THE MEGAHIT MOVIES
Richard Michaels Stefanik
Copyright © 2004 by Richard Michaels Stefanik All Rights Reserved. Published by
RMS Productions Company 9299 Tower Side Drive #435
Fairfax, VA 20031 All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
RMS Productions Company.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: Available from the Publisher.
ISBN 1-882373-04-9
Printed in the United States of America DEDICATED
to
K. C. CRAIG
whose
unconditional love
enabled me to write
The Megahit Movies
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The analysis of the films in The Megahit Movies book is based on the versions of the movies distributed on videocassettes and DVDs. The primary purpose of this book is to serve as an educational research resource for students of popular films, for teaching, and scholarship. These commentaries are published in compliance with the “fair use” doctrine, Section 107, of the U.S. Copyright Law.
BATMAN: Copyright 1989 Warner Brothers, Inc.
BRUCE ALMIGHTY: Copyright 2003 Universal Studios.
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: Copyright 1980 and 1995 Lucasfilm, Ltd. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL: Copyright 1982 Universal City Studios. FINDING NEMO: Copyright 2003 Disney/Pixar.
FORREST GUMP: Copyright 1995 Paramount Pictures.
GHOSTBUSTERS: Copyright 1984 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. HARRY POTTER: THE SORCERER’S STONE: Copyright 2001 Warner Bros. HARRY POTTER: CHAMBER OF SECRETS: Copyright 2002 Warner Bros. HOME ALONE: Copyright 1990 Twentieth-Century Fox.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: Copyright 1996 Twentieth-Century Fox.
JAWS: Copyright 1997 Universal Home Video.
JURASSIC PARK: Copyright 1994 MCA Home Video.
LION KING: Copyright The Walt Disney Company.
LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING: Copyright 2004 New Line. LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS: Copyright 2003 New Line. LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: Copyright 2001 New Line. MEN IN BLACK: Copyright 1997 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. MONSTERS, INC.: Copyright 2001 Disney/Pixar.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: Copyright 2003 Disney.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: Copyright 1981 Lucasfilm, Ltd.
SHREK: Copyright 2001 Dreamworks LLC.
SHREK 2: Copyright 2004 Dreamworks LLC.
SPIDER-MAN: Copyright 2002 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. SPIDER-MAN 2: Copyright 2004 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. STAR WARS: Copyright 1977 Twentieth-Century Fox, 1995 Lucasfilm, Ltd. STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES: Copyright 2002 Lucasfilm, Ltd. STAR WARS: RETURN OF JEDI: Copyright 1995 Lucasfilm, Ltd. THE GRINCH: Copyright 2000 by Universal Studios.
THE MATRIX RELOADED: Copyright 2003 Warner Home Video THE PASSION OFTHE CHRIST: Copyright 2004 Icon Pictures.
THE PHANTOM MENACE: Copyright 1999 Lucasfilm, Ltd.
THE SIXTH SENSE: Copyright 2000 Spyglass Entertainment Group. THE WIZARD OF OZ: Copyright 1939 Lowe’s, Inc., Renewed 1966 MGM, Inc. TITANIC: Copyright 1998 Paramount Pictures.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Chris Lockhart
Executive Story Editor, International Creative Artists (ICM) 11 Introduction 15
The Fundamental Question 17
Story Design for Creating Popular Hollywood Movies 17
Popular Hollywood Movies 23
The Megahit Movies 25
U.S. Domestic Box-Office Grosses 25
Worldwide Box-Office Grosses 26
WGA Screenwriting Awards 27
Film Critics Best Movies 28
Sundance Film Festival 29
The Academy Awards 30
Megahit Movies Redux 31
High Concepts & Loglines 47 How to hook the reader with one sentence 49 The Unique Object & The Main Characters 55
The Unique Object 57
The Protagonist 58
The Antagonist 61
The Love Interest 64
The Climax Scene of the Movie 67
The final battle between the Protagonist and the Antagonist 69
for possession of both the Unique Object and the Love Interest
Plotting for Audience Emotional Responses 75
The psychology of the audience 77
Understanding audience empathy and enmity 77
Character Development : Maintaining Audience Involvement Personal Objectives 87
Character Motivation 91
Decisions: Hard Choices 95
Relationships: Lovers & Friends 99
Codes of Behavior 104
Transformations 109
Personalities 113
Supporting Characters 117
Subgoals & Plot Twists: Creating Unpredictability 123
The Story Objective 125
Concrete Objects 128
Personal Values 130
Subgoals & Subtasks 132
Strategies & Plans 134
Conflicts: Creating Excitement 137
Obstacles 139
Jeopardy 141
Self-Conflicts 145
Enemies 148
Relatives 151
Friends 154
Lovers 157
Physical Objects 160
Natural World 163
Supernatural World 166
Plots: Designing the Emotional Roller Coaster Ride 169
Plot & Story 171
Events & Actions 173
The Inciting Event 175
Subplots 178
Plot Arena 180
Plot Twists 183
Plot Organization 187
Plot Outline Worksheet 190
Emotional Plotting 192
Emotional Plotting Graph 194
Story: What’s It All About? 195
Human Values 197
Virtues & Vices 198
Community Ideals 200
Basic Story Design 201
A-Story & B-Story 204
Story Climax & Plot Climax 206
Scenes: Creating Those Special Moments 211
Scene Actions 216
Point of Attack 217
Crisis, Confrontation, Climax, and Resolution 217
A Model Scene 218
Establishing Scenes 219
Transition Scenes 222
Opening Scenes 225
Introduction of the Protagonist 229
Introduction of the Antagonist 233
Climax Scenes 236
Resolution Scenes 237
The Essential Scene Elements 241
Emotions: Making the Audience Feel 243
Emotion & Story 245
Emotion Words 247
Theories of Emotion 251
The Cognitive Theory 252
Intensity of Emotions 253
Reactions to Events 253
Reactions to Actions 255
Reactions to Objects 257
Dialogue & Emotion 258
Humor: Release the Tension and Make Them Laugh 261
Emotion & Humor 263
Theories of Humor 265
Humorous Dialogue 275
Humorous Situations 278
Humorous Characters 280
Humor in the Megahit Movies 287
Sequences: Designing a Series of Scenes 307
Entertaining the Audience 309
Visual Material 310
Excitement 314
Surprise 315
Suspense 316
The Chase 317
&n
bsp; Ticking Clocks 320
Using Props 322
Exposition 325
Themes: Creating Universal Appeal 329
Mythic Structures 331
Megahit Movie Themes 332
Scene-by-Scene Analysis of a Popular Movie
The Wizard of Oz 339 Story Structures in Megahit Movies
Chicago 371
Shrek & Shrek 2 375
Spider-Man & Spider-Man2 388
Pirates of the Caribbean 416
Finding Nemo 425
Monsters, Inc. 428
Bruce Almighty 434
The Matrix Trilogy 441
The Passion of the Christ 447
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone 448
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban 456
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 458
Screenwriting & Movie Magazines 489
Recommended Screenwriting Books 490
The Megahit Movies Hollywood Story Design Workshop™ 493
The Megahit Movies Website 502
Richard Michaels Stefanik
The Megahit Movies Hollywood Story Design Workshop™ The Megahit Movies book is a revised and updated version of a previous work on story structure, Structures of Fantasy, which analyzed dramatic and comic elements found in commercially successful movies.
Structures of Fantasy has been selected by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Mentors Program for the Recommended Screenwriting Books list (www.wga.org/mentors/mentorbooks.html), and it is described as “one of the best books on story structure.”
Richard Michaels Stefanik is the Writer-Director-Producer of the movie, Henry Dodd, which was released by RMS Productions Company in 2004. He consults with new writers to develop their original stories into high concept screenplays. He was a Screenwriting Fellow at the American Film Institute, where he wrote, directed, and produced a dramatic movie, “Michael & Christina.” Richard then worked at several Hollywood studios, including Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions. He received M.A. degrees in Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley and Georgetown University, then studied Philosophy and Mathematics at Oxford University.
Richard has taught Story Design and Screenwriting Seminars in cities throughout the world, including London, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando, Las Vegas, New York, and Hollywood. He is a Honorary Board Member of WriteMovies.com. He taught a class, “Making Megahit Movies,” at UCLA Extension in 2001. He conducted classes on “Story Structures in Megahit Movies” at the Las Vegas Screenwriters Conference in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Richard also conducted screenwriting seminars in Los Angeles at the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Screenwriting Expos sponsored by Creative Screenwriting magazine. He has taught online classes for Scr(i)pt Magazine.
In 2003, he lectured on comedy and story design to the British Society of Comedy Writers in London. The French translation of The Megahit Movies book was published by Editions Dixit in Paris in 2003, retitled as “Les Clés Des Plus Grands Succès Cinématographiques”
Richard conducts monthly online chats about popular movie story structures at www.WritersChannel.net. During 2004 he gave Story Design seminars at the Script Magazine PitchXchange in New York, and at the Sherwood Oaks Experimental College in Hollywood.
Christopher Lockhart
Executive Story Editor
International Creative Management (ICM) Beverly Hills, California
As the Executive Story Editor at International Creative Management (ICM), I have read tens of thousands of scripts and have learned many things about the craft and business of screenwriting. However, the one lesson that I am reminded of on a daily basis is that writing a great screenplay is very difficult. Many scripts that I encounter are written by professional screenwriters but some are written by struggling scribes hoping to breakthrough. Regardless of the writer’s credentials, the basic fact does not change: writing a great screenplay is very difficult. There can be many definitions of what “great” is, but primarily, a great screenplay is one that creates an emotional experience for its audience. By the time the read is finished, the audience (story analyst, agent, manager, producer, actor, director, costume designer) has been moved into feeling a certain way as intended by the writer.
It should be noted that screenplays are not movies. Screenplays are simply blueprints for movies. A movie has many additional elements to “move” the audience: a winning performance by a favorite actor, smart editing, a swelling musical score, for instance. By the very nature of its medium, a screenplay is more limited and can only use the influence of its story, characters and structure to move its audience, but when it is done with greatness, the results are undeniably powerful. Despite all the high tech trimmings of a Hollywood movie, the emotional core is its screenplay.
When a reader starts a screenplay, he begins with a certain amount of equanimity, but the screenplay should move the reader, for example, to happiness or anger or horror or sadness or anxiousness. If the reader is unmoved by the end of the screenplay, the writer has failed. Most reading experiences result in apathy. Writers will often complain that the reader didn’t “get it.” But it is not the reader’s job to “get it.” It is the writer’s job to “give it.” Often, what moves the writer simply doesn’t move anyone else. It is similar to telling a joke that no one – but the teller – finds funny. The joke, however, is a quick venture, and its failure is often humorous in of itself and forgotten moments later. But a screenplay takes months of hard work to complete and, perhaps, months of effort to query the marketplace in the hopes of a read. And when (or if) that is achieved, someone gives two hours of his day to sit down and read the script. With this kind of investment, a writer must strive for a story with broad appeal. He cannot be as cavalier as that jokester. Unfortunately, if the screenplay fails to move the reader, the hard work will be easily dismissed and forgotten.
Richard Michaels Stefanik has studied movies that have achieved great success at the box-office. He calls them MEGAHIT MOVIES. In this book, he explores the commonalities of these screenplays. He examines the dramatic elements that move an audience, seducing them to return again and again to see the film – which is how a movie gains its megahit status. Writers often scoff at megahit movies. Backlash against Titanic, for instance, is common. “Where is the artistic integrity in that screenplay?” asks the indignant scribe. The art of screenwriting is in the ability to move the audience. Since Hollywood movies are huge investments, stories need to move the biggest audience possible. The talent lies in crafting a screenplay that can move millions of people by finding the universalities within a unique story. There are identifiable narrative elements within the screenplay for Titanic that brought audiences back to see it again and again. Some screenplays have the power to move reader after reader – straight on up to the executive with the clout to greenlight it. Other screenplays can hardly budge a part-time story analyst. These two examples are the difference between writing a screenplay and keeping a diary. This is not to suggest that the story that fails to move the Hollywood reader isn’t worthy to be told. On the contrary, it may be a very worthy story. However, it may need to be told in another medium all together, like a novel. When a movie has the ability to attract crowds over and over – to the tune of a billion dollars worldwide – the story works.
Many new writers fall in love with the movies and sit down to write a screenplay without realizing there is craft involved. For instance, an audience cries at a particular scene because careful mechanics have been layered throughout the story to elicit that response at the appropriate time. It doesn’t just simply happen. Why does an audience root for the hero? How does a writer weave a story in a way that creates tension, forcing the reader to stay with it through the end? And, most importantly, how does the writer create a story that audiences really care about? Writers must understand the dramatic craft and THE MEGAHIT MOVIES, which, in turn, could help them create a great screenplay that ensures the reader an emotional experience. It is a long, arduous journ
ey from the first draft of a screenplay to opening weekend at the local multiplex. As a creative executive, I read each new script with the hope of finding a story that will move me and instill me with a sense of passion I clearly didn’t possess at the beginning. It is a difficult challenge for the writer, but within these pages are the tools to empower the scribe on this journey to writing a great screenplay.
May all your screenplays be megahit movies. Christopher Lockhart, Executive Story Editor International Creative Management (ICM) Beverly Hills, California
July 15, 2003
INTRODUCTION
The Fundamental Question Story Design
for
Creating Popular Hollywood Movies THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION
Hollywood has produced thousands of feature films, but only a few have received megahit status and generated more than $250 million in North American box office receipts. What is it about these films that made them so successful?
Story Design for Creating Popular Hollywood Movies This book is designed to show a screenwriter how to create an original script that has the potential of becoming a popular Hollywood movie. Screenwriters reading this book should want to create commercially successful movies.
We start our story development process with a discussion with what it means to be a Popular Hollywood Movie. Popularity is defined by different measures: U.S. Domestic Box-Office Grosses, Worldwide Box-Office Grosses, Academy Awards, and WGA Screenwriting Awards. Every film critic also has his own choice for “The Best Movie of the Year,” as do the filmmakers who attend the Sundance Film Festival and the IFP Independent Spirit Awards.
A writer should be certain about which type of popularity he wants to achieve. From the start of the screenwriting process, the writer should understand that he is writing for a specific audience. This is made clear when we discuss genres and the standard categories of scripts as classified by Hollywood producers and agents. Genres segment the audience into groups of people who enjoy different types of stories. The total potential audience is partitioned into market segments.
Some of the questions that a screenwriter should answer are: Why do I want to write a screenplay?
Do I want to create a financially successful
or a critically acclaimed screenplay?
Who is my intended audience?
The first thing that a writer should create is the concept of the story. Will it be a high concept story? Next, he should create a logline for the movie: a single sentence description of the main character and the goal that the character is trying to achieve. Examples of high concepts and loglines will illustrate these notions.