never give their due credit.
There’s a reason why that anti-gravity hallway effect in Inception looks so amazing.
It’s because that shit is real.
No CGI. It’s a giant rig that rotates 360 degrees and it must have cost a fortune. It’s another example of how and why Christopher Nolan is this generation’s James Cameron.
Like Cameron, Nolan insists on spending millions of the studio’s money on creating real, physical spectacles, sometimes for only a single shot.
This is why those aerial IMAX shots in The Dark Knight looked so amazing; those weren’t sets, they were real skyscrapers in Chicago and Hong Kong.
When we see Batman riding his batpod motorcycle…it’s real. They didn’t just hand off the scene to a bunch of animators.
A team of engineers spent months (and a batload of Warner Brothers’ cash) designing and building a new vehicle that a stuntman could actually drive.
Let’s be clear: they invented a vehicle. For..one scene? Yes, for one scene (okay, two and a half scenes, geeks).
Because this A-Team does not help people in trouble. They’re only out for revenge.
This A-Team did not serve time in the same military unit and then escape from a prison camp, thus bonding them together for life. In fact…
This A-Team doesn’t make any sense, whatsoever.
And it just got pitied like a fool by The Karate Kid, which made DOUBLE its gross in their mutual opening weekend.
At this time last year, “The Hangover” and “Up” were going gangbusters at the box-office — both ORIGINAL scripts.
But, wait, The Karate Kid is also a remake of a piece of campy 80s material. So why did it fare so much better?
I can give you the TOOLS — the professional screenwriting how to — to write a great movie screenplay or television script. My method is called Story Maps Screenwriting and it is the most simple, clear and effective roadmap to take you from your initial concept all the way to a polished draft that you can submit to agents, managers and producers in the movie industry in Hollywood. Read more
