Spider-Man Homecoming Part 2

[spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] Spider Man Homecoming Part 2 - Creating Unforgettable Characters & The Game of Screenplay Structure   In last week’s podcast we talked about writing a great antagonist by letting go of our need to see them as the bad-guy, who “antagonizes” the main character, and instead stepping into our antagonists as real human beings.   Because every character in your script believes that they are the hero of the story (just like every human being sees themselves as the hero of their story), to write a great character of any kind-- a character that actually lives and breathes--we need to see world through their eyes. And this begins by connecting to what our characters want.   And what’s exciting is that when we start to think about our scripts in this way, we not only find unforgettable characters, we also start to organically discover the exact structure we need to tell our stories.   In Spider-Man, Homecoming, what makes the character of the Vulture, Adrian Toomes (played by Michael Keaton) so compelling is that everything he does grows directly out of his simple human desire to provide for his family.   And you can see, if you look at the structure of Spider-Man: Homecoming, that this isn't just the formula for creating a great bad guy, it is actually a way of creating an entire cast of unforgettable characters, and shaping the journeys they all go on in the script.   Because every single one of these characters is really just a person with a really strong want and a really strong obstacle that forces them to reveal their really strong “how”—the way that they pursue the things that they want differently from everybody else.   And when we understand a character’s want in this way, it allows us not only to enjoy the drama, but also to feel like we are in on a joke. It allows us to laugh at these characters even as we feel for them-- not because the characters are begging for a laugh, but because they are being themselves in a funny way.   So let’s talk about Peter Parker.   Just like Adrian Toomes, Peter Parker starts the movie with his own clear priority. His own clear superobjective.   Peter Parker only wants one thing. Having returned from his adventure with the Avengers, the only thing he wants in the universe is to join the Avengers.   He wants to wear that Spider-Man outfit that Tony Stark has given him. He wants to tap into the full power of that Spider-Man outfit that Tony Stark has given him.   He wants to stop being treated like a kid and start being treated like an adult. He wants to stop solving little crimes and start solving the big ones. He wants to stop being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and become what he sees as a real superhero.   In fact he wants it so badly that he consistently makes really strong choices in relation to all the other things that he wants-- in relation to the way the other kids at school see him, in relation to his secret identity, in relation to his Aunt May, in relation to The Academic Decathlon Competition and even in relation to The Homecoming after which the movie is named, and his desperate desire to date the coolest, richest, most perfect girl in school, Liz.   Despite his desire to be with Liz, despite his desire to win The Academic Decathlon, despite the desire to be admired by his friends, despite his best friend Ned’s desperate desire for him to reveal his identity so he can stop being treated like a loser— even when Peter Parker wavers in his resolution in the face of the pressures of his daily life as a regular kid-- ultimately Peter Parker always chooses to be a superhero.     Even if it means that none of the other kids will ever take him seriously. Even if it means that he is going to have to ditch his friends for The Academic Decathlon, even if it means he is going to have to ditch Liz at The Homecoming Dance, even if it means he is going to lose everything else that he wants—Peter always chooses the thing that he wants most.   And because of that, it makes his inevitable choice at the end of the film-- which I am not going to spoil for you here but what you probably are already imagining if you understand structure-- it makes his ultimate choice and his ultimate journey so successful.   In Improv this concept is called The Game of the Scene. But here we’re going to think about it as the Game of Structure.   During an Improv, just like on the first blank page of a script, you’ve got two characters and you don’t know much about them. You don’t know who you are playing, and your scene partner doesn’t know who they are playing. Just like when you start out writing, even if you have some ideas, you really don’t know who your characters are, or how your characters are, or what they really want, or what they are really going to do, until they start interacting with each other.   And as you play together, you learn who the other person is, and who you are, by telling each other things about each other and about yourselves.   And ultimately what happens is, you find something that is funny, something that is fun.   And once you find that thing all you have to do is keep doing it. And the audience will laugh their asses off every damn time.   They will connect to your characters, because they understand your characters’ game. They understand what your character wants, and how they’re trying to get it, and what keeps going wrong. And that is why it’s called The Game of the Scene.     You keep outdoing it and outdoing it and outdoing it-- and suddenly from that game, a structure emerges.   If you’ve ever watched a sitcom, you’ve seen this technique used over and over again. But the same technique-- often without the humor--is used in character driven dramas, in psychological thrillers, and yes, even in big silly action movies.   And you can see that it’s this simple Game of the Scene technique that provides the entire structure of Peter Parker’s journey.   In movies, the-game-of-the scene can be found pretty easily. All you have to know is what the character wants, and then all you have to do is keep making it harder and harder and harder and harder, harder and harder and harder and harder.   All that Peter Parker wants is to be part of the Avengers.   So all you have to do is make it hard--  because Happy won’t take him seriously, because Tony Stark won’t take him seriously, because his friends at school won’t take him seriously, because he has to keep on disappointing the girl that he is madly in love with in order to run off and do superhero stuff...   All you have to do is take that one want and make it harder and harder and harder and suddenly The Game of the Scene will emerge-- so long as the character keeps on going for what they want.   In fact, you can see that this same technique is used to build the journeys of all the characters in Spider-Man: Homecoming.     The same simple Game of the Scene. Finding the one thing the character wants more than anything, and then making it harder and harder and harder for them to get it, so that they have to make bigger and bigger choices that reveal more and more of who they really are, and who they really can be.   One of the reasons Iron Man is so wonderful-- one of the reasons Tony Stark is so wonderful-- in Spider-Man: Homecoming is that Tony Stark, in this movie, decides he wants to be a father. And of course what makes it hard is that Tony Stark is terrible at being a father.     What makes it hard is that all of his lessons go wrong, what makes it wrong is that all of his instincts take him to the wrong place. There is even a wonderful moment where he realizes, “Oh my god, I sound like my father!”   And you can see that even though Tony Stark is a big rich powerful superhero, The Game of the Scene is actually rooted in his mundane world, in a world that we understand-- the grueling real life desire to be a dad and not being sure if you are good at it.   And this is what makes the resolution of the story-- when Peter makes his choice-- so satisfying!   Because we can feel Tony Stark’s journey as well.   Similarly with Peter Parker’s unforgettable best friend and sidekick, Ned-- we know exactly what Ned wants.   All Ned wants is to be the guy in the chair, to be the backend support for Spider-Man the superhero.   And sure, he has some really messed up ideas about how Peter should deal with being a superhero. (Ned is absolutely convinced that Peter should tell everybody who he really is so that they will finally think he is cool and so he can finally get the girl. And that conflict creates a ton of fun but also creates a ton of conflict for Peter.)   But the real structure of Ned’s story is just a simple desire to be the guy in the chair.   And that is what makes the moment when he gets to be the guy in the chair so much darn fun!   May—all that May wants is for Peter to talk to her.   And she is going to try every strategy that she’s got because she knows something is going on. She knows he is sneaking out of the house, she knows he is not sharing things with her, she knows something is wrong, she knows that he is ditching the things that are important to him in school.     She is trying patience, she is trying jokes, she is trying confrontation, she is trying everything she knows to find out what’s really going on-- which is what makes May’s final moment in the movie so much fun for the audience.   We can feel her journey. Liz, the love interest, also has a very clear want. And what is so much fun about her want is that, if only Peter knew, it would make his whole life so much easier! Because all Liz wants... is Peter.