EQ: What is the best way to write a successful screenplay?
It is the job of the screenwriter to elicit emotion in the audience/reader; but in order to do that the audience/reader has to be invested in your character. Development of the main character is essential. We don't pay to see a movie and watch the actors laugh or cry or crap their pants, we go to the movies to experience it; we want to laugh and cry and crap in our pants. Author of Writing Screenplays That Sell, and experienced script consultant, Michael Hauge claims that without an investment in the hero the audience will not know what or who to root for and so any attempt to appeal to emotion is not fully reached because of the lack of empathy for the character. Now you might be thinking well what exactly does investing in the protagonist mean? The protagonist, as professor Solano my third interviewee puts it: is the the driving force of the entire story. If you named nearly every successful movie ever made you could rest assured that the plot was pulled along by the desires and misfortunes of the protagonist. So one way to develop your hero may be to establish the his or her desires and motivations. An example, just off the top of my head would be Forrest Gump, which I would assume you are familiar with. Forrest's desire and motivation is love, or simply Jenny. There is a lot of time devoted throughout the film to establish that he loves Jenny, which both develops Forrest as a character and builds up tension in regards to whether or not they will be together in the end. Another way to invest in your protagonist is to create a great character arc. In plain english that means to make to the character grow. This is no new trick of the trade, in all storytelling mediums the character arc is important. Perhaps the most easily recognized is Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol, where Ebenezer Scrooge turns from greedy into a philanthropist. In Steve Zaillian's Schindler's List, Oscar Schindler transforms from a selfish and ambitious business man into a kind and brave life saver. And in Brian Helgeland's Knight's Tale, protagonist Will transforms from a peasant to a noble/knight.
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