Coe William K. The Screenwriting Bible

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The Screenwriting Bible™

Sir William K. Coe™

Other obvious types:

The Historical Drama

The Musical

The Western

So, enough analysis of genre.

Try to settle on a mix of two genres for your story. To start with,

that is. Keep the possibility open that you might be able to spice up

your story with little bits of a third genre, but -- proceed with

caution. As an old Hollywood pro once growled at me, "More than two

genres is a mess."

Movies that Fit the Genres/More Genres:

Action (Disaster): Stories whose central struggle plays out mainly

through a clash of physical forces.

48 Hours

Face/Off

Die Hard

Air Force One

Jurassic Park

Lethal Weapon

Return of the Jedi (also Science

Fiction)

Speed (also a Thriller)

Titanic (also a Love story)

The Terminator

True Lies

Twister

Adventure: Stories whose central struggle plays out mainly through

encounters with new "worlds."

Apollo 13

The Deep

Get Shorty (extraordinary blend of

Gangster, Love, and Crime with a

twist)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

(also an Action picture)

Little Big Man (Also Epic/Myth)

Lawrence of Arabia

Quest For Fire

Rain Man

Robinson Crusoe

Water World

Comedy: Stories whose central struggle causes hilarious results.

Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (also

Adventure - the name gives it away)

Analyze This

Annie Hall

Bowfinger

French Kiss

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (also

Fantasy)

My Best Friend's Wedding

Nine to Five

Shakespeare in Love

The Spy Who Shagged Me

When Harry Met Sally

Working Girl (also Love Story)

Coming-of-Age Drama: Stories whose central struggle is about the hero

finding his or her place in the world.

American Beauty

American Graffiti

The Breakfast Club

The Graduate

The Last Picture Show

The Lion King

My Brilliant Career

Rebel Without a Cause

Risky Business

Saturday Night Fever

Shakespeare in Love (also Romantic

Comedy)

Splendor in the Grass

Top Gun (also Action)

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The Paper Chase

Pretty In Pink

The Water Boy (also Comedy)

Crime: Stories whose central struggle is about catching a criminal.

48 Hours

Basic Instinct

Fargo

French Connection

Ghost (also Love and Thriller)

L.A.Confidential

Patriot Games

Pulp Fiction (Also Black Comedy,

Bends the Genre a lot))

The Sting

The Untouchables

Detective Story/Courtroom Drama: Stories whose central struggle is to

find out what really happened and thus to expose the truth.

Caine Mutiny

Chinatown

Death and the Maiden

A Few Good Men

The General's Daughter

Inherit the Wind

The Maltese Falcon

Philadelphia

Rear Window

A Time to Kill

The Verdict

Vertigo

Epic/Myth: Stories whose central struggle plays out in the midst of a

clash of great forces or in the sweep of great historical change.

Apocalypse Now

The Birth of a Nation

Bridge on the River Kwai

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Ghandi

The Godfather

Gone With the Wind

The Grapes of Wrath

Lawrence of Arabia (also Adventure)

Star Wars

The Ten Commandments

Fantasy: Stories which are animated, or whose central struggle plays out

in two worlds - the "real" world and an imaginary world.

A Connecticut Yankee in King

Arthur's Court

Alice in Wonderland

Antz

Big

Ghostbusters

Heaven Can Wait

Mary Poppins

The Mask

Peter Pan

Snow White

Toy Story

The Wizard of Oz

Who Killed Roger Rabbit?

Gangster: Stories whose central struggle is between a criminal and

society. A cautionary tale, rooted in a main character who commits

crimes (This genre is often blended with Film Noir).

Badlands

Bonnie and Clyde

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Dead End

Dead Man Walking

The Godfather (also Epic/Myth)

Goodfellas

La Femme Nikita

Out of Sight (also Love Story)

Sling Blade

The Usual Suspects

Horror: Stories whose central struggle focuses on escaping from and

eventually defeating a Monster (either human or non-human).

Alien

The Blair Witch Project

Friday the Thirteenth

Halloween

I Know What You Did Last Summer

It's Alive

King Kong

Nightmare on Elm Street

Psycho

Scream

Tremors

Love (Romance): Stories whose central struggle is between two people who

each want to win or keep the love of the other.

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Annie Hall

As Good As It Gets

Casablanca (also Epic/Myth)

Ghost

The Graduate

It Happened One Night

Mickey Blue Eyes

Notting Hill

Pretty Woman

Roman Holiday

The Way We Were

Wuthering Heights

Science Fiction: Stories whose central struggle is generated from the

technology and tools of a scientifically imaginable world.

2001 A Space Odyssey

Back to the Future

Blade Runner (also Crime)

ET: The Extra Terrestrial

The Fifth Element

Gattaca

The Sixth Sense

Stargate

Star Wars (and all the sequels or

prequels)

The Terminator

Twelve Monkeys

Social Drama: Stories whose central struggle is between a Champion and a

problem or injustice in society. Usually the Champion has a personal

stake in the outcome of the struggle.

A Civil Action

Dead Man Walking

Dr Strangelove

Grapes of Wrath

Kramer Vs Kramer

Network

Philadelphia (also Courtroom Drama)

Schindler's List

To Kill a Mockingbird

Thriller: Stories whose central struggle pits an innocent hero against a

lethal enemy who is out to kill him or her.

The Net

No Way Out

North by Northwest (also Love Story)

Sleeping With the Enemy

Night of the Hunter

Three Days of the Condor

Wait Until Dark

Witness (also Love Story)

MYTH

Beyond genre and plot is myth. In any story you write, it may help you

to understand the mythological journey. The "hero's journey," as

presented by Joseph Campbell, follows a particular pattern that may be

weaved into the fabric of any story, regardless of its genre. Many

stories contain elements of this mythological journey, while a few,

like STAR WARS and THE WIZARD OF OZ, can be called myths because the

central character passes through each stage of the hero's journey.

Briefly, these are the stages in the hero's journey:

The hero lives amid ordinary surroundings. The Catalyst is actually a

call to adventure, but the hero is reluctant to heed the call. This

could be the moment when the hero receives her mission. She is given an

amulet or aid of some kind by an older per- son, a mentor. For example,

Dorothy is given the ruby red slippers by a good witch. Luke is given

the light saber by Obi-Wan. Many stories feature mentors, e.g., Robin

Williams in GOOD WILL HUNTING and Tommy Lee Jones in MEN IN BLACK.

The central character travels to the extraordinary world. This is

followed by a series of tests and obstacles. The hero often undergoes a

death experience and enters the secret hideout, the witch's castle, the

death star, the belly of the whale, or the innermost cave.

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Finally, the hero seizes the treasure and is chased back to the

ordinary world, where this treasure blesses the people. The grail heals

the land. The hero may be resurrected in some way. Luke and Han are

honored at an awards ceremony. Dorothy returns to her family. The LAST

STARFIGHTER is transfigured in front of the townspeople. Oskar

Schindler is resurrected in a ring ceremony.

As a writer, you may have heard a call to action, a call to write, but

hesitated. You must heed the call. As you struggle, as you learn, and

as you write, you may very well walk the path of the hero, overcome

obstacles, gain allies, and become the next great screenwriter. The

hero's journey may very well become your personal odyssey.

The Structural Checklist

Refer to this list with each successful draft.

1. Every scene, event, and character must contribute to the hero’s

outer motivation.

2. Early in the screenplay, show the audience where the story is

going to lead them.

3. Build the conflict

4. Accelerate the pace of the story (builds from the other)

expositionrising actionpeakclimaxresolution.

5. Create peaks and valleys to the action and humor. Whether

emotion, follow high emotions with low emotions to prevent

boredom.

6. Create anticipation in the reader.

7. Give the audience superior position.(give audience information

that characters in film do not know)

8. Surprise the audience and reverse the anticipation to increase

involvement; predict total predictability.

9. Create curiosity in the reader. Make the reader want to stick

around to see how a problem is solved, etc. The longer you

withhold something, the longer anticipated it is.

10.Foreshadow the major events of a screenplay. Lay groundwork for

character’s actions early in film to make them more credible

later. Particularly important with climax (last obstacle and the

logic to overcome it is believable). Best to create important and

climatic scenes first, then back to previous scenes to fill in

information to foreshadow events.

11.Echo particular situations, objects, and lines of dialogue to

illustrate character growth and change. Repeat an object or

situation or line of dialogue in your screenplay at regular

intervals through the course of the story, and it will illustrate

changes your characters have experienced.

12.Pose a threat to one of the characters.

13.Make the story credible. Logical and believable within its own

set of rules. If alter the rules of real life, they must be

stated for the audience.

14.Teach the audience how to do something, vicariously. They learn

it through the character.

15.Give the story both humor and seriousness.

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16.Give the movie an effect opening. Must immediately grab

audience’s emotions and establish tone and mood of your

screenplay and almost right away.

17.Give the story an effective ending. Includes two elements: climax

and denouement. If your screenplay has second level of sell, must

also have a second climax for this plotline. Do NOT leave issue

unsolved – either character does or doesn’t achieve the goal.

Some issues may be left unresolved so long as they do not include

the resolution of the hero’s outer motivation. The denouement is

the emotional tapering off period that follows the climax, a

series of scenes that carries the story to fadeout. Allows the

audience to absorb the impact of your ending. Can be lengthy.

Ending must be one the audience accepts as the most emotionally

satisfying resolution of your story. Cannot be defeated – must

preserve and convey the dignity of the human spirit and a sense

of hope or enlightenment about the human condition. Happy

endings, while optional, do sell.

7 Types of Openings: Choose 1

1. The hero action introduction opens with the hero immediately

involved in some action sequence (Raiders of the Lost Ark).

Appropriate if only creating a superhero, a fantasy story, or if

the hero will logically encounter action as a part of his

everyday life.

2. The hero non-action introduction opens with the hero living

everyday life before she is thrust into the extraordinary

circumstances. Must grab the reader emotionally in some other way.

3. The outside action opening is used a lot in suspense thrillers

and action-adventures. Opens with an action scene that does not

include the hero then cuts to hero living their life before

plunged into circumstances.

4. The new arrival opens with a character arriving for the first

time into a new situation.

5. Prologue is a sequence which occurs significantly prior to the

main story – months or years before. (Vertigo, The Exorcist).

Main purpose is foreshadowing, and can also create curiosity and

anticipation in the reader.

6. Flashbacks begins with a sequence in the middle or end of the

story and then flashes back to reveal the events that led up to

that opening scene. Best used in narration narrating a story that

happened ago. Prevent opening with flashbacks – use prologue.

7. Montages are a series of events or actions, none of which by

itself constitutes a scene, but which are strung together to

speed up the exposition. Create an original sequence of events to

introduce hero.

Can combine the above, but main objective is to pick one that will grab

reader’s attention and establish tone of screenplay in most effective,

original way.

Structure

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Strong line of dramatic action; it goes somewhere, moves forward, step

by step, toward the resolution. It hold everything together.

A broad definition: The relationship or organization of the component

parts of a work of art or literature (parts and whole; whole is greater

than sum of its parts)

A screenplay is a story told in pictures, dialogue, and description,

within the context of dramatic literature. They are visual, you show us

not tell us.

Drama is conflict; without conflict, there is no screenplay.

Treatment

Must know your own story. What’s it about? Can it be said in a few

sentences? Write a 4-page treatment to see your story with a sense of

overview and clarity that you will not have for many months.

Get an idea and research it. Books, people, until you feel comfortable

with it. Do character work, and start writing.

Writing should be an adventure, shrouded in mystery and uncertainty,

blessed with amazing grace.

Don’t be detailed in this treatment. Save it for later. For your use

and ideas only. More on writing treatments later.

Format:

½ page for opening scene or sequence

½ page for general action of Act I

½ page for plot point at end of Act I

½ page for action of Act II

½ page for plot point at end of Act II

¾ to 1 page for Act III, resolution

The Paradigm

A model, an example, a conceptual scheme. You plan what you’re going to

write but it may not work out that way. This is Ok and go with what new

ideas comes up. This is a more sophisticated method of plotting, and

replaces the big event-crisis-catalyst-pinch technique.

Stories have a beginning, middle, end.

Each act is a unit or block of dramatic action, no matter length.

Act I

Setups story: introduce main characters, establish dramatic premise,

create the situation, and lay out scenes and sequences that build and

expand the information of your story. Context holds the content in

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place, all the scenes, dialogue, description, shots, and special

effects.

About p 25 a plot point occurs; a plot point is an incident, episode,

or event that hooks into the action and spins it around into another

direction – line of development. It’s anything that moves the story

forward. It takes us into Act II.

Your story must be established immediately, within the first 10 pages.

The First Ten Pages

You only got ten pages to grab your reader. Make sure these are lean,

clean, and tight. Three elements: who is the main character, what is

your story about (premise), and what are the circumstances surrounding

the action.

The Second and Third Ten pages

In second ten pages must follow focus of your main character. Use note

cards, make sure main character is in every scene. Make him active –

initiates the action and responds to premise of first ten pages. He

needs to make decisions as to where to go or what to do. Must move

story forward. Don’t be limited to rules of reality – go with it. Let

go of the reality of the person, incident, or event. Find the unreality

and use it. Only base them on persons, incidents, and experience.

In the third ten pages we move up to the plot point at the end of Act

I, “an incident, episode, or event that hooks into action and spins it

around into another direction pages 25-27 and takes you onto Act II.

10 pages | 2

10 pages | 3

ten pages

setup main character follow focus define the problem

dramatic premise, on main character Plot Point I

dramatic situation “the problem”

Act II

Held together by confrontation (conflict). Goes from Plot I to Plot II.

Your main character will confront obstacles and conflicts that must be

resolved and overcome in order for your character to achieve his or her

dramatic need. Act II is where your character confronts and overcomes

(or not overcomes) all obstacles to achieve his or her dramatic need.

If you know what your main character wants to win, gain, get, or

achieve during the course of your screenplay (the dramatic need), your

story becomes your character overcoming all obstacles to achieve his or

her dramatic need. Most difficult because is longest.

The plot point at the end of Act II spins the story into Act III. Can

be any amount of plot points. Must know four things before structure

idea: ending, beginning, plot point I, plot point II.

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The new paradigm focuses on Act II into 2 parts, first half and second

half. Writing is a processing of asking the right questions and waiting

for the right answers.

Midpoint

Something happens on page 60 that helps design and structure the action

of Act II. Once midpoint is established, Act II can be broken down into

2 30 page units. The first half goes through from plot point at the end

of Act I to the midpoint. The second half of Act II goes from the

midpoint to the plot point at the end of Act II. Allows you to have

more a firm grasp on Act II.

The midpoint helps you design, structure, and write the second act of

your screenplay.

When you’re writing Act II, must know where you are going; got to have

an endpoint, a goal, a destination. Must plan character’s course of

action. What happens to main character from plot point I to plot point

II? You have a direction, a line of development. You know where you’re

going and what you’re doing, and your story.

Act I (p 1-30) Act II (p 30-90) Act III

(pg 90-120)

First half Second half

Beginning | middle | end |

M | p

P30-60, 45 p 60-90, 75

Setup 60 resolution

Plot point I, pp. 25-27 confrontation Plot point II

Pp 85-90

First Half, Second half: Dramatic Context and the Pinch

What holds the first half together? Dramatic context – space that holds

content in place, then provide content. Now find the time frame. If

writing in a period of years, what do you show? Time is condensed into

space. Passing of time shown in seasonal changes of clothing, dialogue

referencing specific days, or use of even like election, wedding,

funeral, etc. The time frame for Act II keeps your story in motion,

supporting context.. Gives you greater structural support and enhances

the dramatic tension by determining the obstacles your main character

needs to overcome in order to achieve his or her dramatic need. Do all

this for the second half of Act II. Each half is separate and

independent though compromise one act.

Pinch

Keep story on track, half of each half must be one major scene or

sequence to tie it all together. Usually there’s a relationship between

pinch 1 and pinch 2, a story connection. Last things to determine

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before writing. Must know where you are and where you are going. Keep

writing no matter whether you like it or not.

Write the Second Act

Prepare material. Draw story line on the paradigm. Separate Act II into

first and second halves. Establish time frame. Then pinch I and lay

this all out in 14 3x5 cards. Start from Plot Point I and go to the

midpoint. Lay cards out and free associate, few words on card – short,

brief, simple, concise. Find the elements, or components of the action

based on the dramatic context. Write first ten pages. Design your

scenes. Your context is confrontation, your character is confronting

obstacles that keep him and her from achieving his or her dramatic

need. Move into the second 10 pages. You’re leading into Pinch I, so

design them carefully. What scenes do you have to write before the

pitch? Write Pinch 1. Just write, it’s easy to cut out scenes. Remember

to use visual dynamics (seen throughout). Don’t describe too much, and

don’t end up with thick paragraphs. Leave wide margins, left and right,

at top and bottom. Want a lot of space on page. Be sparse and simple in

descriptions, using no more than 5 or 6 sentences for each. Move into

the third pages of the first half. Design scenes with midpoint in mind.

Keep moving forward, forgetting about perfect pages. Hold all changes

for the rewrite – here you’ll integrate all those changes you’ve made

during the actual writing. Your character will not be telling you what

they want to do, where they want to go. Go with the low – let it

happen. Write the midpoint. Make sure it is a link in the chain of

dramatic action, connecting the first half of Act II with the second

half of Act II. Prepare second half, then write it. Determine the

dramatic context, time frame, then pinch, all with 14 3x5 cards, Write

in 10 page units, moving story forward through Pinch II to the plot

point at the end of Act II. Don’t rewrite now – you’ll do it later.

Don’t become your own defeat – let the story guide you. Have a piece of

paper that says “Critic” on it so you can keep track of self-critiques

as you write. Continue writing your script. Around page 45 or 50,

around Pinch I, you may find your structure needs to be altered. If you

need to restructure your story, do it. Structure is flexible – scenes

and dialogue can be repositioned or moved. When writing the second act,

story will change. Let it change. Let yourself add more dramatic

scenes. When you’re in the paradigm, you can’t see the paradigm. Be

willing to change some of your elements to make your story work.

Act III

Deals with resolution. You must resolve your story. You must know how

it will end – will the character succeed or fail, live or die, etc.

What is the resolution of your story? When you establish that, you can

decide on the specific ending. You've always known your ending, now you

can execute it. But first, does your ending still work? Is it still

effective? Do you have to change the ending because of the changes

you've made during the first two acts? Have you thought of another

ending, a new one, more dramatic, more visual than the first one? Don't

think too much about it, just do it. If you try to figure out the

"correct," the "right" ending, you'll never do it. Choose an ending

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that works, that fits your story. As you write it, you'll find out

whether it's effective or not. Trust the process. It's larger than you

are; like "the Force," it will be with you if go with it; don't fight

it and don't get in the way by forcing something to work that doesn't

work. Many people ask if there's a pinch or plot point in Act III.

Sometimes there is, it depends on the needs of your story. A key scene

may be needed to 'connect', the resolution with the rest of your story

line. Resolve character and story. Does your character change during

your screenplay? If so, pay it off in Act III. Show it visually,

dramatically, to resolve your story.

When you prepare Act III, the first thing you must do is define the

story elements. Isolate them. Try to find a key scene that will hold

everything. Then layout Act III on fourteen 3 x 5 cards. Go over the

cards until you feel comfortable with the story's progression. Then

start writing. You'll find you'll be on automatic, comfortable with the

writing and discipline and story line. You still won't know whether

it's working or not, because you can't see anything, but it feels good.

At this stage, it will be working in spite of your doubts or

insecurities. Just keep writing. Trust the process. Lay it down, scene

by scene, page by page. All you have to do to complete Act III is put

in time in front of the writing pad, typewriter, or computer screen.

You may even start thinking about your next screenplay. Things will be

going smoothly and easily until the last few pages of the script. Then

you might feel strange, find yourself' 'blank," not knowing what to

write and without any real desire to complete the screenplay. You’ll

look for, and find, every excuse to avoid writing. It's really very

funny; after weeks and months of preparation, research, commitment,

pain, toil, and trouble, after weeks of self-doubt, fears, and

insecurities, after weeks of working your ass off, you may suddenly

want to chuck it, with only a few pages to write. It's absurd; you

really can't take it too seriously. What do you do? What's happening is

a common experience among writers. It originates below the level of

awareness. Emotionally, you don't want to end the screenplay. You want

to hang on, not finish it. It's like a terrible relationship; no matter

how bad it is, a terrible relationship is better than no relationship

at all.

The same principle applies to writing your screenplay. It's hard to

end. It's been a great part of your life; you think about it every day,

your characters are like friends, you talk about your story every

chance you get. Writing has kept you awake at night, caused you pain

and suffering, given you great satisfaction. Of course you don't want

to give it up!

For what? It's only natural "to hold on." There's a lot of work left to

do on this screenplay. When you finish this words-on-paper draft,

you're only a third of the way through the screenwriting process.

You're not done with anything; the ending of one thing is always the

beginning of something else. You've got two more drafts to go before

you complete this first-draft screenplay. Just finish your script;

resolve it. And once you write "the end" give yourself a pat on the

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