In the hundred plusyears of filmmaking
and thousands of yearsof storytelling
there are really onlyfour ways to end a story.
We're going to dissectone of these endings
using an Oscar-winningscreenplay
with a true geniusbehind the wheel.
And, at the end of this video,
we'll provide a freedownloadable worksheet
to help you plotout your ending.
This is part three of
"The Four Endingsin Every Film".
The semi-sweet ending.
Traditional protagoniststypically need two things:
a want and a need.
Wants our external goals
that are known to the character
specific to them
and drive the plot forward.
In "Onward", Ian's want
is to meet his deceased father.
"- I sure do wish I could spendthe day with you sometime.
- I know.- Well, there's so many things we could do.
I bet it'd be really fun."
- And with the helpof a little magic
Ian and his brother Barley
set off on a questto bring him back.
"- We have to findanother phoenix gem.
You hear that, dad?
We're going on a quest!"
But needs are internal goals
that are often unknownto the character,
universal to us all,
and drive the characterthrough their arc.
Ian's need is to realize
that even though he maynot see his father again
the hole in his heart has beenfilled with his brother's love
and guidance all along.
"- I had someone wholooked out for me.
Someone who pushed me to be more
than I ever thought I could be.
I never had a dad.
But I always had you."
- And at the end of most stories,
the protagonists willattain some combination
of their wants and needs.
And you can map everytype of ending
on a quadrant like this.
Sweet - achieving theirwants and needs.
Bittersweet -achieving their wants
but not their needs.
Semi-sweet - notachieving their wants
but achieving their needs.
And, lastly, Bitter -achieving neither.
In the last episode,
we followed Michael Corleone'stragic fall from grace...
"- I'll take care of you.
I'm with you now. I'm with you.
It's not personal, Sonny.
It's strictly business. "
- ...in a bitter ending.
But this time...
"- I'm entitled to thatmoney, goddammit!"
- ...our focus is CharlieBabbitt's evolution
from selfish...
"- If there is a hell, sir, my father's in it.
And he is looking up right now
and he is laughing his ass off."
...to selfless.
"- You're dancing. This is it.- Yeah. Dancing."
- In a rather touchingsemi-sweet ending.
A semi-sweet ending gives theprotagonist what they need
but not what they want.
Of the four types of endings
most movies use some variation
of the semi-sweet ending.
Because it typically follows apositive change character arc.
"- F*ck off, Hitler."
- Which writer K.M.Weiland describes as,
"A protagonist with varying levelsof personal unfulfillment and denial
will be forced to challengehis beliefs about himself.
Until he conquershis inner demons
and ends his arc havingchanged in a positive way.
So, we've imported the "Rain Man"screenplay into StudioBinder
so we can map out the necessaryplot and character beats
that created such acathartic ending.
Now, Charlie Babbittis materialistic.
An importer offoreign sports cars.
And an a-hole.
"- This f*cking E.P.A.
The whole world ischoking on smog
and they're going tocorrect the situation
by keeping my fourcars off the road?!
- Well, of course."
- In other words,he's perfectly set up
to follow apositive change arc.
But how did he become this way?
What's Charlie's problem?
On page 9, Charlieis indifferent
to some devastating news.
"- You're going like...
- Yeah?- Charlie, this is Lenny.
I got a call, along-distance call
from Mr. Mooney.
You know, yourfather's lawyer.
He's been trying to reach you...
...your father has died, Charlie
Charlie?
- Anything else?- No, that's it.
Listen, Charlie, if there'sanything I can do just call..."
- We learn all about thepersonal unfulfillment
related to his father.
"- Look, I told you before we hada falling out a long time ago.
My mother died when I was two.
It was just him and me, you know,we just didn't get along."
- This strained relationshipis Charlie's 'ghost'.
A character's 'Ghost' asdescribed by Weiland,
"... is something inthe character's past
that haunts them."
This could be an event.
"- Sweetheart!
Look at me! Mal! No!"
- A breakup.
"- I think we shouldstop seeing each other."
A betrayal.
"- Guards.
Please, don't fight, Maximus.
Ride until dawn.
And then execute."
- In a way, this past trauma
has shaped this character
for better or worse.
"- Remove your helmetand tell me your name.
- My name is MaximusDesmus Meridius.
Commander of thearmies of the north.
Father to a murdered son.
Husband to a murdered wife.
And I will have my vengeance
in this life or the next."
- And no matter what yourcharacter's ghost is
it is ultimately thething they must overcome
to achieve apositive change arc.
"- My name is Tom.- Nice to meet you. I'm Autumn."
- Because of his personalunfulfillment tied to his father
Charlie doesn't care abouthis father's death.
He only cares for the moneyhe assumes he'll get
in the inheritance.
That is Charlie's want.
Instead, he gets rose bushes.
"- Outright title to myprize-winning hybrid rose bushes.
May they remind him ofthe value of excellence
and the possibilityof perfection.
As for my home and all otherproperty, real and personal,
these shall be placed in trust.
In accordance with the terms of that certaininstrument executed concurrently herewith.
- What does that mean, the last part?What does that mean?
- It means that the estateinexcess of three million dollars
after expenses and taxes
will go into a trust fund.
For a beneficiary to benamed in this document.
- Who is that?- He's called a trustee.
- What is that? How does that work?How does that work?
- Forgive me, but there'snothing more I can say.
- This Wall-brook?"
- Charlie tracks down this mysterious trustee- Raymond.
"- It's a 1949 Buick Roadmaster.Straight-8. Fireball-8.
Only 8,095 production models.
Dad lets me driveslow on a driveway.
But not on Monday definitely.Not on Monday.
- Who's your dad?- Sanford Babbitt.
- Sanford Babbitt?"
And on page 26, Charlie discoverstheir true connection.
"- That's my address.I mean, what is it with this guy? Hey!
Who's your mother?- Eleanor Babbitt.
- Eleanor?- Died January 5th, 1965 after short...
- Who the hell are you?
Hey, I'm talking to you!
Bruner, who is this guy?
- Raymond is your brother."
- Instead of aheartfelt reunion
with his long-lost brother
Charlie holds him for ransom.
"- Don't worry, Ray.We'll bring you right back."
- Charlie's "Plan B"is to get the money
by becoming Raymond'slegal guardian.
So they hit the roadback to California.
In a positive change arc,
you'll often needan impact character.
Weiland describes theimpact character,
"as someone who slamsinto your protagonist,
catalyzes him into change,
and has a majorimpact on his life."
Raymond is the perfect impactcharacter for Charlie.
"- Don't make a scene.- Ouch.
- Stop acting like a fucking retard.- Oh-oh."
His connection to Charlie'spast and Charlie's ghost
points directly toCharlie's need.
Remember, a character's need
is often unknown to them.
Sometimes until the very end.
And the need is usually revealed
through a moment ofcathartic realization.
On page 97, Charliehas this moment.
"- When I say stop, whydon't you stop it.
Why you always have to act like an idiot, huh?- Yeah.
- You think that's funny?- Yeah.
Funny Rain Man. Funny teeth.
- What did you say?
- Funny teeth. - Rinse.
Why'd you say funny teeth?
- You said, "funny teeth,funny Rain Man."
- Rain Man? I said Rain Man?
- Yeah, "funny Rain Man".
- Was I trying to say Raymond and it came out Rain Man?- Yeah, "funny Rain Man."
- You? You're the... Rain Man?
- And you lived with us?- Yeah. 10961 Beecherest Street. Cincinnati, Ohio.
- When... when did... when did you leave?- January 21st, 1965.
- You... you remember that?- It was Thursday. Very snowy out.
7.2 inches of snow that day.
- Yeah, it was just afterMom died, New Years'.
- Yeah, Mom diedJanuary 5th, 1965.
- And you remember that day?You remember that day that you were...
- Short and sudden illness.
- You remember that day? - Yeah.
- Was I there, where was I?
- You were in the window,
you waved to me, "Bye-Bye,Rain Man, Bye-Bye Rain Man."
- And this is Charlie's need.
To purge the resentment
tied to his father and re-establish ameaningful connection to his family.
Giving him an opportunityto grow and change.
"- Yeah, Lenny, it's me listen...
- Charlie, where thehell have you been?
- I've been sitting by thisphone for three hours.
- Just take it...take it easy, take it easy.
I'm in Tucumcari.I'll be there in a few...
- They repossessed thecars to pay off the loan.
The cars are gone, Charlie.They are gone.
Bateman wants his down payment back.They all do.
That's 80 thou, Charlie.
- $80,000.
I don't have it.- What am I gonna tell them?
- I don't know.
- Are you paying attention?- Yeah.
Okay, now what do I have left?
- Two jacks, one eight,one king, one six,
two aces, one ten,one nine, one five.
- One five.You are beautiful, man.
[Music]
- There you go, Ray. - Yeah.
- It's a high roller suite.
Big date. Going to go dancing.
- Have to go to the date withIris at the bar, dancing.
- Know how to dance?- I don't know.
- All right, stand over there."
- Now, watching a charactergrow and change for the better
is the foundationof storytelling.
"- When I tell you to, I wantyou to just look up, real slow.
Just keep moving.
"- Okay, you ready? - Yeah.
- All right, start looking up.- Yeah.
A little more, keep moving.
Just a little more.
One more, Ray.
All the way up.
- There you go, Ray. - Yeah.
- You're dancing, this is it.- Yeah, dancing."
- This occurs when Charlielearns to put Raymond's needs
ahead of his own.
On page 162, Charlie has offered his original want- Money.
"- I can lose Raymond.
And I happen to care about your brother'slife and the treatment he receives.
I made a commitment to yourfather some 20 years ago,
and I'm not willingto gamble with that.
- What is this?
- It's a very big check."
- All he has to do is walk away.
"- $250,000.
- And no strings attached.
Just walk away, Charlie.
- It's funny, I justrealized I'm not pissed off
anymore my father cutme out of his will.
You were his friend and youprobably knew he tried to
contact me a fewtimes over the years.
I never called him back.I was a prick.
If he was my son anddidn't return my calls
I would've writtenhim out f**k him.
It's not about themoney anymore.
You know, I justdon't understand
why didn't he tellme I had a brother?
Why didn't you tellme I had a brother?
Why didn't anyone ever tellme that I had a brother?
Because it'd been nice to know himfor more than just the past 6 days."
- At this point, Charliefirmly establishes a new want.
To take care of his brother.
Unfortunately, soon afterCharlie faces a hard truth.
That he isill-equipped to do so.
"- Ray! Come on, it stopped.
It's all right.
I had a father I hardly knew, amother I didn't know at all,
I find out a few days agothat I have a brother,
and I wanna be with him andI'm supposed to give him up?
- No one is saying anything...
I didn't hurt him.He's not hurting me.
We're not hurting you.Now, why are you interfering? This is my family.
- Not interesting. He is my family.Do you understand that?
- I understand that.
- Yes, you do have abrother but the point is
he's not capable of havinga relationship with you.
- I think it's very admirablethat you made a connection
but I think the purpose ofthis meeting is to determine
what is best for Raymond?
Raymond, you want to staywith your brother Charlie
here in Los Angeles. - Yeah.
- Or do you want to go back to Wall-brook.- Yeah."
- Despite all his good intentions,Charlie finally understands
and accepts what'sbest for Raymond.
Charlie gave up hiswant for a greater good
Raymond's well-being.
"- I don't know if I'm going to havea chance to talk to you again...
because you see these...
Uh, Dr.Bruner really likes you a lot
and he's probably gonna wantto take you back with him.
- You know? - Yeah."
- Charlie's ghost or the angerand resentment of his father
turned him into a selfish liar.
But the discovery of his long-lost brotherrepairs and resolves that inner turmoil.
"- I like having youfor my big brother.
- Yeah."
Charlie achieved hisneed but not his want.
To pull off your ownsemi-sweet ending
you must considerall the criteria
for both wants and needs
for maximum emotional impact.
So, in the description,
you'll find a freedownloadable worksheet
where you can plot theseout for your characters.
In the final episodeof this series,
we'll look at "TheSocial Network"
to find out what happens
when a character getseverything they want
but fails to get whatthey really need.
"- Ray! I'll see you soon.- Yeah."
If you enjoyed this video
get what you wantand what you need
by hitting subscribe
and ringing the bellfor notifications.
And that will end this video.
We'll see you in the next one.
[Music]