How To Write A Great Scene - Shannan E. Johnson

In this Film Courage video interview, Screenwriter/Script Consultant Shannan E. Johnson on How To Write A Great Scene.
MORE VIDEOS WITH SHANNAN E. JOHNSON
bit.ly/32pCWAF
EVEN MORE VIDEOS WITH SHANNAN ON FILM COURAGE 2
bit.ly/2MxiQx2
CONNECT WITH SHANNAN E. JOHNSON
www.awriterforyourwriter.com
/ theprofessionalpen
/ shannanejohnson
/ theprofessionalpen
/ shannanejohnson
BECOME A FILM COURAGE MEMBER
/ @filmcourage
CONNECT WITH FILM COURAGE
www.FilmCourage.com
#!/FilmCourage
/ filmcourage
/ filmcourage
/ filmcourage
BUSINESS INQUIRIES
bit.ly/22M0Va2
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FILM COURAGE KZbin CHANNEL
bit.ly/18DPN37
LISTEN TO THE FILM COURAGE PODCAST
/ filmcourage-com
PROMOTE YOUR MOVIE, WEBSERIES, OR PRODUCT ON FILM COURAGE
bit.ly/1nnJkgm
SUPPORT FILM COURAGE
/ filmcourage
Stuff we use:
CAMERA - This is the camera we have used to film 90+% of our interviews (over 200 interviews and counting) It continues to be our workhorse - amzn.to/2u66V1J
LENS - Most people ask us what camera we use, no one ever asks about the lens which filmmakers always tell us is more important. This lens was a big investment for us and one we wish we could have made sooner. Started using this lens at the end of 2013 - amzn.to/2tbtmOq
AUDIO
Rode VideoMic Pro - The Rode mic helps us capture our backup audio. It also helps us sync up our audio in post amzn.to/2t1n2hx
Audio Recorder - If we had to do it all over again, this is probably the first item we would have bought - amzn.to/2tbFlM9
LIGHTS - Although we like to use as much natural light as we can, we often enhance the lighting with this small portable light. We have two of them and they have saved us a number of times - amzn.to/2u5UnHv
COMPUTER - Our favorite computer, we each have one and have used various models since 2010 - amzn.to/2t1M67Z
EDITING - We upgraded our editing suite this year and we’re glad we did! This has improved our workflow and the quality of our work. Having new software also helps when we have a problem, it’s easy to search and find a solution - goo.gl/56LnpM
*These are affiliate links, by using them you can help support this channel.
#writing #screenwriting #screenplay

[@yappygm7433]

I just love hearing Shannan's perspective on writing.

[@kevinmejia1989]

I could listen to Shannan all day!

[@LadyOfTheEdits]

Every scene must have a goal. It could either develop a character or move the story forward; maybe even both.

[@QualityEJC]

Every scene must move the story forward. So because of one scene, the next happened, and it's a chain-linked fence leading to the climax.

[@kfauzi109]

I think one thing a lot of great writers fail to mention is the tension of the scene. You wanna hang the end result of your scene in front of the audience like a carrot at the end of a stick. I notice I'm most engaged with a scene when it revels in the suspense or make me work for it's conclusion. Breaking Bad does this a lot.

[@afrosymphony8207]

The stakes thing you casually mentioned here is the key thing that brings it all together. i was watching a french dark whodunnit movie on netflix and it checked off all the right boxes in terms of how each scene unfolded to the next thing and so on nd so forth but i still found it extraordinarily so uninteresting and bland even though the cinematography and sound were top notch. watching this i just realized why i didnt find it interesting, they didnt setup any stakes whatsoever, it had a cool setting though and interesting freaky kinda supernatural vibe going on but it was just a detective looking for a girl's killers and that was it. They didnt setup any stakes at all. The social network is like the most well written of all time, imo and i use it as a standard for good screenplay and immediately they jump to the deposition scene that is the stake right there. letting the story unfold in a linear way without that deposition scene in act 1 would have dropped the quality by a long shot. another one of my faves is django nd hateful 8. in django its a slave movie, from the first scene of christoph freeing a blackman i mean the stakes are already pretty fucking high, locked and loaded. hateful 8 is kind of the same way. Tarantino's magic is that he knows how to use environment to create high stakes, he puts his characters in a high stakes environment from the get go. plus he is a MASTER at intro's, i mean absolute fucking beast that man. his intro's are mostly all about setting up the STAKES!

[@NIKONGUY1960]

Before she starts talking I’ve already ‘liked’ the vid. No nonsense, no bullshit. Serve it up, SJ.

[@satendrabhati2347]

She is amazing.. love her😘

[@j-ymoney5112]

Amazing how knowledgeable she sounds just from speaking about something she clearly loves

[@DirtyBobBojangles]

Very rare from a black woman tbh

[@SaschaMakes]

We love Shannan!!

[@kimatlastlooks2915]

More nuggets of wisdom from Shannan. I'm here for that - all day ever day.

[@kittenlove8534]

Me again! I woke up to this video - as it’s night time here 🇬🇧. This really is going to be a game changer for me. Thank you so much! ❤️

[@filmcourage]

Great way to start the day! Curious how this is a game changer for you?

[@spencespace7763]

Just writing yet another comment where I repeat what Shannon said so it makes me sound like I’m a smart writer.

[@derrionbrown3923]

With an added pretentiousness 😂

[@kittenlove8534]

I love this! ❤️

[@kristianpeterson2571]

As an actor, I am in awe of great screen writers.

[@acceptfilms9415]

4 words outcome proactive reality pursuit in any order cheers

[@scifi_by_allencrowley7897]

Love This!

[@shantanaditya9979]

i think filmaking in general is like a living experience. you gotta indulge iin the story fell evry single word that you are writting on the paper. when you are able to do that. scenes would come out as perfect as it could be.

[@AFROVISIONSMEDIA]

Shannan is the best!

[@filmcourage]

What else can help you write a great scene?

[@gracextended]

I feel like Shannon covered it! I think the timing of each event that leads up to the end of the scene and the creativity of how it’s delivered. Whether it be effect in the beginning of the scene and moving backward to how it began, or starting with the rising action and pulling from the beginning to develop the scene to reveal the effect can determine the originality of the overall piece of work. The definitive moments of development is what’s makes a great scene a memorable one

[@richardadesmond]

Shannan has great stuff to say, she outlines conflict well with how it operates. Be sure you've got a scene that has assured stakes, gotta have stakes first and foremost. Not to sound like a contrarian but a great scene in and of itself isn't concerned with how it leads to another and a great scene (in the long run yes, but inherent there are other elements to it) doesn't always involve more than one character to be a compelling scene. That doesn't negate what Shannan says, it's just that a great scene isn't strictly 2 characters at odds, a great scene with compelling stakes can involve one character ....think of the opening 15 mins of 'Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri', it gets driven by a question with big stakes, the death of her daughter. Or there can be an event that happens to a character NOT enacted by another character...e.g. Inception when the train rolls in on the street and (excuse the pun) derails things:), or when in 'Titanic' the boat hits an iceberg(big stakes).

[@wattpadusergeek342]

I know she was talking about actors when describing one character winning over another in a scene, but I’m going to try doing this for my novels’ character scenes too! Thanks Shannan and Film Courage 😊

[@devinkourunk4371]

Hell, I'd ask myself what I want or what the audience wants and structure towards that.

[@MiguelCruz-oz7km]

@@richardadesmond Three Billboards is great. If you look at it at a micro level, a lot of the scenes are about someone winning something. For example the second scene Mildred needs to get Welby to acknowledge that he owns the billboards. Welby tries to dissuade her from renting them since they are worthless. They're not protracted debates, but just enough drama for the purpose this scene serves in the story. Next scene: Dixon is trying to persuade the workers to explain the billboards. Then Willoughby's wife tries to persuade him not to answer the phone at Easter dinner. Then Willoughby and the desk sargeant try to convince Welby to take down the billboards and tell them who paid for them.

[@seekingthemiddleway4048]

Clear answer, and a good one.

[@simphiwe4930]

Awww the main girl Shannon!👏🏾🙌🏾❤

[@derrionbrown3923]

Better than any book in under 3 minutes

[@anothercharacter]

Genius!

[@ryanhowell4492]

Cool Video, this inspired me

[@606films9]

Literally, the first 20 seconds of this video helped me out real good😂

[@rishikamath6718]

Subversion of expectation is the best part of a scene for me. It doesn't have to be a big plot point like "Oh my god she's not the killer he's the killer" but something tiny like a high schooler ranting against her teacher and her mom says let's go break that bitch's taillight.

[@finallyanime]

“But & therefore” essentially it sounds like

[@pauligrossinoz]

... and there must always be that _visible conflict,_ either physical or emotional, to pull people into and through that scene.

[@dominickrouser8124]

I have a unique problem.. In my screenplay I want to write an Exterior shot as a colorful shot and an interior shot as a dull shot like how videos say expectations vs. reality. How can I encorperate that into a movie script that will not only hook producers looking for pitches but also engage with producers as they read more and more?

[@wattpadusergeek342]

What else can help write a good scene? Maybe using BMOC method and suspense tools in each scene as they reach for the goal. Don’t make it too easy to get to the goal of the scene.

[@rosaflorpuig3971]

What’s BMOC?

[@isaacmarumo1433]

BMOC?

[@mohamedmubeen4583]

Could you please define "great scene".. I mean what should be the necessary things that qualify as a "great scene"...??

[@JonathanBlandino]

Personally, a great scene is one that heightens one of three things: the core conflict, a character's goal/core wound, or builds or immerses you in the world/tone of the story. All of this is just a template as its a case by case basis.

[@anothercharacter]

Conflict, conflict, conflict. The scene needs to add value to the story. If the characters just sitting there or it's just information coming out of their mouths it's not gonna be interesting to watch. Each scene should have a beginning, middle and an end. :-)

[@rabbit1731]

Can somebody tell me the exact definition of a scene?

[@filmcourage]

Here are two good videos on scenes - kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYCooIGbYs2aps0 & kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZ-xp2Seq6Zloassi=zZGdvIuTddbR_V8S (another one with Shannan). And if you want even more, here is a playlist on writing scenes - tinyurl.com/2c6nxcp9

[@greywarden7825]

First