6068136 the art of problem solving

8/13/2019 6068136 the Art of Problem Solving

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THE ART OF PROBLEM SOLVINGA few weeks ago, during one of my screenwriting workshops, a studentturned in pages from her screenplay with a worried and concernedexpression on her face. I didn't say anything. I simply took the pages and

read them.

The scene she had written took place at the beginning of the second act,as the main character, a lawyer, is investigating the myserio!s and!nexpeced dea" o# "er mo"er who had died while recovering from asimple surgical procedure in the hospital.

Stunned and grieving, she is trying to find out why her mother hadsuddenly died, but no one has any answers, and no one is talking. Thedoctors placate her, the nurses know nothing, and the hospitaladministrator is concerned and suggests that she join a grieving group.er grief turns to anger, and she's determined to find out what happened.!ursuing one lead after another, she manages to locate one of the nurseswho had taken care of her mother right before she died. The nurse hadmysteriously "uit the hospital a few days after the mother's death andhad changed her address and literally disappeared. #ut throughpersistence, and her lawyer friends, she manages to track the nursedown. And now, she's going to talk to her.

This was the scene my student had written. As I read herpages, I began to get some insight into why she wasconcerned about it. She wrote the scene like an interrogation$the main character "uestions the nurse, who is reluctant to

say anything about her mother's death.

%ow, this is an important scene, and has to be handled insuch a way that it moves the story forward and revealsinformation about the main character. She's tough and feisty,and she's not going to just accept what happened. This scene

is the first real clue the main character has that confirms her suspicionthat some kind of cover&up has been going on. Somebody made a mistakehere and, because of it, her mother is dead.

(hat do you think) I asked my student.

She was "uick to answer. I think something's wrong, she said. It justdoesn't feel right.

She was right. She had a Problem$

!roblems are common in screenwriting. In my e*perience, there are twoways you can look at a problem+ the first way is to say that a problem issomething that doesn't work. ery simple.

The second way to look at it is to say that every problem becomes anopportunity, a challenge that ultimately allows you to improve your owncraft of screenwriting.

I think what scares most screenwriters, or anyone for that matter, is thatwhile they know there's a problem, they just don't know what it is. Theycan't define or describe it.



-y student knew she had a problem in these pages, she just didn't knowwhat it was. And the art of problem solving means being aware of thosehay and undefined feelings, and using them as some kind of a guide tolead you into an e*amination of the cause or source of the problem. Theart of problem solving is really the art of recognition.

In my student's case, the main character, the lawyer and the nurse have adialogue scene. As written, the scene was smooth and well&written, butthe overall effect was that it was dull and boring. #asically, talking heads. There was no threat of anything, no tension, the stakes weren't highenough. (hen I read pages that are slow and boring, the first thing I do islook for the source of conflict. And in these pages there was hardly anyconflict.

All my student could say is that I think something's wrong, something's just not working. It feels soft, fuy.

So# and #!%%y$

That's a pretty accurate description. It let's you know that something's notworking as well as you think it should be. And if you don't pay attention tothat little itch, that little soft and fuy feeling, thechances are it could evolve into a much bigger problem lateron.

(hen you get down to it, the art of problem solving is the artof recognition. /ou can't fi* something if you don't knowwhat's wrong with it. ow do you go about fi*ing soft andfuy)

0irst, you've got to define the problem. The first stepgenerally re"uires the rethinking the material. 1o back intothe material$ analye your intentions. (hat is the purpose of the scene)(hy is it there) (hat is the character's dramatic need & what does yourmain character want to win, gain, get, or achieve during the course of thescreenplay)

In screenwriting, the scene is the living cell, the hub of all dramatic action,and serves two basic functions in the screenplay. 2ne, a scene eithermoves the story forward or, two, reveals information about the maincharacter. These two elements of story and character must be served in

each and every scene. isually, if possible. 3ook at any scene in ascreenplay, study any movie, and see whether this is true.

The scene my student wrote, which she could only describe as being softand fuy, is really a key scene that is essential in moving the storyforward. #ut the way she wrote it was not sharp enough$ the dialogue wastoo nice, too direct$ there was no tension, no subte*t working, and it allwashed out$ there was not enough definition or conflict in it.

So what I had her do was redefine her character's dramatic need. In thisparticular scene, the character's dramatic need is to find out informationabout her mother's sudden and mysterious death. (as there any wrong&

doing) A mistake of some kind) &"y did "e n!rse s!dden'y (!i and'ea)e "e "ospia'* Is there a cover&up going on) (hat's going on here)



I knew my student had to make the scene sharper,more defined, with more tension and the only way todo that is by generating more conflict. So I made somesuggestions+ maybe the nurse is not at home when themain character arrives. -aybe the first thing she has

to do is wait. -aybe in her car. -aybe a couple ofhours. This provides a backstory to the scene. It lets the character enterthe scene with some built&in tension.

So let's add some more conflict. The main character's had to wait a coupleof hours. (hat else can we do to create conflict in the scene) (hat if thenurse has a boyfriend, and maybe he lets the main character, the lawyer,into the apartment before the nurse arrives home) e assumes they'refriends. So she could already be in the house, when the nurse arriveshome.

(hat does that do to the scene) 2bviously, it sharpens the dramatic

forces that are in the scene. Soft now has more potential for tension andconflict$ there's an edge to it.

(hat if we sketch in the nurse's life) (hat did she see in the hospital)ow much does she know) (hat actually happened) /ou can create astep&by&step series of events from the nurse's point of view that lead up tothe death of the lawyer's mother. (rite a short, free-association essayabout what happened in the hospital. Simply to sharpen the elements ofthe scene. The answers to these "uestions allows you to e*pand thedynamic forces working from within and without of the scene.

These are steps that need to be taken so that the dramatic elements

which are necessary to drive the story forward can be heightened anddefined.

The art of problem solving is the art of recognition.

4ither you look at a problem as something that doesn't work, or you lookat a problem as being the opportunity of e*panding your screenwritingskills.

I+s !p o yo!$

6068136 the art of problem solving

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