ScreenwritingColumn03[SAVE|SEND]

Thebestfilm
conceptsshow
theworldtobea
larger,more
magical,more
complexplace
thanis
commonly
believed...or
revealshow
muchlarger,
moremagical
andmore
complexthe
humanspiritis
thanis
commonly
believed.

Beachcombing
byTerryRossio
ThethingIloveaboutgoodfilmconceptsishowobviousthey
areinretrospect.TakeAPOLLO13.Whatactorwouldn'twant
toputononeofthosespacesuits?Asuresale.INDECENT
PROPOSALwouldyoubreakyourmarriagevowsforamillion
dollars?Interesting.Hey,whatifCUPIDcouldn'tperformhis
dutiesbecausehe'sfalleninlovewithoneofhisintendedprey?
Cool.Regardlessoftherelativemeritsofthesefilms,thepremises
haveanobvious,clearappeal.
It'sasifthousandsofpeopleinHollywoodarecombingthe
beachforthatnextgreatfilmidea,magnifyingglassesout,
checkingeveryfacetoneverytinygrainofsandtheycomeacross.
Andthensomebodypointsatabig,beautifulconchshelllaying
rightoutinthebrightsunandsays,"Hey,let'smakethat!"You
lookatthatbiggloriouspinkandwhitecrustaceanandcan't
believeyoumissedit.
IntheStrangeAttractorcolumnIdescribedadifferentwayof
thinkingaboutfilmconcepts.Iemphasizedtheimportanceof
choosingaconceptthat'attracts'people.
Buthowdoyoudoit?
Here'sthebesthelpIcangive.Ithinkthatthesekindsof
conceptshavesomecommonqualities.Andthatknowingtheir
commonqualitiescanmakethemalittleeasiertolocate.
Likespottingoneofthoseconchshells.
Sohere'smycurrentlistoftheattributesforagood,solid,
Hollywoodstylesalablefilmconcept:

A.LargerWorldRevealed
Thematically,oftenthebestfilmconceptsshowtheworldtobe
alarger,moremagical,morecomplexplacethaniscommonly
believed.Orthestoryrevealshowmuchlarger,moremagicaland
morecomplexthehumanspiritisthaniscommonlybelieved.

B.Universalness
Manysolidconceptsinsomewayhavetodowithexperiences
weallshareevenphraseswe'reallfamiliarwith.Forexample:
fearofthemonsterunderthebed.Thedesire,whenyoung,tobe
BIG.
Now,thesetendtobehardtocomeupwith,becausea)they're

socommonthey'retooobvioustoseeorb)they'resoobviousto
seethey'vebeendonetodeath.

C.ClassicEchoes
Manypopularfilmsutilizeandcanevenbedevelopedoutof
themesfromclassicdrama.Youknowyou'reontosomething
whenyoustartfindingechoesofclassicthemesinyourstoryline.
TakeBABE,whichopenedtocriticalandpopularacclaim.
ThereareelementsandechoesofWatershipDown,AnimalFarm,
Grimm'sFairyTalesevenRocky.Thestorydealswithissuesof
selfidentity,selfworth,classstructure,andfate.Notbadfora
talkingpigfamilyfilm.

D.ImpliesaSituation
Inmanycasestheconceptisasituation...andinresolvingthat
situation,yougetyoursequencesforActsIIandIII.
SayaNewYorkcopfindshimselftrappedinanL.A.highrise,
wherethirtypeoplearebeingheldhostage.Theresolutionofthis
situationbecomesthesequencesofthefilm.
Anotherexample:thesituationofakidwhofindshimself
HOMEALONE,andmustdefendhishouseagainstburglars.The
sequencesareimpliedintheconcept:forgettingthekid,thecomic
defenseofthehome,theparentsrushingtotherescue,etc.

E.BehindtheScenes
Audiencesliketobe'intheknow.'It'sfuntogotoafilm,and
comeawaywithsomespecialknowledgeknowledgethatpeople
whodidn'tgotothefilmdon'tgettohave.
Forexample:THECANDIDATEshowsustheinsidestory
behindwinninganelection.BULLDURHAMissetintheworld
ofminorleaguebaseball.TOPGUNutilizesthenavaljetfighter
trainingcenter.Otherfilmsnotedfortheireffectiveutilizationof
uniquesettings&subjects:DOWNHILLRACER
DELIVERANCEALIENSWHOFRAMEDROGERRABBIT?
Itseemsalmostthatmostgoodfilmstakeustoplaces(and
situations)wherewecannototherwisego.Yourfilmideais
probablyverygoodifittakesyouintoaneat,interestingplace...
andthenallowsyoutorevealthe'inside'or'true'natureofthat
place.

You'renotgoing
tostumbleon
thatcareer
makingconcept
ifyoukeep
revisingthesame

F.GoodRoles(andGoodTitles)
Manytimesagoodfilmconceptwillimplyagoodroleforan
actor.IfTomHanksreadsyourscript,wantstoplaytheroleofthe
guywhofallsinlovewiththefish,you'reingreatshape.Also,
strongconcepttendtobefairlysimple,andsotheyoftencanbe
impliedintheirtitles:GHOSTBUSTERS,BIG,BACKTOTHE

petideaforfive
years.

FUTURE,etc.It'sofcrucialimportancetohaveagoodtitlea
subjectI'dliketocoveratlengthinafuturecolumn.
Sometimestheconceptistodoareversalonsomeaspectofan
establishedgenre('onlythistime,theghostshavetoexorcisethe
people!').Thenagain,sometimesanentiregenreisreworkedwith
aseriesofnewideas...thus'updating'or'reviving'thegenrefora
wholenewgenerationoffilmgoers.RAIDERSOFTHELOST
ARK,BODYHEAT,andSTARWARSallfallintothiscategory.
Awordofcaution:thissortofattractiveconceptisverydifficult
todo,takesamassiveamountofinspiredwork,anddemandsa
hugeamountoftalent.

H.ConceptCannotBeDoneAgain
SciencefictionwriterHarlanEllisonpointedoutthatoneofthe
definingattributesofagood'highconcept'wasthatonceitwas
done,theideawasfullydefinedandexplored,andnobodycould
doitagain.
WhenSPLASHwasintheworks,itprecludedanyonefrom
doingamermaidromanceforawhile.WhenJanDeBont's
TWISTERwentintoproductionthissummer,thatnoiseyouheard
wasthecollectiveTHUMPofthethirtyothertornadoprojectsin
townbeingdumpedintothetrash.
(Actually,differentfilmscanbemadewiththesamebasic
conceptBIG,VICEVERSA,LIKEFATHER,LIKESON,and
EIGHTEENAGAIN,forexamplebutonly,itseems,iftheyall
gointoproductionatonce!)

I.KnownElements
Goodfilmconceptstendtoutilizeelementsthatalreadyexist
withintheawarenessoftheaudience.
Forexample:awriterwaspitchingastorytomerecently,along
thelinesof:"Magicalchimneyfairiesstealachild'sfavorite
napkin,andtakeittothelostlandofMaypole.Thekidtravelson
abackwardsbicycletothemagicalland,andgetshisnapkin
back."
Iwastryingtofigureoutwhatwaswrongwiththis.Afterall,
WinniethePoohhaselementsjustasfanciful,asdofilmslike
MARYPOPPINSandSTARWARS.Thenagain,thoseweren't
specscriptsales.Itfinallyhitmenoneofthoseelementspre
existedinmymind,whichmadeconnectingtoeachoneaneffort.
I'veheardoffairies,butnotanythatliveinchimneys.Since
whendokidsfallinlovewiththeirnapkins?Thisfallsoutsidemy
realmofexperience.Similarly,the'LostLandofMaypole'andthe
'BackwardsBicycle'areunknownelements.
Incontrast,considertheindividualelementsinthefilmLIAR,
LIAR:Akid(Igetthat)makesabirthdaywish(okay)thathis
father,alyinguntrustworthylawyer(that'seasytobelieve)hasto
tellthetruth(uhhuh)fortwentyfourhours.Eachofthese
elementsisfamiliartheyalreadyexistinmyhead,readyforthe
filmmakertomanipulate.Theoverallconceptcanthenbeeasily
promoted,marketed,oradvertised,asthereexistsintheaudience
anawarenessthatcanbereached.(Thismaybewhatexecutives

meanwhentheysaytheywantsomethingnewanddifferent,but
alsotimetestedandproven.)

Knowingtheseattributes,Ihope,shouldhelpindiscoveringthat
nextgreatfilmidea.Ifyoualreadyhaveanideathatfitsmostor
alloftheabove,great,you'reprobablyontherighttrack.
Ifyou'vegivenitsomeeffortandstilldon'thaveafilmidea
you'rehappywith,herearesomemoretricksyoucanuse:
1.Read.
Seriously.Readlotsandlots.Readingleadstoknowledgeof
agenre.Andit'sknowledgeofthegenrethatallowsyouto
createvariationsonthegenrevariationsthathaven'tbeen
donebefore.Anditallowsyoutopotentially
2.Optionmaterial.
Thisseemsobviousbutiscommonlyoverlooked.Ifyoudo
locateabookorarticletoadaptintoamovie,alreadyyou've
setyourselfapartfrom95%oftheaspiringscreenwritersin
theworld.Reasonenoughalonetodoit,perhaps.Keepin
mindthatstudiosaremorecomfortableifyourconcepthas
alreadyprovenitselfinbookform.
3.Juxtaposegenres.
TaketheverysuccessfuldramaXFilesandimagineitasa
comedy,andyougetsomethingalongthelinesofMENIN
BLACKfromColumbia,directedbyBarrySonnenfeld.
4.Transpose/updatesettings.
OUTLANDwasprettymuchHIGHNOONinouterspace.
SteveMartin'sROXANNEwasawonderfulretellingofthe
CYRANOstory.Ifhecandoit,socanyou.
5.Pushyourideaalltheway.
Manyscreenwriterscomeupwithjusthalfanidea,then
stop.Mostspecscriptswhichendonpage110actually
shouldendonpage35becausethat'sallthestorythat's
reallythereit'sjustbeendraggedouttofillthepage
requirement.Trytellingthestoryyou'vetoldin110pagesin
35.That'dbethirtyfivegreatpages!Thenkeepgoingatthat
pace.Goingpasttheobviousendingcansometimesleadsto
thatuniquetwist.
6.Killyourbabies.
Allwritershavepetideas.Thetrickistonotgetstuckon
one.Writethedamnthing,getitoutofyoursystem.Ifit's
greatitwillsell,ifnot,thengetontothenextthing.You're
notgoingtostumbleonthatcareermakingconceptifyou
keeprevisingthesamepetideaforfiveyears.(I'veseenthis
happen.)
7.Writefromloveandpassion.
Forgetwhatyouthinkarecommercialconsiderations.What
doyoulove?Todo,tostudy,tothinkabout,andtalkabout?
Whetherit'scavedivingormodeltrains,crossdressingor
particlephysics,yourpassionisoftenthebestguidetoyour

mostuniqueandpowerfulwork.Ironically,theunique,non
commercialaspectsofaprojectareoftenwhatmakeit
commerciallyvaluable.
Okay.Thatshouldhelpgetyoustarted.
So.Howdoyouknowwhenyou'veactuallygotthatgreat
concept,andareontherighttrack?
Here'saclue:otherwritershearyouridea,andgiveyoublack
looks.Yougetseveralofferstocowriteit.
Anotherclue:producersreturnyourcalls.
Stillanotherclue:agentsreturnyourcalls.
Andbestwaytotrulyknowthatyou'vegotagoodfilmconcept:
Yourscreenplaysells!

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