Each issue of the ezine will present a topic about the story design of popular movies.
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The protagonist is the main character of the story. He/She/It is the character with whom the audience must bond and have the most empathy. The audience should identify with the point-of-view of the protagonist. It is his primary objective that becomes the story objective. Whether he can achieve this goal becomes the concern of the audience. Perseverance and will power are the most important personality traits that a protagonist must possess. He must have an unshakable commitment to his primary objective. He also must be sincere and believe in the rightness of what he is doing. While he may have moments of self-doubt, he overcomes them and continues pursuing his objective. He must have sufficient will to overcome all the obstacles that he will confront while pursuing his objective. He needs this strength to engage in the climactic battle with the antagonist. A character who gives up too easily would not be able to withstand attacks from the antagonist and his supporters. The protagonist must have the strength and stamina to carry the fight to its conclusion. Not all of the protagonists are male. Some, like Rose in Titanic, are female, and some, like Nemo, Shrek, the Grinch, Sulley, E.T. and Simba, are non-human. The strength that the protagonist’s needs is not always physical strength, as shown by the examples of Elliott, E.T., Frodo, Harry Potter, Cole Sears, and Kevin. What they have is the commitment to accomplish their goals. Their lives and the lives of the ones they love, if not the very existence of the world, often depend The protagonist is the character who makes most of the major decisions in the story. The choices and actions that he makes during conflicts reveal his values. These values will help him achieve his objective. While most of the popular films have only one protagonist, some have a protagonist with dual personalities. Batman (Crime Fighter and Reclusive Millionaire), Indiana Jones (Adventurer and University Professor), Spider-Man (Crime Fighter and High School student), and Bruce Almighty (TV Reporter-God for a week) are examples of this. These protagonists are more intriguing for the audience and help them fantasize that they also could possibly live a secret adventurous life. This increases the audience’s identification with and empathy for the protagonist. In E.T., both Elliott and E.T. share the role of the protagonist. This is essential for a story in which the feelings, emotions, and thoughts of two characters merge through telepathic communication. This technique helps to explain the success of the film, because merging the two characters into a double protagonist doubles the audience’s empathy for the protagonist and increases the audience’s concern for the story’s outcome. The films that have a protagonist without a dual personality usually also have protagonist supporters with whom the audience can have sympathy. This sympathy is then transferred to the protagonist. Examples of this can be found in Star Wars (Yoda, Han Solo, and Chewbacca), Shrek (Donkey), and in Monsters, Inc. (Mike). Some films have more than one protagonist. This expands the scope of audience identification. J and K are the dual protagonists in Men in Black, Nemo and Marlin in Finding Nemo. Pirates of the Caribbean has three protagonists: Liz, Will Turner, and Jack Sparrow. Independence Day has four characters who share the protagonist function: Captain Steve Hiller, David Levinson, President Tom Whitmore and Russell Casse. Below are the protagonists in the megahit movies: Titanic: Rose Star Wars: Luke Skywalker E.T. : Elliott and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial The Phantom Menace: Anakin Skywalker Spider-Man: Peter Parker (Spider-Man) Lord of the Rings- Return of the King : Frodo Jurassic Park: Dr. Alan Grant Forrest Gump: Forrest Gump Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Harry Potter Lord of the Rings-The Fellowship of the Rings: Frodo The Lion King: Simba Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers: Frodo Finding Nemo: Marlin and Nemo Return of the Jedi: Luke Skywalker Independence Day : Captain Steve Hiller, David Levinson, Star Wars-Attack of the Clones: Young Darth Vader The Sixth Sense: Cole Sear Star Wars-Empire Strikes Back: Luke Skywalker Pirates of the Caribbean: Liz, Will, and Jack Home Alone: Kevin Matrix Reloaded: Neo Shrek: Shrek Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Harry Potter Jaws: Police Captain Martin Brody How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Grinch Monsters, Inc.: Sulley Batman: Bruce Wayne (Batman) Men In Black: J and K |
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The new 500+ page edition analyzes The Megahit Movies, those films which have generated more than $250 million in North American Box Office receipts. It presents principles of story construction that can be used to develop popular movies by providing an analysis of cinematic techniques. It also offers stimulating ideas that can be helpful in the creative process. The book is designed for writers, directors and producers who want to create commercially successful films. The fundamentals of dramatic structure, the human emotions, and the construction of humorous characters and situations are explained, with examples drawn from some of the most popular motion pictures Hollywood has ever produced. The Foreword to the book is written by Christopher Lockhart, Executive Story Editor, International Creative Management (ICM) in which he discusses what Hollywood Producers, Agents and Studios are looking for when reading screenplays. Analysis of recent megahit-blockbuster movies such as SHREK 2, SPIDER-MAN 2, HARRY POTTER, BRUCE ALMIGHTY, MATRIX TRILOGY, FINDING NEMO, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and THE LORD OF THE RINGS
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A personal consultation on your original screenplay! Once you purchase this package, you will be permitted to submit a 120 page original screenplay. Between 3 to 5 pages of written comments about the screenplay will be emailed to you within 14 days after the receipt of the script by U.S. Priority Mail. Also included is The Megahit Movies Book 500+ pages of information about the structure of popular films. Once you have read my comments, I will schedule a one-hour chat session to further discuss your script. Start developing your script into a feature screenplay that can be made into a popular Hollywood movie!
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Sherwood Oaks Experimental College specializes in organizing screenwriting events which gives writers access to the top agents, producers and studio executives in Hollywood. It brings in industry players to personally meet with writers and keeps the groups small to allow the writers to interact with each and every guest. So far in 2005 guests have included James Cameron, David Ducovney, David Mamet, Liam Nieson, Hiliary Swank, among others. Sherwood Oaks Experimental College also takes small groups to award shows like The Directors Guild Award Show, The Producers Guild Awards, The Writers Guild Awards, and The Emmys. It has held screenwriting events at many Hollywood Studios, including Sony, MGM, FOX, Universal and Paramount.
The Writers Channel includes a Mentor Program; Screenwriting Groups; Pitch Hollywood Executives, Agents and Movie Producers; Writing classes; Resource Center; Audio Interviews; Articles on classic movies; member contributed journals; and Creative Exercises.
