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Today I’d like to talk
about emotions. Seasoned screenwriters
know how to trigger emotional responses, and intuitive newbies quickly learn to
tug at the heartstrings. It is without
question a skill you need to master. As
in everything, however, there’s a catch.
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You need to generate the right
emotions.
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If you play to the wrong
emotions, your script may incite frustration, sadness or anger – not the way to
sell a story.
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Let me explain.
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Positive and Negative
Emotions
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People have this annoying
need to feel good. Movie audiences and
screenplay readers are no exception.
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If your script inspires
readers to appreciate what they have – bingo!
If it allows them, for a moment, to participate in romantic feelings
that aren’t otherwise available to them – double bingo!
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If your script happens to
remind your readers of something really negative in their lives – not
bingo!
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Bad. Very bad.
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If you do this, readers
may hate your script, even though the writing is actually quite good, and even
though they’re not fully aware why they hate it.
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An Example of How This Can
Happen
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Alexander Payne is one of
my favorite writer/directors. In
addition to other films he’s made, I very much enjoyed About Schmidt.
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My parents, however, hated
the movie.
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Since I found it so well
written, I pressed them a bit as to what they disliked. They had trouble articulating what they found
so disagreeable. They agreed that Jack
Nicholson and Kathy Bates did excellent jobs.
They just – didn’t like it.
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Here’s the thing. The film involved the main character retiring
from his job. My father had recently
retired before seeing the movie. He was
very unhappy about being forced to retire, as was my mother.
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Watching a character
retire on screen made my parents cringe from the moment the story opened. For my parents, the whole premise stirred up
negative emotions, and no amount of movie magic was going to rescucitate their bad
feelings about this film.
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As another example, I’ve
noticed that tales about cheating spouses tend to risk stirring up very
negative emotions in those that have been hurt in such a manner. The same is true about films involving
divorce, being fired, serious illness, death and pretty much anything else that
reminds us of the dark side of life.
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So What Does This Mean?
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Does the possibility that
some may react negatively to your emotional cues mean you shouldn’t attempt
anything controversial? No, it
absolutely does not mean that.
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It’s just something a
screenwriter should be aware of.
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When writing for a genre
that typically requires a large budget and aims for widespread audience appeal,
you should know that most producers will be wary of subject matter likely to
evoke negative feelings.
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In dramas and other
“indie” films, there is generally more freedom to experiment. Still, there is always the risk in any genre
that the arousal of negative feelings may impair the popularity of a story.
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You may not care. You may set out to write a sad movie for
people who like sad movies. That’s
great.
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The point is to avoid accidentally
inciting negative emotions. If you don’t
think that happens very often, my experiences in two large screenwriting groups
argue otherwise.
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Awareness is the key. You’ve got to work to predict each emotion
your script will arouse and ask yourself if you want it to do so.
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In the context of
soliciting feedback as well, it’s important to know that a particular
individual’s negative emotions may be a factor. If someone dislikes your work, it may not be
that your writing is “bad” in any intellectual sense. It may simply be stirring up “bad
feelings.” I don’t mean you should
ignore such feedback. You
shouldn’t. You should ask yourself, is
my script likely to stir up such feelings in many others? If so, is it my scripting strategy to purposefully
stir up such feelings? Do I want to do
that knowingly?
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Awareness.
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When giving script notes,
I try to be as objective as possible and not let my own emotions cloud my
judgment. But I do mention it if I think
a fair number of readers may react with negative emotions. In the end, it’s about a film’s effect on an
entire audience and not any one viewer that matters.
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