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I thought I'd make a new thread for this or else it will keep hijacking OWC threads and I do think it's a topic that's worth discussing.
I've made a lot of comments this OWC about scripts having a purpose, the characters having clear goals and motivations and thing happening for a reason. I did say in one of my comments that sometimes ambiguity and unanswered questions can help a script, I guess a quick example is the way Inception ends.
The kind of things I'm talking about though are when writers create a certain world and the audience has no understanding of why anything is happening, like monsters that have a goal but there is no understanding of why they do what they do, how they came to be, and why they only operate in certain situations.
Things like adding an antagonist or protagonist that doesn’t have a clear goal, they just want to kill someone because... well who knows.
Obviously people can do this if they'd like but it is perfectly acceptable if reader or audience member can’t or doesn’t want to buy into it.
I think you’ll find that, for the most part, no matter how thin a storyline is, things are still happening for a reason, the audience understands why things are happening and to who and because of this they can buy into the story and its characters.
It’s never the audience’s job to Google information they don’t understand. That responsibility of conveying understanding is solely on the writer. If you want to make your script really ambiguous with no clear meaning then it’s your problem if the reader/audience doesn’t understand.
It depends on the story. Case in point, I was commissioned to write a horror based in and around a manor house, given a few story plots, a tour of the house, 200 acres of its grounds and then told to get to work. I came up with a story that did all of the things you suggest - it's actually the way I prefer to write - but the script was given back to me as they wanted the opposite. They didn't want things explained, they just wanted crazy/freaky shit happening. So I did that, no problem.
That was for a feature which is rare, but for shorts it happens all the time. Didn't you write a one-pager once about a girl on a swing? It's fine to just let loose and allow the action to do the talking. Not everything, or even anything, needs to be explained so long as the viewer is entertained.
A writer needs to write their script their way. The reader, however, doesn't need to read that script that way. So, you can make a script however you want it because there's no right or wrong, but you will always risk the wrath of the reader if you neglect to give them what they want or expect.
It may be a matter of taste - I don't know. But for me personally, I like some kind of context for the actions of the characters.
e.g., if I read a story where a dude is walking down a road and then suddenly a monster (insert your favorite monster) appears and devours him - it is not satisfying for me. I want to know why he was walking down that road. I want to know if he did so knowing that there may be monsters in the woods. Absent that, the actions appear gratuitous for me. I see this most often in horror stories and I often feel the writer thinks that the sheer revulsion of the horror is enough. For me it is not. Others obviously will disagree.
It’s never the audience’s job to Google information they don’t understand. That responsibility of conveying understanding is solely on the writer. If you want to make your script really ambiguous with no clear meaning then it’s your problem if the reader/audience doesn’t understand.
Uhhhh...like when a reader doesn't know what a jump seat is?
No, you're incorrect. Just because you don't know certain things, and/or not as intelligent or learned as the writer, you can't blame that on the writer.
It depends on the story. Case in point, I was commissioned to write a horror based in and around a manor house, given a few story plots, a tour of the house, 200 acres of its grounds and then told to get to work. I came up with a story that did all of the things you suggest - it's actually the way I prefer to write - but the script was given back to me as they wanted the opposite. They didn't want things explained, they just wanted crazy/freaky shit happening. So I did that, no problem.
That was for a feature which is rare, but for shorts it happens all the time. Didn't you write a one-pager once about a girl on a swing? It's fine to just let loose and allow the action to do the talking. Not everything, or even anything, needs to be explained so long as the viewer is entertained.
And in that one pager I felt I had satisfied the requirements for the world I had built. The hope was that people would assume it was a father pushing his daughter on a swing later we learn that she was kidnapped. In my script I also have the guy whistling/singing Hush Little Baby which can tie into the sown lips. So I'm not really sure how the comment ties into that script?
A better example would have been scripts like Evil Karma or Retired, these scripts I was pulled up for the same thing. I've never said it can’t be done, I'm saying that the little world you create needs to make some sort of sense or I personally find it hard to be invested.
A writer needs to write their script their way. The reader, however, doesn't need to read that script that way. So, you can make a script however you want it because there's no right or wrong, but you will always risk the wrath of the reader if you neglect to give them what they want or expect.
Uhhhh...like when a reader doesn't know what a jump seat is?
No, you're incorrect. Just because you don't know certain things, and/or not as intelligent or learned as the writer, you can't blame that on the writer.
C'mon, man...get with the program here, Warren!
Correct I don’t know what a jump seat is, I'm not going to stop mid script to Google it either.
I'm personally not a fan of exposition-heavy stories. Sometimes leaving things up for interpretation is more fun.
So don’t write an exposition heavy story; that is completely different to building a world where things make sense. I’m talking about when interpretation is almost impossible, like a fair few of the scripts in this OWC.
Warren, as you often seem to do, you're missing the point...completely, and if you honestly don't realize that, you have issues.
Clarity was not what was being discussed on the other thread. It was very clear what was going on, and it was very clear that it was a Lovecraftian tale, and if you personally were unclear, you could easily spend a few minutes and use google.
That is not the case here at all, as there's nothing anyone can google to figure out or understand what's happening. Totally different situation.
Don't you get that?
This is another example where you are somehow the authority on what is right and wrong. I don’t understand a script and I'm wrong, you don’t and you’re right.
It was not clear to me what was going on, I don’t know the backstory and it’s not my job to google it.
It's just plain hypocritical calling me out on it then arguing the same thing on another thread.
This is another example where you are somehow the authority on what is right and wrong. I don’t understand a script and I'm wrong, you don’t and you’re right.
It was not clear to me what was going on, I don’t know the backstory and it’s not my job to google it.
It's just plain hypocritical calling me out on it then arguing the same thing on another thread.
Don’t you get that?
I get that it's a totally different situation, as I explained. You don't get that at all, obviously.
My bad. I thought this was a thread about the importance of motivation. Not a whole lot of motivation in the original Halloween. But like you said... I'm just missing the point here.
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Does a script require clear motivations
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I thought this was a thread about the importance of motivation. Not a whole lot of motivation in the original Halloween. But like you said... I'm just missing the point here.