Writing for the Green Light

by Scott Kirkpatrick

  So as long as you stay true to human nature, you pretty much have a free ticket to conceive of the biggest monster or most horrifying science experiment going awry, right? Not so fast… . Although this genre allows you a great deal of creative freedom, there are a few restrictions we’ll need to apply to your spec script for it to gain traction. Here are the tips on making your creature feature spec script stand out amongst all the others already littering the Hollywood system:

  Make your hero a heroine… . That’s right, make your main character a woman. If this is simply impossible for you to do, then at bare minimum your female lead needs to be just as sharp and gutsy as her male counter-part (which means, you’ll need to give her plenty of great “told-ya-so” one liners to her male partner throughout). Let’s stick with our example of Alien: Sigourney Weaver’s character Ripley could just as easily have been a male, but it makes the film stand out more that the gender assumption is breached and the secondary officer (a female, meaning the secondary gender) was the one who ultimately defeats the creature and survives. If you use a male lead as the hero, then the male/female dynamic needs to work throughout the film, meaning they must be partners and fully work together and depend upon one another to defeat their creature and survive. For a fun example, look at Tremors (1990): Kevin Bacon’s character Valentine is a very linear, blue collar male character, but his female counterpart Rhonda, played by Finn Carter, (the brains) is the one who brings all the valuable data to the table… . They both survived because they worked together, sharing information and depending upon one another, but it was the female character that made it happen. If your hero is a female, there are no constraints on relationships… . If your hero is a male, then there must be some kind of sexual tension/attraction each has for one another. In Outbreak, the male/female leads were a divorced couple forced to work together again; in Tremors, they were polar-opposite characters, but each embodied exactly what the other truly needed in the opposite sex. (Need I remind you that both Alien and Tremors spawned countless sequels, spin-offs, and rip-offs?)

  Isolate your characters. This doesn’t mean your film cannot take place aboard a space station or on some distant moon (ideally it shouldn’t, both sound as if they might require expensive set design or effects), but you should limit the scope of the film by isolating its characters in an out-of-the-way location. In short, don’t make your creature attack New York City, requiring hundreds of thousands of people to be running amok; instead, limit it to a mountainside or some other locked-away place. In Tremors, the film takes place in a dinky Nevada town with a population of seven. Getting your characters off the grid keeps things centralized in terms of location, making it easier to shoot; it keeps the characters limited (fewer actors means less money); and it affords you as a writer more opportunities to keep conflict and tension high. In a city, your cell phone always works and there’s always a gas station nearby. When you’re out in the middle of nowhere, signals drop and a low tank of gas suddenly becomes a crisis. It’s an old trick that still works today. It saves money, time, and offers you simpler options to keep your characters in constant jeopardy. Everybody wins. (Great locations include the woods, a lakeside, a small mountain town, swamps, the desert… . Any place you wouldn’t want your car to breakdown in.)

  Keep the creature primal. The creature can really be anything your imagination can come up with—the crazier the better—but you need to keep them biologically possible—meaning reasonable that they could logically exist. Even though I’ve referenced Outbreak above, for the purposes of your spec script, avoid viruses or other bacteria. Instead, go with something like the giant worms from Tremors, an undiscovered lake monster, a massive man-eating killer snake that has developed claws while evolving for centuries in the Louisiana swamps—whatever you can think of, and again, the crazier the better. Don’t make it a swarm of bees or school of killer fish … limit the numbers to an individual creature, or at most two or three. Also, keeping your creature natural and primal, makes the creature’s instinct to hunt and kill much more plausible; since our creature is some undiscovered species, it places our hero(es) into more conflict, since no one will believe their stories (forcing them to act alone). Although the creature could be alien in nature, it’s best to keep it an organic creature from mother earth. You could stick to basics, like a bear or a lion, but generally these read as pretty boring… . Even though The Grey (2011) starring Liam Neeson was a very solid wolf “creature feature,” it’s not as imaginative as the types of creature features Indie Hollywood is on the hunt for. Push the envelope to crank up the fun with an undiscovered man-eating [fill-in-the-blank]. (No zombies!)

  The first ten pages of the script must show the creature attacking innocent static characters… . We need to know this creature is out there and witness the deadly power it can inflict upon humans. And we need an inciting incident that lets our readers, and our viewing audience, know what type of film we’re in for—and to keep them hooked through the boring exposition that must inevitably follow as we introduce our main characters and so on. We’ll have tips on how to make these exposition style chunks more entertaining for readers and viewers in Chapter Three.

  Keep it PG-13! If you want to impress people with your spec script, then show Hollywood you’re capable of delivering what it needs. If a studio or production team wants to make your film an “R,” they can easily drop a few extra f-bombs on set and add some nudity… . But it’s much harder to take an R-rated script and tone it down to PG-13, which is the real target for creature features: These films perform best with the teenaged audience or as TV movies … PG-13 scripts allow this to feel possible, R-rated scripts make it seem like too much work. You don’t have to skimp on the blood and guts … they can be adjusted as needed, but avoid profane language and cut the sex scenes (for now).

  The real enemy is “The Man”… . Whether police, military, or any other organized group existing to protect us, they actually represent enemies of our hero(es) in the creature feature. These films are about acting alone to accomplish the goal of survival. When our hero(es) first goes to the authorities, seeking help, he or she is generally laughed out of the room. Even if they offer limited evidence, they are rejected assistance and forced on their own. (Or, in other circumstance, a police or military force is aware of the danger and purposely quarantines our hero(es) into a situation to destroy the creature, or to even protect the creature, even if it means endangering innocents). In order to successfully defeat this creature, our hero(es) must act completely solo (with their partner if required), after having exhausted the option of going to the normal protective routes. You do not have to introduce a police or military force, but you must have our hero(es) going after this thing on their own terms. (You can always have a “good” sheriff or similar who’s on the side of your hero, but they too must encounter conflict with other enforcement elements.)

  If possible, add a family dynamic. Who’s to say we only have to focus on adults with this one? It could be a brother/sister team that discover a creature and their parents are the ones not believing them… . Or perhaps our film is about a dysfunctional family on a camping trip attempting to reunite, only to see their plans go through the ringer when they find themselves stalked by the creature. They now must work together to defeat this thing, in turn repairing all those broken bonds. The family dynamic is a tool rarely seen in spec scripts, but it’s one that really piques the interest of agents, producers, and development executives because they can be marketed so well on the back end. Companies I’ve worked for have done great business on family-centric creature features (note, these should still be PG-13 films; just because a family is involved doesn’t mean it has to be suitable for younger audiences).

  Our hero(es) get the recognition at the end, only by now they don’t want it. Perhaps our hero is a hopeful college professor seeking full tenure, but his or her belief in the mythic (fill-in-the-blank) creature has held them back as the laughingstock… . Until they discover and fully defea
t it. The protective forces (police/military) give their subtle apologies, and our hero(es) are granted full recognition from parties they previously sought it from, only now they don’t care. They have changed and move on. If the creature attack and defeat happened without the awareness of others, then our hero(es) keep it to themselves, as something they’ll never share with outsiders. In short, our hero(es) learned something very amazing about their own individual abilities when the going got tough… . But they also learned something very ugly about society in the process. They walk away, better off on their own.

  Creature features are simply fun movies. They’re easy to watch and simple to understand. These are true man-versus-nature conflict films at their heart and our heroes’ battle is one we wish we could embark upon. The only trick is to fully immerse yourself into this magical world and completely flesh out each character into living, breathing people. As long as all your characters are well-created and three-dimensional (we’ll have tricks on how to do this in Chapter Three) and their actions/behaviors make logical sense, the introduction of the creature will simply ignite everything you need.

  Here are some real creature features to have a look at (and possibly a laugh): Xtinction: Predator X (2010), Sharknado (2013), Arachnoquake (2012), and Dragon Wasps (2012)… . But don’t disregard classics like The Blob (1958) or It Came From Outer Space (1953), both of which were indies.

  Gold-Mine Genre Type #5: The Aging Name-Actor Comeback Action Film

  When people first think of action films, they’re thinking major studio productions with ridiculous budgets (such as Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay films). But what’s often overlooked is the humungous straight-to-home- entertainment division of the action genre—and that’s what we’ll focus on here.

  Studios release only a handful of action titles each year, yet the home entertainment market releases hundreds (if not thousands)—and they’re in constant need of a very specified type of action film, one that affords them the opportunity to use an aged yet known name-actor as the lead (which allows them to create a great looking poster and presell all while offering a role to a name-actor who would be inclined to taking the part even for limited money), and that offers high-intensity action that can be delivered on a budget. Thus, the aged name-actor comeback action film is our fifth gold-mine genre type.

  Let’s consider Chuck Norris for a moment. What probably first comes to mind are all the recent “Chuck Norris Facts” you may have heard, of which I have many favorites (e.g. “Chuck Norris does not sleep, he waits”). But the reason all these manlier-than-man jokes exist about Norris are because of the string of straight-to-video titles he starred in during the 1980s and 1990s. He even had a guest cameo in The Expendables 2 (2012) cracking fun of these old films. He was the ultimate homegrown, salt of the earth, action hero. A typical Chuck Norris film would begin with a terrorist attack or some kidnapping… . It would be quickly surmised that America’s most elite soldiers (Delta Force and Navy Seals) would be unable to accomplish the mission (owing to high end politics, or some other issue), so top brass military officials would call their best man, who would conveniently be played by Chuck Norris. He would drop whatever he was doing and go suit up. Twenty-four hours later he’d be dropped into some hot zone in the world, ready to kick some ass and save America. Regardless of whether you’ve seen them, quickly consider the imagery each of the following Chuck Norris titles put into your head: Forced Vengeance (1982), Invasion U.S.A. (1985), or Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990)… . That’s the style and tone we’re going for here.

  A good example of a recent aged name-actor who has proven very successful in this category is Dolph Lundgren… . But also (still) holding strong worldwide is Jean Claude Van Damme. (Not that you should write your spec script assuming either of these actors would be the lead, but definitely check out their more recent films to give yourself a good sense of genre direction.)

  Just as with the woman-in-peril thriller, this male-skewed action film has three particular storylines that work best when received as a spec script. No one storyline is better than the other, so again, it’s really more about what clicks with you and keeps the innovative and creative juices flowing:

  Terrorism—The subject of terrorism offers a great opportunity for a “bad guy” character(s) who has an unswerving goal of inflicting harm and death upon innocent people. But get off the stereotype couch and don’t go for Muslim extremism. Make the terrorist—and their motivation—unique. If you go for the current hot-button terror topic, you risk way too much (and really limit your scope). Lay off the politics and religion. Make it a terrorist attack for revenge or simply selfish reasons… . A madman threatens to blow up a grounded plane because he wants money and he’ll execute one passenger each hour the money isn’t delivered… . Or perhaps that madman is using the same grounded plane only he’s seeking asylum. It’s an open playing field.

  Kidnapping/Hostage-Taking—This is always a classic scenario; a high-ranking official (or other high value target) is kidnapped. This isn’t always done for money—sometimes it’s for revenge, or just to gain some leverage. The victim you choose plays a major role in how the rest of the film will play out; if your victim is the ambassador to a foreign country, that’s one set of rules … if your victim is the daughter or child of the same ambassador, that’s another altogether. Not to push the gender stereotype here, but a damsel in distress (especially a young girl) generally adds more tension, but a high-ranking male can add an extra edge depending on what he represents in the world.

  Everyday Hero—This is a real gem of this genre because it offers the greatest level of fantasy for its audience. Take Black Dog (1998), where Patrick Swayze, an ex-con gone straight, takes a trucking job only to find out he’s been misled and he’s driving a truckload of illegal weapons and must fend off some rough characters in order to do the right thing; or Walking Tall (2004), where a U.S. soldier returns home only to find his town overrun by drugs and corruption. Both films offer high-stakes action, but our hero is an everyday man who simply went to work that particular morning having no idea what would happen upon his arrival. They’re good-natured yet flawed characters, with real world problems… . But they’ve got a job to do—and with the love of their family deep in their hearts, they’re willing to go that extra step to put their world back into order.

  All of these are great choices; many of these films use elements from all three types within the same movie—but one “type” is always the driver over the others. Whichever scenario you choose, your first task is to unbalance the storyline. What this means is that the bad guys must initiate the first move (meaning the bad guys should be in control and hold all the leverage) within the first act of the movie… . Ideally, within the first ten to fifteen minutes if possible.

  This unbalancing can (and probably should, for certain storylines) happen before we’ve even been introduced to our main character, who will be our comeback star. However, once the bad guys are in control, we’re led to your next major writing challenge: you need to make sure there’s a reason why your hero is the best suited for the job (meaning you need to really think through why any other option wouldn’t be a better alternative). If your hero is a police officer, why does he need to go solo and not with a force? If your hero is a former Delta sniper, why must he go and not a newer (fresher) individual? What is it about this particular situation that calls upon the unique traits of your aged and worn character?

  Let’s use an example, and for fun we’ll go with a classic … Escape from New York (1981), a wonderful example of a kidnapping/hostage-taking name-actor comeback action film (that was a mouthful). Yes, I know Kurt Russell wasn’t coming back from anything in his career when he starred in this, but the script on which this film was based would absolutely classify in this genre type, including budget level.

  The film takes place way in the future (1997), at a time when the crime rate has risen to such a staggering rate that the U.S. government has simply sectioned off
the entire island of Manhattan and transformed it into a maximum security prison. The film is quickly unbalanced after terrorists (from a worker’s party, not a Muslim extremist group) hijack Air Force One; with the president on board, they purposely crash the plane into a building in lower Manhattan. The president survives the crash via an escape pod, but is now being held by New York inmates, who will use the president’s life in exchange for their freedom. To make a bad situation worse, the president has with him a tape-recorded speech about ending a high-stakes nuclear situation with foreign nations… . To protect the United States, the president must be saved and the tape recording must be delivered to an international peacekeeping summit within twenty-four hours. That is an extremely unique high stakes situation!

  Why must a different kind of hero move in for the objective? Upon first notification of the president’s location, a military dispatch is sent into the city to recover him, at which point they’re met by one of the inmates, holding a bloodied rag with the president’s severed finger (presidential ring and all) wrapped up in it; the inmate presents a stern warning: if they don’t leave immediately or if they attempt to come back, the president dies. Our team needs someone on the inside to accomplish the objective. Enter Kurt Russell, as “Snake” Pliskin. He’s former Delta Force but has turned his back on the country he once swore to defend; after unsuccessfully committing a bank robbery, he’s been issued a life sentence in Manhattan’s prison. He’s perfect. He can covertly enter the prison and save the president without raising eyebrows.