SPEED DATING FROM HELL

     

     There it was.  It filled the dimly lit crowded Brazilian restaurant, desperation was upon us.  It was there in the group of men standing in the corner waiting for a seat to open so they could talk with one of the three women they were interested in.  They stood around looking at these women with more hunger then they did the okra, sliced sausage and chicken under the heat lamps of the buffet behind them.  I was no different.  On my last date, the girl ended up crashing her car into a motorcycle parked a mere five feet behind her.

     For the first few minutes it was fun to just listen and observe.  This whole macabre social scene was like a Ralph Steadman drawing.  All you could hear were thirty conversations going on at once.  This chatter blended together to make up the white noise that filled this chicken coup of the undatable.  The place doubled as a sports bar which explained the boxing match being projected on a large screen from a vacant raised dining floor off to the side.

     To be clear this was my first time going to an event like this.  I am struck by how it all paints the picture of what being single is like.  The women sit at their tables waiting for the next man to move down the line and take a seat.  Like the brightly colored tail feathers of a male peacock; the women sat patiently waiting for the men to impress them.  It's a little thing called sexual selection; isn't nature grand?  One of these guys waiting in the wings was Joey; a muscular gym rat with dark curly hair who conveniently stuck his name tag sticker onto the side of his right bicep.   I was practically forced into a seat to talk with the first lady of the evening. Asunti is a thirty-eight year old banker who recently moved to Florida.  “I've never been to one of these before,” she says.  It must be everyone's first time I think.  Asunti was a nice girl; it was clear from the beginning we were incompatible.  We had nothing in common and no physical attraction to each other, yet we smiled and carried out a conversation like two strangers coming out of the fog.  I looked at it like a practice round for the next encounter; who turned out to be Victoria.  She was a full figured red head with blue eyes and a confidence about her.  Victoria was the best this gathering had to offer and she knew it.  She formally served in the Navy and now works as an accountant.  She likes movies so I eagerly tell her about a movie I made recently.  Realizing that this is what made me unique out of this pack of wolves, I focused on the film making.

     There are countless ways to make a bad first impression with a girl and I have experienced enough of them first hand to know what to avoid.  I tell Victoria that I work in the entertainment department of a theme park and she immediately asks about the free passes that come with the job.  When you get right down to it isn't that what a dating transaction is all about; getting something in return from one another?  I tell her how leaving something behind that could live long after you're dead is why I am happy to be an artist.  Then just as I'm about to tell her my theory that this is also why people have children, the host of the event taps my shoulder.  My time is up, I quickly move on after I say goodbye.

     There is one more girl I was hoping to meet, so I wait.  I wait for the seat across from the lady with the long blonde hair to be left bare.  Then it happens, I slowly walk up as she takes out her cellphone after being left alone for only a few seconds.  I approach the table and say “That was close, you were almost alone for a whole minute”, as I look down at my wrist for a watch that was not there.   Katy smiles and I take my seat. This girl is not what I expected, she is easy going, a nursing student.  This conversation is just like the one with Victoria, only more hopeful.  Katy stands and announces that she has to use the restroom.  I see a tall gift bag that hangs from her arm.  “It's a bottle of wine,” she says, “a prize for finding a person with a matching number.”  She was referring to the index cards the host handed out to us at the door with a number written on it.  My number was 22; as in, if I was twenty-two I would probably not be single and have to be here.

     Before Katy walks toward the bathroom I tell her “I'll hold the fort.”  Did I really just say that?  Awww man.  I think about things to say for a while while I wait for her to return.  I need to be prepared, I don't want to screw this up.  Three minutes go by and then everyone stands in unison and charges toward the bar as if there was a pre-planned signal to disperse that I must have missed.  Still no sign of Katy, I stay at the table as promised.  Five minutes pass before I hit the exit.  Once outside I throw away my name tag with disdain, like a nightclub wristband after an evening you will wake up to regret.  This was my first time going to an event like this I thought, and it is sure to be the last.

- Curt Wiser is the Writer/Director of the thriller Cam-Girl and author of the suspense novel Box Cutter Killer.  

Tags: speed dating, Ralph Steadman, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, love, romance, single life, bachelor

MAKING A LOOK BOOK FOR YOUR SCREENPLAY

     If you are serious about seeing one of your screenplays produced you need to start with three things; a budget breakdown, a business plan and a look book.  This is only if you have a well written, highly marketable script to begin with.  Beyond that, without all three of these documents you will be at least one step behind the majority of film proposals out there that do.  This is especially true if you do not have an agent or manager who can send your script out and add credibility to it.

     So what is a look book anyway?  No, it's not a graphic novel with all the words taken out, or a paperback with its own set of eyes.  A look book is a pitch document that is usually 8-10 pages long and uses images and text to show off your project to producers and investors.  It is your main sales tool, so you need it to look great and it should get the point across in a concise and professional way.

     Just like the art of writing a screenplay itself, there are no stead fast rules you have to adhere to when you design your look book, but there are widely known guidelines you should be aware of.  Here are the different sections that every look book is expected to have:

• The Story
• Cast and Crew
• The Look of the Film
• Comparables
• Business Summary
• Contact Info

     Any important information you want to present should easily fit into one of these categories.  One exception would be if you have any awards or note worthy news items that were published about your project; in that case, make a press section and put it towards the end of your document.

     Let's go over each section of a look book, one at a time.  As an example, I'm using pages from my look book for 30 Night Stand; a Romantic Comedy I wrote and hope to see all the way through production.  As with any book, this sales document needs a cover page.  Here is the cover page for the 30 Night Stand look book.  I will have more to say about this image later.

COVER PAGE

THE STORY

It all starts with the script, and therefore so does your pitch.  For this you need to stop thinking about your screenplay as the author and look at it from the perspective of a marketing executive.  The log line is what you hit them with first.  You need to relay the premise, the protagonist, the tone or genre of the story and finally hook any potential reader into wanting to know how this story ends.  All of this is told through one eloquent sentence, no problem right?  If it sounds like a difficult task that requires a lot of careful consideration; that's because it is.  I recommend you test different log lines on your friends and peers from your writer's group.  If there is a movie with a story that is similar to yours, look up the log line on IMDB to get some ideas.

My log line for 30 Night Stand is:

Tensions rise and sparks fly when a woman is cunning enough to turn a one night affair into an opportunity to live with a man rent free.

Next I would include a few tag lines. These are very short, impactful blurbs that could end up on the movie poster or be part of any print advertising after the film is produced. Like the log line, your tag lines should relate to the tone and genre of your story but must also hook the reader with as few words as possible.

Here are the tag lines I included in the 30 Night Stand look book:

Love is hard, so don't play fair.

It's his place, but don't tell her that.

When a one night stand goes wrong.

She came, she stayed, she has to go.

Once I put these story pitches together it looked like this on the first page:

     After your log line and tag lines you have the option of writing a brief synopsis of your literary bundle of joy.  I stress the word “optional” here because I personally never send out a synopsis of a screenplay unless it is requested.  Most writers feel they did all the work to make the script the best it could be, and so, the story is meant to be read in its whole form and not in a one page synopsis.  Instead of a synopsis, you could always state the theme of your story, go into more detail about what is unique in your story or show why this story is important to you and why it would relate to a large audience.  I did not put a synopsis in the pitch document so I chose not to include it here.  You should still have a synopsis written, but hope you never have to show it to anyone.... like that bad selfie you took in middle school.

CAST AND CREW

     Cast and crew is our next section, and rightfully so.  If a well crafted story is going to be told, it will take a team of dedicated and talented people to make it happen.  Start with photos and biographical information of your cast if you have any actors officially attached.  This screenplay got a big boost now that we have two actresses with name recognition attached to 30 Night Stand.  One is the Horror icon Cerina Vincent; she is best known from Eli Roth's debut film Cabin Fever.  The other talented lady is Annika Marks whose credits include The Sessions with Helen Hunt; who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role.  If you do not have any prominent actors who have agreed to play a role, then skip it and list the key crew members you have.  The reason for this is that every piece of information you include in this sales tool must show your project in the best light.

     

     The most experienced and well known person you have behind the scenes should be the first you list here.  It could be a producer; an acclaimed director or award winning director of photography.  No matter what, there is you as the screenwriter, so you have someone to list here.  A word of caution about this; if you plan on directing this opus I would not mention that here unless you are a successful director of feature films.  By this I mean, you have directed movies that made a profit and that other people should be aware of.  I hate to break it to you, but they do not care how many short films you have directed; with the exception of a short that premiered at Sundance or won an award at one of the major festivals.  If you wrote or directed a short film based on the feature length project you are pitching be sure to list that and include a link for them to watch it.

     In this section you want to show how these key crew members are a perfect choice for this film while you give their biographical information and list their credits.  Do they have elements from their lives that relate to the subject of this movie?  If they have credits that deal with similar themes or are the same genre as your project; mention those credits first.  We our fortunate enough to have Sylvia Caminer attached as a producer of 30 Night Stand.  Sylvia has worked steadily as a filmmaker for over ten years and has won an Emmy Award in 2004 for directing Great Hotels.  It is for that reason that I listed her at the top of the crew section.  As you can read in the pitch document excerpt below; I also highlighted how Sylvia Caminer and Annika Marks have a successful history of working together.  Sylvia produced the drama Grace, in which Annika Marks played the title role.  Remember, it is your job with this document to build the confidence that any financier may have in your film.

THE LOOK OF THE FILM

     Now it's time to make your look book live up to its name.  In this section you will feature images to sell the look and marketable elements of your film.  This is when it helps if you're an artist or have someone on your team who is talented with a pencil or a brush.  I have been drawing and illustrating for as far back as I can remember, so I created my own concept art and storyboards for 30 Night Stand.  You can see these illustrations below.  What you want is an image that could pass as the movie poster for this story.  It should relate to the theme and title of your story while also grabbing the viewer's attention.  If you are not able to get a hold of high quality, original images you could always use stock photos that you can buy from a web site like Shutterstock.com or Gettyimages.com.  I would suggest you only use stock images as a last resort, because you want your look book to be like your screenplay; bold and original.

     Do your research; look up movie posters and promotional artwork for movies that are similar to yours. Not only will that give you some ideas, but it will help you make sure you do not repeat what others did. Two movie posters that helped inspire my concept art for 30 Night Stand are from The Break-up and Two Night Stand.  As you can see in these posters below; the two main characters are in bed together and yet they are divided.  The body language of these characters and how they are visually represented, show a great deal of sexual tension, all in one still image.  I did the same thing, but in a different way.

     It also helps that this poster image is something that we would see in an early scene of 30 Night Stand.  The tag line of 'Love is tough, don't play fair' was also included with this image.  I made this poster concept the cover page of the look book, so I needed some other images to represent the look of the movie.  For this, I picked three of the most interesting shots I could dream up from the script and drew storyboards of them.  As you can see below; the first two drawings are of the main characters flying around on water powered jet packs while on a date.  The other storyboard is of that same couple in a funny scene; It's a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony, but instead of using the giant scissors to cut the ribbon, Sheila pretends to use them on her boyfriend.

COMPARABLES

We often feel the need to compare things don't we?  Timmy got a “B” in math, but Suzy got an “A”.  I like apples, but I prefer oranges and the movie Sudden Death is like Die Hard but it's set in a hockey stadium.  It is human nature to compare things and that is why your pitch document has a section devoted to that.  On this page I gave three examples of movies that had a similar theme and then listed three more that were produced for the same budget range we are proposing for 30 Night Stand.  The important thing to consider for this is that the examples you give are recognizable movies that made a profit.  It is widely know that film making is a risky investment, but it is also exciting and can be highly profitable, that is what you are selling them.  If you use images to help get your point across it is always better, that is why I put the posters of the films I mentioned in the comparables page.  As you can see below, this is more interesting then just typing the titles of these movies and their budgets like some million dollar grocery list.

THE BUSINESS

     Then you have to get down to business.  This section is like a very brief summary of your business plan.  Here you will give your strategy for how the movie could be sold, how you plan it will be released and turn a profit.  I am not providing anything in this article that is or should be considered as legal advise; you should seek professional legal counsel before making documents related to seeking investments or contacting entities to finance any business proposition.  I have seen some pitch documents actually go into details about how much they hope to get from each investor and what their share of any grosses will be in return.  I decided not to do that because it seems like getting ahead of yourself.  You only have to get them interested in investing first, and those details should be in your long form business plan that you would also send out to people.  It is common to give an estimated budget you hope to make the movie for and how that works into your business strategy.

THE CONTACT PAGE

      Last but not least, you need a contact page.  After all, how else are people going to find you so they can throw handfuls of money at your dreams?  You cannot afford to make this page look boring.  You have to wow them in the end. Just like your cover page, this must grab the viewer's attention.  It must relate to the tone of your story, the overall design of your look book and above all, it must continue to be inspiring, it must give them a reason to give you a call.

- Curt Wiser is a Filmmaker and writer.  His credits include writing-directing the Thriller Cam-Girl and being the author of the suspense novel Box Cutter Killer.  Screenwriting is his main focus and a guide book to writing high concept screenplays is in the works.   

THE WRITER'S BURDEN

     What is the writer's burden?  It's not getting people to read your work, or sustaining a career.  It's more fundamental than that.  The writer's burden is our responsibility as artists when it comes to subjects of race, sexism, politics and spirituality, with emphasis on how these issues may be interpreted in our story.  Here is what the famed story expert Robert McKee had to say about this matter:

“Writers have an enormous responsibility to make sense out of life. …. Not to make things look good, it's not a question of being cheerful or optimistic or all those awful euphemisms of talking about life's journey and all of that. …. Life is a struggle and so writers who dramatize that struggle beautifully and deeply enrich life and those who's stories trivialize life, make us less civilized.”

McKee points out that people today are not reading and discussing the old great books on philosophy and theology; instead they go to the movie theater or turn on the TV.  This was an excerpt from an interview with McKee that you can listen to here.  You can see a characterization of Robert McKee in Adaptation; a film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze.

     I have had several conversations about this lately and have dealt with it through my own work.  So the time is right to have this be said.  I would suggest that a writer should ask themselves that same question when they sit down to write their next literary masterpiece; is this the right time to tell this story?  The answer is all around us; what is of interest to society?  What has taken shape within our culture?  Of course, the other thing to consider is the time period that your story takes place.  If it's in the future the sky's the limit, but other than that it is an aspect writers cannot ignore.  For example, Quentin Tarantino depicted the oppressive nature of slavery accurately in Django Unchained, but he did it his way.  Race clearly became part of who these characters were, their actions and how they interacted with others.  Leonardo DiCaprio played Calvin Candie; a wealthy plantation owner who puts slaves to work around his property and even fight to the death for his own entertainment.  Yet Calvin Candie still spoke in a way that are unmistakably the prose of Tarantino.  The most complex of all the characters in Django was Samuel Jackson as Stephen.  He plays the head of the slaves at the plantation who fully takes Calvin Candie's side and supports his way of life, yet Stephen is a black man who is also a slave.  This character believes that he and the others have a better quality of life as Calvin's slaves than if they were free.  Yes this is a highly controversial stance for this character, yet history has shown that it no doubt existed in some cases.  Most importantly, this character was treated seriously by the writer, it was not satire and Stephen was not glorified, in fact he is clearly an antagonist.  What was brilliant in Django was the tactful way Tarantino made slavery funny.  It was the memorable scene where a large gathering of the Klu Klux Klan were about to ride out for a night full of evil but are frustrated by the masks that one of their wives made for all of them.  Once they put the masks over their heads the tone of the whole scene changes. The holes are in the wrong place, they can hardly see through the masks and with this, a symbol of hatred was turned into a source of humor.  We are free to laugh at this because it makes fun of a group that is hated throughout the world.  Writers must keep that distinction in mind when dealing with any controversial issues such as this.

     Sexism is an area I have had to be mindful the most in my own work.  Cam-Girl; a feature which I wrote and directed is a thriller about a stripper who is held hostage in her home by an unknown stalker.  If you take that description at face value it sounds like an exploitation film with stereotypical characters; well I assure you it is not.  From the beginning I made the story's protagonist; Gessica a loving single mother who does all she can to provide for her infant daughter.  This double life was made clear in the log line for the movie while I raised the financing and promoted the script.  Gessica is also working hard to get through medical school; her noble cause is to leave a less respected job for one that will let her save lives.  In this case we have a stripper who is still a positive role model for woman.

     Another example I can give from my own writing is a script Al Mauro and I were hired to write based on the true story of a rookie detective who put an end to a serial burglar who took Chicago by storm in 1968.  It goes without saying that things were totally different back then.  Not only were we in the throws of the Vietnam War, but the gender roles of men and women were still very traditional; or should I say old fashioned.  Many women looked after the home and raised children while the men were at work.  The co-writer and I were careful to not show this way of life as being right or wrong but just the way it was.  So when it came time to write a scene set in a barber shop, our character walks in to see men wheedling the scissors and cutting female customer's hair.  Being a barber is a male dominated profession, not only is this an interesting visual but it also reflects the time period of the story.  Barbers specialize in cutting men's hair and facial hair yet women would go there to get their hair cut short.  Barber shops were also much more common back in the 1960's.  In fact, the man our protagonist ends up meeting in the shop was a barber in real life, so the truth wins out in the end.

     I have always been a huge fan of the film Hurlyburly; an adaptation of the play written by David Rabe. This is the story of two Hollywood agents who share a house, do drugs and drink heavily while competing over woman and trying to make sense out of life.  Hurlyburly has been accused of being misogynist in how the female characters are represented and treated.  Within the first act, right after our protagonist Eddie was dumped by his girlfriend, a friend by the name of Artie drops by the house to deliver a young woman that he found riding around in the elevator all day.  The men talk about this woman; Donna, as is she was an object. While she is in the same room Artie refers to her as “a care package” and as he leaves her there he says “She worked the last time I checked Eddie; If you have any more questions talk with the manufacturer."  Sounds sexist right?  Let's dig a little deeper into this story and how gender roles are portrayed.  The men in Hurlyburly; especially Eddie are not glorified or positive role models.  Eddie is a manic depressive who regularly abuses drugs to dull the pain.  His friend Phil is a violent brute, he has been known to hit his wife and eventually head butts Donna because he is sick of how she has taken over the house.  As an audience we feel bad for these women who are around these reckless, self destructive men.  We know the women should not be treated this way; in doing so we empathize with them.  I must be clear about what is going on here; the characters in Hurlyburly are sexist, but the story itself, the way it is told and interpreted is not.  That is the important line we as writers should not cross.  As long as you do that, you should feel free to explore controversial themes because that is how we grow as storytellers and actively engage an audience. And for those who claim Donna is a one-dimensional, poorly conceived female character; they must have stopped watching before we see her return to the house at the end of the story.  Here Donna finds Eddie at his lowest point; he is in business attire and fully submerged in his pool while he mourns the death of his friend.  Donna is above Eddie, talking with Eddie from the side of the pool and bluntly tells him that he looks like a mess and then gives Eddie the sage advice he needs to get through this.  By the end of the story Donna takes the moral high ground and proves that she is a smart young women who is in control of her life and how she lives it. The lesson here is that female and minority characters can have an arc like any other.

     Ever since Ripley in Alien proved to the film industry that a strong female protagonist is something people would like to see, it has brought upon changes and has been a talking point for feminist.  It is important to note that in the original script for Alien; the character that became Ripley was written as a male.  At the time, making a female hero the center of your story was unheard of, well, things change.  Since then we have seen Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, Sarah Connor fighting off The Terminator and Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road grace the screen.  Recently, many have criticized the portrayal of Claire in Jurassic World as being a female stereotype because she continues to stomp around in high heels while she is being chased by ravenous dinosaurs.  My reply to this is that Claire was given heroic moments in the story, like when she leads a T-Rex to fight a genetic hybrid dinosaur to the death.  These people are watching a movie about cloned dinosaurs yet some are focused on a woman's footwear?  It seems like a nit pick to me, or maybe things are just Lost in Translation; which I must say is another movie with a well written female lead that also had a female writer-director Sofia Coppola at the helm.  Of course there is also Lena Dunham's brutally honest portrayal of women in her TV series Girls.  There are countless examples of well written female protagonist in independent films such as The One I Love, While She Was Out, TheSkeleton Twins, In aWorld.... and then there's the character of Tank from Crawl or Die; which is a micro budget science fiction movie largely inspired by the tunnel sequences from Aliens.  It is however, rare for us to see female driven stories in these big budget blockbusters that fill the multiplexes.

     This brings us back to Mad Max: Fury Road.  Not only was this an action packed masterwork of cinema, but it bravely made the movie's hero a female.  Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa is the driver of a war rig who decides to free the female sex slaves from the male tyrant who rules a gang in a post apocalyptic world. Furiosa is simply a bad ass; she holds her own and eventually starts telling Mad Max what to do in the heat of battle.  Beyond that, the movie shows a rival female gang who are surviving on their own without a man in sight.  I laud this as being one of the best female protagonist we have seen on screen.  So naturally when I spoke to a woman who criticized this point by saying “Yeah, but the movie is still called 'Mad Max',” it fueled a mad max sized explosion in my brain.  What?  This was one of the highest budgeted movies of the year; I'm sure it had to have “Mad Max” in the title in order to get green lit.  Would you rather not have this spectacular movie with a strong female protagonist because of a title dispute?  How is it the movie's fault that it is part of a franchise that has not had another movie in the last thirty years?  I guess it goes to show you the one thing we all can agree on is that we as artist cannot please everybody, and if you try to that is a recipe for some watered down storytelling my friend.  So we as writers should not be afraid to be bold, but we must always remember that what we have to say has cultural value. 

- Curt Wiser is the Writer-Director of Cam-Girl and author of the suspense novel Box Cutter Killer.

Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter. 

BOOK REVIEW: Tough Love Screenwriting

Tough Love Screenwriting is a book that lives up to its name; it is a terse text that gives solid advice for any aspiring screenwriter.  I make sure to read all of the guide books on writing/film making that I can get my hands on, what sets this one apart is the tone of John Jarrell's writing, which is as entertaining as it is informative.  In fact, I stopped reading another book on the subject when I found Tough Love to be a surprising kick in the ass compared to some of the more academic guides that crowd the book shelves.  It is important to note that this author is a professional screenwriter, not a guru or teacher with no credits to his name.  John Jarrell has a list of credits which include Romeo Must Die (2000) and Terminal Invasion (2002).  He uses this real world experience to cover everything from story development with eccentric producers to the process of WGA arbitration to fight for screen credit and the money that comes with it. Perhaps the most important thing this book achieves is showing the struggles a professional writer must go through, and if you have the ambition and ability, John Jarrell will inspire you to keep pressing on until your career dreams are realized.

The tips in Tough Love are very direct and practical.  Fans of Writing Movies For Fun and Profit by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant will find Tough Love to be a great companion book that is written in a similar prose.  I cannot say that I agree with all of the advice Jarrell provides, but I agree with 98 percent of it, and for any book that tells you how to do your art; that is pretty damn good.

If you want a taste of what to expect; a podcast interview with John Jarrell can be found here.

- Curt Wiser is the Writer/Director of Cam-Girl and author of the suspense novel Box Cutter Killer.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: How to introduce your characters.

First impressions make a big difference, it's as true in life as it is in fiction.  There is no right or wrong way to do this in your writing but if you use a few time tested techniques when you introduce your characters, it will create a character people will be entertained by.  It will help separate your work from the stack of scripts waiting to hit the shredder.

Your protagonist should usually be the first character you introduce and this moment should largely represent who this person is.  Taxi Driver (1976) opens with Travis Bickle drifting down the darkened streets of New York, alone in his taxi Cab while his voice over lets us in on the personal thoughts that consume him.  We see the crime taking place in the streets and that Travis has grown used to it.  The first image of Trainspotting (1996) is of Ewan McGregor as Renton; a heroin junkie who is running to evade the police after committing various acts of criminal mischief.  What about that iconic opening to AClockwork Orange (1971); Malcolm McDowell's as Alex stares directly at us in a close up, he and his gang are dressed up in matching white outfits and fake eyelashes and the camera pulls back to reveal this surreal milk bar location in a future world while we hear Alex talk about the "ultra-violence" they plan on unleashing that night.  It helps if this scene relates to the theme and the rest of the story but ultimately it just has to be right for the character and leave a lasting impact.  You may have noticed that all three of these examples are larger than life; they are not things most of us get to experience. Entertainment is an escape for people, the last thing they want is a story and character that that just mirrors their own life.  That is to say that something has to be extraordinary; if the character's life isn't, then the situation they get wrapped up into has to be.  The protagonist in American Beauty is about an ordinary man who goes through a series of life changes before he is murdered.  We know this character is going to be killed from the beginning of the story, but why and by whom?  One of the best ways to do this is to not start the film from the beginning of the story.  For example look at the opening of FightClub (1999).  The film and the novel start with Jack; our narrator commenting through witty voice over about the mess he is in all while Tyler Durden holds the barrel of a loaded gun in Jack's mouth.  Then our narrator stops and says, “Let me tell you about how I met Tyler Durden,” and we are taken back through the story until we end up back where we started; at the height of the conflict, with a gun ironically in our narrator's mouth.

The second element you have to think about when introducing your characters in their first scene is to make that circumstance as interesting as it can be.  Everything should be taken into account; the setting, time of day, is it a holiday?  What is your protagonist doing?  You need to have an active protagonist, and whatever that activity is should add to the scene and the story, it could be exciting unique or humorous.  Sometimes it is the supporting characters in your story that are fascinating and we get to observe this person from the point of view of the protagonist.  The recent independent film Frank (2014) is about a struggling band but what makes it different from the many other movies on that subject is Frank; the eccentric band leader who wears a painted head over his own and never takes it off.  We are led into Frank's strange and fun lifestyle through Jon; who is the newest band member to join the group.  In that case it is clear that the screenwriter would not make Frank the protagonist because he wears a mask the whole time.  We are not able to see the emotions of Frank's facial expressions; that makes him a very hard character to relate to.  Another reason to make a secondary character the most interesting one in the story is to keep aspects of their life a mystery until they are later revealed.  A few other films that use this technique would be My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Almost Famous (2000).

Here is an example, this is how I introduced Cliff; the second character of my two act play Anxiety.  These early pages are crucial, it is the one moment that the whole story is based on.  It is after business hours and Jane had to stay late and goes into the bathroom of the office building where she works.  She is in the stall when a male janitor walks in to clean, but little do they know that once the door closes they are both locked inside the bathroom. There are many choices that could be made here.  What would you do to make this scene as interesting as it can be?  Is there any way you could build suspense around this circumstance by making it last longer?  Here is what I came up with:

I am happy to say that this play Anxiety was nominated for an Outstanding Original Play award by the International Music and Entertainment Association.  Discovering entertaining ways of setting the scene like this might have had something to do with it, it couldn't have hurt.  Writing is all about possibilities, the choices you make, so embrace it.    

- Curt Wiser is a filmmaker and Author, he is currently writing a guide book to screenwriting.