StoryNotesNewsletter

ISSUE #13:


(This is a continuation of the
article which began in Issue #12; see
the online archive at yahoo-groups if
you did not receive or save Issue 12:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StoryNotesNewsletter)


PART 2 (OF 3):


BACKSTORY AND THE


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


(The last issue just finished discussing "Backstory.")


BACKSTORY EVENT

The Backstory *Event* is more specific. It carries more
weight. It could be a personal Backstory Event -- one
experienced by the main character, and which continues to
affect him. Or it could be a situational Backstory Event for
the story as a whole. In many movies there is both: a personal
BSE (Backstory Event), and a situational, main-story BSE.

Or, to put it another way, there are two main type of
Backstory Events: a Main-Character BSE, and a Main-Story BSE.
Some movies have one, but not the other. And some movies have
both.

And sometimes the same event serves both purposes, as in
HAMLET.

PERSONAL BSE'S

In terms of a personal Backstory Event: It is a key event
from the past that continues to affect the main character --
usually in a negative way. It continues to trouble, haunt, or
warp this character. Or it's something that helped shape the
character's attitudes, outlook, and values.

This key event is usually referred or alluded to at least
once. Sometimes it's just hinted at; we have to infer it. It
could have happened shortly before the start of the movie, or be
an event long past. But it was an important influence, *a
formative, shaping event whose effect is still felt*. Or, if
it's a very recent event, it may not be one that has shaped or
changed the character in a fundamental way, but rather acted as a
disturbance, affecting the character's mood, emotional state,
and/or outlook. It can be a destabilizing, troubling event to
which the character has not yet adjusted.

Occasionally, there are two or even three personal Backstory
Events, not one. When that's the case, they are usually closely
related in some way. And one usually takes precedence over the
others. But the principle is the same. Together, these events
reach out from the past to affect the emotions, attitudes, and
behavior of the main character.

Let's consider a few general examples that could become the
basis for a personal Backstory Event. Abandonment. Betrayal.
An accident that left one permanently injured or disfigured -- or
with a guilty conscience. Witnessing or experiencing an act of
violence. The death of or separation from a loved one. Or any
traumatic event.

However, the event is not always that serious. Instead, it
can be something that is less severe, but nonetheless disturbing
or disorienting in some way. For instance, the decision by
Daniel's mother in THE KARATE KID to move to California was
clearly something that upset Daniel. He's very unhappy with this
-- he's irritable and moody to his mom, and feels lonely in his
new surroundings -- but it's not a searing or catastrophic event.
Although in this case, it could be argued that another personal
Backstory Event -- the death of his father -- is something that
has affected him more deeply. Daniel doesn't realize it, but
he needs and longs for a father figure. And gets one, with
Mr. Miyagi.

The personal Backstory Event is often an incident, event, or
situation that has created a sense of loss. Or a psychological,
emotional wound. As a result of this, the character often feels
empty in one particular way; some quality in his or her life is
lacking. Or the character feels a lingering hurt. If nothing
else, the character is troubled by it.

In some movies, rather than one distinct personal Backstory
Event, there is some element or sustained period from the past
that performs the same function. Some ongoing situation and/or
series of small events, taken together, accomplish the same thing
as one particular event. It could be a parent who was
neglectful, abusive, unloving, or overly critical, strict, or
demanding. Or a period of poverty, causing feelings of
insecurity, fear, or a sense of deprivation. Perhaps the family
moved frequently from place to place. This sort of influential,
ongoing situation from the past is basically equivalent to a
Backstory Event.

So if having one personal Backstory Event (or several closely
related such events) doesn't seem right for a particular story,
then it's likely that there can be a certain focus to the general
backstory which is roughly equivalent.

Such is the case with movies like THE FIRM (the main
character is eager to compensate for a materially deprived
childhood), NOTTING HILL (the actress is fed up with emotionally
unstable people, phonies, and users), and BACK TO THE FUTURE. In
that movie, Marty has "inherited" his father's lack of confidence
and self-esteem, and he is fed up with his family's
underachieving, loser mentality. So while there is no one key
personal Backstory Event in that film, there's still a focus to
the personal backstory which accomplishes the same thing. And
there is a main-story BSE: the fact that Doc has just finished
his latest and biggest invention: a time machine.

In AMERICAN BEAUTY there is again no particular personal
Backstory Event, but rather a long and gradual period of
compromise and acceptance of superficial values, leading to their
present empty, miserable, and superficial lives. Thus, there is
an aspect and a focus to the personal backstory that is
equivalent to a personal, particular Backstory Event. It's a
series of small events, rather than one or two big ones. In a
sense, those small events relating to a certain aspect of their
lives, that overall, ongoing situation from the past, can be
thought of as adding up to a kind of collective personal
Backstory Event.

Whether it's one particular key event, two or three closely
related such events, or an ongoing situation, a personal
Backstory Event (or Events) refers to something in the far or
recent past that has shaped or at least influenced the
character's attitudes and emotional make-up, and thus continues
to affect him or her.

MAIN-STORY BSE'S

The other kind of Backstory Event is usually less personal,
and may not (at the time) involve the main character at all.
It's an event that affects the overall situation, and which helps
to set up the story as a whole. Thus, it can be called a "Main-
story" Backstory Event.

Examples of situational Backstory Events -- ones that help
set up the opening state of affairs, or the story's concept: a
criminal's scheme -- the idea, plans, and preparation took place
earlier, and are about to be acted upon. A meteor hurtling
toward Earth. The outbreak of a war. A feud, rivalry, or
animosity between two groups. A scientist who has been long
working on, or even just made, an important discovery. A journey
has been planned and prepared for, and is about to commence. A
supernatural curse has been leveled against an individual or a
town. A long-ago injustice or crime that may now result in
efforts at revenge. A new job has been sought, an offer
accepted, and the character is about to begin his first day.

SOME EXAMPLES

Let's look at some movies which refer to a personal event
that continues to influence, trouble, or warp the protagonist, or
which mention an event that has led to the opening situation, or
which will lead to the story concept.

In other words, let's consider some personal and situational
Backstory Events -- Main-Character and Main-Story BSE's -- from
some well-known films.

When Kane was torn from his family as a child, the loss of
that love, warmth, and close family -- the sense of abandonment
-- shaped him at the time and left a lasting influence on his
attitudes and actions. CITIZEN KANE becomes both a detective
story searching for the meaning of his last dying word, and a
study of a man who takes the wrong path in searching for love and
security -- which he does largely due to the Backstory Event.

In ORDINARY PEOPLE, it's the boating accident. Conrad is
plagued by the loss of his brother and by his sense of survivor
guilt, sharpened by a feeling that there possibly was something
he could have done to save his brother.

In CASABLANCA, Rick has become a political and emotional
isolationist as a result of his experience with Ilsa in Paris.
Her leaving him (and his not knowing why) is the Main-Character
Backstory Event.

There is a rich Backstory in RAIN MAN. Charlie Babbitt's
difficult relationship with his father, and, forgotten by
Charlie, the existence and removal of his autistic brother
Raymond. The estrangement from his father is the key Backstory
Event, since it's continued to affect Charlie's attitudes and
actions ever since.

In THE MATRIX, the main Backstory Event is situational, not
personal. It is an event that is unknown by the main character
at first, although it certainly did affect him, along with
everyone else. The period when humans were disconnected from
reality and programmed to exist within the cyber-world of the
Matrix is a huge and powerful event with immense and still-lasting
repercussions. But it doesn't happen at the beginning of
the movie; it's the Backstory Event.

In POLTERGEIST, the Backstory Event is again situational:
the decision by the development company to build a housing tract
atop a cemetery -- moving only the gravestones, but not the
graves. This is a "hidden" Backstory Event. It not only is
unknown to the main character, it isn't revealed to the character
or the audience until late in the film.

In LETHAL WEAPON, it's the death of Riggs' wife, and the
manic-depression that it has triggered in him, including suicidal
impulses.

In JERRY MAGUIRE, it's Jerry's crisis of conscience, which
leads him to compose The Memo in the opening scene.

In CHINATOWN, Gittes is still troubled by his good intentions
leading to disaster in an old case that culminated in the
Chinatown district. Of course, there's a situational Backstory
Event, too -- relating to a conspiracy and scheme involving water
rights.

In L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, there are three Backstory Events. For
one cop -- the smart, ambitious one -- it's the fact that his
father was killed in the line of duty. For the cop who goes
ballistic when he sees a woman being hurt, we learn that his
father not only beat his mother, but -- when he tried to
interfere as a child -- his father chained him to a radiator and
the boy watched his father kill his mother. The third event,
revealed in the first moments of the film, is of a situational
nature: the death of the L.A. mobster, and the power vacuum it
has created. So this film features two personal Backstory Events
-- one for each of the two main characters -- and one situational
BSE, for the story as a whole.

In many films, the loss of one or both parents through death,
abandonment, removal of the child from the family, or due to
divorce creates a void or need in the life of a protagonist.
This can be seen in STAR WARS, WIZARD OF OZ, KARATE KID, BEAUTY
AND THE BEAST, BATMAN, CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS, CITIZEN KANE, and
E.T. Or it could be the loss of a spouse, as with SLEEPLESS IN
SEATTLE, WITNESS, and LETHAL WEAPON.

But remember, it doesn't have to be a tragic or traumatic
incident. In DIE HARD, the separation and estrangement of the
married couple due to career conflicts serves nicely as a
personal Backstory Event. And in that movie, as in many others,
there are two Backstory Events. The villain's scheme is the
situational, main-story BSE -- prior to the start of the movie,
he's come up with the idea and planned for it. In the middle of
Act 1, it starts to go into effect when he and his henchman begin
to take over the office building.

IT'S NOT A RULE!

Not every movie has a defining Backstory Event. Those that
don't, usually do have a sense of past, a general Backstory to
give your character a sense of reality, of having a history.

That's the case with JAWS. There's a bit of backstory in
regard to the sheriff and his family, but no one distinctive
event other than the fact that they moved there a few years ago
(despite his fear of water, since he can't swim). And there's no
situational BSE, unless it's the fact that a hungry shark with a
taste for human flesh has swum into Amity's coast. For all
intents and purposes, the story starts with the Inciting Incident
-- the shark attack on the young woman, in the first two minutes
of the film. And that movie did just fine at the box office.

In those relatively few movies were there is no important
Backstory Event -- neither a Main-Character one, nor a Main-Story
one -- then the Inciting Incident almost always happens very
soon. Usually within the first three or four minutes.

Some light comedies don't need much Backstory, much less a
Backstory Event. With action pictures, it is optional --
although when used well, as in DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON, it
certainly adds texture and emotional substance to the film.

And another variation, as we've seen, is having an ongoing
situation of a particular sort in a character's past, instead of
one or two particular personal Backstory Events.

In CLIFFHANGER and VERTIGO, the Backstory Events are shown in
the beginning of the movie, as a kind of prologue. In some
others, the Backstory Event is also played out in the beginning,
but in a very condensed fashion -- in selective bits and pieces,
at an accelerated pace, as in THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE
FUGITIVE.

Occasionally, the Backstory Event is depicted later in the
film, as a flashback. This occurs in CASABLANCA, CITIZEN KANE,
and BATMAN (to name a rather diverse threesome).



(TO BE CONTINUED in Issue #14)

(In the next issue: The relationship of the Backstory Event to
the "Inner Need" and the "Key Flaw" ... Also: "One of the Top
Ten Events?" (explains why), and "Summary."


Copyright Jeff Newman, 2001


Notice #1 -- SCREENPLAY EVALUATIONS:

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

http://www.storynotes.net


Notice #2 -- 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 #3 -- 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/


* * * *