{"id":1523,"date":"2008-09-15T19:35:37","date_gmt":"2008-09-16T01:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=1523"},"modified":"2008-09-15T19:35:37","modified_gmt":"2008-09-16T01:35:37","slug":"values-at-stake-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/values-at-stake-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Values at Stake – Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"oskar-schindler

Competing values are neutral.\u00a0 They are a simple (often one word) expression of a fundamental truth or an ideal a person holds dear.\u00a0 No value is inherently better or worse than another.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 Freedom and Security are two fundamental American values.<\/p>\n

America sees itself as \u201cthe home of the brave and the land of the free.\u201d\u00a0 Lady Liberty is an iconic symbol of the nation.\u00a0 But to survive, every nation (or person) must be secure in its person, property and borders.\u00a0 Security is also a fundamental American value, especially in these potentially very dangerous times.<\/p>\n

The question is:\u00a0 What happens when a character (or country) is forced to make starker and starker choices in favor of one value over (or to the exclusion of) another?<\/p>\n

How much freedom are you willing to sacrifice or surrender in order to be secure?\u00a0 As citizens are pushed to give up more personal autonomy, liberty or privacy, when do they cease to be free? Alternatively, how much security are you willing to sacrifice or surrender in order to be free?\u00a0 If safety measures are too often thwarted by civil libertarians can a nation be adequately secure?<\/p>\n

As the risk rises and a nation (or person) is pushed to the brink, it is forced to chose one value over the other.\u00a0 These choices build up over time.\u00a0 A final definitive choice should negate or eliminate one value in favor of another.\u00a0\u00a0 The payoff to a feature film well and satisfyingly written is to show this kind of final climactic choice at the end of the story.<\/p>\n

For example:\u00a0 In Schindler’s List<\/strong>, Oskar Schindler discovers war is the road to riches.\u00a0 His Jewish accountant pads the factory payroll to save people from the camps.\u00a0 At first, Schindler resists then, as he gets to know the factory workers, he gives away his watch, then his ring and then his cigarette case in making deals to shield them.\u00a0 Schindler makes his final value choice when he gives his last trunk of money to protect those workers who are now finally and fully “his” responsibility. Schindler finishes the film penniless and dressed in the rags.\u00a0 In a Power of Conscience film, like Schindler’s List<\/strong>, the values at stake are Personal Well-Being vs. Moral Responsibility.<\/p>\n

In series television, this choice is paid off more slowly and over multiple episodes or seasons.\u00a0 A television series shows how this choice is made through incremental action, over time, leading to a climactic series finale.<\/p>\n

For example:\u00a0 In NYPD Blues<\/strong>, Andy Sipowicz choses to face his demons one by one.\u00a0 He battles his temper and his rage. First he reigns himself in and gets sober, then he gets married, has a baby, reconciles with his eldest son, loses that son, loses his wife and cares for his remaining child. Over 17 years the drunken, racist, misanthrope we met in the pilot becomes, in a final leap of faith, a temperate respected leader of the men in his precinct. In a Power of Will series, like NYPD Blues<\/strong>, each choice involves the competing values of Impluse vs Restraint.<\/p>\n

Getting back to our earlier example: How is freedom finally sacrificed? What is the tipping point?\u00a0 Alternatively, what well-meaning policies deal security a fatal blow?\u00a0\u00a0 The audience wants to see how this final value choice is driven by faith or by fear.\u00a0\u00a0 They want to see how the character is pushed to extremes that provoke action that conclusively defines his or her character.<\/p>\n

Values + Action = Character<\/strong><\/p>\n

The obstacles in a film or television series should create the kind of risk, peril or danger that pushes the character to take actions that define what is most fundamentally important or true in a character\u2019s life. This is the case even in comedy.\u00a0 There is no greater risk or peril than the vulnerability that makes a character funny.<\/p>\n

The character should be forced to make a stark, definitive and active choice. As one value is ultimately chosen, the character finally negates or surrenders the other contrasting value.\u00a0 What price is paid for the character\u2019s choice?\u00a0 What are the consequences for the character?\u00a0 The more expensive the price, the more dire the consequences are for your character, the more compelling and urgent your story will be for your audience.<\/p>\n

I am still hard at work on my books about the Nine Character Types.\u00a0 Stay tuned! And email me to get on a Special Offer List.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The obstacles in a film or television series should create the kind of risk, peril or danger that pushes the character to take actions that define what is most fundamentally important or true in a character\u2019s life. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,49,78],"tags":[184,25,494,26,27,28,30,32,33,34,576,577,37,39,40,578,41,579],"class_list":["post-1523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies-character-development-screenwriting-screenplay-script-blog","category-television-character-development-script-scriptwriting-tv-blog","category-writing-tips-tricks-advice-help-script-screenplay-screenwriting-blog","tag-action","tag-character","tag-character-types","tag-characters","tag-emotional-toolbox","tag-etb","tag-film","tag-laurie-hutzler","tag-movies","tag-nine-character-types","tag-nypd-blue","tag-schindlers-list","tag-screenwriting","tag-scripts","tag-scriptwriting","tag-stakes","tag-tv","tag-values"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"ttshowcase_normal":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",125,94,false],"ttshowcase_small":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",75,56,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"Image Size 500x500":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",500,375,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-600x450.jpg",600,450,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Laurie Hutzler","author_link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The obstacles in a film or television series should create the kind of risk, peril or danger that pushes the character to take actions that define what is most fundamentally important or true in a character\u2019s life.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}