Aristotelian-inspired Screenwriting: A Simple Guide to Complex Storytelling

ENDNOTES

- Foreword -

So you fancy yourself as a writer. Not just any writer, but a screenwriter. Perhaps you love film, and are just interested in learning more about the screenwriting process.

I had a similar passion and curiosity for writing, which is why I enrolled in Jason Kent’s course, Aristotelian-Inspired Screenwriting. Having studied some Aristotle during my undergraduate degree, I was curious to see how Ancient Greek philosophy applied to the modern art of scriptwriting.

Aristotle was one of the first recorded people to give serious consideration to the notion that things in the world had a substance, form, matter, and essence. In his lecture series entitled Metaphysics, he used the term ousia to describe these concepts, which in Greek means I am.

Much of Western philosophy derives from Aristotle’s thoughts and teachings more than two thousand years ago: from biology, physics and ethics to aesthetics, politics and literature. He wrote more than 150 lectures, of which only 30 have survived, one of which is his lecture series on the art of storytelling known as The Poetics.

Jason’s course and book is a thorough, well-structured insider’s view of The Poetics. It brings together the ancient art of storytelling with modern theories of screenwriting into a practical guide that can be used by students, teachers, writers, and film lovers alike.

You will learn a range of things from this course that will greatly improve your writing and help you structure your storytelling. In particular you will learn fundamental Aristotelian principles such as story unity, inciting fear and pity, creating empathetic characters, and how to create a complex plot.

To paraphrase Aristotle, character determines a man’s qualities, but it is by his actions that he is happy or the reverse. In this spirit, I recommend you take action by reading this book. It will revolutionize your understanding of film and bring a greater clarity, focus and purpose to your writing.

Pravin Menon

PART ONE

Character and Unity

- Introduction -

Why write a screenplay?

Chances are that if you want to write a screenplay or if you are already writing screenplays, the reason you have put pen to paper is that you have something to say.

Your words are your art; who knows what meaning you will express with them, but the drive is real. This much you know. I don’t want to get too spiritual about this, but maybe the universe is calling you to act.

Some people are attracted to screenwriting for other reasons, such as fame or fortune, but since you’ve chosen screenwriting and films, it is likely that you wish to communicate or deliver some sort of message. Even if you don’t yet know what your message is, there may be something deep inside you, bursting to get out. You want to share it. You want to connect.

This doesn’t mean that your message is necessarily literal, like say no to drugs, make love not war or crime never pays, but it must have meaning or substance. Something.

A message could simply be described as the transfer of information from one mind, through the senses to another mind. It could be as simple as a color or a sound. All art is a form of communication.

The screenplay

Films are one of the most complex forms of communication and possibly the most powerful. They can provide viewers with the closest possible simulation of real life.

The story, or the screenplay, is the most important element in a film. While the director is seen as king on a film set, the screenplay is the director’s bible. And if the director is king, this means the screenwriter must be, well… God.

More literally, a script is to a director like plans are to a builder. Screenwriters are the architects of films and without a good script a good film is not possible, in the same way it is not possible to build a very good house without some sort of plan.

Early films may have been made without plans, just like a primitive tribal hut would not have required plans, but films in the modern age, like modern buildings, are complex and require detailed planning.

Screenwriting and the ancient craft of dramatic storytelling

Screenwriting is a highly challenging art form to master (if mastering any art form is ever possible). A young writer’s instincts might lead to a good idea that could be made into a successful film, but it could still take the writer much longer to master the craft of screenwriting. Every story you write will be different and you will learn new tricks and new techniques along the way.

Over three hundred years before the birth of Christ and many more years before the Bible was written, Aristotle wrote The Poetics. The Poetics inspired me to write Aristotelian-Inspired Screenwriting, because it holds truths about storytelling that I had not come across in modern screenwriting teachings.

I will refer to Aristotle’s Poetics throughout this book and hopefully help his words to be more accessible to others. Indeed, The Poetics is not a finished work; rather a compilation of lecture notes not intended for public consumption, so a degree of translation is helpful.

Screenwriting is based on some core principles of good storytelling that have existed for millennia. It is important for screenwriters to understand these principles. They are tools millions of storytellers have used before, simply because they work. They are the foundation of the language of film.

When you understand how to speak English (or any language) fluently, it gives you the ability to communicate freely; so too with the language of film. Once you know the rules you will have greater power to communicate.

Why bring your story to life?

Long before Aristotle, play-acting and storytelling existed in primitive societies. From cave paintings to oral narratives, storytelling is part of our DNA. Stories are a way people communicate to share wisdom, history, and entertainment.

The lessons learned from stories can improve and maybe even save lives. They can uplift us, transport us to new worlds, and teach us about other people and ourselves. They enrich our lives and make people happier and more fulfilled.

No man is an island. We need to communicate and we need stories – just like we need food, water and air to breathe; if you are a writer, maybe this is the way you feel about writing. Maybe you feel like you need to write. Maybe you feel like you don’t have a choice.

The questions you need to answer are: What will you say and how will you say it?

Is your message best suited to a feature-length screenplay, a webisode, short film, stage play, book, or television series? This will depend on the nature and substance of your story. You probably know in your heart what type of story you’re aiming to create but even if you don’t know how or why to do it, trust your instincts. If your mind is clear, your instincts will be good.

The following tools will help you build this trust and determine which direction your story will take as you set forth on your journey as a writer, and guide you around the pitfalls along the way. Alternatively, if you’ve already written your story, they will help you to find out where your story’s problems lie and improve your work.

The first question some writers ask themselves is am I a writer?, or can I write? So before we get into the nuts and bolts of screenwriting, I’ll address this concern briefly.

Are you a writer?

What if you have all of the drive and the passion you need to sit at your desk for long enough to write a screenplay, but you’re not sure if you are really cut out to write something of value? If you don’t see yourself as an artist or a writer you’re not alone, but there are only really two ingredients to writing: art and craft.

Art

The word art, in a general sense, can be used to describe any beautiful creation. It may be the result of one’s deepest artistic drives.

The drive to create is within most people. Whether you write, sculpt, paint, cook, build, communicate verbally or even calculate – you’re creating something that can be considered art. Great beauty can exist in a film, a painting, a meal or even a chair.

Your art may be unrealized, but that does not mean you are not artistic. Again, we are all creative beings. The key is to find your voice and the best medium through which to express it. Whether or not others consider your creativity artistic will more likely depend on your knowledge of the craft.

Craft

Craft is the medium. It is the process used to realize the art, the tools of the trade to take your artistic vision and turn it into a work of art.

While art may be innate or at least learned subconsciously throughout one’s life, craft is a set of skills that can be learned.

It is possible to break with the conventions of the craft and work outside traditional film language. It is even possible to craft an entirely new film language, and your work might still be highly artistic as a result, but if nobody understands it, you’ll never know.

James Cameron created an entirely new language for the Na’vi people of Pandora, but without the subtitles the film would have connected with nobody. No doubt his created language was artistic, genius even, but if people hadn’t understood it, then what would have been the point? Again, all art is a form of communication.

Nobody can teach you to have artistic drives or give you passion. This is down to you, but you can learn the craft that enables artistic expression.

Bear in mind, we are and will be talking about the craft of writing popular Western films. Bollywood films, for example, have different story conventions to Hollywood films. Not only are they written in a different language, they are constructed differently.

However, once you know the conventions of film genre, you can adapt the rules, learn which rules you can break, and eventually create your own rules. As the world changes, so do films.

Let’s begin our study of the craft of screenwriting, drawing on Aristotle’s fundamentals and the lessons from many years of filmmaking and storytelling.

Our journey will start by looking at your story from a simple and very effective perspective, the most important perspective – that of the audience.

- Chapter 1 -

Connecting with the audience

If we were discussing advertising or marketing, one of the first things we would consider is the target market. Understanding why a target market or a target audience likes a product is crucial to knowing how to sell a product.

This also applies to filmmakers: We need to understand why people like films, not only for the purposes of marketing, but also for the purposes of creation.

We need to understand why people enjoy watching films so we can create enjoyable films. A no-brainer, right?

But what exactly is it about films that people like?

Why do people (audiences) like films?

Do you ask people why they liked a particular film? You should. It’s a good way to build your knowledge of the craft of screenwriting. The only hitch is, many people don’t really know why they like films.

People often think they liked a film purely because of the thin veneer of imagery they see on screen – such as the acting, special effects, dialogue and scenery. But the average viewer doesn’t consider how films affect them on a deeper emotional level. Of course they feel it but they don’t necessarily know why. The screenwriter must know why.

While you may never be able to figure out exactly why someone else liked a particular film or any film, you can start by understanding why you like films. After all, you are a human being like the rest of us and you’re not likely to write a film that you wouldn’t enjoy watching yourself. You’ll probably write the type of film that you would most like to see on screen, and if you like it there’s a good chance others will like it too.

So why do human beings like films? Or, when we buy a ticket to a film, what are we really buying?

Films can educate us, distract us, or give us an escape from real life, but for people to receive such benefits they first need to be entertained.

People choose to watch films for pleasure; if they like to be distracted or educated, then they would consider these elements entertaining.

If the product is entertainment, how does the entertainment actually take place? How does entertainment work?

The film experience

Films can take us on a journey into worlds, situations or experiences that we might not have experienced otherwise. They provide us with a simulation of real life, and this is the source of our entertainment.

Good films can even let us see inside other people’s minds and allow us to imagine or experience what characters might be thinking or feeling, as though we are living the characters’ lives inside the film.

How close to the real thing do you think a film comes in giving us a real life experience?

Do you feel scared when a character is in danger? Do you feel aroused during a sensual love scene or joy when a character triumphs? Do you feel excited during an action sequence or perplexed by a mystery? If the answer is no, you probably wouldn’t be reading this book.

We can feel many possible emotions when we watch a film. Here are some of the main ones:

○ Love

○ Fear

○ Excitement

○ Hope

○ Amusement

○ Curiosity

These real-life emotions form the basis of the enjoyment we feel from films. The emotions triggered by a film correlate with what we often refer to as a film’s genre. For example:

○ Love ⇒ romance

○ Fear ⇒ thriller

○ Excitement ⇒ action

○ Hope ⇒ drama

○ Curiosity ⇒ mystery

○ Amusement ⇒ comedy

Broadly speaking, filmmakers sell an experience and more specifically a certain type of experience or a certain type of emotion. Some of the best films include the entire spectrum of human emotions.

The question is: How do films actually trigger these emotions?

The film metaphor

Film emotions work in a similar way to real-life emotions. But films are artificial, not real, and the audience is only observing; so how can we take the audience inside the film world to make them feel like they are not mere observers but actually experiencing things themselves?

How do we suspend the audience’s disbelief and take them to places they may have never been or will never have the chance to visit (such as Pandora, Alcatraz, Mars, or the Titanic)? How do we enable people to enjoy the wonders, mysteries and thrills of another person’s life?

Nothing can replace reality but we can come very close, and sometimes emotions sparked by films can be even better than the real thing. We can exaggerate the situations in films to great heights so they’re more thrilling or fun than real life, all within the comfort of a cinema and in two hours of time.

We can blur the line between reality and fiction. But to do this, we need to know how to climb inside the audience’s mind. The tool we use to achieve this is the screen character.

- Chapter 2 -

Anatomy of a screen character

Screen characters can be thought of as vessels to carry the consciousness of the audience. If done well they can transport the audience through the world of the story so the audience feels what the characters feel.

If characters are created well the audience will not only feel empathy for the character but for themselves, meaning that the audience is so invested in the character that the journey matters to their own lives, outside of the film.

Ideally people will feel what the character is feeling, like they are experiencing the emotions first-hand.

Human beings have natural empathy, which means that we understand the feelings of others. Some people are more connected and sensitive than other people, but we are all connected. We are basically pack animals.

This doesn’t mean we feel exactly the same way as others around us, but we remember similar experiences. For example, we haven’t all won tennis at Wimbledon, but most of us have won something, so we can relate. We empathize with other people.

The character with which we empathize doesn’t even need