Talent Campus was an incredibly memorable experience for me. Trust me, I could go on and on about holding disgusting bugs while I pitched my stories, how it felt to be told I was going to be walking on glass, the feeling of invincibility I felt after traversing a fire walk, and many more.
All of those were great, but for me a clear winner of what I can take back home and improve my craft immediately was the session we had with John Yorke. Because oh boy, he came in, blew my brains open and filled it with so much screenwriting smarts I came home with 4 different ideas racking in my head just to try and implement what he talked about. So! Here’s a few things I picked up and one habit I realised I needed to let go (Thought it’d be cute, balance out the good with some bad).
To borrow a Dungeons and Dragons term, let’s roll initiative and get started!
What really makes a Scene:
One of the first things we were asked as John Yorke began his talk was a simple question, “what is a scene?”. The room was filled with screenwriters with varying degrees of experience, so to be asked what seemed to be such a basic question was surprising. We did a back and forth before we finally settled on what we agreed was a scene : It was the fundamental building block of a script and that SOMETHING needed to change. If nothing changed in that timeframe, it wasn’t a scene.
Change here could be categorised in many forms, from the protagonist gaining or losing something, to antagonists furthering their goals. Regardless of what form it took, a scene needed to showcase change, whether that be progression or regression. Every scene mattered, yes even the long talky bits (especially the long talky bits!!). John highlighted the importance of change, and that if it served no change, it served no purpose to the overall narrative.
As a writer who yearns for action and adventure, I personally get too caught up in what set piece i’d like to create and what peril I’d make my characters go through, when in reality a simple conversation could do as much damage if not more as a dragon’s breath or a sword to the gut. Every scene needs to have an inciting incident, a strong structure, and finally a resolution. It needs to be treated like its own tiny movie.
Drugs (yes stay with me this goes somewhere)
Imagine my reaction when the word DRUGS, massive and bold, popped up on the slideshow. I thought I suddenly ingested some by accident! But John Yorke had a point to make about this, specifically regarding how to keep audiences attention at our work. We as writers need to be able to give constant elements to our script to make it worth watching / reading / listening to.
In this day and age, where our eyes are glued to our phones constantly, the temptation to just open your phone and check your notifications while “the boring bits” of a movie or show play is higher than ever. It’s why every scene in the end matters, it’s about how you as a writer can metaphorically jingle jangle those keys to keep their eyes peeled to what you’ve written and not to the next hyperfixation they might have on their devices. Because right now, the cardinal sin of your writing is not being bad, it’s being boring.
Patterns, Patterns, Patterns:
John Yorke called them fractals. Telling us that good movies have symmetry, to remind audiences regarding what they’ve been watching. Sure it could be a simple call back to an earlier scene and leave it at that, but it can go so much deeper. He explained that even scenes can be a micro example of what the overall movie is trying to tell the audience. Terms and writing principles such as Chekov’s gun do apply here, but it’s broader than that. Sometimes a scene in the first few minutes of the movie can be a miniature version of the rest of the movie (think of the opening heist to Baby Driver for instance).
These patterns aren’t just about putting one in the beginning and putting one in the end, the placement of them will be just as important as the content in of itself. You can’t just insert a scene and callback to it 5 minutes later and expect a massive emotional payoff. Good patterns are carefully constructed, and when they are unleashed, the reaction they elicit will be well earned.
The Question
The talk continued and John’s next topic was about the theme of one’s story. However he phrased it as a question, as in what is the question the movie or tv show poses to the audience, and how the question is explored and finally answered is the movie itself. I found myself going “huh, now that you phrase like, you do have a point!” (which happened multiple times throughout the talk)
Stories are human, that’s why we love them, that’s why they’ll always be biased to a degree. That’s why it’s interesting to view a movie or TV show as the explanation and answer to a question the writers pose. Whatever they write, it’ll be what they believe to be the right answer. Before the grand world, the characters, and the lore, the most important aspect is the question. What do you, as a writer, want to ask your viewers and how are you going to answer said question?
Be Gone Casual Watching!
Watching movies and shows has always been an enjoyable thing for me. If it weren’t I definitely wouldn’t be here trying to be someone who writes for them. But having John Yorke just analyse and deconstruct a scene from the second Godfather just made me realise:
There’s so much that we take for granted in movies.
I’m not just talking about “oh there’s this cameo of a character” or “oh there’s this doll that references an event in the story”, I’m talking about how the characters walk and stand have an impact on the story. Yeah, that’s the kind of stuff I (and you dear reader) should start to look into. So when it comes to watching any piece of media, I now find myself just analysing the tiniest bits of details. It’s a habit I’ll take with me far into my life, and it’ll serve as a useful asset for you as well.
The End(?)
I find myself looking back at Talent Campus as a whole, a great and unforgettable experience from start to finish, but this session to me was what improved my personal views and methods in writing the most. A talent in the craft and being able to explain complex topics in the most simple and elegant of ways, I am glad I got a chance to write about the things I’ve learned from the amazing John Yorke.
P.S: Though I can’t predict the future, if you’re reading this while thinking about signing up for next year’s Talent Campus, just go do it! Better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Christof is a screenwriter with a focus for telling fantasy stories that’ll make you escape the troubles of life for an hour or two. He’s also a dungeon master for 5+ years.
