Life Dream, Wants, and Needs
Yesterday I submitted my screenplay Sins of the Heart, along with my application to participate in our local government film fund's screenplay rewriting lab, which is scheduled to run August 1-5 from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. each day.
Two summers ago, I had the opportunity to take an earlier draft of the script to the first screenwriting lab the film fund sponsored, where I received some excellent suggestions and advice from Joan Álvarez, who heads up the Centro de Formación de Guionistas Luis García Berlanga at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo de Valencia (the Luis García Berlanga Screenwriting Center at the Menéndez Pelayo International University of Valencia) in Spain.
As a result of that, I did a major rewrite, which I completed in October of 2004. These past two weeks I've been working on a second major rewrite which I wanted to get done before submitting to the upcoming lab, this time trying to incorporate some of the things I learned at the Latino Writers Lab earlier this month.
The results: I managed to cut Sins from 120 to 102 pages (in standard screenplay format, one page roughly equals one minute of screen time), both streamlining it and sharpening its focus on the main character.
One of the new tools I picked up at the Latino Writers Lab involves defining the main character's (1) life dream, (2) what he wants, and (3) what he needs - three guiding elements which are often in conflict with one another - then going through the script to see how each scene works in terms of these elements.
Definitions
Life Dream: what the character believes will make him happy. If the character could change the world to his favor, what would be his ideal? What does he envision as an ideal life for himself?
Wants: what the character wants. Not exactly the same as life dream; his life dream may be beyond the scope of the story. For example, a character's life dream might be to sing like Pavarotti but what he wants in the story is to make the local men's chorus.
Needs: what will truly make the character happy. It may be identical to what he wants, but is more often quite different. The singer may want to make the local chorus, but what he needs to make him truly happy is to learn he's capable of sharing love regardless of his achievements on stage.
Examples
In the film Midnight Cowboy, the protagonist, Joe Buck, played by Jon Voight (in real life Angelina Jolie's father):
Life Dream: to be a successful hustler.
Wants: to get paid for sex.
Needs: to care for someone who cares for him.
More recently, in Shakespeare in Love, the protagonist, William Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes (in real life, no relation whatsoever to Angelina Jolie, though still the brother of Ralph Fiennes):
Life Dream: to be a hired player no longer.
Wants: to finish writing Romeo and Juliet.
Needs: to find his identity/internalize his muse.
Addendum
I'm finding that defining these elements for my antagonist - and principal secondary characters as well - can also be very useful.
I hope to post more useful stuff I picked up at the Latino Writers Lab anon, if entropy allows.
Two summers ago, I had the opportunity to take an earlier draft of the script to the first screenwriting lab the film fund sponsored, where I received some excellent suggestions and advice from Joan Álvarez, who heads up the Centro de Formación de Guionistas Luis García Berlanga at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo de Valencia (the Luis García Berlanga Screenwriting Center at the Menéndez Pelayo International University of Valencia) in Spain.
As a result of that, I did a major rewrite, which I completed in October of 2004. These past two weeks I've been working on a second major rewrite which I wanted to get done before submitting to the upcoming lab, this time trying to incorporate some of the things I learned at the Latino Writers Lab earlier this month.
The results: I managed to cut Sins from 120 to 102 pages (in standard screenplay format, one page roughly equals one minute of screen time), both streamlining it and sharpening its focus on the main character.
One of the new tools I picked up at the Latino Writers Lab involves defining the main character's (1) life dream, (2) what he wants, and (3) what he needs - three guiding elements which are often in conflict with one another - then going through the script to see how each scene works in terms of these elements.
Definitions
Life Dream: what the character believes will make him happy. If the character could change the world to his favor, what would be his ideal? What does he envision as an ideal life for himself?
Wants: what the character wants. Not exactly the same as life dream; his life dream may be beyond the scope of the story. For example, a character's life dream might be to sing like Pavarotti but what he wants in the story is to make the local men's chorus.
Needs: what will truly make the character happy. It may be identical to what he wants, but is more often quite different. The singer may want to make the local chorus, but what he needs to make him truly happy is to learn he's capable of sharing love regardless of his achievements on stage.
Examples
In the film Midnight Cowboy, the protagonist, Joe Buck, played by Jon Voight (in real life Angelina Jolie's father):
Life Dream: to be a successful hustler.
Wants: to get paid for sex.
Needs: to care for someone who cares for him.
More recently, in Shakespeare in Love, the protagonist, William Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes (in real life, no relation whatsoever to Angelina Jolie, though still the brother of Ralph Fiennes):
Life Dream: to be a hired player no longer.
Wants: to finish writing Romeo and Juliet.
Needs: to find his identity/internalize his muse.
Addendum
I'm finding that defining these elements for my antagonist - and principal secondary characters as well - can also be very useful.
I hope to post more useful stuff I picked up at the Latino Writers Lab anon, if entropy allows.