Last night I watched a new faith based film that will release next week. It had a great cast, yet fell flat. While some of the film’s problems are attributed to the low budget and low production values, the most notable issue was the film’s lack of conflict. Conflict is the core element of drama. Without it, the film is merely a narrative with no power, traction or energy.

Conflict occurs when two characters (the protagonist and the antagonist) have mutually exclusive, contrasting objectives simultaneously. Only one character can win and the conflict comes when each character does what it takes to make sure they succeed at accomplishing their objective.

There are five types of conflict that can be played visually:

INTERNAL CONFLICT: Any form of story that touches on the character’s self-esteem creates an inner conflict. This can be in the form of the character second-guessing himself. It can be played out as insecurity, him being unsure of himself, or second-guessing his actions. Many times it is revealed through a conversation with a confidant.

RELATIONAL CONFLICT: The most used form of conflict is reflected in the struggles of the protagonist and antagonist attempting to achieve his goals, which typically rises from their relationship as they attack their mutually exclusive objectives. The protagonist and the antagonist can both be good people, but their separate objectives contrast each other and therefore only one can win.

SOCIETAL CONFLICT: This is like the David versus Goliath type story with a character battling against the government, a group, or a system.

NATURAL CONFLICT: Characters are typically thrust into this type of conflict through natural disasters and they find themselves battling the elements. These types of man against “nature” films require large physical or CGI effects. The greatest concern with this type of conflict is that most stories need a secondary relationship based conflict to cause the audience to care about the outcome.

SUPERNATURAL CONFLICT: This conflict is also known as man against god. It is all about the protagonist battling against an invisible being like the devil or some other supernatural force. To make this type of conflict more visual, stories tend to show the protagonist projecting his problems onto another character.

For these types of conflict to work, the protagonist must have an opposing character or force that is an equal opponent or adversary. The more clearly this relationship between the protagonist and antagonist is displayed, the stronger the conflict will be – Driving the drama to its highest level.

The conflict must also be visual and can’t be avoided. For Hitchcock’s knife scene in Psycho to work, the audience had to see the knife coming down into the shower curtain. However, they didn’t need to see it pierce the woman, but they did need to see the blood going down the drain.

In the film I watched last night, a man lost his loving wife to a car accident that the audience didn’t see. The scene was not emotionally charged or dramatic in any sense of the matter. This was due to the scene not being visual.

Conflict can’t be avoided in a drama, but it can be off screen if the audience can see the reaction to the situation through the eyes of another character. Last night’s film could have been very dramatic had the husband heard screeching tires, turned to look, and then recoiled in shock as the audience heard the thud of a body hitting the car hood.

The visual tells us how dramatic the moment is and how it should impact our emotions. If the visual is not present in some form, there is no drama. This is of course why there are many problems translating a good book to the screen. It also explains why many faith based films fall flat, when the filmmaker tries to avoid the visible conflict in order to keep the film “clean” for all ages.

Copyright © 2013 by CJ Powers
Photo © Sergey Nivens – Fotolia.com

This past week I was asked by three screenwriters what I do to avoid or get out of screenwriter’s block. My response was, “There is no such thing.” They were all adamant that it existed, but I had a differing viewpoint since I’ve never experienced it. These discussions helped me to realize that some people need a few steps to regenerate their creativity, so here they are:

STEP 1: CHANGE PERSPECTIVE – Change your perspective the moment your creative juices feel like they are slowing down.

I was in a special Bell Labs program where we were asked to come up with 100 different uses for a widget that was put in front of us. Others who participated in the think tank a week earlier only came up with 17 innovative ideas and gave up.

The team I was on immediately came up with 23 ideas and then everyone’s ideas except for mine started to fade. A few people asked why I wasn’t stumped. I shared how I thought through everything from my perspective, then looked at it from the viewpoint of a child. After hitting 56 ideas, I changed my perspective to that of an elderly woman.

Everyone followed suit and we completed the project with 137 innovative ideas. We later learned that idea number 97 was selected and the product was manufactured, making the company millions.

STEP 2: SCRIBBLE DOWN FIRST THOUGHTS – Before you start, scribble a bunch of ideas onto paper without much thought.

I worked on an animated project with an expert animator who started his brainstorming process by scribbling doodles onto a plain white piece of paper. He never wanted to start with nothing, and the scribbles made sure he always started with something.

The first time I scribbled lots of messy lines onto the page, I found three cool characters buried inside of the scribbles. I then went over them with a thicker marker so they would stand out enough for me to transfer the concepts to a clean sheet.

The technique worked the same for writers. By reducing first thoughts to writing, the creative person is able to develop a mind map or board ideas that will drive new ideas and a fresh focus.

STEP 3: BIRTH NEW IDEAS BY EXPLORING CONTENT – If your content is too short or not entertaining, expand it by asking questions about each existing idea.

The first writing course I ever took taught me about the 5Ws and H: Who, what, where, when, why and how. By asking these questions around every brainstormed idea, the writer is able to see additional possibilities worth expanding. The process can also bring clarity to what elements are most important.

Copyright © 2013 by CJ Powers

There are many components that a director scrutinizes when preparing a scene for production. But the first step is determining the dramatic beats. This term should not be confused with the beats written in dialog, the pace and rhythm of the story, or the beats in a story’s structure. The dramatic beats are those moments in a scene where a character experiences an irreversible change in his thought process or beliefs.

A secondary definition comes into play when the beat occurs during the exchange between two characters. These changes are seen more as a shift in power, as each character attempts to achieve or obtain his objective. The character driving the story with dialog at any given moment is the one in power or controlling the scene, which might rapidly change numerous times within a single scene.

Since “DJANGO” won an Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay, I thought it was best to use one of its scenes as an example. I have marked the beats in the scene with a slash directly after each line that demonstrates the change. The slash is a standard script marking used in the industry for dramatic beats.

Once the director marks the dramatic beats, he can more easily see the patterns, character motivations, and objectives. I’ll walk through the basics of the Django scene…

The scene opens with a quiet picturesque setting lightly broken by the clip-clopping of the horse hoofs. Every shot sets the mood and tone of the moment, which is broken by the scene’s first beat – Dr. Schultz breaks the silence.

Dr. Schultz owns the conversation until the next beat, when Django says, “This ain’t my horse.” Django drives the next section of dialog, until Dr. Schultz has an epiphany and decides to give Django the horse. This settles the argument and brings the tone back to the silence of the scene’s opening.

The next beat is Dr. Schultz interrupting the silence again with a litany of dialog. Django resets the conversation by answering the original question about naming his horse Tony. Django drives the banter, until Dr. Schultz understands the answer and then poses a new question, “Why Tony?”

This gives Dr. Schultz control once again, which allows him to satisfy his reason for starting the conversation. As a result, he is content to bring closure to the chat and return them to their silent ride through the picturesque setting.

These shifts in power within the dialog make for several clear beats. The beats create significant interest in the minds of the audience, which adds to the film’s entertainment value. Without the dramatic beats, the scene would be a boring conversation between two points, rather than an interesting set of dialog that helps the audience understand the characters.

Copyright © 2013 by CJ Powers