Film Courage: What is the lie that tells the truth?
Steve Kaplan, Author/Instructor/Script Consultant: The lie that tells the truth is the comic premise,
you're constructing a lie in order to get to the truth of something. How can you be
a good person in the world? Well maybe you wake up and you do good things and maybe
you work for a non-profit and you if you see somebody homeless maybe you give them a dollar
but not very amusing so you create a lie to get to that truth. You start off with somebody who is not
a good person in the world as in Groundhog Day and he go and you then there's this lie, there's this
impossible thing that happens or improbable thing that sends him on a journey in which
the question that you're pondering is explored because it's ultimately for me theme is best
expressed as a question as opposed to love. The theme of Romeo and Juliet love conquers all
maybe but don't they both die at the end. I mean so that seems the theme is a postcard,
it's not as useful to you as theme as a question because in Romeo and Juliet maybe Shakespeare is
exploring what's the nature of love because you've seen Romeo and Juliet all sorts of different sorts
of love there's the love of Romeo for his Bros Benvolio and Mercutio there's a love of Juliet for
the nurse there's the malicious kind of grasping love (if you can call it love) of Tybalt the evil
cousin for Juliet because he wants to control her and not have her see Romeo so there's also
different sorts of love so you're exploring a question that you're taking the time to explore
in your writing as opposed to the answer and now you're just kind of connecting dots because maybe
you don't know the answer how's how's that maybe maybe it's just something you're thinking about
and you're not sure and so by you by using this narrative you're exploring it yourself otherwise
it's it's four months to six months of hard work and you already knew where you're going to go
a lot of script books tell you should always know where you're ending up but even that's not always
true and not every great writer writes that way if you're going to write a mystery again I think you
should know who killed who killed the guy or the girl at the beginning but I think it's important
to observe the passing moments in comedy because that's where the comedy comes from not from I need
to get from here to here but what's happening here and look around and wow that's weird and if you
if you're just writing from here to there you're going to miss the weird thing that your character
with their eyes notices and with their mouth says something about it or does something about it
so I think that's more useful so the lie that tells the truth is your basic comic premise
that is the gateway to exploring the truth of whatever you're whatever you're talking about
whatever your theme might be so to go back to the initial idea for the film The person
works at a non-profit they're they're kind to the homeless and we could spice it up if there
was an actual purpose to that Journey maybe okay here's a person they say they're they're they're
they work in a non-profit they're kind to the homeless they they they they drive they they
drive a a Prius they they only eat gluten-free and let's say they win the lotto and they win
four what was what was that that prize that was there a couple of months ago I think it
was like a billion two billion dollars and they win two billion dollars will it change them how
will it change them what will happen what will happen to their preconceptions to their Notions
now if nothing happens I would say well you have the wrong character
because you want a character who's going to go through a transformation
so that's that's why it's not just come up with a funny idea and then run with it well who's
the character that's going to go through that WTF that what the [ __ ] moment and and how do
they how do they need to go through that what the [ __ ] moment and and what are you saying about
them and what are you saying about the nature of whatever it is you're writing about the nature of
so what I'm curious that'd be interesting Arc so maybe they get all this money and it changes
their perceptions maybe they thought wealthy people were evil and then they come to find out
oh they're not so bad after all and then they become the very person they despise maybe you
see that that's that's the joy of of writing and developing an idea is that you is that
when I do these workshops I used to do them in live in Tel Aviv and Mumbai now I'm doing them on
zoom and I don't think I don't think people ever want to get off Zoom I think they want to get off
Zoom but I think it's like why do I have to fly to Los Angeles to take this Workshop I can just
turn on my computer so anyway I I would say there would be let's say 25 people in the room if you
came up with that idea woman Works in non-profit wins the wins two billion dollars in the lotto
there could be 25 different ways of developing that idea each of them valid there's no one way to
develop a premise it's the premise is just a tool it's another tool to to help you help you excite
the imagination to develop the story in your head but in some sense that Arc will come out the other
side though yeah it should it doesn't doesn't need to I mean if if the let's say there's a guy
and at the end of the movie She's together with the guy so that's a mainstream movie or let's
say at the end of the movie The her and the guy go different ways so it's an indie movie right so it
could be either it could be either way sure that's true and she's in therapy for the rest of her life
and maybe so nothing is predetermined nothing is predetermined other than if you need 400
400 million dollars to make it well then that's you're going to have to make compromises in order
to get 400 million dollars but if you can make it for 40 000 you can just do anything you want
the I think the point is is that whatever the idea is whatever the LIE is you're using it in in the
Enterprise of finding out the truth about something for yourself first before an audience
because if you think what the answers are why are you wasting time writing a movie why don't you
just go out and change the world I I think I think most people wonder what the answers are at least
most Comics wonder what the answers are and use narrative as a way of trying to figure that out
how do if your comedy idea is too far-fetched I think it's only far-fetched if
if you can't if somebody can't relate to it.
What's the movie Everything All At Once? Oh yes, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Everything Everywhere All At Once, what could be more confusing than Everything Everywhere
All At Once except for the fact that it was my relationship they're talking about and I'm going
oh my God I understand exactly what they're talking about because it not only was great
sci-fi and mind bending and and full of all sorts of you know multi-dimensions but it was also about
honey look at that the guy with the waistband and waist pouch that's me so far-fetched is only
means that somebody isn't able to relate to it and you only need one person to relate to it
how many rejections did did they get did she get for Harry Potter
all you need is is one person on the other hand work on something else at the same time
because because the one thing you don't want to do is to flog the same horse
that that the time that you're spending trying to convince the world that this is a great script
you could use some of that time to write your next script because because every successful
writer will tell you that first script helped me write the seventh script that sold as opposed to
you've got to buy this first script I mean that's where a lot of beginning writers end up with they
white knuckle that one script and they won't let go of it and they don't progress because listen
maybe it's not good maybe it's too far-fetched to sell but maybe it's a good writing sample what's
your next idea so I'm thinking of the idea of a “normie.” I’ve been watching Wednesday
Adams and so they talk about these normies and for anybody who ever I haven't watched it yet
but okay okay but yeah I have a vague idea what you're talking about sure and so what
if some people aren't writing quote unquote normie comedies which is for the mainstream
which is going to be seen at a Cineplex which is going to be seen more in a area where people's
lives are pretty set there's not it's it's not like this crazy sort of eclectic group
and that that'll be my term for normie and and what they're writing is too far-fetched
too absurdist well there's something for everybody but that's weird because because what I've heard
were that were that buyers were looking for something that was edgy that wasn't norming
and again you have you have some executive saying I want something edgy something that
has no one has seen before but what they really are thinking but that I've
seen before so that it's it's comfortable enough for me to sell it to my to my bosses
so it's like chasing a joke you all you can do is is have one eye in the market
or maybe half an hour maybe half your ear on the market and then write your story
and if they don't like this one then write another one and be inspired by the things that you like
Monty Python used to talk about the fact that they were inspired by the Goon Show which was
this radio comedy on in in UK in Britain they didn't steal it but they were certainly inspired
by it they were kind of the they were the children of the Goon Show and SCTV was inspired by Monty
Python so what inspires you go and if you're not inspired by anything go find something to inspire
you and then what's your point what's your take on that how do you want to advance that conversation
so nothing is too far-fetched what what there is is something needs to be relatable
so in other words some a writer once came up to my friend Michael Hague who's a script consultant and
he wrote how to sell your stories in 60 seconds and if you can sell your story in 60 seconds
that's a good that's a good skill but a person came up to Michael and said I've got a script that
that that no nothing there's nothing like this ever that than this script and Michael said well
maybe there's a reason for that meaning that if something's so weird and unaccessible that maybe
that's why people aren't aren't collaborating for it because they don't know how to access it
they don't know how to connect to it or relate to it so if you're sharing something about your life
even if it's through the prism of everything everywhere all at once then that's relatable
it's it's it's a family it's it's a relationship that that literally is
gone off the rails and it's going to destroy the entire universe but our families are our universe
so when our families go off the rails that's what it feels like so it's a metaphor so even though
all the multi-dimension dimensional stuff is a lie the truth is our families are our universe
and and we need to we need to protect them as well as protect the universe from the altar bad lord.