- [Michael] Hi, I'm Michael.
This is Lessons from the Screenplay.
Sequels are hard.
And in making both "Aliens" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"
writer/director James Cameron was tasked
with creating sequels to two thrilling,
beloved blockbuster hits.
On "Terminator 2," Cameron knew he didn't want to
make something too similar to his film "The Terminator."
Saying, "The real thrill was being able to control
"a response that was totally opposite
"from what we got the first time.
"And to just have fun with that.
"To play against expectations.
"You've got to do that, especially in a sequel."
But with "Aliens," Cameron also realized
that he couldn't make something so different
from Ridley Scott's original
that the audience would be disappointed.
- [James] You've gotta play to expectations
and you gotta play against expectations.
It's about answering a question they didn't know to ask,
but when they see it, it seems obvious.
- [Michael] To make a successful sequel,
the filmmaker has to walk the line
between too similar and too different.
So today, I want to discuss how a sequel can feel
both familiar and new by borrowing the premise
of a first film but applying a new designing principle.
To explore how ramping up the nature and scale
of the antagonist, can increase the stakes of the sequel
and provide new challenges for the heroes.
And to examine how a protagonist can evolve
from one film to the next.
Let's take a look at "Aliens"
and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."
(ambient music)
In his book "The Anatomy of Story",
John Truby defines premise as,
"Your story stated in one sentence.
"It is the simplest combination of character and plot."
He defines designing a principle as,
"The overall strategy for how you will tell your story."
Essentially, the premise describes what the story is about,
the designing principle describes how it will be told.
One of the techniques Cameron used in crafting these sequels
was to borrow the premise from the original
but apply a different designing principle.
You could describe the basic premise for both
"The Terminator" and "Terminator 2"
as aided by a time traveling protector,
ordinary humans must escape from a deadly machine
sent back in time to kill them.
These are the key ingredients of a "Terminator" film.
But despite these similarities, each film is distinct
largely because of its designing principle.
"The Terminator" focuses on the relationship
that develops between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese,
the human sent back in time to protect her.
It takes this premise and makes it a love story.
(bones crushing)
With "Terminator 2," Cameron took a different approach.
When we first meet 10 year old John Connor
in "Terminator 2" we learn he's been living
with different foster families,
that his mother, Sarah, is in a mental health facility,
and that he has no father.
But after the T-800, the villain from the original film,
steps in to save John's life and helps Sarah escape
from the hospital, Sarah starts to realize that this machine
is becoming a father figure to John.
- [James] And the strange thing is that
within her world view and her logic,
he's a father figure that makes sense.
- [Sarah] The Terminator would never stop.
It would never leave him,
and it would never hurt him.
It would always be there, and it would die to protect him.
- [James] To me that was always the interesting thing
about this film, is that they actually form a family.
- [Michael] "Terminator 2" takes the same premise
and makes it about the creation of a family.
"Alien" and "Aliens" share a fairly similar premise as well.
A group of people trapped in a confined space
with a dangerous alien creature
must fight for their survival.
"Alien" takes this premise and methodically
builds suspense that periodically explodes with surprise.
(comical beeping)
It has an ensemble cast of ordinary people
who are unequipped to handle the situation,
and who are eliminated one by one
until a lone survivor remains to face the monster.
In other words, "Alien" develops its premise
into a horror movie. (high-pitched screaming)
But in "Aliens," the story focuses on a single protagonist
surrounded by space marines who are specially trained
and anxious to kill whatever they can.
- One, two, guys, come on, get out, get out, get out!
- [Michael] The climax isn't a desperate, vulnerable,
narrowly successful attempt at survival,
(panicked sighing)
it's a showdown between the aliens
and a heavily armed Ripley.
"Aliens" takes the premise
and makes it into an action movie.
(gun rapidly firing) (alien screeching)
By keeping the same premise
but changing the designing principles of these sequels,
Cameron effectively creates something familiar but new.
But the designing principle isn't the only element
that Cameron changed.
Each sequels also raises the stakes
by intensifying the antagonist.
"Terminator 2" intensifies the antagonist
of the first film by literally giving it an upgrade.
While the T-800 is bulletproof, able to mimic voices.
- Honey, are you okay?
- I'm right here.
I'm fine.
- [Michael] And has superhuman strength,
the T-1000 can turn itself into a weapon,
take on the look of another person,
and is virtually indestructible.
By showing the unstoppable model of the Terminator
from the first film struggling to go toe to toe
with this new antagonist, we immediately understand
how difficult he will be to stop.
Sarah Connor and her family
are in for a much harder battle this time around.
- Movement!
- What's the position?
- Multiple signals.
They're closing.
- [Michael] In an obvious example of how to intensify
an antagonist, "Aliens" simply takes the terrifying
creature from the first film and introduces
over a hundred of them.
(gun firing) (panicked yelling)
(metal crashing) (glass smashing)
But Cameron didn't stop there.
- [James] We needed to take the nemesis,
the idea of the alien, and take it to another level.
So, it was kinda staring us in the face.
There's this ship filled with all these eggs,
who laid the eggs?
- [Michael] So in the third act
Ripley encounters an entirely new kind of monster.
The alien queen.
But this even bigger, scarier alien
does more than simply provide a new obstacle
for Ripley to overcome.
It echoes the protagonists character arch.
Which brings us to our last topic.
Both "Terminator 2" and "Aliens" bring back
the main characters from the original films
and modify them in a key way.
Both Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley return
with the same desire but a different need.
Returning to John Truby,
"Desire is what your hero wants in the story.
"It is a goal outside the character."
In contrast, "Need has to do with overcoming a weakness
"within the character.
"Need lets the audience see how the hero must change
"to have a better life."
In "The Terminator" Sarah Connor starts off
as what James Cameron calls an Every Woman.
"Somebody who feels insignificant,
"that their life doesn't have any meaning
"or greater purpose, and then she gets tapped
"by this great duty and burden and she has to step up."
But in "Terminator 2" we see how the events
of the first film have completely transformed Sarah.
- [James] When I called Linda and I asked her
if she wanted to make a second film,
she basically said one thing to me,
"Yeah, I'll do it, but I want to be crazy."
She wanted to push the edge.
She didn't wanna just be the safe character
that she was in the first film.
I said, "You want to be crazy?
"Okay, we can make you crazy."
(glass cracking) (pained groaning)
- [Michael] She's not an Every Woman anymore.
She's a badass.
Unfortunately, this transformation has strained
Sarah's relationship with her son, John.
When John and the T-800 rescue Sarah from the hospital,
her first reaction is to scold him.
- [James] I always like this moment,
because she's checking him for injuries
and he thinks she's hugging him.
And he's still this kid that just doesn't understand why
his mother doesn't love him.
- I said I was okay.
- [James] And she's angry at him for having risked himself.
- It was stupid of you to go there.
- [Michael] So while Sarah's desire is the same
as the first film,
escape and destroy the machine that's after them,
her character's need is to reconnect with John.
Her journey in the film is to realize that
she must not only protect him,
but must also be there for him.
In both "Alien" and "Aliens"
it's clear that Ripley's desire remains consistent.
(fire blaring)
Destroy the alien creature she is trapped with
in order to survive.
But in "Alien," Ripley's need isn't particularly complex.
It's simply to survive.
In fact, when the studio wanted to pursue
a sequel to "Alien," they didn't think Ripley
needed to be included, but Cameron disagreed.
"Everybody but us thought that the film
"could be made without Sigourney Weaver,
"which completely blew my mind
"and was absolutely out of the question for us.
"As far as we were concerned, we started with Ripley
"from the end of the last film and it was her story."
And this time, Cameron decided to give her a backstory
in order to provide her with a clearly defined need.
Ripley is a mother.
In one of the first scenes of the movie,
which, incredibly, was cut from the theatrical version,
Ripley wakes up after 57 years in stasis
to learn that the daughter she left behind
on Earth has died.
- I promised her that I'd be home for her birthday.
Her 11th birthday.
- [Michael] Ripley feels like she has failed her child.
So when she finds the orphaned Newt,
Ripley sees a second chance to be a mother.
In his book "Into the Woods," John Yorke explains,
"Ripley's nominal quest is to return to the planet
"to destroy aliens, but her underlying one
"is to prove herself a mother once again.
"Her external desire may not deviate,
"but in its pursuit something important
"but unexpected is learned."
By adding this layer to Ripley's character,
and giving her a daughter figure to protect,
"Aliens" continues the character's journey
and provides a strong reason to survive
beyond survival itself.
(fire blaring)
(alien screeching)
And this character journey makes the finale
with the alien queen even more meaningful.
It's not simply a fight for survival,
it's two mothers engaging in an ultimate battle
for their children.
- Get away from her, you bitch!
(alien hissing)
Ugh!
- [Michael] When James Cameron set out to tackle
these two sequels, he knew he had a challenge on his hands.
But by sticking to the same premise as the original films,
while changing the designing principles,
Cameron was able to create something
that felt familiar yet original.
By making each of the antagonists bigger and badder,
he raised the bar for what a franchise could be.
And by giving the characters similar goals,
but different needs, he allowed them to evolve.
Deepening our understanding of who they are.
Leaving us with two of the best sequels ever made.
"Aliens" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."
Watching all the behind the scenes footage for these movies
left me amazed at how they pulled off the visual
and special effects back then.
But also amazed at how far technology has come.
We have so many tools at our disposal
to create amazing images,
as well as a super convenient way to learn
how to use them.
Skillshare.
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Thinking about the painstaking stop motion animation
in the first "Terminator,"
I became fascinated by Fraser Davidson's class
on how to create a simple walk cycle in After Effects.
In this class you can learn the fundamentals
of how to design a character and bring it to life.
All from your personal computer.
You can start the class today for free
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So, head to Skillshare and start learning today.
Thanks to Skillshare for sponsoring this video.
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the video.
We have a podcast episode out today
that is an in-depth discussion on "Aliens,"
and we have another episode coming out later this month
on "Terminator 2."
So if you want to check those out,
the link to our podcast, "Beyond the Screenplay"
is in the description below.
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Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.