Hi everyone,
I've got a few scripts that I'm close to "finishing", as in they are nearly ready to sell, and I'm really struggling with one in particular.
I need to write a story within the film. Now, I don't normally struggle with structure, and when I do, I usually find a bit of research helps but this is really stumping me. All I can find is how to structure flash backs, and framing stories etc.
So just to give a bit of background, so you know exactly what I'm trying to achieve, here's a brief synopsis..
The script is about a young woman who changed by an event in her life, she is essentially attacked by a "mythical" - that I've made up for the script - and starts to turn into one. She meets someone who is a bit of an expert on what is happening to her, and is telling her the story of where it all it started. Now, I didn't want my characters to just be sat around watching her tell the story, as I was worried this would be a bit long and boring, so I thought it would be better for the story to then go back to this time, whilst she is telling it.
So far, I've got the action sequences, with a voice over of her telling the story, but it just doesn't feel right.
I've been doing a lot of reading on just how detailed a script needs to be when you're planning on selling it on, and a lot of what I've read is to keep it open so that if it is bought, they have a lot more room for making it there, so I don't know how is best to write it. I feel like I have the following options -
1. Write it as a full scene like the rest of the script, as I already have it
2. Write a brief description of the story and a sequence of events, rather than structuring it as a scene, more like a series of shots or a montage, with our without the dialogue I have in mind running along side of it.
Any help or thoughts would be much appreciated, as other than a little editing here and there, this one is pretty much finished!
Many thanks
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Advice is free, and is probably worth every penny, but here's mine.
You could structure this much the same way as Tarantino did in Pulp Fiction. That story began and ended in the restaurant, but the time sequences were joined by the characters being in the same place and at the same time. You have different time periods, but it can still work.
Start with the historical (how it all started) scenes, but maybe not all of them. Because these scenes are in the past, the story would need a connection to the present (where your protag resides). So the historical exposition of how this "mythical" got started needs to be open-ended to bring that 'mythical' force to the present day.
After the historical opening sequence, begin your present-day story and tell it to the end - where the historical is again mated with the present (which is why the first historical sequence is open-ended). You can also include subsequent historical sequences throughout the story, meshing or mirroring the two time periods.
This would alleviate the need for a voice-over mini-story given by one character. While Pulp Fiction did not have radically different time periods, it did have three different stories that all came together at the end.
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To answer the question posed, write it as a full scene. Whoever wants to make it their own after can do so at that time.
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Isn't it common for someone to come across a book that just so happens to have pictures, right, and they flip the pages, explaining. As in 'Annabelle', she goes to a bookstore and the owner spends the afternoon reading with her, explaining the genesis of her being haunted (what a guy). Keep it all present; no flashback.
Thank you everyone, love some of these suggestions, particularly the character finding the info herself! Going to do a few different samples and see how what fits better!
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Hi Ashleigh, It sounds like you already made up your mind, but I thought I'd just add that the "expert" sounds like it should be a parallel narrative.
It's hard to avoid doing "jumps" (like Slumdog Millionare or Pulp Fiction or such) because that's just where our writer mind tends to go.... And from what you describe this is what you're struggling with (sorry - that's just how it sounds. Apologies if I'm incorrect).
Try to think more along the lines of "Me, Earl and the Dying Girl".... The action and VO is all in the present, but the "reveal" at the climax is that it was all just "wishful thinking".
Linda Aronson has good information online about parallel narrative. Take a look at this blog post - hope it helps. http://www.lindaaronson.com/what-type-of-parallel-narrative-suit-my-stor...
Hope this helps
Thanks Kevin, I will take a look!