 |
|
| Movies Forum Index » Movie Production Forum » Script Tip: Dramatic Decisions... |
|
Page 1 of 1 |
|
| Author |
Message |
| wcmartell... |
 Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:33 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
DRAMATIC DECISIONS
by William C. Martell
Whether your script is a drama, a comedy, or a thriller there's always
a decision that must be made in order to solve the external (plot)
problem. If your protagonist doesn't have to make a decision that
alters the course of the story, your protagonist isn't INVOLVED in the
story. He's just along for the ride. Oddly enough, this is often a
problem with character oriented screenplays - the character doesn't
have a major decision to make in the course of the story... and that
makes them unimportant! You could substitute ANY character into the
story with the same exact outcome. The decision your protagonist makes
is the most important part of your screenplay - it reveals the theme.
The meaning of your script.
One of the big problems I often see in screenplays are "instant
decisions" - a major decision that will forever change the character
that is given absolutely no thought, no discussion, no importance. And
that means no drama. After the decision has been made there are no
ramifications or repercussions - as if no decision were made. Again,
this robs the script of drama... not to mention credibility. In real
life the big decisions in our lives are those moments that forever
change us. Those moments that haunt us.
The higher the emotional stakes in the decision, the better the
story... and the deeper you can explore the protagonist. The more
difficult the decision, the more dramatic the scene.. Instead of a
typical black hat/white hat Hollywood movie scenario, you want to
create decisions with real moral issues. Decision where both choices
are wrong and the protagonist must decide which is the lesser of two
evils. This becomes a major decision, a life altering event that's
loaded with drama. The audience has to think. They have to deal with
big questions, rather than just sit back and be entertained. And the
protagonist will probably regret his decision for the rest of his
life. You want to bring the conflict to a head, forcing your character
to make a tough decision and deal with gut wrenching emotions.
GONE BABY GONE will make you believe an Affleck can act (Casey, not
Ben). The screenplay, co-written by Ben (who also directed) and Aaron
Stockard from a great novel by Dennis Lehane (MYSTIC RIVER) is about
private eye Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) who shares a license with
his girlfriend Angela Gennaro. They specialize in missing persons -
"skip tracing" people who have run away from creditors or spouses or
other responsibilities. The Lehane novel is one in a series that has
taken private eye fiction to a new level - the stories are *very*
character oriented.
CAUTION: SPOILERS
A little girl named Amanda has been kidnaped from her working class
Boston duplex while her alcoholic mother was at a friend's watching
TV. She's four years old and impossibly cute. The media jumps in,
turning her into a major news story. But after three days, the police
have few leads. Amanda's Aunt Bea (Amy Madigan) who lives in the other
half of the duplex with her husband (the always great Titus Welliver)
approach Kenzie and Gennaro to "augment the police investigation".
Kenzie grew up in this neighborhood and knows everyone - people are
more likely to talk to him than the police.
Gennaro begs him not to take the case. She doesn't want to be the one
who finds the kid's body in a dumpster somewhere... and after three
days, odds are the kid is dead. No ransom note. No word from the
kidnapers. Mom's a drunk, isn't exactly the kind of person who can
afford to pay ransom. That means the kid was taken for some other
reason. Even if she's still alive, well, Gennaro doesn't want to be
the one who finds her.
Big decision. Dramatic decision. Do you want to be the one who finds a
dead 4 year old? Or would you rather tell the mother you aren't going
to help find her child?
This is a great dilemma - and that's what any good dramatic decision
will be - no right answer, only wrong ones.
Kenzie tells Gennaro he's got to at least go see the mother, he went
to high school with her, he knows her. This makes the decision more
difficult - he's going to make it face to face with the mother. Not in
his office - his safe territory. Not telling the Aunt that he's not
going to find the girl - that would be kind of second hand. Not on the
phone or any other "conflict condom" that puts a barrier between the
people involved. Kenzie and Gennaro go to the mother's duplex, where
she's in seclusion, and tell her to her face that they are not going
to help look for her kidnaped 4 year old child. How can anyone do
that?
Gennaro breaks, and tells the mother (Amy Ryan - Oscar level
performance) that they will help find her daughter. But when she says
it - she instantly regrets it. She wants to help, but knows this is a
story without a happy ending... and now she's part of it.
To add to the regret, the mother's side of the duplex is a hell hole.
Dirty dishes and garbage all over the place. Mom's with her loud, foul
mouthed best friend - both are drinking even though it's probably
before 9am. Do you really want to work for this drunk Springer-guest
of a mom? But they've committed - too late to turn back.
Morgan Freeman plays the head of Boston's special Child Abduction
division of the Police Department, and tells Kenzie and Gennaro that
the child is probably dead at this point. Freeman's character is a
driven man - his own child was abducted and murdered many years ago.
Kenzie wants police cooperation, Freeman doesn't want to give it to
him. There's a nice scene where Kenzie forces him to make the decision
that allows them access to the police files on the investigation - and
the two detectives working the case...
Detective Bressant (Ed Harris) and Poole (John Ashton) are just going
through the motions. They know the kid's dead, everybody does. Their
only lead - a pedophile and his two junky friends have a very tenuous
connection to the case. They are looking for the trio to question
them. But not looking too hard.
Kenzie gets snagged by the drunk mother, who begs him to find her
daughter and bring her home. She wants Kenzie to say it. He knows the
kid is probably dead, and just says he'll try... but she won't settle
for that. She pushes him, crying, until he promises to bring her child
home. This is a great dramatic scene, and it forces Kenzie to commit
to his the decision he now regrets making. But what else can he do?
Kenzie has used his neighborhood connections to uncover that the
mother wasn't at her friend's watching TV, she was at a local bar
getting hammered and doing drugs with her sleazy boyfriend. How
irresponsible can you get? Kenzie regrets getting involved. Regrets
his decision to help find the probably dead daughter.
Next he uncovers that the mother and her boyfriend were drug couriers
for a local drug kingpin.... and they ripped him off for $130,000.
Yikes! The girl was probably kidnaped by the drug kingpin to get his
money back. This makes the mother *responsible* for the kidnaping of
her own daughter. Kenzie's regrets grow... but maybe the kid is still
alive?
When Kenzie tells the mother what he knows... she shows no regret at
all. Sure they ripped off the drug lord for $130,000... but, you know,
he never figured out they took the money, so they're safe. What's
great about this story is that once Kenzie attaches himself to the
case, it begins this downward spiral where one thing after another
makes him wish he has never gotten involved, That he had never made
the initial decision.
DECISION AFTER DECISION
Kenzie decides to take this information to the two Detectives, even
though he doesn't trust them. They go with the mother to find the
money... and now the big decision is - trade the money for the little
girl? It's illegal as hell. It's giving money to a drug lord. It
requires trusting the two detectives not to run away with the $130k.
It requires trusting the drug lord to give them the girl. This is
making a deal with a whole bunch of devils... and Kenzie has to make a
big dramatic decision.
And bad things happen.
One of Kenzie's neighborhood connections - a drug dealer - grabs him
off the street and drives him to this really cruddy part of town (even
cruddier than Kenzie's neighborhood), where the pedophile's two drug
addict friends are hanging out. The drug dealer asks if Kenzie wants
to go in with him, while he delivers some drugs, and maybe search the
house for the pedophile and the kid? This is not a legal search. This
is basically *helping* this drug dealer make his delivery. Not an easy
decision... and the drug dealer wants Kenzie to carry his gun and be
his backup if the drug deal goes south. Which side of the law is
Kenzie on? There's a great line in the film where Kenzie says that
half of his friends are criminals... and the other half are cops. That
sums up the character - he's half cop half crook - and each side tugs
at him throughout the story. Kenzie grabs the gun and becomes the drug
dealer's back up in order to search the house.
The Pedophile is hidden in the apartment along with... well, maybe a
kid. The missing little girl or some other kid? Kenzie can't be sure.
A few decisions later, Kenzie is alone in the room with the pedophile
who has done an unspeakable act. Kenzie can call the police... but he
has a gun in his hand. This is a huge messy moral decision. In most
movies, characters just do something... in GONE BABY GONE characters
make very difficult decisions... then act... then regret the act for
the rest of the movie. Kenzie agonizes over what to do... then puts
the gun to the back of the pedophile's head and kills him in cold
blood... then regrets his action.
A great, meaty conversation between Kenzie and Detective Bressant
about morality. Kenzie was raised Catholic, and the priest says
killing is never justified. Bressant says sometimes you do bad things
for the right reason, and that's okay. Bressant then talks about
something from his past - the time he planted evidence on a suspect.
He thinks it was justified... but all of these years later it still
haunts him. He still worries that he made the wrong decision - and
that's why he's so adamant that he made the right one. This is a great
scene, because it's all about being stuck with whatever decision you
make... and living with the guilt and regret. You try to do the right
thing - you weigh one awful possibility against the other - you do
what seems best... and it never works out.
A good dramatic decision gives you three big meaty scenes: weighing
the decision, the decision itself, then living with the result of the
decision. Don't rush through the decisions, use them as big dramatic
scenes. Milk them for character moments. Allow the audience to think
about the decisions - what would they do? GONE BABY GONE gives all of
its characters one tough decision after another. It's a very subdued
film, but filled with big decisions that haunt characters for the rest
of their lives. The characters, locations, and situations show us an
authentic part of Boston we haven't really seen on film before. Ben
Affleck shows that he can direct a movie, and that his Oscar for co-
writing GOOD WILL HUNTING wasn't a fluke.
EVERY character in this film has to make a huge life altering
decision... then deal with the regrets from that decision.
The movie ends with a really tough decision - both answers are wrong.
Kenzie picks the one he thinks is less wrong... but is it? You know
he's going to spend the rest of his life wishing he'd picked the other
possibility. That this is the event that screws him up forever - he
will always regret this decision. Always. How often do you give your
character that big decision? How often do you give them scene after
scene where they must wrestle with their decisions? Deal with the
aftermath of their decisions? How do those decisions change the
story... and the character? A tough decision is a great way to create
big dramatic moments.
- Bill
For a FREE SCRIPT TIP (just like this sample) EVERY DAY:
http://www.ScriptSecrets.Net
Hey - Classic Screenwriting Classes on Audio CD on sale!
http://www.scriptsecrets.net/products/audio.htm
copyright 2009 by William C. Martell |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Thu Nov 26, 2009 8:23 am
|
|