by Jeff Kitchen
D. A man enamored of another man, who yields.
E. A woman enamored of a bull.
27. Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One
A. Discovery of a mother’s shame. Discovery of a father’s shame. Discovery of a daughter’s dishonor.
B. Discovery of dishonor in the family of one’s fiancée. Discovery that one’s wife has been violated before marriage, or since the marriage. Discovery that one’s wife has previously committed a fault. Discovery that one’s wife has formerly been a prostitute. Discovery that one’s mistress, formerly a prostitute, has returned to her old life. Discovery that one’s lover is a scoundrel, or that one’s mistress is a woman of bad character. The same discovery concerning one’s wife.
C. Duty of punishing a son who is a traitor to country. Duty of punishing a son condemned under a law which the father has made. Duty of punishing one’s mother to avenge one’s father.
28. Obstacles to Love
A. Marriage prevented by inequality of rank. Inequality of fortune an impediment to marriage.
B. Marriage prevented by enemies and contingent obstacles.
C. Marriage forbidden on account of the young woman’s previous betrothal to another.
D. A free union impeded by the opposition of relatives.
E. A free union impeded by the incompatibility of temper of the lovers.
29. An Enemy Loved
A. The loved one hated by kinsmen of the lover. The lover pursued by the brothers of his beloved. The lover hated by the family of his beloved. The beloved is an enemy of the party of the woman who loves him.
B. The beloved is the slayer of a kinsman of the woman who loves him.
30. Ambition
A. Ambition watched and guarded against by a kinsman, or by a person under obligation.
B. Rebellious ambition.
C. Ambition and covetousness heaping crime upon crime.
31. Conflict with a God
A. Struggle against a deity. Strife with the believers in a god.
B. Controversy with a deity. Punishment for contempt of a god. Punishment for pride before a god.
32. Mistaken Jealousy
A. The mistake originates in the suspicious mind of the jealous one. Mistaken jealousy aroused by fatal chance. Mistaken jealousy of a love which is purely platonic. Baseless jealousy aroused by malicious rumors.
B. Jealousy suggested by a traitor who is moved by hatred, or self-interest.
C. Reciprocal jealousy suggested to husband and wife by a rival.
33. Erroneous Judgment
A. False suspicion where faith is necessary. False suspicion of a mistress. False suspicion aroused by a misunderstood attitude of a loved one.
B. False suspicions drawn upon oneself to save a friend. They fall upon the innocent. The same case as above, but in which the innocent had a guilty intention, or believes himself guilty. A witness to the crime, in the interest of a loved one, lets accusation fall upon the innocent.
C. The accusation is allowed to fall upon an enemy. The error is provoked by an enemy.
D. False suspicion thrown by the real culprit upon one of his enemies. False suspicion thrown by the real culprit upon the second victim against whom he has plotted from the beginning.
34. Remorse
A. Remorse for an unknown crime. Remorse for a parricide. Remorse for an assassination.
B. Remorse for a fault of love. Remorse for an adultery.
35. Recovery of a Lost One
(There are no subheadings in this situation.)
36. Loss of Loved Ones
A. Witnessing the slaying of kinsmen while powerless to prevent it. Helping to bring misfortune upon one’s people through professional secrecy.
B. Divining the death of a loved one.
C. Learning of the death of a kinsman or ally.
D. Relapse into primitive baseness, through despair on learning of the death of a loved one.
Resist the temptation to translate this language literally. For instance, oracle could be any warning received in advance; parricide becomes any literal or figurative murder of a father figure. Interpret these subheadings with an open mind and a modern sensibility. Allow them to unleash new insights and possibilities for your script.
Working with the Subheadings on the Plot of Training Day
Here’s a sampling of the subheadings used to take the analysis of Training Day to a deeper level. Remember, while what follows is an analytical breakdown of an existing screenplay, our primary purpose here is the opposite: exploring a deeper knowledge of the 36 Dramatic Situations to help build an original script.
19. Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized
Failure to rescue an unrecognized son —Jake sees himself as a kind of son or heir to Alonzo, but Alonzo is willing to sacrifice him. When he fights the crackheads to save the girl from being raped, Alonzo doesn’t rescue him even though he’s in serious trouble. Alonzo doesn’t seem to have much connection to his actual son by Sara (Eva Mendes) either.
20. Self-sacrifice for an Ideal
Sacrifice of life for the sake of one’s word—Jake is willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of his word. Life sacrificed for the success of one’s people—Jake is willing to sacrifice his life so that his daughter might grow up in a world without Alonzo. Life sacrificed for the sake of one’s faith—Jake is also willing to sacrifice his life for the ideals of honor and justice. He really believes in these things. Sacrifice of well-being to duty—Jake is willing to risk his well-being in order to do his duty as a cop.
The ideal of “honor” sacrificed to the ideal of “faith” —Jake is told that a good undercover cop has to do without a policeman’s normal sense of honor, which has no place in the world of undercover narcotics work, and at first he has faith in what Alonzo is tells him.
22. All Sacrificed for a Passion
Religious vows of chastity broken for a passion — Alonzo shows Jake that all his simplistic ideas and noble vows about police work are not only useless but dangerous in undercover work. He gets Jake to do drugs and engage in armed robbery for the sake of achieving his passion: removing drug dealers from the street.
Respect for a priest destroyed — Jake totally loses respect for his “priest,” Alonzo.
A future ruined by passion — Alonzo ruins his future because of his various passions, which get him in deep trouble. Jake’s passion for justice comes very close to being his undoing.
Power ruined by passion — In the end, Alonzo’s power is completely stripped because he has gone too far.
Ruin of mind, health, and life — Jake almost goes down, and Alonzo does.
Ruin of fortunes, lives, and honors — A slight variation of the above.
Temptations destroying the sense of duty, of pity, etc. — The temptations facing Alonzo destroy his sense of duty to the law and to protect Jake, as well as his sense of pity for those whom the police should protect. Destruction of honor, fortune, and life by vice—Alonzo’s industrial-strength vices squeeze the life out of him, first morally and then physically.
24. Rivalry of Superior and Inferior
Rivalry of a mortal and an immortal — Alonzo is an “immortal” and Jake is a “mortal.”
Rivalry of a magician and an ordinary man — Alonzo is set as the magician and Jake is the ordinary man, but Alonzo learns that Jake is a magician in his own right, and praises his “magic eye.” This rivalry is also evident in the gang house when Jake is up against a circle of “magicians” (the gang members playing cards around the table) who all pull the wool over his eyes. On the DVD commentary, Antoine Fuqua describes them as “demons.”
Rivalry of conqueror and conquered — Alonzo is the conqueror for much of the script, but in the end it is he who is conquered. This situation also describes Alonzo’s relationship with the people on the street, whom he lords over, and who end up helping to destroy him.
Rivalry of a powerful person and an upstart — Jake is clearly the upstart and Alonzo the powerful
person.
Rivalry of two who are almost equal — Jake turns out to be a formidable opponent: He’s got the magic eye and he stays right with Alonzo the whole way through the ordeals of his training day.
You can see how useful the subheadings are in exploring the subtleties and nuances inherent in each of the thity-six main situations, opening up more and more possibilities with their suggestive nature.
USING THE 36 DRAMATIC SITUATIONS TO JUMP-START A NEW IDEA
This chapter has focused heavily on examining completed scripts through the lens of the 36 Dramatic Situations. Now let’s take a raw, absolutely undeveloped idea and apply some of these situations to get a script up and running. Remember, we will develop a full plot from scratch in Part Two of this book, so this is just an exercise.
Suppose that a jewel thief finds God and decides he has to return everything he ever stole to make amends. That’s it. Nothing else currently exists. This seems like a comedy because it’s a funny premise, but it could easily become a drama or thriller. This thief is going to break into homes and put back what he took, or leave a jewel of equal value. It seems obvious that he will get into some trouble and perhaps have some rather strange encounters, especially since he’s a radically different person than he used to be. We’re going to need a romantic interest, a woman, and also a villain, perhaps a cop who’s been after him forever.
So, what’s our process? Much of it is pure elbow grease—struggling with lots of possibilities—and the 36 Dramatic Situations are useful for that. So let’s take a quick tour through them and see if anything jumps out. At first glance we can see story possibilities arising out of Supplication, Deliverance, Crime Pursued by Vengeance, Pursuit, Disaster, Revolt, Daring Enterprise, Obtaining, Madness, Fatal Imprudence, All Sacrificed for a Passion, An Enemy Loved, Conflict with a God, Erroneous Judgment, Ambition, Self-sacrifice for an Ideal, Rivalry of Superior and Inferior, Crimes of Love, Remorse, and Recovery of a Lost One. This is by no means intended to be a comprehensive list—we’re just playing. Now, which of these situations really stand out in connection to our concept? Which are “radioactive” or evocative? Which suggest deep, dynamic story options? Which situations force you to dig into the possibilities and will not leave you alone? Disaster and Madness are interesting. Erroneous Judgment and Fatal Imprudence are intriguing, too, and Crime Pursued by Vengeance has promise. Let’s try these few out and see where they take us.
Disaster — This situation suggests a lot of unexpected and dangerous (but fun and crazy) episodes happening to the thief. He will obviously stumble onto something that throws his whole world into a tailspin. It goes with the territory: In this type of story, it makes sense that the worst possible things would happen to him. If he’s committing break-ins to replace stolen jewels, then he’s certainly asking for trouble no matter how great his intentions. People are never grateful for break-ins, even if their jewels are being returned. It’s a great way to get yourself shot, which brings up the next situation with the question: Has this guy got a few screws loose?
Madness — Like Disaster, this situation seems to fit the story. It implies not only that circumstances are insane, but also that our guy himself might be a bit nuts. Or maybe a lot nuts. Anybody who breaks into homes to return stolen items is probably not all there. Has he always been unhinged or is it a new development? On a scale of 1 to 10, how far gone is he? And how does this impact the story? How does it make it funnier, more unpredictable, goofier, more dangerous? Is he delusional? Neurotic? Flakey? A religious zealot? How intense is his drive to make amends? What is his rationale for all this? Does he get angry when someone tries to stop him returning something? Another strong option related to Madness is that our thief could be just plain dumb. Police say that despite the misconception of criminals as misguided geniuses, most are quite stupid—often stunningly so. That can make for some rich plot possibilities, spinning the story in another direction. Erroneous Judgment and Fatal Imprudence both hint that the jewel thief has gravely misjudged how easy it might be to return stolen items. Does he misread someone whom he encounters? Does he almost get himself killed? Does he stumble onto a scene that isn’t what it appears to be? Is he too curious or nosy to walk away from a tricky situation? Does a string of bad judgments get him into more and more trouble? Is he fatalistic about his mission, figuring that he may not survive, but still intent on carrying it out? What if someone is out to destroy him and exploits his new fixation to accomplish it? This suggests an enemy. We haven’t talked much about an antagonist yet, but we need one—a potent one. Who might it be? A cop? A fellow thief seeking to thwart him? Or maybe a partner who refuses to return the stuff? Possibly someone who catches him trying to return it?
Crime Pursued by Vengeance — This interesting situation suggests lots of possibilities, potentially steering the plot into an arena we haven’t considered yet. If somebody catches the thief trying to restore their jewels, wouldn’t they naturally be furious with him for robbing them in the first place? What if he has stolen a fabulous jewel that turns out to be cursed? Perhaps that’s what has led to his life falling apart, which led him to find God. What if the original owners don’t want the jewel back because of the curse? Maybe their luck changed for the better after it was stolen and it’s a hot potato they just don’t want. Crime Pursued by Vengeance also conjures up a thief racked by guilt—he’s been beating himself up for years and now has become the avenger of his own sins. On another, entirely different tack, what if he has been wrongly accused of new robberies that he isn’t doing? But by whom is he accused? Why? It might tie in with whoever turns out to be the villain of our story. Also, the cop who’s been after the thief for years now has an added opportunity to take him down.
Each of these ideas triggers dozens of other ideas. It is clear how the process of building a story out of a basic idea is dynamically enhanced by exposure to the 36 Dramatic Situations. Many of the options are obvious for a story like this, and you may have stumbled on them without the 36 Dramatic Situations. But this resource is a quick way to consider a large array of directions your story might take. You’re not a slave to the tool—it’s just a checklist of story prospects.
While exploring these situations, also think about how they affect and are affected by the character’s Dilemma. Given his new frame of mind, it’s obviously unacceptable for the thief not to return the jewels. But consider what obstacles would make it equally unacceptable to bring the jewels back. Within his own warped take on the world, he must do this in order to square things with his newfound God. The reasoning process that fixes this particular idea in his brain will be crucial to the story, because it drives everything. He should be short-circuiting between the total need to return things and the absolute impossibility of doing so. Exhilaration and panic. Courage and meltdown. A sense of righteousness versus a sense of desperation.
That’s going far enough with the 36 Dramatic Situations for this story example. This demonstration should give you a taste of using this tool from the ground up. We’ll return to it in Part Two of this book when we use all the Key Tools to develop a real script.
START USING THE 36 DRAMATIC SITUATIONS IN YOUR OWN SCRIPT
1. When starting from scratch with a raw idea, which of the thirty-six main situations trigger promising directions for a movie plot? How many different potential stories do you see in this premise? Allow the 36 Dramatic Situations to help you radically expand your story’s potential. If you’re not generating a lot of possibilities, then your idea may not be all that strong.
2. Make a set of 3 x 5 index cards with one situation per card, and lay them out on a table. Work with them. Play with them. Sort them for importance to your story; cluster them into combinations. For instance, see how Madness and Disaster work together. Throw Ambition into that group and watch how all three interact within the world of your protagonist or your antagonist or your story. Feel your way around. Let the situations talk to you. The cards allow you to experiment in a dynamic, movable wa
y.
3. Which situations are the most “radioactive” for your story? Which situations burn themselves into your brain and just won’t let go? The most intriguing ones are troublesome, suggestive, and insistent, like a piece of sand in an oyster. Irritate the organism—your story idea—and a pearl may result.
4. Use the situations metaphorically and poetically. If you take them too literally, then you’ll miss fully half their value.
5. Let the situations lead you deeper into the heart and soul of the story. Discover what the story is really about.
6. Play “free association” with the thirty-six situations and allow them to take you on a journey—one which might not be logical or even sensible, but which leads you into unexpected storytelling realms. Encourage these free-ranging quantum leaps of your imagination.
7. Are you exposed to ideas for plot development that might never have occurred to you without the 36 Dramatic Situations? The process of exploring this tool should open those floodgates.
8. Do the situations take you inside your characters to explore their desires, flaws, transformations, and motivations?
9. Use these situations to shatter cliché in your plot. Let them kick you out of your own storytelling ruts and into drastic new directions or innovative ways of thinking about a story.
10. Keep coming back to the 36 Dramatic Situations at later stages of developing your script. You’ll continually see fresh possibilities in the situations as your screenplay evolves.
The Enneagram:
Creating Deep, Complex,
and Distinct Characters
he Enneagram (pronounced ANY-a-gram) is a remarkable personality profiling system which asserts that there are nine distinct behavioral types. It is a deeply insightful tool that writers can use to create, develop, and dimensionalize characters. Mysterious in origin, the Enneagram is a mixture of ancient wisdom about human nature with cutting-edge modern psychology. Each of the nine types has specific and unique traits, behavior patterns, tendencies, passions, preferences, and motivations. Because screenwriting deals with creating multifaceted, vibrant characters and understanding what makes them tick, the Enneagram is a powerful resource for writers. It can be applied in much the same way as the 36 Dramatic Situations, except that it focuses solely on character work. The Enneagram is also helpful in differentiating your characters so that each has his or her own distinct personality, voice, and traits.