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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Screenwriting Discussion    Screenwriting Class  ›  Great story ideas you can't find an ending for... Moderators: George Willson
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  Author    Great story ideas you can't find an ending for...  (currently 2306 views)
MichaelYu
Posted: September 12th, 2018, 6:10am Report to Moderator
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They are good questions. I try to answer.

1. In effect it's the kind of Rocky syndrome... sporting films will usually end with the underdog winning and it's too trite?

    If I remember correctly, Rocky lost by points. Actually, he won. An underdog could fight with Apollo 12 rounds. Underdog film is about" Hope and Nothing Impossible." What if Rocky was knocked out by Apollo in the second round.? The message would disappear. That's why sporting films will usually end with underdog winning.

2. Or you'll have a fim about the end of the world or the devil trying to take over and there'll always be some good guy who manages to stop it?

   It is about justice.  We need law and order because we need justice. If the devil or bad guy won, there would be no justice. Superman, spider man and batman are popular because they stand for justice.

3. Is it to do with character? Your main character has some perspective that makes the victory unusual in some way?

    I think that the character's perspective makes different endings. However, the perspective  must be persuasive. You can't say something that isn't persuasive in order to make the ending unusual otherwise you'll make the ending laughable or even destory the whole script.

4.  Or do you just throw some twists in, may be kill off your main guy so the end is more unexpected even if they do eventually win?

    Using a twist is effective but dangerous. The Sixth Sense is a good example of a good twist. When I saw its ending, I looked back on the previous plot and I nod in agreement. The ending was great. Why? Because it was consistent with the plot. Just throwing a twist in without making it consistent the previous plot results in an awkward ending. I think ending should come out natrually through plot.

5.  They always say the last five minutes are the most important and I think I agree with that?

     I think the first five minutes are more important than the last five minutes because it is a setup. Like playing chess, setup is very important. Without good setup, it will affect act one. Without good act one, it will affect act two. Without good act two, it will affect act three and ending. Everything is connected in screenwriting.

Have a nice day!

Michael

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FrankM
Posted: September 12th, 2018, 10:31am Report to Moderator
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Although I'm sure Scar is done with this particular story (right? RIGHT?!), I thought I might add my two cents anyway.

There isn't a whole lot of wiggle room in any of those endings, which is why they can be challenging to get on the page.

Ambiguous kinda has to NOT say anything. This limits your choices as a writer, but it allows the director to line up some pretty shots of the scenery.

A naturalistic ending is basically predetermined from what has gone on up to this point. "Writes itself."

By the time you get to a surprise ending, you've painted yourself into a corner and only a very few twists will make sense to your audience. If you want to try something a bit different, it requires rewriting a lot of the first two acts.

The classic denouement simply wraps up all the loose ends. Doesn't quite "write itself," but it's highly constrained by those last few PostIt Notes of unresolved issues on your board.

The epilogue is the most open of these since it moves all of the constraints into earlier parts of the story. The main arc must end, unambiguously and without exposition, from the climax itself. Then you get to bolt on a mini-story based in the Changed World that resulted from your main arc.

(I'm not counting the short "scene after the credits" type of epilogue since the film "before the credits" had its own proper ending.)

The only one of those that allows for any real twist is the surprise ending, and like I said the whole story needs to be written around that twist to make it believable... which risks the cleverer viewers seeing it coming.

I'd rather see twists arrive earlier in the story. Obviously, the Reveal is a standard time for this, but it's not the only place (you can even lampoon the standard Reveal like the monologue in The Incredibles). Putting nice twists at unexpected spots makes them, well, twistier.


Feature-length scripts:
Who Wants to Be a Princess? (Family)
Glass House (Horror anthology)

TV pilots:
"Kord" (Fantasy)
"Mal Suerte" (Superhero)

Additional scripts are listed here.
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Scar Tissue Films
Posted: September 12th, 2018, 11:14pm Report to Moderator
Of The Ancients


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No, I never managed to find a suitable solution, so the project is just sitting in the file gathering digital dust.

Perhaps the resurrection of this thread will inspire me to take another look.
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Nomad
Posted: September 13th, 2018, 12:52am Report to Moderator
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How about you end it with the traditional ending that everyone expects and then after the credits you do a "twist" or add some event that puts a different spin on the "ending".

It's a bit of the best of both worlds.

I prefer realistic movies where the bad guy wins:

  • Se7en
  • Gone Girl
  • Silence of the Lambs
  • Primal Fear
  • Saw
  • Nightcrawler


Maybe they're all kind of "twist" endings, but there's nothing wrong with a twist as long as it's real.

-Jordan


Read my scripts here:
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 8pg-Drama
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SCHEISSE 6pg-Horror/Comedy
MADE FOR EACH OTHER-FILMED
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JohnI
Posted: September 13th, 2018, 12:52pm Report to Moderator
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I write a little differently then most so I don’t have an ending problem. I am a broad brush guy. Was that in my professional career as a coach. I can see the whole story unfold in front of me so I just sit down and write my first draft. (It serves the same as an outline but is more polished.)  My problem comes in filling in the details. - timing all the ends together.
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Gerasimos
Posted: September 13th, 2018, 5:28pm Report to Moderator
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One of my shorts included a dual ending, similar to La la land's, without the obvious 'back to reality' exit. Just leave it to the audience to choose what they want/wish/like more.... I guess, that's one way to go.


Features:
KTT Part ONE - The Polar Cabal
ALEXANDER - RISE OF THE PALADIN
ARAGORN - A LORD OF THE RINGS STORY
A Soul's Plea For Help
Coincidence

My facebook script page
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MichaelYu
Posted: September 14th, 2018, 6:02am Report to Moderator
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                        Correct me if my above reply is wrong.



Michael
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MarkRenshaw
Posted: September 18th, 2018, 8:19am Report to Moderator
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In my experience collaborating with a few creative people, the problem is people have really great ideas but struggle to form them into compelling stories with satisfying endings. Someone could say (which someone did to me recently) “How about a guy with a tumour on his head that holds the cure to cancer, but he goes on the run because to extract the cure would kill him. Everyone is after it and he can’t hide anywhere. ” Great I said, it’s like Fugitive meets Running Man, tell me more. So he did and it started off great but started to fall apart at the middle.  The ending wasn’t even a consideration at that point so he just trailed off at what would be around page 50.

So until you have a beginning, middle and end, that satisfies YOU as the writer, you shouldn’t type FADE IN. And until you’ve written down the whole story in some other form, like a synopsis or a treatment….you shouldn’t type FADE IN. And until you’ve tried the logline, synopsis and treatment on a few people you trust, got their reaction and feedback…you shouldn’t type FADE IN.

Too many people write a script with an idea but don’t work the idea enough before writing the script…in my opinion anyway.


For more of my scripts, stories, produced movies and the ocassional blog, check out my new website. CLICK
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eldave1
Posted: September 22nd, 2018, 5:41pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from MarkRenshaw
In my experience collaborating with a few creative people, the problem is people have really great ideas but struggle to form them into compelling stories with satisfying endings. Someone could say (which someone did to me recently) “How about a guy with a tumour on his head that holds the cure to cancer, but he goes on the run because to extract the cure would kill him. Everyone is after it and he can’t hide anywhere. ” Great I said, it’s like Fugitive meets Running Man, tell me more. So he did and it started off great but started to fall apart at the middle.  The ending wasn’t even a consideration at that point so he just trailed off at what would be around page 50.

So until you have a beginning, middle and end, that satisfies YOU as the writer, you shouldn’t type FADE IN. And until you’ve written down the whole story in some other form, like a synopsis or a treatment….you shouldn’t type FADE IN. And until you’ve tried the logline, synopsis and treatment on a few people you trust, got their reaction and feedback…you shouldn’t type FADE IN.

Too many people write a script with an idea but don’t work the idea enough before writing the script…in my opinion anyway.


Good post - for me - yes and no.

In general, I agree with the don't FADE IN part - other than sometimes it can be something that unplugs the pipes.  I've had general concepts - can't quite get the story in my head - rather than staying frozen I'll write a vomit scene - and wala - it generates some ideas that gets me back to the outline.

I have one of those "special problems" now - I think I have a solid concept/premise - but am stuck on the execution.


My Scripts can all be seen here:

http://dlambertson.wix.com/scripts
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FrankM
Posted: September 22nd, 2018, 9:14pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from eldave1
I have one of those "special problems" now - I think I have a solid concept/premise - but am stuck on the execution.


Look carefully at your keyboard. The next letter you're supposed to type is right there. Just have to figure out which one it is, then the ones following it.

Simple, right?


Feature-length scripts:
Who Wants to Be a Princess? (Family)
Glass House (Horror anthology)

TV pilots:
"Kord" (Fantasy)
"Mal Suerte" (Superhero)

Additional scripts are listed here.
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eldave1
Posted: September 23rd, 2018, 10:47am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from FrankM


Look carefully at your keyboard. The next letter you're supposed to type is right there. Just have to figure out which one it is, then the ones following it.

Simple, right?


If only


My Scripts can all be seen here:

http://dlambertson.wix.com/scripts
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