Central Dramatic Argument

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  • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

    [QUOTE=Craig Mazin;784664]Here's a hint:

    Thanks.

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    • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

      Originally posted by Incognito View Post
      What would the CDA or theme be for DIE HARD?
      Originally posted by BattleDolphinZero View Post
      All we can do is guess. On any given film, you don't know exactly what the writer is going for, which is absolutely fine.
      That's the key. The script is so full of dramatic arguments that it creates arguments between the audience members: what is the central dramatic argument?

      It doesn't really matter if we know what CDA, if any, the writer finally focused on during the writing process. The script/movie is great. We enjoy how the story is told, and on top of that, a script written with universal dramatic argument makes us think of universal theme(s).

      The main function of a CDA: a screenwriter's tool. It's not something the writer must explain to the audience. It's not something the audience must figure out. It's a screenwriter's tool, which can be used to write a great story. Will a CDA help me tell a good story?

      P.S. Not me personally but all of us for every story?
      Last edited by jonpiper; 01-27-2012, 10:40 AM.

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      • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

        Originally posted by jonpiper View Post
        Will a CDA help me tell a good story?
        I think it can elevate a story. An extra layer. Most movies could do with a little of that.

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        • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

          I haven't seen film for a while either, so I could be way off base here, but...

          Does McClane's recognizing his mistakes with his wife have any impact on the main plot? Does it impact the actions he takes in regard to defeating the terrorists/bank robbers at the climax? Look at Craig's analysis of theme in Finding Nemo. In Die Hard, the wife stuff feels like a B-plot with little relation to the McClane's throughline. Could be that when the main line of action doesn't test a character's growth, you've got less of an arc and a weaker statement of theme.

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          • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

            Not every movie has to be soaking in it as much as a Pixar movie.

            But it has to be there.

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            • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

              Man there's a lot of analysis going on in here.

              Summary: Have something to say when you put a$$ in writing chair.

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              • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                Be subtle with your story's CDA.

                The CDA does not need to be the strongest drive of the movie.
                "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                - Clive Barker, Galilee

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                • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                  re: Die Hard.

                  I'm not sure if this is right, but would the CDA be something along the lines of... Sometimes you have to go back to your roots to find what's valuable in life?
                  life happens
                  despite a few cracked pots-
                  and random sunlight

                  Comment


                  • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                    Originally posted by Incognito View Post
                    What would the CDA or theme be for DIE HARD?
                    Originally posted by Craig Mazin View Post
                    Here's a hint:

                    Quote:
                    MCCLANE
                    (long pause)
                    Look...I'm getting a bad feeling up
                    here...I'd like you to do something
                    for me. Look up my wife...don't ask
                    how, you'll know by then...and tell
                    her...tell her...I've been a jerk.
                    When things panned out for her, I
                    should've been behind her all the way
                    ...We had something great going until
                    I screwed it up...She was the best
                    thing that ever happened to a bum
                    like me. She's heard me say I love
                    you a thousand times, but she never
                    got to hear this...honey...I'm sorry.
                    (pause)
                    You get all that?


                    Now... here's my question for you.

                    Why is that in there?

                    Why did they take the time from all the shooting and explosions and awesomeness for that?

                    Now, is that the way McLean feels at the end?

                    How does he feel?

                    Why?

                    You guys shouldn't be asking these questions of me or anyone else. You should be figuring this stuff out yourselves. Come on. Do your own homework. Only way you're gonna learn.
                    What key scenes or lines of dialogue do you look for when analyzing what the CDA of another writer's screenplay might be? Why did you pick that bit of dialogue?

                    Comment


                    • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                      Originally posted by jonpiper View Post
                      What key scenes or lines of dialogue do you look for when analyzing what the CDA of another writer's screenplay might be?
                      Does it really matter what another writer's CDA is? I think the whole point of this discussion is for us to go off and discover our CDA.

                      Why did you pick that bit of dialogue?
                      Probably because it represents McLane's transformation or realization. It illustrates how this experience has changed him.

                      And I'm thinking that's the power of the CDA... it gives your protag an endgame, a finish line. Once he's hit the realization that your CDA is the correct one, he's completed his transformation.

                      But I'm just spitballing here...

                      Comment


                      • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                        Originally posted by ATB View Post
                        And I'm thinking that's the power of the CDA... it gives your protag an endgame, a finish line. Once he's hit the realization that your CDA is the correct one, he's completed his transformation.
                        I disagree with this. I don't think it gives the protag an endgame at all - that's hero's journey stuff. I think the point here is that it gives the writer an endgame; the tool to create and a direction to go forward. I dunno, just my thoughts...
                        Last edited by asjah8; 01-27-2012, 02:13 PM.
                        life happens
                        despite a few cracked pots-
                        and random sunlight

                        Comment


                        • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                          Originally posted by ATB View Post
                          Does it really matter what another writer's CDA is? I think the whole point of this discussion is for us to go off and discover our CDA
                          Only to help us learn how to create a CDA for our own stories. An aurgment about what another writer's CDA is helps us better understand what a CDA really is so we can go through the process of discovering our own.



                          Originally posted by ATB View Post
                          [Craig chose those lines of dialogue] Probably because it represents McLane's transformation or realization. It illustrates how this experience has changed him.

                          And I'm thinking that's the power of the CDA... it gives your protag an endgame, a finish line. Once he's hit the realization that your CDA is the correct one, he's completed his transformation.
                          But I'm just spitballing here...
                          How does that particular snippet of dialogue inform us of the CDA in Die Hard?

                          Comment


                          • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                            Originally posted by jonpiper View Post

                            How does that particular snippet of dialogue inform us of the CDA in Die Hard?
                            Well, it tells us that McLane realizes how selfish he's been, that his wife is "the best thing that ever happened to a bum like [him]." So the CDA, I'm guessing, has to do with that relationship dynamic.

                            Not realizing what you have till it could be gone.

                            So, the CDA could be something like: Don't take the best things in your life for granted or you'll lose them.

                            IDK if that's exactly in-line with the parameters of a CDA, but it makes sense to me.

                            Basically, if I'm writing Die Hard, I'm probably starting with McLane's character and how he needs to learn that he can't just be selfish and expect his wife to overlook it. So he needs this experience, the terrorists holding his wife hostage in the tower, to see what he's really done to his life.

                            ... And how he can fix it. (By putting himself in danger to save what he took for granted: his wife.)

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                            • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                              Originally posted by Craig Mazin View Post
                              Not every movie has to be soaking in it as much as a Pixar movie.
                              I use Palmolive for all my scripts.

                              HH

                              Comment


                              • Re: Central Dramatic Argument

                                Wow, I must be totally looking at this weird, because the way I see it, the CDA tells us whether a character like McClane should be in the story in the first place.

                                Of course he should be there; but that's because the character supports the dramatic argument the writer is making.
                                life happens
                                despite a few cracked pots-
                                and random sunlight

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