SCREENWRITING FUNDAMENTALS

Submission screenplay is the one which we are going to produce. Differently, the shooting
screenplay is more like a manual, with technical aspects being mentioned inside a scene. In a
screenplay, we emphasize image or visuals; different from a play, where we focus on dialogue,
and from a novel, where we focus on the description. Keep in mind that usually, 1 page of
screenwriting equals 1 minute of a movie.

Before we begin, we must start imagining our characters, setting, time, and actions that will
take place in our story. This is the first creative process and it must be written in a brief way for
us to start.

With all that in mind, the second step is to imagine the budget we are going to need to
complete the project successfully.

Some keywords to start with

Suspense is what keeps the reader guessing what is going to happen next; it´s what keeps him
or her anxious.

Drama is the story in which someone wants something but other things keep in the way; the
art of creating obstacles.

Conflict is the object that is keeping someone from doing something.

Defining a character

Keep your characters as clean as possible in information about their past, giving minimal
information in their biography and adding this information as the story goes on. Try to limit
themselves to age, job, relationship, and money. Also, try to create reliable, reality-based
characters.

The Event

Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. We start writing from the end, that is the
Event. This is where everything resolves and we have a final event that happens. Try to
imagine that event in the headline of a newspaper, even if it is a subtle ending. The thing is: it
can´t be written with a passive verb, but with an active one. Instead of “one feels in love with
someone”, prefer “one declares oneself to someone”.

The Status Quo

Now it´s time to establish changes in the story. The rule is: everything that happens at the end
must be the opposite in the beginning. It´s not only about oppositions, though, it´s about
thinking of the event as an impossible thing for the current state of the beginning. Like King
Kong: it´s impossible to imagine the end from the beginning.
The Three Act Structure

This structure follows one desire. First, we introduce the desire, then we show an attempt to
achieve the desire, and finally, we decide if the desire was accomplished or not.

In act one, we introduce our protagonist, establish a status quo and change it, forcing the
protagonist to go on an adventure. It´s a ¼.

In act two, the adventure begins with our characters trying to get what they want, but many
obstacles get in the way, making the task difficult and full of conflict. Then it becomes clear to
the character what must be done to resolve the conflict. It´s a 2/4.

In act three, the characters engage in a final decisive confrontation. The result of this
confrontation brings our story´s event. It´s a ¼.

The Plot Twists

These are points that change the story´s direction. The two main plot twists are at the end of
act one and the end of act two. Nevertheless, we can add one at 1/3 of act one; that´s the
“routine killer”, changing the protagonist´s status quo. Also, we can add one in the middle of
act two, separating the story in half, but this one is subtle, only raising the stakes or marking a
reversal of fortune.

THE ACT ONE

At the beginning of act one, we must introduce the normal life of our characters, showing
common things in their life; that´s the status quo. Define the protagonist´s age and money.
Defining his or her job is easy, but if it´s not important to the story, we can show the person
being active in another way he or she always does. The same with relationships: show whom
our protagonist deals with, and how regularly.

The drama of our story always starts with the status quo, but it may be different from how our
movie starts. We may choose to start it with a prologue. It´s optional and may show a
flashback, a flash-forward, an intro, or something that our protagonist doesn´t know yet.

Superpower and weakness

To create suspense, we need our protagonist, and other relevant characters, to have a
“superpower” and a “weakness”. It´s important to establish them early on because when they
need to use them the audience will already have this previous knowledge. If you don´t want
your characters to have a unique talent, maybe he or she does a favor to someone and this
person, later on, returns the favor. The “weakness” may be an internal one, or an external, or
many, or a mix of both.

Desire

To create drama, our characters must have any desire: to change or to not change a reality.
They must have a lifelong desire, story desire, and scene desire.
The lifelong desire is something that he or she wants to accomplish someday, being not
urgent. It must be mentioned in some parts of in three acts. In the event, it must be clear or
subtle if it´s going to happen or not.

The story desire is the most important thing our protagonist wants to accomplish, leading us to
the event. It´s specific, urgent, and intangible. It´s revealed close to the end of act one and
becomes the number one goal of our story. Behind this desire, there is a vague desire, like
“being respected” or “being happy”, but we must make it concrete by asking “how”.

The scene desire is what every character wants to accomplish in every given scene in our
script. That´s because everything we do has a motivation behind or a purpose.

Supporting

Our protagonist is going to be surrounded by many people, and we must give life and
motivation to all of them. Try to introduce everyone during the first half of the move to have
time to develop everyone. Remember that a character may be introduced long before he or
she shows up.

The foil is our protagonist´s “best friend” or “sidekick”. He is usually the opposite and is always
asking “why don´t you just…” on behalf of the audience.

The love interest is who makes our protagonist more human, revealing his or her soft side. It
may be a lover, a friend, someone who needs help.

The antagonist is someone who thinks he or she is the protagonist. It´s our protagonist´s
obstacle, but not necessarily a villain. The entire movie may have many scene antagonists and
just one main story antagonist. From the antagonist´s point of view, the protagonist is the
obstacle.

The routine killer

After establishing our status quo, we destroy it with our first plot twist: the routine killer. It
must be unexpected by our protagonist, it must happen suddenly, and it can´t be easily
undone.

After that, we create the first conflict by creating a resistance to go on the adventure that
starts in act two. The conflict has reasons to stay and a solution to go.

Act one plot twist

This is the situation that puts our protagonist into action; it´s a decision or an unexpected
event that leads to the adventure in act two.

THE ACT TWO

The adventure

Now it’s time to be clear to your protagonist what is the mission, what he or she must
accomplish. It may include a change in the scenario, or atmosphere, or anything that shows
the start of the adventure. It usually happens in between 25 to 30 minutes.
Now it’s time to divide act two into 4 parts: add one plot thickener between act one plot twist
and the halfway point, and add a plot thickener between the halfway point and the act two
plot twist. That will create rhythm, like an oscillating wave.

The first plot thickener

 The plot thickener may be an obstacle. It can be physical or more subtle, another
character, or a feeling, or society. It must be hard enough to overcome, so you can
avoid the question “Why doesn’t he just...?”.

 The plot thickener may be a high stake. Make your character bet for something he or
she simply can’t lose anyway, his or her most important thing. Place it at constant risk.
What may raise it even further is the antagonist, an obstacle, or a weakness.

 The plot thickener may be a status change. The first type of status is universal, that is:
it is seen by the world, like age or job position, and it doesn’t change much. The
second one is the relational status, that is: it is seen in a close-up, like who is winning
and who is losing in a particular moment, and it can change even scene by scene.

 Finally, the plot thickener may be a reversal of fortune. It happens when everything is
going bad to a particular character, but suddenly something good happens, and vice
versa.

The halfway point

This is when we move our protagonist up or down. Also, this is our last chance to introduce a
new character. The halfway point is a big plot thickener that spins the story around in a
surprising and significant way. Remember: as in Back to the Future, our story must be full of
problems for our protagonist to solve. I mean it.

The second plot thickener

Here is where we change the mood of the halfway point. If that resulted in a good mood, this
is usually the most frustrating part for our protagonist, gathering all problems together by
generating a crisis. If that resulted in a bad mood, it’s time to give him or her some fresh air.

Addendum

Before we go straight into our last plot twist, it’s important to talk about character
development. In a 2 hour movie, it’s difficult for our audience to buy a deep development of a
character. It usually happens in a series, an anime, or in a game. But it is difficult to happen in a
single movie. It doesn’t mean, though, that our characters shouldn’t learn anything; they must.
By the way, our characters must show what they learned from their obstacles in use.

Act two plot twist

This is when our story starts to resolve. It has two basic variations:

 The victory moment – This is when everything is looking impossible, but a victory
comes from nowhere, giving the protagonist the chance to overcome his or her third
or second most difficult task.
  The great revelation – This one happens when our protagonist is sad but has a ‘click’
moment, and everything now makes sense. It may be on the contrary, though. Our
protagonist may think that everything is resolved now, but suddenly a ‘bad click’
happens that leads him or her to a final and ultimate obstacle.

THE ACT THREE

This last act is the resolution, and as in act two, it must show the audience some changes in
scenario, pace, or mood. It may start slowly, or with a significant change in time; or fast, with
the protagonist in a hurry to get to the objective. In short, act three must be a response to the
end of act two, just with significant contrast.

The climax

This is the big scene of our story and the crucial moment of courage, the decisive
confrontation. It doesn’t need to be just one ‘fight’, but it must be the greatest one or ones. In
my view, there must be a ladder from the first objective to the last, the climax. Bring here:

 Status change
 Reversal of fortune
 Protagonist’s superpower
 Protagonist’s weakness
 Things learned from experience
 High stakes

And finally, revise the difference it will bring from the status quo, at the beginning of our story,
and how it now created another status quo.

The ending

Now it’s time to decompress and let your audience watch how is the new status quo in the life
of our protagonist. If it takes place right after the event, then it’s the aftermath. If it takes place
sometime later, then it’s the epilogue. It must be emotionally satisfying, and we can do that in
different ways:

 Revisit our protagonist’s lifelong dream, and show if he or she achieved it, or not, or
it’s about to happen;
 Bring back an event or character that had a short appearance in the story because of
the hurry of the conflicts;
 Twist your event, making the audience think again about the end of the story.