Writing a Screenplay Based on a True Story
Inventing a Frame to Contain and Shape the Story
Jan 5, 2009
In a film story, time is sped up and action is compressed. Dialogue morphs the actual speech into a more concise and subtle form. Usually this leads to making things up that didn’t really happen in order to convey the emotional truth about what really did happen. Suddenly the line between truth and imagination blurs.
Real life doesn’t always come wrapped neatly in a three-act structure, so a frame must often be invented to impose that structure onto true events. Think of real life as clay and the frame as the idea of the shape it will take. It gives a direction, a focus and a hook to hang the story on.
Focus on the Conflict
Conflict, which can be defined as the intersection between protagonist and antagonist forces, can be either internal or external. Internal conflict is an issue that a person might be wrestling with, such as whether to quit a job, leave a spouse, forgive someone, or become more spontaneous.
External conflict is conflict with another person, an institution, or nature. This is the more common stomping grounds of dramatic writing. Since everything in a film or play must be seen or heard rather than thought about, everything has to be externalized. Thus there are usually good guys and bad guys in action films and Westerns, someone or something coming between two lovers in romantic comedies, and some sort of exemplification of evil in most dramas.
Internal Conflict Gets Externalized
While outer conflict can translate to the screen literally, inner conflict must be personified and externalized into dramatic action. This is where invention comes in.
The writer starts with an idea of a personal experience they want to convey in a film. Perhaps there was a troubled relationship with a parent. Perhaps they endured hardship for a period of time, through poverty, abuse, or political oppression. Most people are “survivors” of one sort or another.
Or, perhaps there is just a question nagging at the writer about how things worked out, an unresolved issue regarding a relationship, choices made in their career, or some other inner conflict that is unresolved.
The trick is to isolate that inner conflict and let it be the inspiration point for imagining a connected and developing series of scenes (the plot) and a hook to hang the action on, (the frame) which will evoke the emotional content and convey the emotional journey of the true story.
Character and Themes Dictate Plot
How does the frame get invented? Ideally, it is born out of the themes and character traits that are apparent in the basic story. To create an organic drama, one that has cohesion and power, unity and flow, the plot should stem from the motivations that drive the characters, and the situations which exemplify the themes. What the characters want simply needs to be translated into action by designing scenes which show them pursuing their goals.
The film ADAPTATION is an extreme example of frame creation and is a great case study on the subject. Based on the non-fiction book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, ADAPTATION tells the story of a screenwriter’s futile attempts to adapt the true story, which lacks a dramatic narrative. This serves as a frame through which the original, real-life story of orchid poachers in South Florida can be told.
Screenwriters interested in adapting from real life can also read about clarifying the story by identifying the personal journey.
The episodes, situations and events of real life, while seemingly dramatic, don’t ever happen in a way that would be effective as entertainment on the big screen. For nine dollars plus a bucket of popcorn, people want to be mesmerized and enchanted. In order to do this, the work of telling a true story often involves at least some amount of making things up.
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