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The Creative Process

This document discusses the creative process of scriptwriting. It explains that the scriptwriter writes the foundation for the film and that every film or TV program falls under a specific genre that sells to audiences. Some current popular genres include horror, romance, comedy, and fantasy. A good story has compelling characters, conflict, and something at stake that characters want or are working towards. An effective scriptwriter comes up with big story concepts or "what if" scenarios and translates them into a workable storyline outline that follows a plot pattern and considers elements like scene count and character development. Creativity is an essential skill for scriptwriters to generate new ideas and stories.

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The Creative Process SCRIPTWRITING – Seymour B. Sanchez
The Scriptwriter • The scriptwriter writes the script that provides the foundation for the film
Why Write? • No script, no film • Good directors are once/also good writers. • A very accessible discipline • Very fulfilling • Some circles consider it as equally important as the Director • Yes, it can make you rich.
Film and Television • Both are VISUAL media. • Each has a story to tell (whether logical or illogical). • Every film and TV program falls under a specific GENRE (comedy, action, drama or horror, etc.). • Genres sell the tickets. Producers buy genres and the approach at each genre.
Producers Buy Genres • Current trends in film: - Horror - Romance - Comedy - Fantasy
Stereotypical Genres Romance Mystery Disaster Thriller/ Psychological Thriller Fantasy/ Adventure Horror Sci-fi Melodrama/ Drama Action Comedy
Sample Sub-Genres • Boy Meets Girl • Rite of Passage • Coming of Age • Unrequited Love • Dysfunctional Family • Gay and Lesbian • Road Trip • Swashbuckling hero
Genre Elements • Romance – Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Gets Girl, Misunderstanding alienates Boy and Girl, Rival for Girl throws out Misinformation, Last Minute Reveal of the Truth leading to Joyful Reunion • Horror Story – Series of Grizzly and Inventive Murders, The Evil Gradually Closes in on the Heroes, Scary Isolated Location, Massive Rainstorm with Lightning and Thunder
Plot-driven or Character-driven • Each progresses via the story (plot-driven, 2012) or the characters (character-driven, The Queen, Hannibal) • Everything starts with a script; every script starts with a concept
Big Story/Concept • What is a concept? A concept is an idea for a movie. Period.
Sample Concepts • A superhero creature who has all the strengths of a vampire and none of its weaknesses, except for the thirst for blood • What if a boy wishes that for a whole day, his father wouldn’t tell a lie • A bride rises from coma and embarks on a roaring rampage of revenge • Husband and wife. Man is an assassin, and so is the wife. But they do not know each other’s secret identity
Where do concepts come from?
Concepts come from: • Another movie • News item/court case • Someone’s story/real life • Memoir/diary • Comics/graphic novel • Book/novel • Neighbor’s problems • A dream • An experience/MRT ride to Cubao • From one’s own creative impulses
Scriptwriter as Creative Animal Ergo, a scriptwriter is a creative animal. He conceives, he creates, he re-creates, he alters what is already created.
Creativity • Can it be taught? Yes. • Can it be acquired? Yes, why not? • Creativity, like a third eye, is present in all living, rational beings.
Creativity • In scriptwriting, it is simply telling a story that is previously non-existent. He starts from a germ of an idea, and ends up with a larger than life story. A detective. A pet detective An alien. An alien for a stepmother. A robot. A robot with scissors instead of hands
Creative Exercise: What if? • Create a cinematic character from a common person/ object/ other worldly things • A nun. A nun with hidden tattoos. • A postman. A postman who can’t read nor write • An angel. • A neighbor. • A stewardess.
Creativity • In scriptwriting, it is when you rationalize/justify something that is previously unheard of, unacceptable or objectionable
Translating the Big Story Idea into a Workable Story
What Makes a Good Story?
What makes a good story? • Stories with characters that you are passionate about, whether heroes (love them) or villains (hate them)
What makes a good story? There is something at stake • Something someone wants (the car in Dude, Where’s my Car?) • Something someone wants for the good of mankind (nuke, the asteroid in Armageddon) • Something desired by many characters (the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings)
What makes a good story? There are always obstacles: CONFLICT – the heart of drama Someone wants something and people and things keep getting in the way. It can be physical or emotional
Premise • The “What If?” of a story • The beginning, the building block
Plot • A scheme, plan, or method to execute the premise • The execution of the story • It is how we get from the beginning, through the middle, and on to the end
Sample Plot Patterns • Rags to Riches/Cinderella Story • Journey movie • Revenge/Vengeance Story • Road movie • Rites of passage • Ugly duckling • Triangle Story • Boy meets boy/girl, boy gets boy/girl, or vice versa • Romeo and Juliet • Ship of fools • Whodunit
Storyline/Sentence Outline
Storyline/Sentence Outline • A sequence by sequence account of the entire story/script
Why Write the Outline • It provides you with an overview of the script • It gives you a good grasp on the structure • It enables you to develop and improve the story
Take these into consideration: • Number of scenes/locations • The running time • The number of characters and size of each character • Commercials (for TV) • Film structure (three-act or four-act)