Screen Alchemy: plant (set-up), build (warm-up), and payoff (milk-it)
- The Storyteller's Desk
- Aug 14, 2014
- 5 min read
This is the most primary and fundamental aspect of good storytelling on the screen or for that matter any other medium. Stand-up Comics, especially one's who write their own material, learn this and master it through the years of interacting directly with the audience and relying heavily on instant feedback ... there are no laugh tracks ... the silence can be fatal, not just deafening. As a filmmaker, there is only silence for a long long time before the audience interacts with your material in a dark room amidst strangers and you don't have a chance to make any changes in response to it. You have to preempt how they will receive your material and have a way to gauge their reaction through every stage of the creation. Here is a tool you will need to master so you can survive the silence and the absence of an instant feedback audience at all times through the long journey to the finish line.
Case Study: DEAD POET'S SOCIETY
Direction: Peter Weir; Screenplay: Tom Schulman; Actor: Robin Williams as John Keating
Logline: English teacher John Keating inspires his students to a love of poetry and to seize the day.
Main theme: Conformity vs Self-expression
The setting is an isolated, boys' school of great repute in New England. This story transpires at a very special juncture in the school's history: its 100th year. HEADMASTER GALE NOLAN, a big man, in his mid-60s is the face that represents the school's values and its expectation of the students entrusted to this great institution.
pg. 2
NOLAN: One hundred years ago, in 1859, forty-one boys sat in this room and were asked the same question that now greets you at the start of each semester: Gentlemen, what are the four pillars?
ALL THE BOYS IN UNISON: Tradition! Honor! Discipline! Excellence!
It is this 'one-size-fits-all' factory model of education that Mr. Keating inspires his students to challenge. Mr. Keating is the foreign body that has invaded this century-old institution, wanting to uproot its four pillars.
Everything else in the movie serves this central premise and theme; every line, every character, every situation, every sequence, every shot... The medicine prescribed to fight the disease of conformity and self-denial is 'daring'.
... you can either call me Mr. Keating,
or if you're slightly more daring,
'O Captain, my Captain.'
Taglines: He was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary.
Short Synopsis: Robin Williams portrays English professor John Keating, who, in an age of crew cuts, sport coats and cheerless conformity, inspires his students to live life to the fullest, exclaiming "Carpe Diem, Lads! Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary!" The charismatic teacher's emotionally charged challenge is met by his students with irrepressible enthusiasm-- changing their lives forever.
Release Date: June 2, 1989 (limited), June 9, 1989 (wide)
Running time: 128 min.
Budget: $16.4M
Worldwide Box Office: $235.86M
Every single character in this movie has a very prominent plant, build, and payoff sequence. We'll primarily focus on John Keating (Robin Williams).
PLANT: Set-Up
pg. 17
KEATING: Oh Captain, My Captain. Who knows where that's from? It was written by a poet named Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now in this class you can either call me Mr. Keating, or if you're slightly more daring, 'O Captain, my Captain.'
BUILD: Warm-Up
pg. 41
KEATING: You must strive to find your own voice, boys, and the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." I ask, why be resigned to that? Risk walking new ground. Now. A flame in your hearts could change the world, lads. Nurture it.
PAYOFF: Milk-It
pg. 131-133
Keating finishes his packing. He walks across the room towards the door. Just as Keating reaches the door, Todd can no longer hold it in.
TODD (interrupting Cameron's reading): Mr. Keating, they made them sign it!
KEATING: I know that, Todd.
Nolan strides down the aisle and slaps Todd mightily. The boy falls to the floor.
NOLAN: One more outburst, Mr. Anderson! (turns to the class) Or anyone else! And you are out of this school!
He turns toward Keating who has taken a few steps back towards Todd as though to help.
NOLAN: Leave now.
Keating stands facing Nolan. He turns and faces the class.
KEATING:Wonderful things are possible if we only dare dream them, boys. Be bold.
NOLAN: GET OUT!
The boys stare at Keating. He stares at them, taking them in for the last time. Keating turns and moves towards the door.
TODD: Oh Captain!
Keating turns. So does everybody else. Todd pulls himself off the floor, props one foot up on his desk then stands upon it. He stands atop his desk, holding back tears, facing Mr. Keating.
[NOTE: This is the cathartic moment that makes the entire journey worthwhile; the key payoff on which rests the satisfaction of the whole experience.]
NOLAN(moving at him): You little...
As Nolan moves down the aisle, Knox (whose seat is on the other side of the room) calls Mr. Keating's name and stands up on his desk too. Nolan turns and sees this. Meeks musters his courage and stands on his desk. Pitts does the same. One by one and then in groups, the rest of the class follows suit. Soon the entire class is standing on their desks in silent salute to Mr. Keating. Nolan who started at Todd, then at Overstreet, stands motionless. He is amazed by this overwhelming response.Keating stands at the door, tears welling in his eyes.
KEATING: Thank you, boys.
Keating looks into Todd's eyes, then into all their eyes, gives a nod, then exits.
Focus on developing this one technique and applying it across every single aspect of screenplay writing and scene construction. Work backwards ... first ascertain what you are aiming to achieve in terms of what your audience must receive from the experience ... then working in alignment with your theme and setting – use this technique to build characters, sequences, scenes, and shots to meet with this one aim. The moviemaker in all the roles involved with the making has to focus always on the end result: audience experience. Always switch places with the audience and evaluate your creation to see if you have achieved the desired impact. Ask at each stage, about all these elements, the following a-z questions (listed in random order):
a. Is it entertaining?
b. Is it believable?
c. Is it relatable?
d. Is it engaging?
e. Is it satisfying?
f. Is it carrying the story forward?
g. Is it necessary?
h. Is it the most economical (screen time and cost) way to achieve this?
i. Is it the most effective way to achieve this?
j. Is it memorable?
k. Is it original?
l. Is it unique?
m. Is it achievable in production with existing resources?
n. Is it readily communicated without much backstory or additional education?
o. Is it aligned in relation to existing beliefs, practices, and understanding?
p. Is it accurate in logic and scientific assessment?
q. Is it possible to improve on this?
r. Is there something that has been left out?
s. Is there something that can be left out?
t. Is it rightly timed, playing out when the audience is ready for it?
u. Is it free of negativity and dogma?
v. Is it religion and custom agnostic?
w. Is it language and dialect agnostic?
x. Is it culture and region agnostic?
y. Is it evoking the right emotions?
z. Is it pulling on heartstrings?
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