StoryNotesNewsletter

ISSUE #12:


One of the most important events in most movies is often not depicted
onscreen! It's something that happens before the movie's opening
scene. In fact, often there are *two* Backstory Events, each of a
slightly different nature.

The following 3-part article discusses the Backstory Event.


(Due to its length, this article will be sent in three parts.
Thus, it will comprise Issues #12-#14.)

(You may prefer to cut-and-paste the two e-mail installments into
a word processing document -- Word, WordPerfect, Works, etc. It
should then be easy to make the page breaks come out properly, in
case you wish to print it out. I suggest a left margin of 1.5"
or 2.0", depending on the font.)

(To see back issues of the StoryNotesNewsletter, go
to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StoryNotesNewsletter ... scroll
down past "Search Archive" and, to start with Issue 1, click on
the "4" in the box for Oct 2000.)


PART 1 (OF 3):


BACKSTORY AND THE


* * * B A C K S T O R Y E V E N T * * *



Sometimes it's best not to start your story at the very
beginning. It's often preferable to let at least one relevant,
pertinent event happen *before* "Fade in." In fact, it can be
argued that of the ten most important events in a story, one of
them usually occurs prior to "page one."

There are three reasons for this.

A CATALYST FROM THE PAST

1. *A rolling start is easier and more effective than
beginning from a dead stop.*

Usually the opening scenes are more effective if we aren't
beginning from a position of complete rest. It's too static.
When there's no initial conflict, no pre-existing problem, and

basically happy, well-adjusted characters, all that harmony and
stability may lack interest. It's better if something of
significance has already happened.

Often a story will begin with one or more of the main
characters just slightly off-balance in terms of his or her
emotional state or life situation. Something different has
happened recently, and the character is still adjusting to it.

Other times, something has happened elsewhere -- perhaps
unknown to the character -- but it will soon come to greatly
affect him or her.

In a way, this event from the past is like a pre-opening
Inciting Incident. It's a foundational event which either
disrupted the status quo, or has planted the seeds for the
disruption, which will happen soon.

This "Pre-Fade-in Inciting Incident" could be a change in the
family (due to marriage, divorce, birth, or death), a new job, a
move to a new place, a villain's scheme, the near-completion of a
long-sought goal, an event that created a desire for revenge or a
need for healing, the advent of hard times, or any event or
events that led to or will soon lead to a changed state of
affairs.

By starting sometime past the actual beginning, the story is
already moving. The audience sees characters striving, reacting,
adjusting. The audience is challenged and intrigued. Questions
arise at several points during the early scenes. "Now what's
going on here?" "Why is this kid so grouchy?" "Why are these
two angry with one another?" "What was *that* all about?"

These questions stimulate curiosity, and promote a sense of
anticipation as to learning the answers. It allows the audience
to play a more active role -- making assumptions, inferences,
guesses ... filling in the blanks. They feel smarter, more
involved.

So a significant, story-related event (or two) that occurs
prior to the start of the film helps the movie get off to a
running start -- or at least a brisk walk. This produces not just
a faster start, but a more energetic one, and increases audience
involvement.

A MORE SHAPELY FIRST ACT

2. *Act 1 can be kept to a more reasonable length.*

Having at least one key event happen prior to the start of
the film allows the first act to stay at a more reasonable
length; we can get to the End of Act One Event within 30 minutes.

If we had to see Rose get engaged to the rich snob, and her
mother booking passage on the Titanic, Act 1 of TITANIC would
simply be too lengthy. It would take too long to get past the
setup, to the start of the real story -- the journey, the central
relationship, and the main conflicts and problems.

In HAMLET, there are three closely related foundational
events that occur prior to the beginning of the play. Hamlet's
father, the king of Denmark, dies (later, Hamlet learns that it
was murder). The king's brother is chosen to be the new king,
rather than Hamlet. And Hamlet's mother remarries -- within a
month of her husband's death -- to the new king. All of this
sends Hamlet into a state of melancholy, which is where we find
him at the actual start of the play.

In E.T., the alien ship has already landed, and the aliens
have already disembarked.

In A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Blanche has already gotten in
trouble, and has already left her home town in order to pay a
surprise visit to her sister (in hopes of staying with her).

In HOME ALONE, the decision to go on a vacation to Europe has
already been made, the tickets purchased, etc.

In the play OEDIPUS REX, Oedipus -- who didn't know he was
adopted -- has already killed the man whom he later learns was
his father, and already married the woman he later learns was his
mother.

In HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS, the dad has already completed his
new invention.

In RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, we learn that the bad guys are
already searching for the Ark, and have already found the lost
city where it is located.

If the creators of all those movies and plays had elected to
depict those events, the first acts would have been too lengthy.
It would have taken too long to get to the heart of the story.

Psychologically, the audience -- due to conditioning or
natural inclination -- wants most of the setup to be over and
most aspects of the Main Conflict and Central Situation to be
underway by about the half-hour point. Allowing one or a few
story-starting events to have occurred earlier allows us to do
that.

CHARACTERIZATION & MOTIVATION

3. *Main characters can be more complex, believable, and
motivated.*

A person with a past is more realistic and interesting than

someone who seems to have no past. And since we are partially a
product of our experiences, we can use the past to explain and
motivate some of the attitudes and behavior of our main
character. The "past" in question can be one or more events that
happened years ago, or very recently.

This would seem to be common sense. And yet, in screenplay
after screenplay, readers come across protagonists who have no
emotional baggage, no memories, no formative influences.

In far too many lesser movies and unproduced screenplays, the
main character seems to have just suddenly started to exist.
They seem to have been born yesterday. Or even worse, on page
one (or whichever page they first appear). They have been
created out of thin air.

A main character with no past lacks complexity and
believability. Real people don't just spring into being -- we
are born, and then are shaped by people, places, and events.
It's the cumulative events from our past that have influenced our
values and attitudes. Even, to a degree, our personality.

Not that a great amount of time will be spent talking about
that past in most good screenplays. No. Just a few hints now
and then. One or two salient events will be explicitly
mentioned, but generally not at great length.

Nor do you, the writer, need to create a hugely detailed
personal history. But you should have at least a rough idea --
with a few specifics.

A main character with no memories or formative past will
probably be lackluster and implausible. The character will lack
the strong drives necessary to animate his attitudes and give
impetus to his objectives. Events or situations from the past
help to create the motivational push that augments the attractive
pull provided by the goal. These past events or situations may
also have created an Inner Need and/or a Key Flaw, which allow
for inner conflict and character growth.

All in all, with one or more Backstory Events, your main
character will be more dimensional, more interesting, more
believable, and more motivated.

For all these reasons, it's best to think about some
Backstory.

BACKSTORY

The general Backstory of a movie is all the events relating
to the main characters and/or to the basic situation that
occurred before the start of the movie. Some of these events may
be referred to, but they are rarely shown, since they took place
before the Fade In.

So Backstory is what happened to your main characters before
the movie began -- *especially those events that have something
to do with the present story*.

The general Backstory may also include those events that gave
rise to the opening situation or the soon-to-occur Big Problem
and/or Opportunity. For instance, the feud in ROMEO AND JULIET
between the Montagues and the Capulets. The flawed design and
building of the Titanic. The conflict between the republican
rebels and the Imperial forces, and the initial intercepting of
the Death Star plans, in STAR WARS.


(TO BE CONTINUED in Issue #13)

(In the next issue: "The Backstory EVENT," "Personal Backstory
Events," "Main-story BSE's," "Examples" -- citing numerous
films -- and "Exceptions.")


Copyright Jeff Newman, 2001


Notice #1 -- SCREENPLAY CONTEST:

Screenplay.com and Scriptapalooza CALL FOR ENTRIES with a Grand
Prize of $25,000.

Scriptapalooza is currently accepting screenplay submissions for
its 3rd Annual Competition. Deadline is April 16, 2001. Visit
http://www.screenplay.com or http://www.scriptapalooza.com for
complete details.


Notice #2 -- A SEMINAR ON "HIGH CONCEPT":

Steve Kaire will conduct a "HIGH CONCEPT SEMINAR" in Los Angeles
on Saturday, April 28th. Producer David Permut ("Face/Off")
said, "Steve Kaire is a one-man story department and a master at
creating potential blockbusters."

For more information go to:

http://www.workspot.net/~stevekaire/


Notice #3 -- SCREENPLAY EVALUATIONS:

For information on "StoryNotes Screenplay Evaluations" by Jeff
Newman (author of these articles), go to:

http://www.storynotes.net


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