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1) The thing that the character fears most is in conflict with what he wants the most. It will be a big bonus to the story. Brody wants to kill the great white shark, but the thing he fears most is water. The two conflict with each other, but they also make the story more exciting.
2) Lead the story with a sense of suspense. One way to create is to use the character's process of pursuing goals to lead the whole story. Another creative way is to use the suspense brought by his "rival" to lead the whole story. This is the case in the early and middle sections of "Jaws". The great white shark is the protagonist's "rival". After it killed a bunch of people, what led the audience was the suspense waiting for its next killing.
3) There is no happy marriage in the movie. Everyone’s marriage has its own problems. Brody's wife wants to leave where they live and move to a better city. But Brody didn't want to leave. The problem of marriage was killing Brody. This kind of side story can enrich the whole story and let the audience know the protagonist better.
4) It is good to have conflicts in the story, but it is natural that the clashes are not good, and the clashes are felt by the audience. In the "Jaws" script, Hooper has an affair with Brody's wife. But all the producers felt that such a plot was too much, so this paragraph was chopped off at the script stage. Increasing conflict is to tell a good story, not to blur the focus. Don't increase for the sake of increase.
5) Urgency The element that a strong summer film (any movie) should have is "urgency". The "urgency" in the great white shark comes from: July 4th, the arrival of the National Day weekend. It was the most lively weekend. All tourists and people will go to the beach to play. Brody must kill the great white shark before that day comes.
6) Where is the Quint of your story? I find that in the scripts I like, there will always be an impressive character. A person who speaks with a different tone, behaves strangely, and is a maverick. This character is like living in his own world, not like living in the world created by the creator. A person like Quint. Or like the robot David in the ecological world of "Prometheus", the Asian partner Kato in the American hero world of "The Green Hornet", and the elegant Dr. Hannibal in the dirty prison of "The Silent Lamb". This role is usually only a supporting role, but when you describe him prominently, it not only creates a special role, but also adds a strong contrast to the story.
7) Don't let the protagonist's pursuit of goals go too smoothly. What should be done is to make the protagonist's pursuit of goals more difficult. Brody spotted great white sharks on the beach. The simple way is to close the beach. But the film’s approach is to bring out the role of a mayor and let him say: The beach cannot be closed because it is a source of income for the city government. Now the protagonist's problem is coming, and the beach can't be closed, so the great white shark must be killed.
8) "Don't go there!" Dramatic irony is literally translated in Chinese as "dramatic irony" meaning that the audience knows something that the characters in the play don't know. If you can write a scene where the audience will yell "Don't go there!", "Hurry up!", "Don't do that!", you will succeed in grabbing the audience's hearts. "Jaws" will be so brilliant because it is full of "dramatic irony". The audience knew that the great white shark was about to eat people, but the beautiful lady swimming in the sea did not know.
9) Let the problem happen at the worst point of time. The time when the great white sharks are killing will not happen in the winter when there is no one on the beach, but in the summer when the crowd is the most crowded. The worse the time point, the greater the tension in the drama.
10) If a character wants to tell a story in a movie, that story is best to be fucking brilliant. The movie is about "the process of the character doing things". I'm not filming "the character said what he did", it's boring to shoot like this. Therefore, for a wonderful story, don't let the characters tell, but act. However, Quint tells a story in "Jaws" about 110 hours of living with sharks, and all the people around him were eaten up. Unless your story is as exciting as his, don't tell it.
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