Bad Screenwriting Versus Great Screenwriting by Steve Kaplan

[@nerd_in_norway]

Mr Kaplan is a master at conveying his lessons in a quick, clear and engaging manner. He doesn't waste time or beat around the bush, and he makes it entertaining. If only all the teachers in the world were like him!

[@howardkoor2796]

Steve has incredible insight into story telling

[@dialecticalmonist3405]

This is a fantastic insight. Everything is forced and in your face now-a-days, rather than just creating a relatable moment and letting the audience decide, we just get shit thrown into our face to "consume." We don't want to consume, we want to see something relatable, and then decide for ourselves.

[@____uncompetative]

I would freak out INSTANTLY if I saw an older me in the mirror. If I saw a younger me in the mirror I would recognise myself and start laughing with glee.

[@coolida23511]

I agree. I don't see anything wrong with the '17 Again' reaction. The vast majority of people would react the same way. It's relatable.

[@queuesnake704]

"There's enough comedy in life, that you don't need to be inventing it." And how. =)

[@josephvanwyk2088]

There's a scene I LOVE in Everybody Loves Raymond. The two bothers have a huge fight in the back of their car, like a 3 pager if not more. It's funny as they start, and then it become gripping real, and they use that power of laughter to grip you the audience. After they hook you, they reveal their character essence. Probably thee best scene in that entire sitcom.

[@Mister.Psychology]

If I saw another man's face in my mirror I would scream too. Seems realistic to me.

[@mukiwabanda2794]

Do you scream at every strange occurrence in your dreams too?

[@dionflynn]

I think he's talking about the better acting choices of the better actor Tom Hanks.

[@DA-Red-Panda1]

As a whole the movies of the 80's and 90's were way better then the movies that are coming out now. It's about taking your time and loving what you're doing, making love to a script. Now people are just f**king for the money and producing garbage for a quick buck. To make it worse everyone is lazy as hell and expects instant gratification from their entertainment. These computers and cellphones are making us a mentally impotent society. Sometimes you have to slow it down and have love for the art.

[@sonicred007]

You're not looking hard enough. There are tons of great new movies. They're not all playing at your local Cineplex

[@dialecticalmonist3405]

sofritopapi There is a powerful energy in emptiness, silence, stillness. It is becoming a lost art in both cinema and society.

[@thetramp123]

There are still a lot of great movies coming out but it's just that studios aren't banking on them and they've leaned more towards tentpole franchising and marketing brands rather than confidence in a solid original script and craftsmen. So you have to look to smaller labels, A24, Focus Features, and the like which try and pick up smaller films. it's kind of shame because the mid-budget film is kind of dying and even well-known filmmakers are having a harder time getting wide release films. But those great films ARE out there at least.

[@sirdelrio]

If I saw an old man in the mirror while in the bathroom in the morning, I (and you too) would instantly be shocked. Would you need a trial and error procedure to realize that it is not what you see every single day? In Big, Tom Hanks behaved like a gorilla when they face a mirror for the first time, like a being with no idea of self and that the mirror is a reflection of self. Sure, magnificent storytelling. Pure verosimilitude.

[@dchan35]

I couldn't agree more.

[@ghostwriterscorner502]

Kaplan rocks.

[@rosskstar]

Like in 'Meet the MIllers', some completely unbelievable moments are only distracting and do distance you from the characters. Keep it real is good advice.

[@student702]

First you establish the reality, then the gag or the bit will follow NATURALLY! That's one of the first rules of improv comedy.

[@natchawatanaharuetai3679]

He's my teacher at school

[@RefnRes]

This isn't "Bad screenwriting vs Good Screenwriting" its about good storytelling. He is right that "funny" is subjective but I don't agree that you shouldn't try to be funny. It depends on the kind of comedy you want. Steve Kaplan seems to prefer the route of charming comedy. There are great satirical comedy films like Anchorman and Zoolander though which went out to be funny and succeeded throughout. To write laugh out loud comedy you may want a basic natural premise for the underlying plot but the journey you take with the characters can have layers built up with totally unpredictable events like the medieval theme for the News team battle in Anchorman. It makes no sense, it comes from nowhere, they did it for the sake of it being funny and it was.

[@PackCorey]

I've had this idea for a Dark Comedy/Supernatural Drama/Fantasy-Thriller/Neo-Noir and I want your honest but respectful opinion about it. I had in mind for Joseph-Gordon Levitt for the lead role but the story was about a young hotshot attorney or corporate executive (haven't decided on his career choice yet) who lives in a condo in Manhattan, NY when one day he is accidentally bumped in the front of a moving subway train and dies but is reincarnated as a black cat who now lives in the alleyways of New York City digging through garbage for food, hunting rats, and being chased by dogs, seeking a place to call home. He is eventually taken by a young woman who attends Graduate School, after he witnesses another young woman be murdered by a psychotic murderous rapist the previous night. After getting used to the young woman, eventually, she brings home a man that she has met and it turns out to be the same man who killed the other woman along with five other women before her. It turns out that the rapist's method for targeting his victims is by stalking them for about a week or so and then eventually approach them, gets them to go out with him and manages to get at least three dates with them and by the third date, he makes his move. The protagonist figures this out by following the man and does everything in his power to stop him but by him being a cat now and unable to speak, outside his mind anyway, the fate of his new-found owner and friend is seems very dark and horrific. The working title I have for it is "REINCARNATION" but What do you think? Does the story have potential? Do you think it could be a success? Open 4 Feedback!

[@RefnRes]

Pack man Sounds kind of original. It's very dark and about the only comedy thing about it is a man coming back as a cat. Rape is a subject which is almost impossible to tackle with any level of comedy. I think if you are going to take such a controversial subject up then catching how a couple of other stories push the edge would be a good idea. Four Lions would be one comedy film which just sits right on the edge and managed to pull off the subject of terrorists very well. Something about your idea also seems very much like the style of Haruki Murakami too so maybe flick through some of his books. I think it has a long way to go and I imagine it will end up being totally different after some drafting but at least you have a starting place. Many never put pen on paper or fingers on keyboard and their ideas just fade away into vague memories. Always go for it if you started it but allow yourself to start other ideas while you work on others. Guillermo Del Torro keeps ideas for multiple projects going all at once as his stories feed off each other. Dumb and Dumber To is coming out soon and the jokes for that have come about after the writers spent 10 years building a folder of stuff for it as they worked on other films and had ideas which would be better suited to Dumb and Dumber. Oh, and also you should use paragraphs a bit more to break things up and make it a bit easier to read.

[@dialecticalmonist3405]

RabNebula Trying to be funny, is like trying to make "good" art. At a rudimentary level you can succeed, but until you connect people with relatable moments, it will always feel forced.

[@howardkoor2796]

Well said! A nice addition to what Steve said. Comedy is not as easy as it looks.

[@DustinWQ]

Is it fair to blame the writer (screenplay), or is it just bad direction/editing/acting, or just the recycling of the same idea so many times that it lack originality...?

[@oldproji]

I think the film industry needs to wake up and get some decent writers on board. If you don't think my statement is fair, then I suggest you sit in front of Netflix for a few hours and search for a movie that you can honestly say, hands on heart, that it was memorable viewing. You will then come to the same conclusion as I have-there is nothing but heap of horse shit coming out of the American film industry these days.

[@frenstcht]

thumbs-up

[@queuesnake704]

Junk check. Very important.

[@itierney]

I think the reaction in 17 again is a bit more realistic.

[@otakurocklee]

I completely agree.

[@binaryvoid0101]

I disagree.

[@ericanderson5369]

But the "Big" reaction is more interesting.

[@thetramp123]

Nah, he's perfectly right. The reaction in 17 Again comes out of wanting to write from the audience's knowledge of the predicament rather than the character's. So they immediately jump to a cheap "Oh, no!" gag so the audience can have the absurdity of it reassured to them rather than letting the character basically act like a person. Now, it may be perfectly reasonable to expect that someone could and would freak out in that situation, but there's a better way to approach that reaction than just some broad comedy screaming in the mirror.

[@grantmalone]

Haven't seen 17 Again but Big clearly isn't played for 100% realism. I mean the first thing he would notice when getting out of bed (if not before) is that he's suddenly 6 foot tall and the floor and ceiling aren't in the right place! They cover it by him being really sleepy but it's stretching credibility. It's all written to be funny, and to give time for the joke to breathe, and his dopiness works in part because Hanks is so great. I mean, its followed by him trying to put on his kid pants and falling over, and we buy it because of Hanks and the tone of the film. He'd only have to look at them to know they won't fit but they bypass total realism for slapstick. I basically agree with the guy about comedy being better in general if it comes from situations vs gags but I don't think this scene in Big is the best example for the point he's making. Better would be the scenes where he starts a relationship for example and acts like an inexperienced kid would. I remember them for being touchingly funny instead of comedy set-pieces.

[@queuesnake704]

Reminds you that you're not, in fact, a woman (or that you haven't traveled too far in time, and that that tech has not been invented ... ... yet).

[@HelamanGile]

I just killed all my main characters lol

[@giorgigudiashvili4876]

I can tell he's Jewish just by hearing his voice ;))