Dissecting the Plot
Read any screenplay or teleplay. Identify what the movie is about—the idea or theme. Next, identify the A, B, and C stories. Finally, outline each act by listing the named scenes in columns under the headings of “A story,” “B story,” and “C story.” Note the propelling action that begins each act, subsequent key plot points, and finally the cliffhanger, by using differentcolored highlighters. Note subtext when it is an important story point.
When you have completed the plot dissection exercise, you will have a template for all your future work at breaking down your directing assignments for story. By going through this process, you come to know the story intimately, so that when you are facing decisions during the shooting of that script, you will know exactly what to do. The story will live in your heart and mind; it will inhabit your subconscious in your sleep and your every waking moment. Directing is an involving and complex task but one that is ultimately exhilarating when you realize that you have elevated the story in bringing the script to the screen, no matter whether it’s in a theater multiplex, a living room TV, or a teenager’s iPod. Breaking down the script for story is your first step on a wonderful journey for both you and your audience.
Insider Info
How Do You Work with Directors (In Your Writer/Showrunner Capacity)?
Bringing the writer’s vision from page to screen is a complicated process. What starts out as a set of ideas in the mind of one writer gets translated into script and interpreted by many. The showrunner is ultimately responsible for ensuring the writer’s vision and the look and feel of the show, which comes alive on the screen with the help of the director. Making the show come alive requires a close working relationship and excellent communication between the parties. The director should feel welcome to give notes and feedback on the script in an effort to bring a unique vision to the final product.
What Do You Want Directors to Know About Breaking a Script Down for Story?
Directors should understand the process from the point of view of the writer. By the time a script reaches the final production draft, the writer has taken “notes” from the studio, network, showrunner, production staff, and the actors. Script changes are often made in favor of a production concern (budget, scheduling, advertiser demands) and not because they serve the story.
What is Your Advice to Young Directors?
The writer is your friend. The two of you want the same thing: to make a great episode of television. Understand what forces are pushing and pulling the writer. Ask questions. Challenge inconsistencies with respect, and know when it’s time to let it go.
Steve Blackman
Executive Producer
Private Practice
Vocabulary
“A” Story
AFI (American Film Institute)
“B” or “C” stories
antagonist
cliffhanger
climax
complications
conflict
continuity
dénouement
foreshadowing
guest star
hanging a lamp on it
inciting action
logline
new information
on the nose
procedural
protagonist
rising action
serial
series regular
showrunner
subtext
theme
tone meeting
1. “A Conversation with Sydney Pollack with Host Ben Wattenberg,” Think Tank, May 27, 2000. Transcript. Available at http://www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript896.html.
2. “A Conversation with Sydney Pollack with host Ben Wattenberg,” Think Tank, May 26, 2000. Transcript. Available at http://www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript896.html.
Chapter 2
Breaking Down the Script for Character
Once you have identified the story and its structure, you have more analysis to do, this time involving the characters of your story. Though the plot is the structure of every movie or television episode, it is the characters in that story who create the conflict. First, you need to find out who these characters are.
MAKING A COW CHART
You should start with a “COW chart” for each character. What is a COW chart? Mary Lou wants to give credit where it is due. The term was so named by the Innercity Filmmakers group of students she co-taught with actress Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) at the University of Southern California some summers ago. After Mary Lou and Yvette taught their master class about the relationship between the director and actor, they received thank-you notes from every single student. Nearly all of the notes mentioned how helpful it was to learn how to do a COW chart. Mary Lou and Yvette were truly bewildered until they received a photograph of themselves with the students some weeks later. Behind all of them was a blackboard on which Mary Lou had written three columns. The columns were labeled: C, O, and W. She had posed these questions:
What does the Character say about himself?
What do Others say about the character?
What does the Writer say about the character?
See Figure 2-1 for an example.
FIGURE 2-1 Mary Lou sets up her COW chart like this.
A very easy way to break down each character is to examine the script line by line and outline the information in these categories. You’ll find the information for the first two questions in the dialog and the last question in the stage directions, in which the writer describes the action or describes the state of the character physically and emotionally. The interesting thing you’ll notice is that the first two questions may not always lead to the truth because characters often lie about themselves, and others always have opinions that will color their truth about a character. The last question, on the other hand, nearly always leads to the truth—unless the writer has written a physical description of the character as merely a guide. For example, when Michael Hirst described Henry VIII in the stage directions of his recent Showtime miniseries, he may have said “The king is portly, as Holbein painted him long ago.” The physical attributes serve as only a guide because the talented Jonathan Rhys-Meyer was cast in the role; he is anything but portly and remained svelte for most of the series. We discuss this step more in the next chapter.
You will surmise things about the character based on what they say and actions they take.
After you have the basic COW information written down, you must interpret the data. Remember what we said about reading well? That skill will again be vital. Now you are going to read between the lines. You will surmise things about the character based on what they say and actions they take.
You are going to take each piece of data and form a picture in your mind about the character the writer has created. What makes this character different from all the others in the story? Is there a particular line that is quintessentially his and his alone? Why would no one else in the script ever utter those words or deliver that line that particular way at that particular time in that particular place?
EXPLORING ARCHETYPES, ESSENCE, AND IMAGERY
Sometimes it helps to conceive of a character as an archetype. This is a quick label to place on character that would define their inherent characteristics. For example, in an L.A. Times article about Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, the following paragraph used several archetypes to describe their previous career choices:
They’ve played geriatric astronauts and battle-scarred Secret Service agents, no-name cowboys and a San Francisco cop nicknamed “Dirty” … as well as ruthless pimps, kick-butt high school principals, a cool-under-fire president … and the almighty himself.1
You might use any label as a shorthand device to help you grasp the essence of a character. Entertainment Weekly described Robert Pattinson’s character in Eclipse as “like James Dean.”2 Perfect and precise. There is also the famous story about John Huston providing Kate Hepburn with the perfect label for her character in
The African Queen by referring to Rose Sayer as “an Eleanor Roosevelt.” But both Huston and Hepburn had to dig deeper to determine what that meant. What myriad qualities did “an Eleanor Roosevelt” entail? The danger, of course, is in focusing on the label almost as a nickname for the character while ignoring the character’s subtleties. But as a good director, you won’t let that happen!
Another shorthand device to help you pin down your characters is to start thinking of their imagery. When you picture a character in your imagination, what do you see? See that image as a title card, or poster, for a movie. If you were the advertising and marketing director for this character, what physicalities would you focus on? Is the character alone or in a crowd? Is it a silhouette or a color close-up? What expression is on her face? What accessories does she have? Think of Robert Downey, Jr.’s walking stick as Sherlock Holmes, or the cane that Hugh Laurie uses as Dr. House. How does costuming help? Think of Johnny Depp’s pirate attire or Meryl Streep’s Julia in a 1950s suit and pearls. Actors will say that when they put on the costume and pick up the prop, they become the character. Working from the exterior (costumes and props) to interior (feelings) is a literal way to approach a character, and the first costume fitting is an important part of an actor’s process. But actors generally are hired late in the schedule, just before production begins. Previous to that, during the prep period, the director has communicated her vision to the appropriate department heads, giving guidance about her character discovery prior to the actor’s arrival.
THINKING IN PICTURES
Your costume designer and prop master brings experience and creativity to the table; together, you will come up with proposals and gradually hone them into a concept as one idea leads to the next. One of the things you can do to spur your imagination is to create a vision board for each character. You can cut out pictures and words from magazines or other sources that illustrate an aspect of the character and provide a reference point for discussion. This board can be as simple as taped pictures on a file folder or as complex as a power point presentation. You will talk about color and style, as well as cultural and historical accuracy. You will refine your choices as you work with the material and gain deeper understanding. As always, it is the director’s overall vision that leads the way.
You will talk about color and style, as well as cultural and historical accuracy. You will refine your choices as you work with the material and gain deeper understanding. As always, it is the director’s overall vision that leads the way.
When you start thinking in pictures for your characters, this can have the effect of clarifying your thinking regarding the story. Bethany had that experience on a TV movie called Remembrance, which originated as a Danielle Steel novel. She described what she had in mind to the prop master, and—after a massive search through antique shops and flea markets—the perfect piece was found. The faux diamond pin that the main character wore was an example of the level of sophistication for the character, but more important, its image became the focal point and title card for the entire movie. It became the iconic image that communicated the essence of the story.
FINDING THE CHARACTER INTENTION
You will inevitably have some casting ideas at this point. Jot them down. Before you cement that image though, you need to really look at how the character behaves. We spoke of the story being a journey in Chapter 1; the character’s needs are the fuel for that trip. You know who the protagonist and antagonist are in the overall story. Now you have to figure out the purpose they serve in every scene. And you have to do this not only for the main characters, but also for every character, no matter how many lines of dialog he has. Every actor knows the phrase, “There are no small parts, only small players.” The director must embrace the truth of this statement.
You must ask yourself the question: “What does each character want to accomplish in the scene?” The best way to figure out the answer this question is to ask another one: “What does a character need from another character?” You should be able to express the answer to this question in active terms: Character A needs Character B to leave. Character A needs Character B to tell her he loves her. Character A needs Character B to give him the treasure. And ideally, if the scene is well-written, the characters will have diametrically opposed needs. Character B needs Character A to tell him to stay. Character B needs Character A to stop needing his love. Character B needs Character A to get out of his life without the treasure.
When you know what each character needs, then you will understand the conflict in the scene. And the basic truth of storytelling is this: more conflict, better scene.
If it’s difficult to determine what Character A’s needs are, go to Character B. That might be clearer. Then, when you have an idea of Character B’s needs, see if you can phrase Character A’s needs in an opposing way.
When you know what each character needs, then you will understand the conflict in the scene. And the basic truth of storytelling is this: more conflict, better scene. It’s a simple equation. The more conflict you show—while keeping the performances grounded in reality—the better the scene will be.
Another word for need is intention. This is an important word in an actor’s vocabulary; we talk more about it in Chapter 10 when we talk about directing the actor’s performance. You should be able to rate the need of each character. A simple way to do this is to ask yourself: “What will happen if the character does not achieve their intention? How big are the consequences?” A good example of those consequences is in an action movie: If the character cannot shoot his way out of a bank, he will die! Clearly, if the conflict is more important, it will be a more interesting scene than the one in which very little is at stake. We suggest rating the conflict in every scene on a scale of 1–10. If you get an important 10 scene as a director, you’re lucky. If you get a 1 scene, it will be your job as a director to make it seem more important. But we’ll get to that in a little bit.
What the Characters Need
Select a two-character scene from the appendix. Read it and determine three things:
1. What does Character A need?
2. What does Character B need?
3. What is the conflict of the scene and how important is it?
Remember to try to phrase each character’s needs as diametrically opposed to each other, if possible. Rate the conflict on a scale of 1–10. (A score of ten might be a scene in which the character dies if he does not get what he needs. A score of one might be a scene in which the character will be mildly annoyed if she does not get what she wants.)
EXPLORING THE CHARACTER OBSTACLES
You should also notice any obstacles to the characters getting what they want, other than the opposing character not wanting them to get it. Be assured that a good actor will come to the set having asked the same questions you asked: what does my character need to accomplish? They will have asked themselves a second question, to which you must know the answer also: “What is the obstacle to that intention?” Let’s take the example of the action movie. Our hero needs to shoot his way out of a bank. What’s the obstacle? The police are outside with guns drawn. Or perhaps, at this moment, the character is guilt-ridden, remembering that his grandma told him never to hurt anyone. A good writer makes sure that each character has two things: an intention and an obstacle to achieving that intention. Could that obstacle merely be the other character in the scene? Yes, but a more layered scene gives a character an obstacle that is separate from the other character and their intention. For example, in a love story, a character might have the intention of making a woman fall in love with him, but the obstacle might be that in his heart, he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough for her.
The director can help hide or mask exposition by distracting the viewer with conflict. Or the director can even give the character who lays the pipe an inner obstacle while saying the line. It’s a trick, but a handy one, and you can get a double bang for your buck: the obstacle or conflict will say something specific about the
character and you’ve made the writer look better by hiding the exposition.
There is one more area that is directly related to knowing the conflict of each scene. As you break down the script, note where there is a lot of pipe or exposition—an area where the writer has had to share a lot of information (lay the pipe) in a short amount of time so that the viewer will understand the story. This is often background information that doesn’t move the plot forward and is therefore not dynamic.
The director can help hide or mask exposition by distracting the viewer with conflict. Or the director can even give the character who lays the pipe an inner obstacle while saying the line. It’s a trick, but a handy one, and you can get a double bang for your buck: the obstacle or conflict will say something specific about the character and you’ve made the writer look better by hiding the exposition.
Another trick is to give the actor a physical task to complete while giving the exposition. During an episode of Weeds, Bethany had to cover some exposition about the backstory of a character’s father, which led to a physical fight between the characters played by Kevin Nealon and Hunter Parrish. In the lead-up to that fight, the two characters were engaged in painting the walls of their new marijuana dispensary. That activity disguised the exposition and added a literal texture to the scene.
What Is the Character’s Obstacle?
Use the same two-character scene from the appendix. Examine it and determine answers to the following questions:
Directors Tell the Story Page 3