CONFLICT Brian Oakes

Short Film Scripts The best short films often focus on ONE moment or event in the life of ONE main character. The moment you choose to write about must have a story at its heart, a conflict that needs resolution, a deadline for action, and/or a choice that a character has to make. Your goal is to successfully engage your audience, relate to your viewers and create something unique.

Essential Story Elements World Character Conflict

There must be conflict. Conflict is perhaps the single most important ingredient of a good plot. If there were no conflict, that would be very nice for the protagonist because achieving the coveted goal would be no sweat. Without conflict, the story will be empty and boring. Though there should be one major goal, there may be many sources of conflict. Actually, the more the merrier.

More Conflict The sources of conflict can be external, coming from a source outside the protagonist—other characters, nature, society, machines, gods, or God. Or the conflict can be internal, coming from within the protagonist’s own mind. The best stories often contain both external and internal obstacles.

Four Types of Conflict Inner Conflict Personal Conflict Social Conflict Environmental Conflict Or any combination of these

Inner Conflict Conflicting beliefs/values Fears/mental blocks Wounds/painful memories Mental problems Jealousy

Personal Conflict Family Friends Spouse Kids/Parents

Social Conflict School Work/Peers Law Community

Environmental Conflict Urban/Man-Made Nature War Disease Natural disaster

Inner Conflict Inner religious conflict occurs in Chariots of Fire when devout missionary Eric cannot race his Olympic Qualifying Heat because it takes place on a Sunday. Inner conflict occurs in The Master, as a psychologically troubled drifter returns from the war and meets the charismatic leader of a new religion. The Master befriends the drifter to help him sort out his life and provide meaning. The drifter has inner conflict and doubts about the religion and his addiction.

Outer Conflict Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army. Harry, Ron and Hermione search for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes in their effort to destroy the Dark Lord. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The Protagonist is Active Drives the action of the story Changes in some way at the end Wants something badly The goal/object that the protagonist desires cannot be easily achievable

Protagonist and Antagonist In many movies, there is a character who provides the strongest obstacle to the protagonist. Such a character is known as the antagonist. Though antagonists are often evil, this isn’t always the case. An antagonist can be a decent person who is simply at cross-purposes with the protagonist. No matter how intense the conflict, the protagonist should continue fighting to achieve the goal.

Inner and Outer Conflict The best screenplay will overlap the different types of conflict and interrelate them a character because of his circumstances (outer conflict) might be forced to do something he finds morally questionable (inner conflict). Mrs Doubtfire. Following a divorce, Robin Williams is not allowed to see his children (outer conflict) so he decides to pretend that he is a woman and become their nanny. He knows this is wrong (inner conflict).

Opening Section In many ways, the opening section of your screenplay is the most important. By the opening section,I mean the start of the movie up to the inciting incident, a stretch that (in a feature film) usually runs about ten pages. Remember, the inciting incident is the event or realization that sets the story in motion, that leads the protagonist toward the major dramatic question (usually around page 10). The opening section is important to viewers because this where they decide if they are liking the movie or not.

Opening Here is what the opening section should accomplish: – Introduce the protagonist – Establish the genre – Show the inciting incident Not only do you have to accomplish all these things, you have to do them extremely well. You should probably revise and refine and polish the opening section more than any other segment of your screenplay.

Climax The climax must accomplish the following: Bring about the answer to the major dramatic question Put the protagonist’s desire for the goal at its highest point Put the conflict blocking the goal at its highest point Center around the actions of the protagonist Show the protagonist’s arc (cycle of change) at its final stage Contain more dramatic punch than anything that has come before The climax is usually preceded by a crisis, some kind of event (usually very bad) that forces a final showdown with the antagonist or major obstacle.

Ticking Clock Adding a time-constraint or deadline for the protagonist often adds urgency to the story High Noon – Sheriff must face a gang of outlaws at noon Speed – Cop and citizen trapped on bomb-rigged bus Batman: The Dark Knight Rises – Batman has to find and dismantle a nuclear bomb in Gotham

MacGuffin A MacGuffin is "a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction. ” The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are (at least initially) willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is. I Common examples are money, victory, glory, survival, a source of power, or a potential threat, or it may simply be something entirely unexplained.