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March E-Track Meeting
David Freeman on Erin Brockovich
(March 2001) |
If there is one thing to avoid at all cost in writing, it's boring your audience, even within a single scene, said Screenwriter-Producer-Script Consultant David Freeman at the network's March 17 educational track meeting. Freeman, who addressed a standing-room-only crowd at Universal Studios, illustrated the opposite during his detailed analysis of the screenplay for last year's hit film, Erin Brockovich.
The event was the fourth in which Freeman analyzed a hit script for network members. In previous programs, he examined Jerry Maguire, As Good as it Gets and American Beauty. He analyzed each of these scripts in terms of the specific techniques the writers used - consciously or unconsciously - to create the stories and emotional effects they did.
"To declare yourself a writer is to declare a willingness to work until you come up with truly interesting material on a page-by-page basis," Freeman said. Writers can learn a great deal from the Brockovich script by Susannah Grant, he stated. Using copies of the script and film clips, Freeman discussed a wide variety of techniques used by Grant to inject a sense of emotional layering, or depth, into scenes and plot.
In a city with many screenwriting teachers, Freeman differentiates himself by skipping all theory and focusing just on practical writing techniques. It's this approach, apparently, which has made his "Beyond Structure" one of the two most popular screenwriting classes in the country (he says about 120-130 people come to each workshop).
One phrase Freeman uses is, "Find the cliché -- then throw it away." The opening scene of Erin Brockovich has us dropping in on the middle of a job interview that she's blowing, despite her valiant efforts. Like the rest of the script, there's nothing cliché about the scene - and so it's spellbinding to watch. "When you read any scene in this script, think of how a lesser writer would have written it. Then see exactly what Susannah did to avoid cliches."
He explained the use of "character diamonds" to outline traits used to develop more interesting - and consistent - characters. These character traits help to define and regulate each character, and are exhibited by the characters on a regular basis throughout the story, through dialogue or action.
The title character in Erin Brockovich, for example, has a diamond that indicates that she is (1) in many ways "white trash," (2)strong and fearless, (3) brilliant, (4) loving and (5) overtly sexual. While stressing this wasn't an absolute "rule," he commented that four or five key traits are usually enough. After that, he said, a character is in danger of "turning to mush" and we often can't get a grip on who they are. It's also extremely important that the key traits make for a colorful mix. For instance, Erin Brockovich's brilliance (she can remember intimate details on all of those represented in the lawsuit against PG&E) certainly defied any cliché of what we typically might consider to be a white trash characteristic.
Freeman cautioned against developing character diamonds with a specific actor in mind - an action that often results in a writer creating a character who is much like "the last thing the actor did." Instead, he encouraged writers to use diamonds to create "something we've never seen before."
Erin's love interest was an example of a unique character, he said. At first glance, he appeared to be a stereotypical biker. But it became immediately apparent that there were no biker clichés used; the character turned out to be anything but the expected gruff, rude and sexist biker.
Freeman also discussed the use of "rooting interest" techniques to make the audience root for the character. Freeman has identified about 36 main ways to create rooting interest, and Erin had a number of them. For instance, her parking ticket, and car accident exhibited "undeserved misfortune" - a rooting interest technique. Her meal-skipping in a restaurant so her kids could enjoy it exhibited "self sacrifice" and "liking children" - two more rooting interest techniques.
He encouraged writers to break down their projects into smaller parts to avoid becoming overwhelmed. "Break the complexities into simplicities," he advised. "Separate everything into little pieces. The intimidation factor disappears if you work with little pieces. For instance, figure out their diamonds, then the rooting interest techniques you want to use, then the other five layers of characterization, etc. You can do multiple 'passes,' with a different focus for each pass."
He wrapped things up with some passionate advice for surviving in a world not always kind to writers. "It's only the artists that make life livable," he asserted. "It's immeasurable what artists do for this world. Never allow yourself to shrink in stature. Those who would treat you dismissively can't fathom the depth and breath of who you are."
"As artists," he said, "we don't just share new ways to view reality -- we actually create new experiences of reality that previously didn't exist. For instance, our ideas of romance were, to a large measure, created by the troubadour poets of the early Renaissance. And our current notions and experiences of "Christmas spirit" - and our entire way of celebrating Christmas itself -- were largely created by Charles Dickens through his famous novella, "A Christmas Carol," which swept through England and America when it was first published. "Writers help create realities that others later inhabit. It's an incredibly noble undertaking."
Even though his next "Beyond Structure" workshop won't be held until October 6-7, Freeman offers his "Once-A-Year Advanced Class" on June 2-3. Scriptwriters Network members with I.D. get a $50 discount. Anyone interested can get on his mailing list by calling (310) 394-6556 or visiting his website: http://www.beyondstructure.com
By the way, Freeman wanted to share some recent news with the Network. In his presentation he mentioned that he'd recently been doing some interesting work in new media and interactive storytelling. Shortly after his engagement with us, he got hired to co-write the screenplay for the lavish, big-budget videogame which will accompany the release of THE MATRIX II. While confidentiality agreements he's signed prevent him from speaking in specifics about the movie or the game, he did say the project is attempting to vastly push the envelope of interactive entertainment.
- Previous Network Meetings:
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