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May E-Track
by Claire Soares
(May 2003) |
Jeff Kitchen Spotlights Classic Story Elements
Jeff Kitchen explained that what he teaches is how to make a story work dramatically as a screenplay. The story by itself may not necessarily be dramatically engaging. Dramatic action to Jeff means creating subjective excitement -- putting the audience in a state of action. It's not merely creating action, for instance blowing stuff up, it's about riveting the audience and keeping them on the edge of their seat.
Kitchen explained the basics of four drama-heightening techniques that he teaches. He illustrated his points with examples from well-known scripts, primarily The Godfather, Tootsie and Blade Runner. His detailed analyses of these scripts are covered with students in his ten week course.
ARISTOTLE
In ancient Greece, Aristotle wrote the "Poetics," an analysis of what successful plays had in common. He found that successful dramas shared a good strong dilemma (D), which builds to a crisis (C ) and forces decision and action (D&A). This leads to a resolution (R) by the protagonist.
Kitchen defines dilemma as "two equally painful choices." In The Godfather, Michael Corleone has to choose between his peaceful life and joining his family's battles. In Tootsie, Michael Dorsey has to make a decision with the pros and cons of being Dorothy, demonstrating that in a comedy, the dilemma itself can be funny.
When working on a plot, one can isolate the dilemma and then make it more extreme for dramatic effect. For instance, in Training Day, Denzel Washington’s character keeps harassing his young partner about whether he wants to do "real" police work or go back to doing parking tickets, and pushes him relentlessly as the stakes escalate. This is a situation taken to a real extreme.
On a straight line representing script length, D is at about the 20% point, C and D&A are very close together at about the 75% point. R occurs at 90%. The way in which the protagonist resolves the dilemma expresses the theme of the plot. In The Godfather, Michael sacrifices his soul in his quest for power. The theme could be stated as: "What price power?"
GEORGES POLTI'S "36 DRAMATIC SITUATIONS"
Kitchen presented a list of 36 elements with which to create drama, explaining that each is to be taken as much metaphorically as literally. Further amplification of the 36 can be found on the Wordplayer.com site. The list follows, with a few examples in brackets. It is an excellent brainstorming tool:
1. Supplication (begging for help).
2. Deliverance
3. Crime pursued by vengeance
4. Vengeance taken for kindred upon kindred
5. Pursuit
6. Disaster
7. Falling prey to cruelty or misfortune
8. Revolt
9. Daring enterprise
10.Abduction
11. The enigma
12. Obtaining
13. Enmity of kinsman
14. Rivalry of kinsmen
15. Murderous adultery
16. Madness (actually mad or having fun)
17. Fatal imprudence
18. Involuntary crimes of love (see 26, incest without knowledge)
19. Slaying of a kinsman unrecognized
20. Self-sacrifice for an ideal
21. Self-sacrifice for a kindred
22. All sacrificed for a passion
23. Necessity of sacrificing loved ones
24. Rivalry of superior and inferior
25. Adultery
26. Crimes of love (incest)
27. Discovery of the dishonor of a loved one
28. Obstacles to love
29. An enemy loved (or respected)
30. Ambition
31. Conflict with a god (up against the powers that be)
32. Mistaken jealousy
33. Erroneous judgment
24. Remorse
35. Recovery of a lost one
36. Loss of loved ones
Various aspects of the plot can be isolated and experimented with, through this list. It suggests possibilities that may never have occurred to you, and can open up areas that you're already aware of, but hadn't isolated and amplified.
In 1901, lawyer-turned-playwright William Thompson Price took on 28 students, who were taught his technique. Of that 28, 24 had Broadway hits. With Price's technique, the complete action of the plots is stripped down to its absolute core. It uses logic in the same way that a lawyer strips a complex argument down to a simple, clear statement of the facts, as in: "All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is a mortal."
Price adapted the proposition of logic to the drama, focusing on the conflict. He sets up a potential fight about 30% into the script, then builds it to a flash point where a fight to the finish erupts (at about the 75% point). The audience is left hanging in an unresolved state, enabling the writer to gauge the dramatic power of the conflict that has been set up and touched off. "Fight" may be either metaphorical or actual. This treatment works in either comedy or drama.
SEQUENCE, PROPOSITION, PLOT
This is a three-step process that is applied first to the whole script, then to each act, then to each sequence, and then to each scene. The first part of it, sequence, ties together the spine of the story. By working backwards from an effect to its cause, you can build the plot, separating the necessary from the unnecessary. The trick is to only ask what the cause of an effect is, not what comes before it. Here is the reverse cause and effect for the ending of The Godfather.
Object of plot: Michael emerges as the new Godfather, having taken out all his opposition, but loses his soul in the process.
Final effect: Michael is recognized officially by his top men as the new Godfather, and Kay is shut out.
Immediate cause: Michael cleans up in his own organization as he has Carlo and Tessio killed, then lies to Kay about it.
Cause: Michael eliminates his major enemies by killing the heads of the five families, as well as Moe Green.
Cause: He gets validation that Barzini is trying to kill him when Tessio emerges as the traitor when he proposes the meeting with Barzini on his territory.
Cause: Vito tells Michael that Barzini will set up his assassination by suggesting a meeting through someone that Michael absolutely trusts, and that person will be the traitor.
Kitchen did a practice exercise with the audience as follows:
Say the object of a screenplay is: The bad guys get away scott free, totally unsuspected.
Final Effect: Bad guys drive off in their new yacht, celebrating.
Immediate Cause: Fall guy gets convicted.
Cause of that: Evidence stands up in court.
Cause: They plant good evidence to make it stick.
Cause: They select a fall guy.
Cause: Police are on to them.
Cause: Someone rats them out.
Cause: Somebody doesn't get their share.
Cause: There's not as much money as the gang expected.
Cause: The job gets botched.
Cause: They were given deliberate misinformation.
Cause: Somebody wants revenge.
This technique helps the script move well and gives one the big picture. You can then break the script into acts and add more details by working backwards through the act. Each act can be broken down into sequences and then scenes, gradually filling in the details as they become necessary.
The proposition maps out the conflict in the script and can be used to keep the audience's sympathy on the protagonist by having the antagonist commit the "initial act of aggression." In The Godfather, this would be the initial attempt on Don Corleone's life. After that the hero can retaliate with audience sympathy. In the same movie, this would be when Michael kills his family's rival, Sollozo, in the restaurant. The conflict is escalated by action from the antagonist. In Godfather, this would be when Sonny is killed and territory fights begin. This enables the protagonist to touch off the fight to the finish, giving rise to the central dramatic question. In The Godfather, Michael pushes the conflict to the point of no return by throwing down the gauntlet to Barzini when he goes after Moe Green in Vegas. It's war from there on out. The last step wraps up the plot and completes the action. This three-step process is not easy to describe briefly here, but Jeff laid it out clearly. He then let the audience look at working examples from the development of a script that he wrote using this technique.
In a couple of hours Jeff had demonstrated why a classical structural technique is useful even if one's objective is to write popcorn movies. He left behind an impressed audience, many of whom are sure to sign up for his courses. He is offering a special weekend class to the Scriptwriters Network for $50 on July 26 and 27. His website is www.DevelopmentHeaven.com and his phone number is (213) 243-3817.
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