STORY MAPS:
How to Write a GREAT Screenplay
by Daniel P. Calvisi
Copyright 2011 Daniel P. Calvisi
Smashwords Edition
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Published by
A C T
F O U R S C R E E N P L A Y S
http://actfourscreenplays.com
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Cover Design by Sonia Fiore.
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To all of the aspiring screenwriters out there
who dream of turning their night job
into their day job.
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CONTENTS
I. VINCE VAUGHN IS DOING A SONG WITH THE BAND!
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V. MORE ON THE BASIC STORY MAP WITH EXAMPLES
IX. BILLY WILDER'S TIPS FOR WRITERS
X. MORE ON THE BEAT SHEET WITH EXAMPLES
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XIII. FORMAT – LITTLE TRICKS AND PET PEEVES
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3. The Dark Knight (Action/Comic Book) 2008
4. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Rom Com) 2000
5. Drag Me To Hell (Horror) 2009
6. As Good As It Gets (Dramatic Comedy) 1998
7. Sunset Boulevard (Noir Thriller) 1950
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel P. Calvisi is a professional Story Analyst and screenwriter with over 15 years of experience focusing full-time on the craft and business of screenplays.
His employers have included Miramax Films, Dimension Films, director Jonathan Demme and Twentieth Century Fox—he has evaluated written submissions for the executives who developed the films Chicago, Spy Kids, Chocolat, Limitless, Scream, The Wedding Singer, The Game, One Fine Day and Ulee's Gold.
Daniel has written on assignment for several independent producers and clients and has coached hundreds of private writers to better understand the principles of great screenwriting and to improve their craft on the written page. He has taught screenwriting and story analysis at the college level, including at the New School University in New York City.
Daniel has also been published in Script magazine and is the President of The Writers’ Building, an exclusive networking group and online community for professional screenwriters. Daniel lives in Los Angeles and he offers classes, publications and his consulting services at: http://actfourscreenplays.com/
INTRODUCTION
This book is the culmination of over twenty years of working with screenplays and screenwriters. Reading, analyzing, evaluating, studying, teaching and coaching.
And, of course, writing. But it may interest you to know that although I am a professional screenwriter, I feel that the actual writing is the second most important educational tool for learning the craft. The first is written analysis of screenplays and movies, the good ones and the bad ones.
I learned this on the job working in the movie industry for years as a Story Analyst for many top studios and production companies and from working one-on-one with screenwriters, both amateur and professional.
Over a period of years, I developed the Story Map method of structural analysis, which can be used to construct a new narrative or deconstruct an existing one. I discovered the importance of not just hitting page points, but using what I call Active Storytelling, which is making your scenes and your characters’ actions advance the story and bring about change while maintaining a cohesion built on theme and escalating conflict.
The purpose of the book is simple: to help you improve your craft and increase your odds of getting your script to impress a decision-maker in Hollywood. That's it.
This method is not a guarantee of success, or a way to sidestep the hard work of building your craft and developing your voice. It’s a comprehensive working process that has guided hundreds of writers to craft their best work, and I’m excited and proud to bring it to you.
There are tons of books on screenwriting. So why this one?
It's from the perspective of the person on the other side of the desk who evaluates your material. No matter where you’re at in your career or who you know, you still need to blow away the reader, so I’m going to show you the best and most focused way to emulate the many successful scripts and movies that I’ve studied for over two decades.
My structure system applies to every genre and the beats are always in the same order. There is no mixing and matching, order changes, or needless categorizing as with other systems. My method is stripped down to the practical essentials—let’s leave the theory and the journal entries and the pats on the back behind—I’m preparing you for the market to get past brutal readers like myself.
All of the analysis and guidelines in this book are based on the current, model spec screenplay in Hollywood. Lean, mean and fast-paced, this is not your uncle's screenplay – this is not a winking holdover from the “Boom-Boom” ‘80s and ‘90s (you know, when they were handing out spec deals at LAX?). This 100-110 page cinematic emotion machine has a very clear and clean set of guidelines, qualities and standards, some of which can be broken, but only if you’ve mastered them first.
All of the advice (and the quotations, which you'll find in the “From The Trenches” sidebars) comes from my direct experience with working professionals in the movie industry. If I quote a source (other than the great Billy Wilder, R.I.P.), then it's because I personally spoke with them or was in the room when they spoke. These are exclusive bits of wisdom I've gathered from living and working in Los Angeles and New York City.
I’m going to strip it down.
I’m going to be tough on you.
I’m going to ask, “Are you a real writer?”
I'm going to show you many examples from produced screenplays written by top professionals. I’m going to keep up the pace and get to the point, with all the fat trimmed and focused only on the crucial information.
Just as I like my scripts.
Good Luck and Happy Writing!
Dan Calvisi
I. VINCE VAUGHN IS DOING A SONG WITH THE BAND!
I attended the premiere of a film starring Vince Vaughn. Immediately upon entering the noisy after-party, I was told the buzz: Vince Vaughn was going to sing a song with the band!
Who's the band? Nobody knew. What song will he sing? Nobody knew. Does he know the band? Nothing. Has he ever sang or been in a band? Nada.
It didn't matter. This was why everyone, including me, was sticking around this boring party with no food and a cash bar.
I did a lap, saw a few celebs, and I was ready to go home. But nay! I had to see Vince Vaughn do a number with the band.
TWO HOURS LATER (on a weeknight, mind you) the band (I don't remember their name but I'm confident that they have been forever swept into the dustbin of pop music history) introduces Mr. Vaughn and he bounds onstage, picks up a mic and gives a bro-hug to the lead singer. So they start the song that no one recognizes...Vince Vaughn's lyrics are unintelligible...he doesn't do anything funny and looks a bit stiff, to be honest...and then the song ends and he disappears backstage.
The lights come up and everyone looks around with an expression like “That's it?”
The hall cleared out and everyone went back to their lives, having lost two hours of sleep, and the next day it was all forgotten.
The Moral of the story: A big-name star can get them to show up, but if you really want them to remember your movie, you need to give them a great story.
You must deliver...
II. THE GREAT SCREENPLAY
Let’s be clear.
You are not writing a masterpiece.
You are not writing your personal journey through life.
You are not writing a Best Picture winner.
You are writing a GREAT script in a commercially proven genre that will impress professional readers at the studio level in the film industry and establish your career.
Let’s break that down.
Firstly, your screenplay can’t just be good, or promising, or interesting. It must be GREAT.
It’s not enough to have a really clever idea. Everyone in town has one of those (and some of them are downright brilliant). And when any of these idea-makers tells their idea to their friends, their friends say Wow, that’s a really clever idea!
And it may, in fact, be a clever idea; even a great idea.
But it’s not a great script. At least, not yet.
It’s just a great concept.
And that’s not enough to sell.
Thousands of pieces of writing are registered each year with the WGA registry and hundreds of scripts pour into Hollywood every week.
Hundreds every week. That’s not even counting contests and internet services.
Your average studio Reader is given five scripts at a time. They get paid the same flat rate for each script. They stay up late, reading until all hours of the night to finish up those five scripts in two days (in between their other job/s, because you can’t make a living as a Reader).
Most of what they read, about 90%, is crap. Maybe more.
What they are really looking for is that one great script that stands out from the dreck in the slush pile. The one to hook them and get them interested at 3:00 a.m.
That script with the GREAT opening page and the GREAT first ten pages and the GREAT turn on page 27 that they didn’t see coming. And so on until that GREAT climactic confrontation.
And to top it all off...it’s in the genre and budget range that their boss is looking for.
This is the beginning of a series of steps that can lead to meetings and more meetings and more submissions and rewrites and if the gods are smiling one day: a paycheck for the screenwriter.
Could happen. But it won’t happen if you don’t have the goods on the page. Unless your uncle is a studio head. Oh, wait, these days you want your uncle to be the CEO of a toy company, right? Yeah, that would be sweet. But if it’s not the case, here’s what you’re going to do...
You’re going to write a great script that will blow away that first reader, be they an official “Story Analyst” who will write up a coverage report...or an assistant...or a Creative Executive...or independent producer...or that assistant cameraman you met at the coffee shop who worked on a film with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and got to be really chummy with the Second A.D. who’s definitely Phil’s buddy and would totally slip him a script if he thought it was great. But the assistant cameraman has to read it first. Then the Second A.D. has to read it. Then Phil’s manager’s assistant’s intern. Then Phil’s manager’s assistant. Then Phil’s manager. And then...the Oscar-winner himself will totally read your script. If it makes it that far up the ladder.
So how do you increase your odds to impress that many people with your screenplay?
To start, you’re going to write in a commercially proven genre. I suggest writing in one of the staples – Thriller, Horror, Comedy, Action, Romantic Comedy, Drama. Right now, comedies seem to be the most consistent sellers, but comedy, as they say, is harder than dying. You don’t have to be a funny person to write a successful comedy, you need something much more difficult: you need to be funny on the page.
A few years ago Horror was all the rage and now, at least at the studio level, it’s barren. Who knows what will be selling like hotcakes tomorrow? No one does. So stick to a genre that you know and love. And don’t chase whatever’s hot at the box-office, because the industry is already one step beyond that.
A taut Thriller will always be marketable. A clever and funny RomCom can never go wrong. Stick to the staples and focus on writing a great script in your chosen genre.
This applies even if you have a connection to a Hollywood player. Here’s a short list of people that clients of mine have had connections to (most through family members) and were planning to show their screenplays:
James Cameron
Francis Ford Coppola
Ashton Kutcher
Jennifer Lopez
Rod Steiger
I told each of these writers that their scripts needed much more work. To date, I haven’t read about any of them selling their scripts, even though I have no reason to doubt that they got their work into the offices of these power players. The reason is that their scripts were not ready. No one, not even your brother-in-law who is Jon Hamm’s attorney, will risk their own reputation and career to pass on or purchase sub-par material.
You may be the ultimate guru of self-promotion and schmoozing, but once you shake hands with the big boys, you still need to deliver a great screenplay that will inspire them to spend years and millions to make into a great film.
Believe it or not, Hollywood readers do NOT want the same ol’ thing. The CEOS and the marketing department may, but the development department does not. Or, if the company’s development department has been gutted (you know, “the economy”) then the few remaining Creative Executives crammed into that dusty cubicle still want something NEW and FRESH with an undeniable HOOK. And they are the ones who make careers. They want great writers.
I once asked a Junior Creative Executive, who is now the President of Production of Columbia Pictures, what she was looking for in a script and her answer was simple: “character.” She wanted to find writers who wrote great characters so she could hire them to add strong characters to their screenplays that were already in development.
Even if they don’t buy your spec, they may hire you to write one of their open assignments or they may get you some meetings, or an agent. This may, down the line, if you hang in there, lead to a paycheck. Could happen.
But I’ll be honest, the odds are stacked against you. There are so many factors that go into a script sale, like...
Who you know
Your representation
Talent attachments
Financing
Your personality and determination
Getting it to the right people
Timing of your concept and subject matter
Some of these are completely out of your control.
So what can you do to increase your odds in the marketplace? You can work on the one thing you have control over.
The quality of your work.
There’s still no guarantee that your script will sell. In fact, I’ve read several screenplays that did sell...and I can safely say that many of my friends and clients have written much stronger scripts. Obviously, there were other factors helping these screenplays that meant more than the quality of the material at the time of submission.
So...good screenplays don’t always sell.
Some bad screenplays sell.
It’s a very tough business to break into with a ton of competition.
So why bother? Why put yourself through it?
Because if you’re like me, you have to write.
You have those voices in your head.
You’ve probably tried to walk away from this crazy pursuit at some point in the past, maybe more than once; but you just can’t do it. Like Michael Corleone, every time you try to get away from your screenplay, it pulls you back in!
You know the odds, but you’re going to do it anyway because those voices won’t leave you alone. Right? I hope so, because it’s way too much work to approach lightly and it’s foolhardy to think you can make a quick, easy buck at this pursuit.
So let’s try to make it as good as it can be, in the style, form and format of the best movies coming out today, with the exact structure and pacing on the page that I know for certain all industry readers look for.
Know that the rules are different for you than they are for the big guys and gals at the top. You have to work harder for a smaller chunk of a smaller pie until you reach their lofty heights. Forget about collecting the big payday to write the re-boot of the remake of the Saturday morning cartoon based on the toy line from the early 1960s that was inspired by the hit movie from the mid-1950s that was really just a retelling of the classic folktale that desperately needs updating for the Youtube generation. They only give those jobs to the same batch of high-profile writers in town.
In other words, they already have a bunch of scribes they pay handsomely to write the same ol’ schlock. You have to do better.
You have to give them what they didn’t know they needed.
If you’re serious about your craft, and you’re in this for the long haul, you’ll focus on writing the best script you can, to start impressing industry folks so you can get those meetings and snag that rep and scrape and claw your way toward actually making some money at this nutso endeavor.
But it has to get past that first reader if it’s going anywhere.
I know, because I was a Senior Story Analyst who was given material from the top agents and producers with top actors attached. And it wasn’t my job to show deference to an established pro – I evaluated each script on its own, as an anonymous piece of writing that aspired to be a movie for my employer. I was very tough; in fact, I was once referred to by a producer as “That reader that hates everything.” (Which wasn’t true. By “everything” he unwittingly meant the multiple scripts submitted by his company).
I’ve read screenplays at every level of competence and I’ve evaluated them for major movie companies and I’ve spent many years working with writers like you to help shape your material to make it blow away picky bastards like me.
And I’m telling you: it can’t just be “good.” It has to be great. Because all that matters is if that Reader wants to turn the page at 3:00 a.m. That’s it.
Your goal is not to write a script like every other script in Hollywood or like the current reigning box-office champ. Your goal is to increase your chances of launching a screenwriting career by following certain established norms, procedures and techniques that are used every day by working writers in the industry and to write your butt off until you’ve mastered these techniques and produced something that won’t just drop through the transom but kick the friggin’ door down. That’s it.
You can spend years writing and producing an avant-garde short film that will dazzle film festival audiences if that makes you happy. If you enjoy being creative in a particular way, whatever your chosen medium, then you should do that because it keeps you happy and it lowers stress levels. But if you’re interested in working as a creative professional in the movie and television industry, I suggest you study and practice these techniques.
So what’s in a truly great screenplay? Here’s a list of the big attributes...
THE GREAT SCREENPLAY (in no particular order of awesomeness):
Fantastic CONCEPT
COMMERCIAL appeal to a specific AUDIENCE
Strong STORY ENGINES
Fascinating and likeable PROTAGONIST
Unique GOALS
ACTIVE DECISIONS made by protagonist
Escalating CONFLICT and STAKES
Focused CONTROLLING THEME expressed in action
Strong Classical four-act STRUCTURE
Fast PACING
Medium LENGTH (100 – 110 pages)
Great OPENING
Strong MIDPOINT
Urgent time deadline: a “CLOCK”
Great, satisfying, inevitable CLIMAX
Passionate EXECUTION with an effective VOICE
LOW to mid-range BUDGET
SPECTACLE
Easy, huh?
So, basically, you just do all of that and boom: a Classic for the ages. You’ve got Ridley holding on line three.
Yes, your script is so bad-ass you’ve got Ridley ON HOLD.
Okay, you got me: it’s not quite that easy.
In fact, each one of those categories in the Great Screenplay list represents a great deal of study and practice. To truly understand each element starts with the knowledge and method outlined in this book.
It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be rough. But it’s also going to be exhilarating.
Ready? Good.
I mean...Great!
*****
THE CONCEPT
*****
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FROM THE TRENCHES
GRAHAM YOST
(Speed, Broken Arrow, Band of Brothers, Justified)
“You've got to be smart. You can't deliver on size and scope, so you need to deliver on intensity. And that's what a film like "Taken" does.”
***
III. THE BIG IDEA
Your clever idea is not the only thing that will get you an option or sale—you still need top-quality execution—but it may be what gets your script in the door.
It’s okay to write that memoir about your summer with Gram and Gramps to get it out of your system and learn the craft, but if you’re looking to produce a more commercial spec script, you want to come up with a great idea that really hooks someone to think, “Now that’s a movie I’d pay to see.” Or even just, “I need to read this to see how the writer pulls it off.”
I once attended a seminar in which a speaker said that you should only write a script that you feel would appeal to at least one million people. It was a good point – if your concept would only appeal to a tiny fringe of an audience, then it’s probably not a commercial script for the spec market. Maybe skip it and move on to a concept with more broad appeal, or write it to produce as a self-financed indie film?
I hear the term “The Big Idea” used more often these days than the classic term “High Concept,” but they essentially mean the same thing: a story concept that is easily understood in a few words and is undeniable in its compelling cleverness.
The Big Idea is...
1) The first and perhaps the only thing that will get your script read if you’re a new and unproven writer.
2) A unique take on a commercially proven genre that no one’s thought of yet.
3) A new take on a universal theme or idea that would appeal to a broad audience around the world.
4) Not just a stringing-together of familiar elements from other hit movies.
With so many franchise films and movies based on previously established material being made, it’s tougher now than ever for you to sell your original spec screenplay. But one thing that hasn’t changed: the need for a Big Idea!
From Jeffrey Katzenberg’s famous memo from 1991:
“In the dizzying world of moviemaking, we must not be distracted from one fundamental concept: the idea is king...If a movie begins with a great, original idea, chances are good it will be successful, even if it is executed only marginally well. However if a film begins with a flawed idea, it will almost certainly fail, even if it is made with “A” talent and marketed to the hilt.”
Coming from the studio head who green-lit Pretty Woman, The Lion King and Shrek, I’ll take that advice.
Katzenberg goes on to talk about the term High Concept...
“’High Concept’ is a useful, complex, thoughtful encapsulation of what we should all be working toward... It embellishes the concept that “the idea is king” by asserting that the idea that forms the basis of a film should not only be one that is compelling but also one that can be communicated.
The real meaning of high concept is that ingenuity is more important than production values. This is why we should constantly be looking for creative solutions, not financial ones.”
I also really like the way it’s defined by Jerrol LeBarron, founder of Inktip.com:
“A high concept script should have a great title, a strong hook, and shouldn't have an overly complex plot. In addition to these elements, if your story cannot be described in one short simple sentence, it is not high concept.”
HOOK ME
High Concept...The Big Idea...whatever you call it, it’s gotta have a HOOK. A twist on a familiar or classic character or scenario.
Here are three relatively recent films that were sold as specs or pitches. Each one sports a very clear and dynamic hook:
Armored – When five armored guards rob their own shipment of $8 million and an innocent man is killed, the rookie in the bunch locks himself in the armored vehicle...with the money.
The Hangover – A group of guys wake up in Vegas the morning after their bachelor party with no memory of the night before and the groom is missing.
No Strings Attached (Note: the script was originally named F**kbuddies, a title that everyone in town knew was not releasable but made sure that everyone in town wanted to read it!) – A guy and a girl make a pact to use each other for meaningless sex...until true feelings arise.
Take a look at John Hughes films for a bunch of fantastic Big Ideas:
Five teens, all strangers and from different circles, spend a Saturday in detention and bond as they battle their tyrannical school principal.
A popular teenage kid and his two friends have the ultimate ditch day from school as they are stalked by the principal.
Two teenage virgins create a sexy woman with their computer.
A recently laid-off father must become a stay-at-home dad while his wife joins the work force.
Two strangers get stranded during a blizzard and must travel cross-country together by car to get home for Christmas.
A young boy gets left behind by his family and must defend his house from two burglars.
Here are some Big Ideas that we all wish we could have invented:
Shakespeare in Love – A comedic “re-writing of history” in which a young William Shakespeare is inspired by his own tortured romance to write “Romeo and Juliet,” the most famous fictional romance in history.
Slumdog Millionaire – A kid who grew up in extreme poverty uses his memories to answer the questions on the quiz show, “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?”
Minority Report – The police officer who oversees the department that predicts future murders must go on the run when the system predicts he is the next killer.
Ransom – A father decides to offer the $1 million ransom as a bounty on the head of his son’s kidnappers.
The Others – A family plagued by a haunted house turn out to be the ghosts haunting the real family that lives in the house.
Extract – A guy stuck in a sexless marriage hires a young gigolo to seduce his wife so he can justify his own affair, guilt-free.
Here are four high-concept scripts that sold in recent years...
Swingles – A “wingwoman” helps a guy pick up girls in bars.
Buried – A man is buried in a coffin with only his cell phone.
The Days Before – A man from the future keeps hopping one successive day into the past, desperate to stop a vicious race of time-traveling aliens from wiping out humanity.
Allies With Benefits – The female President of The United States falls for her old college fling, the new Prime Minister of England.
PRE-EXISTING ELEMENTS AND ARCHETYPES
Here are some more, but see if you can spot a pattern this time...
Nottingham – A re-imagining of the Robin Hood story told from the perspective of the Sheriff.
Goliath – A re-imagining of the David and Goliath story as an action movie that creates an expanded origin of the giant Goliath.
The Curse Of Medusa – A re-imagining of the myth that creates an expanded origin story for Medusa the Gorgon.
Snow White And The Huntsman – A re-imagining of the story of Snow White in which the huntsman sent to kill her becomes her mentor.
Hyde – A re-imagining of the classic story in which an allegedly rehabilitated Dr. Jekyll is pulled out of prison to help hunt a new monster who seems to be using an improved version of the Hyde serum.
Hollywood sure loves its re-imaginings, huh? They’re always looking for the new take on a classic story, especially when it’s in the public domain like myths and fairy tales. That means they don’t have to pay for the rights.
The lesson here is that it’s wise to build your concept from a universal story – a myth, fairy tale, historical event, public figure or pop culture archetype that is known by millions.
Here are three dynamic big ideas that hinge on very recognizable elements. I’m not saying they’re great ideas—to each his own—just that the hooks have a very high recognition factor:
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – When the mother of future United States President Abraham Lincoln is murdered by a vampire, he begins a lifelong vendetta to rid the world of the heinous creatures.
Roundtable – Four modern-day knights (i.e., celebrities, not warriors) find themselves called upon to save the planet from an ancient evil force.
Comic Con – To save their beloved neighborhood comic shop, a Justice League of geeks must plan and execute a daring heist at Comic-Con.
EXECUTION-DEPENDENT
There are some big ideas that are so quirky and unique, they are said to be “execution-dependent.” In other words, it’s a great idea if it’s a great script, but a horrible idea if it’s not. For example:
The Beaver – a man wakes up with a beaver puppet fused onto his hand and he begins to speak through it with a British accent.
The screenplay for The Beaver is quite well-executed, but considering the concept is very difficult to communicate outside of the screenplay, it could have been a disaster and not sold.
Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche, New York) is an example of a writer who can deliver something wholly original and downright odd and have it be considered commercial because he’s a marquee name. For a new writer, however, you don’t have a track record to lean on and you just want to get someone to read your script; this will be much easier if there are some recognizable elements in your logline.
*****
THE STRUCTURE
*****
DEFINITION OF STORY MAPS
A Story Map is a method for structuring a screenplay by creating a simple yet powerful outline that contains the building blocks of your concept, characters and plot: the main dramatic elements and dramatic beats of the narrative and the order and desired page range of those beats, regardless of genre.
95% of great movies follow the Story Map.
Honestly, if we’re talking about commercial, wide-release Hollywood movies, I might bump that up to 100%. It’s rare to find one that doesn’t use a four act structure with the elements and plot beats described below.
With that said, I’d like to issue a formal challenge: find a commercial, narrative feature film to come from a major studio in the past 10 years that does not follow the Story Map. Email me your map for the film and I’ll analyze it; if you’re right, I’ll print your name and analysis on my blog (which, as many of you already know, is the equivalent of a Knighthood in the UK). You may then bask in the glory of having proved me wrong. If you can, that is. With that gauntlet thrown, let’s continue.
In the beat sheet of a Story Map, I define each plot point down to the page. Because that’s how the pros do it and that’s exactly what I was looking for as a reader working for major studios and production companies. Believe it or not, it actually mattered to me if a script’s Inciting Incident (to be defined soon) fell on page 8-10 rather than 12-13. It made a big difference in the pacing of the first act, and it showed me whether this was a writer with the discipline to cut down on “setup” and suck me in, or this was a writer who failed to recognize the urgency of a movie narrative and the intense competition of the script marketplace. Which writer would you rather be?
FORM, NOT FORMULA
The Story Map is not a formula. It is a story structure that is followed by almost every popular Hollywood film. It does not dictate your choices; it only provides a framework to hold your choices.
This is not a machine for making “cookie-cutter” movies; unless you consider Transformers, Sideways, The Hangover and Frozen River to be cut from the same mold, because they all utilize the Full Story Map.
Even so, I know there will be doubters out there.
I’ve seen the message boards where an angry, frustrated writer inevitably blames the lack of imagination in Hollywood on structure paradigms in screenwriting books. I whole-heartedly agree that the major studios and many of the independents are putting way too much emphasis on the so-called “franchise films” and pre-existing source material and not investing enough in original stories, but this has nothing to do with a dearth of good writing or the reliance on classic structural forms. It has to do with economics and a lack of creative vision at the management level of corporate movie companies.
When using the Story Map, the screenplay is still undeniably yours, but it now comes wrapped in the shiny coating that covers pretty much all major studio movies and is recognized by every agent, manager and producer in the business.
In fact, I think that it shows more skill to write a great script within the confines of a classically structured, 110 page format. You’re not re-inventing the wheel, you’re building the best wheel that we’ve yet seen. Think of it like architecture – building designs are limitless, but they all contain walls, a roof, an entrance and windows. Crafting a building that uses those necessary features doesn’t limit your design, at all. It’s precisely how the gifted architects throughout history have used those elements in a new, undeniably creative manner that has distinguished geniuses like Frank Lloyd Wright, I.M. Pei and Frank Gehry.
But right now, I guarantee you that there are several film students around the globe attempting to create a hybrid screenplay structure that combines standard script format with the novel and poetry. They’re doing this before they even understand the fundamentals of any of these forms, and they’re wasting their time.
Simply put, if you follow the Story Map and execute an active story in the proper page ranges, your script will feel like a modern hit movie.
IV. THE “BASIC” STORY MAP
After years of professional story analysis, the Story Map is the only method of narrative construction and deconstruction that I use, and I believe it can find what is working or not working in any form (screenplay, teleplay, novel, short story, etc.).
Have you ever had that experience where you watch a film or read a story and something is “wrong,” but you can’t put your finger on it? On the surface, it seems to be well-crafted, but for whatever reason, you know the story took a wrong turn or made a decision that didn’t feel organic.
The story is probably missing one of the Basic Story Map elements, or the elements do not generate conflict so the drama is not there. After all, DRAMA = CONFLICT, so we want our Story Map to create a combustible mix.
The Basic Story Map compiles your main dramatic elements. In short, the Basic Story Map outlines:
The protagonist
What the protagonist wants
What keeps the protagonist from getting what he/she wants
What the story is about
How the protagonist changes
How the story ends
How the story is captured in a single, dynamic sentence
Your entire narrative flows from these building blocks of your story. Your main throughline (or story “spine”) usually flows from your protagonist’s pursuit of his/her External Goal. The opening and ending of your story and the arc of your protagonist are often dictated by your Theme. The protagonist’s dialogue is often influenced by their skill and misbehavior. The fascinating mystery that the audience hopes will be solved is defined by the Central Dramatic Question. The list goes on.
The Basic Story Map elements are vital and absolutely crucial to any story. Often, a screenplay or film does not work because one or more of these vital elements is missing.
How many times have we seen a brainless action or horror movie that just wasn’t about anything? There was not a clear Theme to add cohesion to the various set pieces or resonance to the CGI sequences.
How about a movie where the protagonist isn’t likeable? This could be because they have no Internal Goal to show the emotional side of their character...or maybe their External Goal is inherently immoral...or the antagonist is not directly in conflict with the protagonist.
Ever been sitting in the theater, just waiting for the movie to end? It’s racing to the big climax and you just...don’t...care. This may be because they already answered the Central Dramatic Question so there’s no mystery left to be solved.
To create your Basic Story Map, you must define these elements:
1) PROTAGONIST: The main character; age, occupation, status
>>>Skill: What they’re good at
>>>Misbehavior: A trait or quirk that consistently generates conflict
>>>Flaw/Achilles Heel: Their weakness that makes them fail until they are able to overcome it
2) EXTERNAL GOAL: The plot goal/action goal
3) INTERNAL GOAL: The character goal/emotional goal
4) MAIN DRAMATIC CONFLICT: What’s keeping them from the goal/ the Antagonist (villain)/ the major problem
5) CONTROLLING THEME: What is this story about? What are you saying? What idea is being explored and revealed?
6) CENTRAL DRAMATIC QUESTION: The main question the story seeks to answer/the mystery
7) ENDING: How the story comes to a climax and the resolution that follows
8) ARC: The change your protagonist goes through (or powerful realization they come to) from start to finish of the story
Ideally, these elements all GENERATE CONFLICT. No one wants to watch a romance wherein two lovers from the same social class meet, fall in love, court one another with no complications and get married. We want Romeo & Juliet, where the two lovers come from warring families. Or Titanic, where Rose is wealthy and betrothed to a horrible man in her own social class but she falls in love with Jack, a scrappy vagabond with only 5 bucks in his pocket. (Oh, and the ship is sinking so their decisions literally become a question of life and death.)
So think about Conflict when you construct your main elements, and think about what you want to say (your Theme) because you want these elements to support that theme. Slumdog Millionaire is about destiny and fate, so the story focuses on a near-impossible task: JAMAL, an uneducated boy from the slums has a chance to win a million dollars on a quiz show and win over a girl betrothed to a murderous gangster. See how he’s pulled between the two worlds of his past and his future, poverty and riches? These two pursuits are his External and Internal Goals.
What’s standing in Jamal’s way? What’s not standing in his way? Is it his destiny to win both the money and the girl? Well, this is Hollywood, so, um, yeah.
Bruce Wayne is faced with an impossible choice in The Dark Knight. To stop the Joker from destroying Gotham City, he must either kill him, which he has sworn not to do, or reveal his true identity as the Batman, which would destroy Batman and return Gotham City to criminal infestation.
In How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, a magazine columnist must get a guy to dump her in 10 days to meet a deadline...and the guy must get her to fall in love with him in 10 days to win a lucrative ad account. Clear, opposing goals that generate high conflict.
In Alice In Wonderland (2010), Alice’s skill is that she has a wonderful imagination. All of the villains in the piece are trying to harness her imagination and subjugate her. Her father is the only one who encouraged her imagination, which we see in the opening, but then he dies so Alice becomes a lone underdog, receiving conflict at every turn by those who don’t understand her. Is she the Alice from the prophecy? She needs to decide at some point in order to realize her true destiny. In short, she needs to take control and grow up as this is a coming-of-age tale – this is reflected in the real world as she flees the engagement ceremony that was thrust upon her and then in the fantasy world as she is thrust into the role of savior to fight the terrible dragon. As in other “prophecy/The One” stories such as The Matrix, Unforgiven and Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace, her arc is to “become the myth” that has been foretold about her. The seeds of this transformation must be in the Basic Story Map.
Here’s a sample from another story of a girl who needs to grow up...
JUNO
Screenplay written by Diablo Cody
101 pages
BASIC STORY MAP
PROTAGONIST: JUNO MACGUFF, pregnant teen girl
>>>Skill: Sarcastic
>>>Misbehavior: Smart mouth, bleak outlook
>>>Flaw: Naive
EXTERNAL GOAL: To have the baby and give it to the Lorings
INTERNAL GOAL: To get together with Paulie
MAIN DRAMATIC CONFLICT: Bren (her step-mother) and Mark Loring
THEME: Finding and appreciating true love
CENTRAL DRAMATIC QUESTION: Can Juno find a happy home for her baby and get together with Paulie?
THE ENDING: Juno gives the baby to Vanessa Loring and gets together with Paulie.
ARC: Juno goes from a frightened loner to finding true love with Paulie.
LOGLINE: A pregnant teen must decide between giving her baby to an unstable yuppie couple or keeping it with her estranged high school boyfriend.
I highly suggest you write down your Basic Story Map and have it taped up beside your computer (or in an open file on your computer) for quick reference. It may seem like many of the above elements in Juno are simple and obvious, something Diablo Cody could have easily kept in mind as she wrote it, but that’s an assumption made after you’ve seen the film. For the writer writing a script for the first time, or even in subsequent drafts, it can only help to have a constant reminder of the controlling elements to execute the best interpretation of the initial concept.
For example, if you’re in doubt as to the actions or dialogue of your protagonist in a given scene, then go back to your Theme and their External Goal. Are they expressing the theme by taking actions to pursue their goal or is this scene just filler?
Bottom line, you must define your Basic Story Map to write a focused story. The goal is a COHESIVE story, wherein each element is organic, generates conflict and advances the story. We’ll look at more examples of the Basic Story Map in a bit.
The final element in the Basic Story Map is...
9) THE LOGLINE
You may create your logline before the other Basic Story Map elements or after. Either way, it’s incredibly important.
Your logline, essentially your story in approximately 25 words or less, showcases your unique dramatic situation, your main character and the compelling conflict that keeps them from their goal.
Drafting a strong logline before you write your screenplay will help you to “find” your story, especially your throughline (main line of action, usually the protagonist’s pursuit of their External Goal) and your HOOK (the unique twist on the genre or classic archetype that will compel someone to read the script).
A logline is also used in the industry for marketing purposes – to “pitch” your completed spec script in the hopes of gaining a submission request. Instead of figuring out the best logline after you’re done with the script, you’re going to BEGIN with crafting a kick-butt logline that sounds like a GREAT STORY and a BIG IDEA that would garner requests for submission.
By crafting your logline and showing it to friends and trusted industry professionals for feedback before you start writing script pages, you won’t fall into the trap of spending months crafting a screenplay that’s unfocused, uncommercial and unwieldy.
SEEDS OF THE STORY
First and foremost, the Logline communicates the main “story engine” of the film: what drives the narrative. Each act will have its own specific story engine, but your story needs a main throughline or story spine to hold it together and on track. For example...
A detective must find and capture a serial killer.
A lovelorn woman must find a date for her sister’s wedding.
A child must escape a haunted house.
But that’s not enough. A great logline is specific. A great logline captures a fascinating main character in only a few words.
The detective is a petite female trainee.
The lovelorn woman has written several books on...love.
The child is blind.
A great logline showcases a unique HOOK: the special element/s that make your take on this material unique. Think about what makes your concept...
Relevant to our times
A new take on a classic story or proven genre
A unique and cohesive melding of familiar elements
A funny situation
An impossible yet compelling scenario
You may have heard the term “familiar but different.” This can be an accurate depiction of some hit movies and a helpful term, but don’t fall into the habit of just plucking elements from other movies in a bid to make your script more “commercial.”
A GREAT IDEA is commercial.
GREAT WRITING is commercial.
A FRESH HOOK is commercial.
When I was working as a reader, I made a point not to approach a new script looking for a reason to say “No.” I was looking for reasons to say “Yes!” I had to read so much dreck that I was dying to find something with a brilliant concept and great execution. That’s why I like to say...
CRAFT = CAREER
The first and most important step to establishing a career is developing your screenwriting craft. In this age of pitchfests, script contests and “logline blast services” that convince a lot of new writers to start marketing their work before it’s ready, the one thing you can truly control is your craft, the quality of your work.
And as you practice your execution on the page, your ideas will also improve since you will be developing your ability to choose the most dynamic concept out of a batch of ideas.
After all, you don’t know if those contacts you made at that film festival will actually help your career. You never know how long it will take an agent or executive to read your script or if they’ll even bother to return a response. You can’t predict how anyone will react to your material. All of this is completely out of your control.
All you can do is write the best script you can write. And it all begins with your logline, which you want to leap out at the Reader so they say “Now that would make a great movie” or “Why didn’t I think of that?” Something like...
An obsessive-compulsive, homophobic novelist must help his gay artist neighbor in order to win over the single mother he secretly loves. [22 words]
A failed child psychologist must help a young boy who is haunted by ghosts. [14 words]
A washed-up boxer from South Philly gets a shot at a title fight against the heavyweight champion of the world. [21 words]
A female FBI trainee must enlist the aid of a brilliant, imprisoned serial killer to catch another serial killer-at-large. [21 words]
I list the number of words in those sentences so you can see how many dramatic elements you can fit into such a short line.
Some of you may think you need more words to capture your story, or you don’t understand the true focus and purpose of the logline so you write a 3-line, 55-word logline. I’m sorry to break it to thee, kindly screenwriter, but nay, your script is not the rare script that demands that many words! Stick to 20-30 words and you’ll soon find out if your concept is clear and concise.
And you’ll notice that I don’t give away the endings in these loglines. I prefer a logline that hooks me in with the promise of an interesting hero, a dramatic situation injected with high stakes and a mystery that I want to see solved. In short, it makes me want to read the script.
WHAT’S THE STORY?
The Logline’s goal is to get someone to read the script. That’s it.
The Logline focuses on the story, not on genre, marketing or box-office.
A logline is NOT a tagline. A tagline is advertising copy used to sell a movie, for example...
No one in space can hear you scream.
Truth has a soldier.
This summer, stuff blows up.
You don’t want to tell them how to sell your movie. You’re the writer, you are not the marketing department. Toward this end, don’t mention other movies in your logline; again, stick to your story.
For the record, I think it’s okay to mention other films in a cover letter but I’d avoid them in a logline. It’s fine to mention in a conversation or in an email that your script’s tone is reminiscent of Crash, or it could be described as “The Sixth Sense meets The Dark Knight” if a) your description/movie mash-up makes sense (this example does not) and b) you have already communicated your compelling logline, which will show them the crucial details of the story.
If you’re just starting your screenplay, I would suggest you craft a strong logline FIRST, make sure it pops, then build your story to reflect it. And if you’re rewriting a completed draft, then I suggest you also craft a stronger logline and rewrite your story to fit this logline. This will force you to use an active structure.
LET’S DO IT
There is more than one template for a successful logline, but I use the following basic construction:
An engaging protagonist must struggle against tremendous odds to achieve his/her goal.
In that sentence you have many of the Basic Story Map elements: what makes the main character unique (engaging protagonist), what is forcing them to act and how they take action (must struggle), the main dramatic conflict they struggle against (tremendous odds), and what they want (goal).
Again, you can draft your logline after you write your Basic Story Map or shape your Basic Story Map to reflect your logline. It’s up to you.
This construction emphasizes that your protagonist is taking action – they are pushing the story forward with their active struggle against escalating conflict. Your hero should be the subject of the sentence. You don’t want to craft a logline in which the subject is an event, the villain or your theme. For example, here’s some hypothetical weak loglines for movies with strong concepts...
An alien invasion takes Earth by surprise and they must fight back. (Independence Day?)
Darth Vader chases a band of adventurers led by Luke Skywalker who wants to protect secret plans for the Death Star from the evil Empire. (Star Wars?)
A story about what happens when a loser gets a successful, beautiful woman pregnant. (Knocked Up?)
None of these loglines are specific, actively structured or tell us what is unique about the protagonist. The first two have pronoun-verb agreement problems so they are just plain confusing.
It’s important to structure your logline around an active protagonist. Stories with passive protagonists, who do not take action but rather react to external conflict, are very difficult to tell successfully and often end up as unsatisfying experiences for the reader and audience. They are a frequent beginner mistake, most often contain numerous story problems and they are not advised for the new writer.
THE GENRE
I suggest that you list the genre above your logline so the other party is clear on what kind of movie this is. In many cases, a concept can be interpreted in different ways, so it helps to know the genre as you read the logline.
It’s always best to err on the side of clarity – don’t assume they know or understand anything about your story. It’s not always as clear as you may think (which is why it’s so important to get objective opinions on your logline as well as your screenplay).
For example, if the title is Cereal Killer, we’re pretty sure it’s a comedy. But if it’s Serial Killer, it could go multiple ways:
SERIAL KILLER
Thriller
When a ruthless killer begins to murder people in a small town, a paperboy realizes the victims are all on his route and he’s the only one who can stop him.
SERIAL KILLER
Comedy
When a ruthless killer begins to murder people in a small town, a paperboy realizes the victims are all on his route and he’s the only one who can stop him!
It’s not the best worded logline, but it’s just an example of how the same pitch can be construed in different ways. The first one could be a thriller from the Coen brothers, and the second one could be a satire from the Farrelly brothers. (Either way, it’s apparent that the film must be directed by siblings!)