Introduction
As I am also the screenwriter for our project, I've also decided to conduct research to find any useful advice whilst I continue to write my script. I eventually came across a book named 'Alternative Scriptwriting: Successfully breaking the rules' - this instantly came to my appeal as it's always useful learning something that can make your script more original and stand out. Nonetheless, below are the key points that I picked out from Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush's book.The book begins by outlining key aspects that all scripts tend to follow. Some of these points were quite interesting and need to be understood for a script to have an effective and successful understanding. Some of the points were:
Premise
The premise, that is often referred to concept, is described the point on where the story begins - whether the main character has faced the dilemma aspect within the narrative. The premise is often presented with conflict and can have either a high or a low premise. A high premise would be something that conveys excitement and is something that is plot-orientated, while a low premise is something minor that happens in the plot and is much more dependent on the strength of the characters.
In my case, I feel that the premise for DownStage could be considered high in a way - despite being a mockumentary, our production has several moments where characters take risks and tackle their anxiety which in the end becomes both bad and good. For example, we see Maddie rise against her anxiety and perform exceptionally well, John uses his gut instincts and makes Maddie the lead role, whilst Chantelle however looses the main role purely because of her selfish and overconfident behaviour.
Conflict
As quoted in the book, "Conflict is the central feature of the story." Here, Ken explains how it is vital to create opposing characters so there is always tension building throughout the narrative. Additionally, he then explores how "using polarities-opposties in physical appearance" is also very vital to convey conflict. This means by carefully forming the physical appearance as well as mental appearance is crucial to help form conflict within a narrative. For example, age variations, different or same genders, aggression variations and so on.
Within DownStage, I feel that polarities-opposities have been conveyed in a number of ways. Chantelle is quite clearly the most conflict character and we don't learn that just from her personality. We learn it from the way she dresses, through her mannerisms (i.e. her chewing gum) and even her posture, as I have carefully crafted in the script that we constantly see Chantelle holding her hands on her hips or even have her arms closed.
Similarly, Maddie too clearly conveys polarities-opposites when comparing to Chantelle, which helps to form the conflict. She is perceived as a timid, quiet and shy girl, thus quite being the parallel to Chantelle. Therefore, this perception of polarities-opposites is very beneficial to know, as it is clear conflict is what makes any narrative entertaining and dramatic.
Character
"The main character of the screen story is the primary means for the audience to experience the story". This quotation is very useful to know as Ken goes into detail explaining how the audience perceive the film by learning it through the main characters i.e. through the characters dilemma. He then explains how the main character must have a dominant physical or behavioural characteristic - this can refer to Maddie as it is made almost instantly clear that she is a very nervous character throughout the narrative up until the end where she stands up for herself and gains confidence.
"during a moment of private revelation or a moment when the character allows himself to appear foolish or vulnerable, our empathy for that character is realised and our identification with the character is secured". This explores how a character disruption may enabled the audience to sympathise more with the character, thus 'securing' the identification of a character. This can be referred to by John - we first perceive him as a character who only cares about his business and is interesting in money up until Chantelle bribes him. This however changes when we learn about his relationship with his mother, in which he realises he has made a mistake (making him "appear foolish or vulnearble") and soon corrects his mistake by making Maddie as lead instead of Chantelle.
"All the characters (main and secondary) have distinct goals in the screen story. Generally, these goals parallel to the premise". Here Ken explores how the success of a character is dependent on the ability for the screenwriter to show the audience that each character has a differrnt goal and mindset that has some similarity to the theme of the show.
This too can be related to DownStage, as the majority of characters within the script have ambitions and reasons as to why they are in the amateur society. For example, Giles has a passion for directing and theatre, Alex because of her ex-girlfriend, Maddie was edged on by her friends, and Chantelle because of her father. More importantly, these goals all lead to the 'premise' of the narrative - risk-taking. They all take risks into pursuing their ambitions and passion whilst at the same time living an ordinary life and returning back to their day jobs. This quotation in my opinion is very beneficial - it enables scriptwriters to tell the audience not just who the characters are, but why exactly they are there.
Dialogue
Ken then goes onto explaining 3 reasons why we use dialogue within scripts. These are:
1. "Dialogue characterizes" - Here Ken notes that we use dialogue as a way of defining whether someone is educated or not, the characters profession, where they originate (via accents), the sex/age of a character and whether a character can be defined as emotive or not. This when thinking about it is very true, in which showing dialogue can be used as a perfect tool of describing characters.
2. "Dialogue helps to define the plot" - The plot is arguably dependent on what the character will say. For example, in DownStage, it would be difficult for Chantelle to bribe John and is needed for this crucial part of the plot to commence. For example, in DownStage, dialogue is used to express Giles' passion for theatre, which furthermore indicates his role as the director.
3. "To relieve tension, through humour, when it occurs in a script." This too is vital for understanding as humour is very hard to convey without the use of dialogue, as it works as a tool in monitoring the tension within a narrative.
All in all, Ken then concludes saying how dialogue is vital for making characters seem believable and in my case realistic. This is key for our production as we are aiming to create something that seems realistic and believable, and because our narrative is character-led, we must make sure that the characters can be relatable to the audience, otherwise the whole narrative may not seem realistic.
Atmosphere
"When there is enough detail, the atmosphere of the screenplay moves from generic to particular, from mechanical to meaningful". This quote too is very interesting as Ken explains that by creating an atmosphere it helps make the story jump to the next level from being generic and ok to something unique. Ken explains that this can be done by using relatable content almost to create nostalgia so that the audience feel as if they have been in a similar situation.
For DownStage, I feel that we have this kind of atmosphere due to our narrative seeming relatable to those who are in theatre or acting. Because we are creating a Mockumentary, we are trying to create a realistic representation of something that can be real - thus enabling the audience to understand the atmosphere of theatre life. Of course,it isn't as simple as that, so I will be keeping this in mind and attempting to make characters seem much more relatable to the audience so not only are they more believable, but create a relationship with the audience.
Rising Action
Rising action is the way we view conflict from beginning to end. It seems conventional for the majority of narratives to begin with little tension and end with something high. This is commonly shown through the development of acts, where you would typically have 3 acts, which are:
Act 1: Introducing characters and the premise/plot
Act 2: Conveying a disruption or a struggle
Act 3: Resolves the crises and typically solves the premises swell.
The graph below shows this simple method on how action should continue to rise.
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| Simple graph showing how action should rise within screenwriting |
Reversal
Ken then explains how plot twists within scripts are often very effective if they turn out to be fortunate for the main character. This is used within DownStage as Maddie ends up with the lead role when at first Chantelle was given it.
How can these Aspects be Alternative?
Now that the key conventional aspects are defined as to what makes an effective script, Ken then goes into detail into how to challenge these aspects. For my production, some of his points were quite irrelevant as I must maintain the key conventions of a documentary, otherwise it can effect the realism and general understanding of our narrative. Nonetheless, below are the key points that I identified:
Character Alternatives
"What happens when your main character is not admirable or even likeable?" This quotation instantly reminded me of Chantelle. Despite her seeming as an antagonistic character, we do see one scene where the audience may imply empathy for her when they learn that her dad doesn't take any notice of her. This is important as the audience now learn why she is conveyed to be selfish and over-confident. Nonetheless, Ken explains by having an antagonist who reveals signs of sympathy can work effectively as it enables the audience to create a different perspective of the character, thus generally keeping them engaged with the narrative.
Ken also explains how ironic characters too can seem effective. "An ironic character promotes distance between us and the character, and allows us not only to sympathise with the character's plight, but also to wonder why events and people seem to conspire against them. This can relate to Alex where my script has a few references of her being ironic and patronising to other characters, such as Jordan during the party scene. At first this may enable the audience to think why she is the way she is, but all is then revealed once we learn about her story about her ex girlfriend. Therefore, this idea of character alternatives can be used and help create niche and original characters that ultimately help to create a better script.
Dialogue Alternatives
"Dialogue can be more highly charged and more emotional than conventional movie dialogue". Here Ken explains the different ways in which screenwriters challenge typical dialogue and instead use dialogue. For example, Ken explains that Quentin Tarantino typically uses dialogue scenes to replace action sequences because they are more effective in a way, and much more budge-table.
Nonetheless, Ken says that screenwriters can use dialogue to "supersede the sense of realism" or "undermine creditability". This too is an interesting way of almost manipulating dialogue by saying how dialogue can take the place of an actor. In a way, this is evident within my script, on the scene where Maddie and Jordan are rehearsing together. Although the dialogue only consists of the script from Peter Pan, it works in a way to bring connectivity between the two characters as they both bounce of one another (metaphorically) during their rehearsals, causing Maddie's confidence to grow, and Jordan's attention to increase. Nonetheless, this idea of using dialogue to take place of a person seems very effective if conveyed effectively, and I'll be thinking how else I can pursue this.
Conclusion
All in all, I found this book to be very interesting in regards to screenwriting. Not only does it help to define what conventions are used to create the structure and effectiveness of a script, but it also provides a range of counter-convetions that can be used to develop a script into something even more significant and original. I feel quite confident that my script currently follows the majority of these points (as proved from my examples), however I will be looking into more details on the counter-contvetions to see whether I can take the script to another level.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ybdJ1NUpZKMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=scriptwriting&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiph4XIhNHJAhUCvxQKHV0_DVQQ6AEINzAB#v=onepage&q=scriptwriting&f=false
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