Film Courage: How can a writer take an ordinary
idea and transform it into what you call heightened concept?
Corey Mandell, Screenwriter and Screenwriting Instructor: By doing what Shakespeare did so let's
think about Shakespeare for a moment Shakespeare started the Globe Theater and it was in a very
dangerous, unincorporated part of London because it was illegal in London to have a theater because
royalty did not want common people hearing ideas, that could dangerous, it was illegal, they would
have been killed. They did it in a place that was unregulated, not part of London. It was in a
place where there were brothels and gambling, and people were murdered. The people who are watching
Shakespearean plays had never seen theater before because it used to only be royalty, so
their standing is basically unless they have any money they pay a shilling or a pence and they're
standing in this huge pit which is disgusting because there's no bathroom and it's in the middle
of Bubonic plague so this is pretty disgusting. This is what's really interesting, when we see a
play we know about the proscenium arch we know that there's a stage and when the lights go up
there's going to be actors talking. We don't talk to them, we listen, they pretend they don't see
us, we don't interact with them and we listen to the play. No one who saw a Shakespearean play knew
any of that. They had never seen a play. How do you know that? They don't know that, so they're
talking and drinking and whatever they're doing and then these people get on stage and start
talking well what's to stop them from talking back what's to stop them from getting on stage and
interacting with them there's only one thing that can stop them which is the rest of the audience
the rest of the audience has to be like “Hey, mate shut up. I want to hear this.” Shakespeare knew he
had to grab people's attention right away or and I'm not kidding his actors were going to be maybe
murdered and that's not a joke these were rough, drunk people who knows what would happen so he
has to get people's attention like that or this is very dangerous by the way if you want to succeed
as a writer you got to get the reader attention like that because as I have said before studio
readers we are taught to read the first scene or two and stop and if we don't have to keep reading
we don't so you have Shakespeare's problem now Shakespeare here's what he did. He actually,
let me tell you what he didn't do he didn't do high concept because high concept is just
bigger like I'll do a story with these people and there's a meteor coming down or there's a
murder and because here's the thing people who are watching that can't relate to that and why
would they care there's a meteor coming like so what like that has no connection to them that's
the problem with high concept nobody cares people have to make an emotional connection to want to
read the next page or watch but this is a problem what if Shakespeare put characters on stage that
the audience could relate to for instance a male character who has an overbearing father
and no matter what the character does the father's never happy and this poor guy is tortured and he
can never make his dad happy well you know what a lot of the people in the audience could relate to
that and you have another character they relate to and what would happen your actors would be killed
because why would they stand in the filth watching what they could watch in real life why would they
watch something that they can just see all around them in their life that's not interesting so we've
got a conundrum if we have something heightened larger than life which is what a lot of people
like to talk about nobody cares if you use real life people emotionally connect but why pay for
this why stand all right so Shakespeare invented a technique that is used today by all successful
show runners and feature film writers he didn't go heighten concept he didn't go bigger but he
did did is he said the only way I can hold their attention is by telling extraordinary stories
extraordinary everyone wants to be extraordinary well just think of the word extraordinary you
just divide it extraordinary extraordinary so what's ordinary it's something that everybody
can relate to what is extra it is heightened version of ordinary it is a heightened version
so for instance have I ever been so freaked out about money so scared that I can't survive that
I have been tempted to do something that's not exactly right yes have I ever done something that
I felt wasn't exactly right yeah a few times now I have shame about that did I ever cook drugs and
sell drugs no and I would never do that but when I watch Breaking Bad I have a guy who's just at the
end of his rope and he's economically devastated it's not fair and his family's going to be
devastated and he's gonna and I can I can relate to that that is ordinary but this is heightened
because he's going to die and his family destitute and he's going to cook drugs so when I watch that
show I'm like that's me but that's not me like I can relate to Walter White and go yeah I get that
but I would never do that that's what makes the show so magical because if I watch that I go oh my
God that's me that's what I do then that's painful that's not or or the office either one but I'm
just going to go with the ruas version so you got this character and he really cares what everyone
thinks about him and when people are talking to he's always like trying to pass himself off as an
expert and he goes too far he exaggerates too much and he just tries to sound like everyone
loves him he's the greatest boss but you realize he's just a sad little man he's like the wizard in
The Wizard of Oz behind his little curtain okay can I relate to that yes do I care what people
think about me yes do I sometimes exaggerate yes is it sometimes me a little pathetic probably my
wife would say sometimes am I delusional that I walk around claiming to do things I haven't done
and just brag about things that have no reality no so when I watch the office I'm like oh my God
that's me but that's not me that's why it's fun and I can laugh because I can identify with the
pain but I could be like but that's not me I'm not nearly as pathetic as that guy so it's ordinary
but it's an extraversion Fleabag I mean she the way she escapes pain is through inappropriate
well sex lots of sex that's her pain avoidance and her mom died and it caused her so much pain that
she sleeps with her best friend's boyfriend best friend finds out and ends up dying as a result and
Fleabag now because she had pain and she couldn't deal with her mom's death the way she dealt with
it was so inappropriate she now feels responsible I think justifiably for her best friend's death
she obviously didn't try to kill her best friend but it was a result and now in the first season
and in the second season she's just trying to have more and more sex to try to disassociate
and deal with that pain okay have I had great pain in my life yes have I done coping mechanisms yes
is it sex not for me sex was never my thing I mean it was never my coping mechanism but other
things were we don't need to go into that but other things like being a workaholic that's one
thing and has when I've had pain and I've done coping mechanisms has that negatively impacted
people I care about absolutely you know back when I was a writer I was a lot of pain I would
I would just be such a workaholic I wasn't around my wife and I wasn't really present always in the
relationship and that's certainly damaging to her so I watch Fleabag and I'm like oh I can relate
to that but I'm not her I didn't kill anyone I didn't do anything that egregious so it makes it
safe and comfortable to watch it it's like okay okay that's that's an exaggerated version of me
so Shakespeare with Hamlet here's a guy whose father is overbearing and Hamlet can't measure
up and the people in the audience can relate to that but right out of the gate we learn now people
in the audience were like yeah my family's really messed up and all this stuff is but here's what's
not happening my uncle did not have sex with my mom and then kill my father to be with his
wife and then my father comes to me as a ghost and says You must finally be a man and go kill
him like okay my life's messed up and crazy but it's not that bad that's an extraordinary opening
to one of of the most timeless and successful stories ever because it is an ordinary emotional
experience that is made extra that is heightened same thing with the Wizard of Oz Dorothy loves
her dog more than anything and she's running from the witch because the witch is going to kill her
and Toto and the only way she can get what she wants is she has to go at the witch she has to
attack the witch with no plan of how to defeat the witch well we all have to do that in life
I mean this is film courage so let's talk about courage I mean we all have our demons we all have
our witches and we all want things we want to be successful as writers or successful this where be
successful husbands and wives or parents we want to be successful but we want to keep running from
the things that scare us the most and guess what the only way to really be successful to
stop running away from what scares us and run at what scares us and that's the only place that is
that's the courage you want to talk about courage there's your courage well I can relate to that
and I usually run away sometimes I've run out I didn't have flying monkeys I didn't have a witch
I mean that especially as a kid even now this the flying monkey is terrifying me so I watch when we
watch it we can relate to it but it's heightened that's what I mean it's a heightened concept and
that's what Shakespeare did with all of his plays and he had to and it's the same technique that
the Coen Brothers use, the writers of The Bear, Phoebe Waller Bridge, Tina Fey, Vincent Gilligan,
Jenji Kohan and when you learn to do it then we can add hopefully the characters and the stories
that are in you we can add that an impact on the world but the question is Film Courage,
do you have the courage? Do you have the courage to go there? Do you have the courage to do that?