Screenwriting - Part 2

Here is the current draft: http://atepina.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/atepina_script_v20.pdf

EXPOSITION

Storytelling structure was not the only thing I was trying out with this project. I wanted to do a science fiction movie and those usually require quite a lot of exposition. One has to present the background information about this "new" future one way or another. There are many methods to do this - most famous are, for example, Star Wars' floating letter or the prologue of Lord of the Rings.

Another method would be a conversation between two characters, like the introduction of Jack Sparrow in The Pirates of the Caribbean. However, this can quickly become a problem called "As you know, Bob", which has the characters stating information that is obvious to the people living in the constructed really of the movie. That can be remedied with some clever writing or by introducing a rookie character and explaining him how things work. The audience can take the same journey as the rookie.

On the other hand, films are a visual medium and the most effective way of presenting content is actually showing it. Instead of two siblings calling each other brother and sister, one can show their family portrait in the beginning of the scene and the audience will fill in the blanks. However, this does not always work, especially when a lot of information has to be presented in short time. Like in a science fiction movie. Sometimes it is just better to say it straight and get on with the story.

There is one other method, described in Save the Cat (Snyder, 2005). It is called "the pope in the pool" and it treats exposition dialog like any other, but gives the characters that provide the info, something interesting to do. In the original example, the Pope goes for a swim while receiving some important plot information. The viewer starts the scene by being surprised by the Pope in a speedo, then thinking if the Vatican even has a pool and then the scene is probably finished. It is diverting attention from clumsy dialog. That is the method I choose for the script. Therefore, during scene when a lot of information is explained, I gave the characters something to do. Like have a fistfight while the villains are teleporting the characters from location to location.

CHANGE

One of the key properties of a good script is change. Schechner (1981: 83) calls it transformation. It is the way, the characters change during the performance. Snyder (2005) marks every single scene with "+/-", which designates a requirement for every scene to have the character change from one emotional state to another. This works very well in a feature film, because it is long enough to have the characters change their perspective in every scene, but short movies can be too short for such character development. They can be as long as one regular scene from a feature. It is considered a success if the screenwriter manages to develop the character during a short movie. Moreover, not many directors area able to completely redefine a character inside the limited structure of a short film.

I found myself with the same problems, but I tried to change the protagonist emotional state from scene to scene – from peace to fear, then to doubt, and anger and happiness and resignation and finally rage that cools down after being completely helpless in the last scene. I was also careful the main character grew as a person during the film: from refusing to share personal data, to seeing that some moments are worth sharing. And then completely breaking down the message by exposing our primal urge to share (the quality of the break-down could be argued). Change is crucial to a good movie.

PACING

Short movies frequently fall into the trap of becoming too flat as far as pacing is considered. If there is no change in tone, they become boring. One of the most important pacing tools is tempo and tempo in film is defined by editing. This can be shorter or longer clips or faster and slower movement inside shots. An action scene can be exciting by having a lot of fast shots or having one long take with a lot of movement by the actors. However, faster tempo does not necessarily mean a more exciting movie. Think of a music video that is composed only from fragments of shots. After watching for some time, one gets used to the gimmick and it loses its power. "If the same pace is maintained throughout, it will start to feel slower and slower. In other words, it is the change in tempo that we feel, not the tempo itself." (Lumet, 1995) In addition to other production plans, I also wrote down how the tempo changes from scene to scene (and sometimes even during a scene). I make sure the faster and slower tempo are interchanging as much as possible, with sections of rising and falling in between.

SCENE	TEMPO
INT. Abandoned room – day	Fast
EXT. Istanbul streets – day	Fast
EXT. Scenic Istanbul location – day	Slow
INT. Room – day	Slow
EXT. Grand bazaar – Day	Fast
EXT. Istanbul streets – day	Slow
INT. Abandoned House - day	Rising
INT. Abandoned room - day	Fast + Slow end
EXT. Forest – day	Slow
EXT. Different locations – day	Fast
INT. Computer commenting Interface – day	Rising

MONTAGE

I plan to achieve the rising and falling of tempo with editing techniques describer by Sergei Eisenstein in his essay Methods of montage. There are five core montage techniques: metric, rhythmic, tonal, overtonal and intellectual. I wrote my diploma dissertation and produced my last movie on them. In my current movie, I will only be using metric and rhythmic montage, the former based on the absolute length of the shots and the latter based on rhythm of movement inside the shots. Both techniques build tension by having shorter and shorter shots. The other three will probably not be used, since I will also be using Hollywood's classical editing, which tries to enforce a spatial and temporal continuity. I will explain what that can be important for an action movie in one of the future posts.

SPECIAL MOMENTS

While preparing for the movie I have seen to very distinct French movies. On one hand, Haneke's Amour (2012) has been using painfully long takes, which work beautifully with the emotional tone of the movie. On the other hand, Godard's Breathless (1960) is extremely economic and show only what is crucial, paying attention to only the things that add to the story. Both styles have inspired me and I will use them in my movie. Haneke's long takes for emotional scenes and Godard's merciless cuts for the action sequences. This goes somewhat in the face of continuity montage, but I believe they can be used interchangeably and not confuse the audience.

This actually goes back to Raskin (2006) of whom I have already written about. He advises short movies to have a majority of tightly trimmed fast shots and a minority of emphasized emotional moments with slower editing. Here is a list of moments in the script that carry an emotional impact:

• before reply to the question on sharing her memories
• while aiming at kidnappers
• before deciding to get away from the dead-end
• deciding to attach without a gun
• looking at the gun
• before shooting herself.

These moments are there to give the audience a chance to breathe and to imagine what the character is thinking. Which is probably emotionally richer than articulating it by saying or showing something. The audience has to be trusted to fill in the gaps.

REFERENCES

Godard, J. L. (director). (1960). Breathless [film]. France: Les Films Impéria, Les Productions Georges de Beauregard, Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC).

Haneke, M.  (director). (2012). Amour [film]. France and Germany: Les Films du Losange, X-Filme Creative Pool, Wega Film, France 3 Cinéma, ARD Degeto Film, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).

Lumet, S. (1996). Making Movies. New York: Vintage.

Raskin, R. (2003). On pacing in the short fiction film. Journal of Media Practices, volume 7, number 2, 159-160, Intellect Ltd.

Schechner, R. (1981). Performers and Spectators Transported and Transformed. Kenyon Review , 83.

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