Screenwriting - Part 1

I am currently developing a 10-minute science fiction action movie. The structure of the script is a result of a longer study of various screenwriting and general storytelling techniques. My initial interest was sparked by an article on "The Memo That Started It All" written by Christopher Vogler, who used to be a story consultant for Walt Disney Pictures. In the memo he described twelve steps in a hero's journey.

More on Hero's Journey: http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm

The steps were based on the work of Joseph Campbell and his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), which is basically an analysis of myths throughout human history. He noticed a development of an interesting pattern – most of the myths have similar story points. From these he developed a series of steps that could be found in almost any hero story.

These story points were later summarized and simplified by Christopher Vogler, first in his famous memo, and later in a book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (2007). The steps have become very prominent in script writing and can be observed in most Hollywood blockbusters. Whenever we feel like we have already seen a movie, it is mostly because the writer was following the steps too closely.

My biggest influence was Blake Snyder's Save the Cat (2005), probably the most famous (and notorious) book on screenwriting. Blake Snyder has studied the twelve original steps and appropriated them for commercial script writing. What he developed is basically a check list, a formula for writing feature films.

More on Blake Snyder's Beats (BS2) http://timstout.wordpress.com/story-structure/blake-snyders-beat-sheet/

All three writers are building on top of each other, the only difference is, how well they are able to break it down to simple instructions. That is also one of the biggest criticisms of hero's journey. Although the theory is presented in steps, this is not a cookbook. Most predictable Hollywood films fall into the trap of following the hero's journey too closely, while it is supposed to server only as a pointer to better understand story structure. You cannot blame the tool for the master.

Snyder has been criticised for being too commercial, but he argues films are an industry and if one wants to do French art movies with innovative story structures, he is welcome to. Just do not expect the movie to be sold worldwide. Snyder tries to advocate a balance between commercial availability and artistic value of a script. A good script respect the steps, but understands them only as guidelines, not a content.

In addition to Campbell's work, Snyder's steps (also called beats) are based on the classical principle of the three-act structure. Below is an comparison, or better said, an aggregation of all the methods mentions above. And some additional. As we can see, they work together perfectly.

Source: http://ingridsnotes.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/the-hidden-agenda-of-classic-design-and-the-heros-journey/

BEATS

One of the first things when writing the script was outlining the film with Snyder's beats. These were originally designed for a 120-minute feature film, but I am experimenting with adapting them to a 10-minute short film. The notes below probably do not make sense without context, so after them, I am also posting the last draft.

Opening image	memory in the eye + gun disappears + fight (*in media res)
Theme stated	doesn't like sharing with her friends (chronological start)
The Set-up	kidnapping, setting up the transfer
Catalyst	gets loose
Debate	problem with the transfer, steals a gun, hides it, figuring out things are disappearing
Break into Two	breaks out from the house and starts running
B story	trying to use her phone to get help, calling police, getting a strange/robotic response
Fun and games	things disappearing, running through the city, running  to another house and starting to fight the captors (*part from the beginning)
Midpoint	false victory over captors
Bad Guys Close In	everything starts disappearing, even people and the room she's in
All is Lost	everything disappears, she finds herself in a forest
Dark Night of the Soul	finds a gun, considers suicide, creates a memory by recording a goodbye for her friends, irony "remember to share, like and subscribe" closes eyes, holds her breath, exhales, shoots
Break into Three	the gun is actually her hand, two "friends" from the beginning appear
Finale	she attacks them, but they are actually programs and she is living inside a VR that requires sharing to work, they reset her
Final image	blinking light in eye

LOGLINE

It is year 2053. Sharing personal memories has become a new form of entertainment. Memory swappers kidnap a woman, who does not like sharing memories. After a daring escape, reality around her starts changing. She does not have long to figure out what is happening to her and why is she chased by these kidnappers.

SCRIPT

Here is the current draft: http://atepina.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/atepina_script_v14.pdf

REFERENCES

Campbell, J. (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Novato, CA: New World Library.

Snyder, B. (2005). Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions.

Vogler, C. (2007). The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City, CA : Michael Wiese Productions.