StoryNotesNewsletter #25

Let's say you have three or
four reversals and/or major
turning points in your screen-
play. That's still not going
to be enough to keep your story
from seeming too linear, too
unvaried ... too predictable.

So in addition to several big
reversals and/or turning points,
you need a few significant and
course-changing *complications.*

But before we delve into that...

If you might be interested in a
$99 SCREENPLAY EVALUATION, check
out the info at the end of the
article.


ISSUE #25


PLOT A VARIED COURSE WITH


* * COMPLICATIONS * *


"COMPLICATION": A DEFINITION

A complication is a person, object, or event that alters
the course of the action that follows. A complication
introduces some new element that forces a new response,
demands a new plan or subgoal, and leads the character --
and the story -- to a different direction.

A complication creates a changed situation.

A complication can consist of a "wrinkle" or "twist" in
the story line. It can be a new opportunity. Or a
discovery. It might be the arrival of a new character -- or
when two characters meet. Often it's a new, notable problem
-- or a sizable obstacle that can't be quickly surmounted.
It's some new factor that leads to a change of course, and
which noticeably alters the existing equation in terms of
situation, problem, goal, subgoal, plan, and/or
relationships.

In short, a complication causes a lasting change in the
course of the plot. It creates a significant bend or sharp
turn in the story line.

OBSTACLES VS. COMPLICATIONS

Complications are similar to obstacles. They both tend
to challenge the characters involved. They both involve
time, effort, and thought by a character in order to deal
with them.

The difference? For one thing, occasionally
complications are positive events -- ones which complicate
and change things, but which are still primarily positive.
Usually, however, complications are troublesome, and could,
indeed, be considered obstacles. But ... obstacles with
after-effects. So in a sense, many complications are like
super-obstacles.

An obstacle is an annoyance, danger, challenge, or
obstruction that causes a character to expend increased
energy, effort, thought, and/or time -- but once the
obstacle has been surmounted, it's over and done with.

Characters need not deviate from their basic, intended
course to deal with obstacles. They plow through them,
bypass them, or overcome them. They may suffer a short
delay, or sometimes make a slight detour, but then they're
right back on course. They were challenged by the obstacle,
and things were a bit "undecided" for a moment -- the
outcome uncertain -- but now they're back on track.

With a complication, we are not back on track. The path
has changed. *Things aren't the same after a complication.*

EXAMPLES OF BOTH

Good scripts contain both obstacles and complications.

Let's review a few obstacles. For instance, the toys on
the steps. They threaten you, they slow you down. But once
you gingerly step over and around them, you're done with
them. Maybe you actually trip and fall, but you then get up
and resume your designated, intended path and plan.

Once the plane blocking the runway is removed, then the
emergency landing can occur ... maybe just as it's running
out of fuel. It's great stuff. But if the plane lands as
intended, merely a bit late, then the blocked runway was an
obstacle, and not a complication. Which is not necessarily
a bad thing. Sometimes you want obstacles, and sometimes
(not as often) you want complications. Both. You need
both.

Once you barge past the guard at the door (and maybe
outrun him and dodge bullets -- more obstacles), you're done
with him. He was an obstacle.

But ... all of those obstacles, if altered somewhat,
could become complications -- if it serves your story.

Remember the toys on the steps? If you trip on the toys
and now you have a broken leg, that affects and complicates
what you now can do. Your plan or course of action changes.
The obstacle becomes a complication as well. Especially if
being on your feet was important for that big job you were
about to start. Or maybe you were planning on competing in
the Olympics, or running a marathon and you needed the prize
money.

If so, then breaking your leg definitely affects the
action that follows. It changes the story line, which now
veers off in another, unexpected direction. And from the
character's point of view, this new course is often an
undesirable one, at least initially.

If the blocked runway caused the plane to be rerouted
(or to crash), the obstacle became a complication.

If the guard blocking your path knocks you out and you
awake imprisoned, or he shoots you while escaping and now
you are weak, in pain, and need to seek medical attention,
then that human obstacle turned into a complication.

So most complications are also obstacles. But they are
obstacles with lasting influence.

To review thus far ...

An obstacle creates an increased expenditure of thought,
time, and effort. It slows characters down and makes them
try harder. It tests and reveals their resolve and
resourcefulness. But once they are past the obstacle, they
continue on the same path or course of action.

But there's nothing temporary about a complication. A
complication causes a *change* in the course of action that
follows. Things are not the same after a complication. And
that's why a complication is a often like a super-obstacle.
It's frequently an obstacle, yes, but it's more than that.
It's an obstacle with after-effects. The consequences of
the complication linger.

Whether caused by an object, a situation, bad luck, or
personal intervention, a complication continues to affect
the course of action long after the incident has happened.

VISUAL AID

Perhaps the following visual representation can depict
this. The dotted horizontal line represents a character's
initial course of action. This is the current path or plan;
the intention is to keep pursuing this course in order to
reach or obtain a goal or subgoal ahead.



* +
* +
* +
* +
...........................*


But then ... some kind of interference occurs. The line
of asterisks coming in from an angle represents some sort of
outside object or event that "collides" with the character
-- or at any rate, with the character's immediate goal or
plan. This collision or intervention causes a change in the
character's path. Here, that new course is represented by
the line of plus signs.

It's like what happens when one marble hits another.
Let's say a marble is on a particular path ... it's rolling
along, minding its own business, moving toward its
destination. Then another marble hits it. It deflects it
-- changing its course. That second marble was a
complication.

Or when one car bashes into another. Again, the course
is altered. Damage occurs. The driver's arrival at the
intended destination will be postponed, at best. And that
lateness could trigger further consequences and thus
changes.

In a story, it may not be damage to the individual, but
to the plan.

ANTAGONISTS & COMPLICATIONS

Obstacles don't and shouldn't happen only to the main
character. Other characters, and in particular the
antagonist, when there is one, should also encounter
obstacles.

So, too, with complications. If a story contains an
adversary or opponent character, then that antagonist may
also experience a complication or two. From the
antagonist's point of view, it could be positive, negative,
or mixed.

In STAR WARS, the fact that the Death Star plans have
been ejected from the ship is a complication for Darth
Vadar. The arrival of Luke and Obi-wan (and the others)
also complicates his plans and activities.

In KARATE KID, when Mr. Miyagi intervenes to save
Daniel, and single-handedly overcomes karate champ-bully
Johnny and his buddies, that's definitely a negative
complication from Johnny's point of view. And, conversely,
a primarily positive one from Daniel's.

POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES

Thus, as noted earlier, complications are not always bad
news for the character who experiences them. A complication
sometimes is completely positive and welcome. More often
it's undesired and seen as a major difficulty. Frequently,
it is mixed: in some ways a positive development, but with
negative attributes attached.

And sometimes the degree to which a complication is good
or bad depends entirely on the perspective of the character
who experiences it. One character may embrace it, another
curse it. It can help one, and hinder another.

REEL-LIFE EXAMPLES

We've already noted two complications (from the
antagonist's point of view) in STAR WARS. Here are some
protagonist-oriented examples: when Luke sees the
holographic image of Princess Leia emerging from R2D2, this
significantly alters the course of the story -- and his
life.

Certainly the group's being taken onto the Death Star
against their will is a major complication. Then they learn
that the Princess is aboard and scheduled for execution.
When they decide to rescue her, that, too, becomes a
complication. Their subgoal -- and the story line --
changes from hiding out while Obi-wan disengages the tractor
beam, to trying to save Leia -- which leads to their
presence being detected, many battles and narrow escapes,
etc.

Complications in E.T. occur when E.T. is stranded on
Earth -- that certainly complicates and changes his life
(and later, Elliott's). Another complication occurs when
Elliott sees E.T. And again when the boy takes the creature
into his home and room. Then again when E.T. gets the idea
of "phoning home." And when E.T. gets sick. Then, having
learned that Elliott's home is harboring E.T., the
scientists take over the home, and apprehend the dying
alien. All of these are significant bends or sharp turns in
the story. They are events that create major changes in the
status quo.

In CASABLANCA, when Rick accepts the Letters of Transit
from Ugarte, that becomes a complication when Ugarte is
killed. When Ilsa shows up at the bar, that, indeed, is a
complication of major proportions. It changes things, to
say the least.

In THE WIZARD OF OZ, the tornado is a complication,
since it brings Dorothy to a new and magical land (and
she cannot readily return home). The fact that she
inadvertently killed a witch's sister, who now wants Dorothy
dead for the sake of revenge and to acquire the Ruby
Slippers -- that, too, is certainly a complication. It
changes and complicates Dorothy's situation and many of the
subsequent events.

Another major complication occurs when the Wizard
refuses Dorothy's request, instead requiring that she first
obtain the broomstick from that same Wicked Witch. A new
line of action then begins.

In TITANIC, when Jack and Rose meet, it's a
complication. Both their lives change as a result, and the
story as well. Among other complications: they fall in
love. Her fiancé arranges to plant the necklace in Jack's
pocket. And the iceberg is certainly more than just an
obstacle. It's a super obstacle with powerful and lasting
after-effects. Thus, it's a complication of the first
degree.

COMPLICATIONS AND REVERSALS

Some complications are so significant, and cause such a
sharp turn in the action, that they become major turning
points in the story. Sometimes even reversals.

When the group of heroes are caught by the tractor beam
and dragged into the Death Star, that's a complication which
is also a reversal. Mr. Miyagi's intervention, and the fact
he has advanced karate skills, is also a complication-
reversal. The Wizard's initial refusal, and his requirement
to get the witch's broom is a complication plus reversal.
As is the iceberg which strikes the Titanic.

These terms and principles can and sometimes do overlap.
Therefore, some obstacles are also complications. Some
complications are also reversals.

That's not always the case. Some events are purely
obstacles. Some are purely complications. Most reversals,
however, by definition, are also complications as well -- a
particularly distinct and major complication with an
extremely sharp turn.

Occasionally, an event can be all three: an obstacle, a
complication, and a reversal, as with the iceberg. The
Death Star, too, was initially an obstacle that they sought,
unsuccessfully, to avert and which then quickly develops
into both a complication and a reversal.

It's important to understand the nature of all three,
and to use all three -- sometimes in their "pure" forms, and
sometimes in combination.

THE "FUSE FACTOR"

Sometimes an event will turn out to be a complication,
but initially it doesn't seem to be so. Or, looked at
another way, sometimes a complication will play out in two
or three beats, which can be slightly or widely separated in
time.

For instance, when Rick accepts the Letters of Transit
from Ugarte, that will later turn out to be extremely
important and consequential. But at the time, it's a minor
event -- not even an obstacle. Later, however, when Ugarte
is killed, Rick's possession of these documents takes on
more significance. And even more later on.

Usually the nature of the complication is immediately,
or at least partially, apparent. We see right off that the
path is changing as a result, and that this will complicate
things. But not always. Some complications have delayed
effects. Part of the complicating event is established at
one point, and the larger part of it at some later point.

In the case of a complication that originally appears to
be exclusively an obstacle, perhaps the time spent
overcoming the obstacle will later prove to be critical.

SUMMARY

A complication results in a changed situation and a new
direction.

Nearly all complications are unexpected. Most are
undesirable, from the points of view of the characters who
experience them -- or at least initially so: some unwanted,
troublesome complications later turn out to have hidden
opportunities within them, or to be blessings in disguise
... the proverbial silver lining in the storm cloud.

A complication usually makes life more difficult, either
for the protagonist or an antagonist. Sometimes for both.
By its very nature, a complication both changes and
complicates things for the characters.

There are exceptions, however, to a character's view of
a complication. Sometimes a complication is primarily, or
at least partially, positive. And thus welcome. At least
from the perspective of a particular character. It may even
make a character's life easier or somehow better, rather
than more difficult -- at least at first. A positive event
can nonetheless be a complication if it substantially
changes the story line.

Both obstacles and complications are components of
conflict. They exist in addition to the personal conflicts
generated by characters who disagree, compete with, or
oppose each other.

When obstacles, complications, and interpersonal
conflicts work together, they can create a story rich with
variety, and one which provides curiosity, suspense, and
surprise. And they create challenges that reveal character
and which sometimes promote character growth.

A story with too few complications will be too linear
and too predictable. It will probably be unsatisfying and
even boring.

Now and then, throw us a curve. Provide a significant
change-causing event. Give us a wrinkle or a twist.
Introduce some new element -- a person, object, or event --
that takes us into a new direction. In short, design some
complications which will create significant and lasting
changes in the plot.

# # #

Copyright 1999 by Jeff Newman

$99 SCREENPLAY EVALUATION

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provides a concise overview of the quality and effectiveness
of the script, and also pinpoints and discusses the major
strengths and any weaknesses? If so, then the StoryNotes
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You receive 8 pages of feedback: a 4-page evaluation and a
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These include articles about structure, exposition, theme,
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For more information: http://storynotes.com

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BACK ISSUES

... of this e-newsletter can be seen by clicking on the
StoryNotesNewsletter 1 and the StoryNotesNewsletter 2 links
at http://storynotes.com ...

And there are also links to other online articles by Jeff
Newman (Hollywoodnet.com - 1 & 2) at the storynotes.com
site.

Enjoy!