25:42 Adversary. Personification of unbeatable opposition for the Hero. 51:25 Love interest. Pushes the Hero into character growth through sexual conquest. 1:13:05 Sidekick. Remains loyal and provides counsel. 1:22:17 Mentor. Passes skills, wisdom or life-saving gift. 1:33:28 Endangered innocent. Provides strong subplot with the goal and the ticking clock. Other 9 categories: the Hero, gate guardian, adversary agent, independent troublemaker, comparison ally, comic ally, hopeful savior, cheerleader ally, helper-follower ally. All characters contribute to the story, except atmosphere ones. Characters never change category, only hide intent.
This channel is seriously awesome! FULL lectures from masters of screenwriting is not just usefull, its honestly motivating. Especially during those "stay home" times. Thanks for that
@@filmcourage @36 - 50 - Sideways was a depressing film. The whole premise - Guys, when you are dumped, get over it. The closest thing to the female version would be ''The Upside of anger'' - only the ex husband doesn't get a happy ending
@@filmcourage @57:00 - the wife is the endangered innocent? When the men are the ones in danger? For you to even suggest that is sad (with a capital P and a small ''athetic'')
Good teachers are things we all cherish and remember from our days in class, but Professor Edson brings teaching to an entirely new level. This is real teaching.
Is this information right though? Or is it right now? There are surely fixed Aristotelian laws being described, but essentially conventional teaching on writing will always be a matter of the mentors preceding the instructor. In a small town where many have had the same mentors, something that’s simply right now, can be perceived as something that is right. We can’t do any of the same things in movies. Everything has to be subverted at some point, so the rules will always change, and we are living in a window of time where the rules are the way they are. Rigidity toward them though is surely the easiest way to crack.
Incredible watching this for free. Every field of study at universities should have a certain percentage of lectures be digital. For example 1 for each course, before being in the classroom. Bringing competition and raising the standard, and giving everyone some shared knowledge
The first part alone made me eliminate several characters from a story I'm working on. I thought that principal characters served the plot and that supporting characters fleshed out the world. Since every character must serve the plot...the list of characters has shrunk by quite a few. Thanks for the vid!
Eric Edson has no idea what he's talking about. He said "Thank you for your patience" He is so humble and has no clue that I would hang on his lips for hours! 😀 Best wishes from Switzerland and thank you a thousand times for this Masterclass for free on TH-cam) ♥
Although I watch other interviews from Film Courage, Eric Edson I can say I learned the most. I recorded all of his lectures and listen to em fanatically. Not a dull moment. I wish he was here in San Diego where Writing Classes are $$$, but I'd PAY for his classes.
First and foremost this man is a fantastic professor and secondarily it would be really nice if they gathered up all the people in Hollywood and force them to actually take his class
I really like how he described the difference between novels and visual storytelling at the beginning. As a novelist using Film Courage videos as part of my self-made creative writing curriculum (thanks for the opportunity Covid19) it was important to hear this in order to avoid becoming rigid in my writing by taking the screenwriting concepts as the only gospel truth for writing. The human mind is funny that way, preferring to filter down information as much as possible to a specific category (why social media works like a charm) and it’s important to realize this and not get stuck in a bubble of specific teachings (why the current academic system doesn’t work as well, generally).
Brilliant thought provoking teacher par excellence. He is so encyclopaedic and graphical in describing the nuances of every scene from a range of movies.
Hi Babu, Mr. Edson has a book he wrote entitled "The Story Solution" (link in the description) where he goes into detail on everything he highlights here.. We believe you will find all your answers there.
Mahalo. I learn more from these Film Courage lectures, than the six years spent in traditional college. Very specific. My character development is based upon experiences of heroines that I have spent time with, and these traits are apparent.
10:27 And that deluge of information is an amazingly double edged sword. On the one hand, you can fill it with so much sidebar information that you simply cannot put in a novel: it will be far too slow, and you can hide clues and layers in it that you could never do in a novel (the minute you spend words on it, everyone will notice it), but at the same time, you've got this massive channel of information that may or may not actually be usefull to telling the story that still has to be filled with stuff that is both reasonable, consistent and costs time and money to put in. A novelist can just about get away with saying the manor was an old imposing monolith festooned with peaks and lacy motifs along its eaves, that might have seemed elegant had they a fresh coat of paint. Boom, done! For a movie, someone has to find or build the cursed thing, and it will never be quite what you pictured in your head.
Great lecture. Character is everything. Will really have to dig into this book more. Get the character right and the rest will follow. Hopefully was successful in my current web series. Keep up the great videos
@@DBSG1976 Already filmed two episodes. Looking to shoot more as soon as all this mess is over. Check out my channel. Each episode is about 7 to 9 minutes which is about 5 to 7 pages. And character still matters.
What’s interesting is that Up can all be seen as either a way of letting go of the past, or as a metaphor in Russell taking or inciting Carl to the afterlife, in that Carl let’s go of all that had been keeping him from moving forward, and he finally leaves the house behind.
That's more than a masterclass! Thanks for sharing! I took notes of each tips. I will specially thank to you and Eric Edson for the insights in my first published story :)
The double meaning of Sideways is "drunk" as you properly pointed out and "the plan went sideways" as seen over the weekend in wine country. Awesome lesson though. I learned a lot. Wish I could be there in person.
After getting my diploma, my next agenda on the plan is to go to Toronto Film School and get that degree. Maybe work in Gaming as a Scriptwriter or become a Screenplay writer
Thank you so much Film Courage for these lectures. Looking forward to seeing more of these classes. His explanation is clear and precise. Guess I've found my online screenwriting Guru🙏 🙂 Respect!
Regarding the personification of the antagonist: I always hated when Star Trek introduced the Borg Queen to personify the Borg. They had been a cool concept, having no individuals and a collective mind. But with the queen it became cheap and boring.
I hear you and largely agree but when they first met the borg they spoke with an effect that hinted at all those in the borg speaking with one voice. A bit spooky if we was the borg inside all talking but with out that it felt like a congregation speaking scriptures and that felt more holy and Democratic. The one Queen thus felt more of a lateral move.
Locutus was the better adversary. If Picard remained that way it would have had more impact. Especially in the aftermath of Wolf 359, as the setup for Benjamin Sisko. This idea later got revisited in StarCraft's Kerrigan storyline. Hive mind but a single Antagonist for Jim Raynor. The love interest as the adversary drove that plot in the early games. Later on it was kind of drug out, but as a concept it was great storytelling.
If the queen is useless and irrational in the Borg "social" system, it must be said that the Borg themselves make no sense, because basing their species on biological organisms with an expiration date and then clearing the biological characteristics with electronic components, another criticism because stopping only at bipedal creatures, given the abilities of a Borg, even a mouse or an insect could have done the same by expanding the strategies of the community thanks to units with different characteristics.
Interesting point he made about character categories not changing. I wonder if that is specifically true for stand alone feature films and not TV shows. I've seen several TV shows where an adversary agent joins the heros side and it felt really good. Perhaps because TV shows allow deeper character development of several characters over the course of many episodes. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
I think he would say the role(adversary/ally) might change on the surface, the capability of that role change would need to be foreshadowed well. E.g, an adversary is an honorable enemy that is being lied to or manipulated, core interests aren’t diametrically opposed, but social circumstances are the obstacles, not the core characters.
@@techscw thank you so much for the reply. I've just started to learn more about writing films. I just need to Google all those terms to try and understand what that means. The example I'm thinking about is in the walking dead during the negan seasons, if you've ever seen those.
I too have a question mark hanging over that statement, partly because of stories I brought myself up on, and partly because of real life. Techscw has got to be right, in that any change has to be foreshadowed. I think of the Wizard of Oz, where the wizard turned out to be a little guy hiding behind a curtain. And most powerfully in my life, of my mother who appeared totally potent but now, 30 years after she died, I see as a beautiful lonely girl who did her utmost in a hard world. Neither really changed, but certainly seemed to. Life, hey.
One of the greatest monologues of all time was in Sideways. When he likened himself through the subtext of the delicate and weak nature of Pinot grapes. 😊
the most useful knowledge for writers, what a great teacher! I need the list of the movies, as his students I haven't watched no even half of them! but I will buy the book because it is all so interesting, thank you!
Good Will Hunting doesn’t have an adversary person, I believe, but correct me if I’m wrong. The antagonistic force in that movie is fear of rejection. However, there are people Will perceives as adversary figures, even though the audience understand that they only want the best for him. I believe this is why people have started saying “antagonistic force” instead of “antagonist”.
I'm currently attempting a script that is an "antagonist force". It feels like there's not much advice about it, its all about a physical entity being the antagonist.
For those who are confused when he said the character categories don't change, I think he refers to mainstream Hollywood films with good box office performance (as mentioned in his previous video on screenplay story structure).
LOL Every time that Eric asks "have you ever seen this movie?" the students are like ??? They must be in their first semester... or maybe he confused the classroom for the cinema studies with the driving school.
1:13:45 Speculation: the sidekick must remain loyal to the hero's heroic self. I could see a scene where the sidekick rejects something the protagonist is wanting to do being used as a potential wake-up call for the hero, where either they must reject that thing to become heroic, or it's the tipping point for their tragic decline.
@@ScribblebytesWorldwide Snake from Harry Potter. He constantly changes. Magneto in X-men, Harvey Dent in 'Dark Knight', Jack Nicholson in The Shining, the winter soldier in 'Captain America' etc etc.
(I'm making the mistake of answering you while only being 20 minutes into the lecture, so I'll delete this if Eric raises more points about characters never changing category - just wanted to write this out) I agree there are plenty of characters changing from category / alignment in great movies, but the issue that's raised here is specifically the hero changing mid-movie. It might not be impossible to pull off, but logically it is a lot trickier to change such an important person as the hero, than e.g. changing an ally to a villain. All the emotional build-up you've done for the main hero is hard to transfer over to a different person all of a sudden. None (except perhaps Jack) of the characters mentioned in this thread so far are the main hero of the movie they're in. Darth Vader: the transition from hero to villain doesn't happen within one of the initial three movies, and I'm not sure the prequels count as movies that connected very well with an audience in the way Eric describes them. Zuko: Absolutely amazing character and change from villain to ally, but it's not in a feature film. This doesn't happen over the course of 2 hours, but over numerous seasons of a series. Snake, Harvey Dent and the winter soldier are not "the main hero" changing into a villain or the hero seat being swapped with someone else, which is why I think they work just fine. I don't fully recall how Magneto's change in X-men is played out, but I again don't think he was the main hero. Jack Nicholson is a very interesting example. I haven't seen the Shining (blasphemy, I know) but that one might be a good case for a hero going through a categorical change... although of course I can't tell till I've watched it.
Glad you enjoyed this one Dannielle! Here is Eric's first class ‘Learning Screenplay Story Structure’ - th-cam.com/video/iywvNIWKbPI/w-d-xo.html (in case you haven't seen it and were interested)
I love Mr Edson's style of lecturing, he just draws me in. I do have a question though. I another lecture he spends some time discussing Erin Brockovich; who or what was Erin's adversary? I assumed it was the "idea" of the faceless corporation., but it appears that I was wrong in that assumption.
Here is a video where Professor Edson talks about the script for Erin Brockovich by writer Susannah Grant. Thank you for watching!: th-cam.com/video/UcfuCuA8MGk/w-d-xo.html
I'm not a George Clooney fan, to put it mildly and politely. But Michael Clayton was one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Tilda Swinton was friggin' amazing. What she did with the limited screentime her character has was nothing less than genius.
Awesome lecture, although I laughed at 10:20 when he says that cinema is the ''most overwhelming and personally involving art form so far'' - the poor man never played videogames XD
No, he is right. Like he says, a movie has two hours to throw a full story, from character introduction to a satisfying end, at you. You just can't do that in a videogame. Players will play at their own pace. Gameplay sequences will contribute to the tone, style and feel. A movie doesn't have that luxury. That's why it's the most overwhelming medium: it must do everything at once in a very short time
@@diersteinjulien6773 Oh I misunderstood, I thought he was talking about the audience (or player) not the creator. And in that sense videogames certainly destroys movies in that regard (or at least the great ones)
@@crazyneonate8626 he's, in my opinion, talking about both sides. Movies are the most concentrated medium, because they have to deliver everything fast, and it has to be received equally fast, meaning both sides have to deal with an overwhelming amount of stuff at once, and nothing can be wasted. A good videogame can certainly get you also very invested, but the experience is much more diluted. It's more comparable to a TV serie, where you can explore side characters in more details, with side-quests and optional routes. If you compare a movie to a videogame, it's basicaly "only the main quest's cutscenes, no gameplay, no side content, no playable boss fight". And it still has to be good and enjoyable.
Alright I get what he meant and within those parameters it's true. As far as your comment, it could be argued that the best videogames don't tell their stories with cutscenes but with the gameplay itself though. Again, not all or even most videogames but there a slew of games where experiencing it is the story, and how you feel about it is intimately linked to the fact that YOU were the protagonist. A couple of great examples are Soma, What remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home, The walking Dead, Frost punk, Firewatch and others. Those games don't have sidequests or bossfight and very very little storytelling outside what you do (except The Walking Dead)
@@crazyneonate8626 Out of those, I only played two: What remained of Edith Finch.... which I really didn't like. I want my games to have gameplay, but it was just a super linear walking simulator with different "worlds" that really were just gimmicks with minimal gameplay. Interesting in a way, but very quickly repetitive. I much preferred Obra Dihn or Painscreek Killings, which required you to think. And Frostpunk... which I also didn't like. And when you think about it, Frostpunk has no story, it's basicaly "survive" at the beginning, and "well... you survived" at the end. It's only you VS the setting of the game, no characters or anything. So... the storytelling of games and movies is radicaly different. It's really hard to compare the two.
Start with the 4 humors. Irish setter: " can't we all just along here?". 2. The great Dane. The boss man: " my way or the hi way." 3. The standard poddle. Things have to be done the right way.: "No. I think that picture is a little crooked". For good measure, 2 and 3 are often at odds. The 3rd, The Yorkie: The mischive maker, who puts 2 and 3 together so he can watch the fur fly.
![Learning Screenplay Story Structure - Eric Edson [Full Version - Screenwriting Masterclass]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/iywvNIWKbPI/mqdefault.jpg)
![Learning Screenplay Story Structure - Eric Edson [Full Version - Screenwriting Masterclass]](/img/tr.png)
**WATCH** Eric Edson’s first class ‘Learning Screenplay Story Structure’ - th-cam.com/video/iywvNIWKbPI/w-d-xo.html
This clases are a goldmine. Hope to see Edson again
@@davidparker7216 iiiiiiiii
@@davidparker7216 iiiii
@@davidparker7216 iiiii
@@davidparker7216 i
25:42 Adversary. Personification of unbeatable opposition for the Hero.
51:25 Love interest. Pushes the Hero into character growth through sexual conquest.
1:13:05 Sidekick. Remains loyal and provides counsel.
1:22:17 Mentor. Passes skills, wisdom or life-saving gift.
1:33:28 Endangered innocent. Provides strong subplot with the goal and the ticking clock.
Other 9 categories: the Hero, gate guardian, adversary agent, independent troublemaker, comparison ally, comic ally, hopeful savior, cheerleader ally, helper-follower ally.
All characters contribute to the story, except atmosphere ones. Characters never change category, only hide intent.
Michael Goncharov thank you
Thank you
Cheers lad
Thanks for notes
Is there a diagram or a picture for these 14 characters? Because I can't find any online.
0:00 👉 14 Characters
17:27👉 5 hero traits
25:42👉 writing the antagonist
51:25👉 Love interest
1:13:05👉Writing the sidekick
1:22:17👉 Writing the mentor
1:33:28👉 Endangered innocent
Thank you very much.
Thank you 🙏
This channel is seriously awesome! FULL lectures from masters of screenwriting is not just usefull, its honestly motivating. Especially during those "stay home" times. Thanks for that
Thanks, we appreciate you spending time on this channel. Stay safe and keep creating!
@@filmcourage @36 - 50 - Sideways was a depressing film. The whole premise - Guys, when you are dumped, get over it.
The closest thing to the female version would be ''The Upside of anger'' - only the ex husband doesn't get a happy ending
@@filmcourage @57:00 - the wife is the endangered innocent? When the men are the ones in danger? For you to even suggest that is sad (with a capital P and a small ''athetic'')
@@citycrusher9308 So are you saying that the wife/kids will hardly notice if their husband/father are killed in space?
I’m really learning so much
I would watch Eric Edson's classes for hours! He is so humble and smart. I would like to see him more often in Film Courage.
Good teachers are things we all cherish and remember from our days in class, but Professor Edson brings teaching to an entirely new level. This is real teaching.
Agreed
Is this information right though? Or is it right now? There are surely fixed Aristotelian laws being described, but essentially conventional teaching on writing will always be a matter of the mentors preceding the instructor. In a small town where many have had the same mentors, something that’s simply right now, can be perceived as something that is right.
We can’t do any of the same things in movies. Everything has to be subverted at some point, so the rules will always change, and we are living in a window of time where the rules are the way they are. Rigidity toward them though is surely the easiest way to crack.
just told my wife that a Spouse is not a valid love interest, which has transformed her into my unbeatable adversary and me a tragic hero.
Incredible watching this for free. Every field of study at universities should have a certain percentage of lectures be digital. For example 1 for each course, before being in the classroom. Bringing competition and raising the standard, and giving everyone some shared knowledge
He's the best lecturer on screenwriting and this is the best channel for filmmaking. Thank you!
Cheers!
Jill Chamberlain is much better (she has videos on here) and she makes a great case for what she says.
@@poeticalgore6500what does she do better?
The passion this guy exudes makes me want to listen to him all day.
I could listen to this Prof throughout the day. Made me miss class all over again ❤🙏👌
I'm so glad to be able to hear this wisdom since this quality of teaching was not available in my liberal arts College.
I can not articulate how valuable these videos are. Thank you so much. For anyone else reading, Keep Creating! Tell your stories like only you can
Great to see you finding value here Amira! Also great to see that we aren't the only ones who enjoyed this class!
A great man analyzing great films with great insight into them, is a truly great thing. I almost feel like tearing up during each film summary.
Which part of this lecture was most helpful to you?
You know, You know, from beginning to end!
The first part alone made me eliminate several characters from a story I'm working on. I thought that principal characters served the plot and that supporting characters fleshed out the world. Since every character must serve the plot...the list of characters has shrunk by quite a few. Thanks for the vid!
story structure
The types and purposes of the characters, the traits that must exist to properly create them, and the examples given for each.
Cannot wait to watch the other categories features🌹❤️ hope for it!
Eric Edson is everything you want in an educator! Fantastic!
Absolutely
100%
Eric Edson has no idea what he's talking about. He said "Thank you for your patience" He is so humble and has no clue that I would hang on his lips for hours! 😀 Best wishes from Switzerland and thank you a thousand times for this Masterclass for free on TH-cam) ♥
No clue at all. For hours and hours and hours ❤👌
Although I watch other interviews from Film Courage, Eric Edson I can say I learned the most. I recorded all of his lectures and listen to em fanatically. Not a dull moment. I wish he was here in San Diego where Writing Classes are $$$, but I'd PAY for his classes.
First and foremost this man is a fantastic professor and secondarily it would be really nice if they gathered up all the people in Hollywood and force them to actually take his class
The last thing we want is those lunatics to insinuate their propaganda subtlety in a competent story.
@@incognitomcde1360 XD
You think more than 10% of them are clever enough to learn anything?
This channel keeps giving me so much to work with.
Professor Edson is such an excellent teacher! All of the examples make the theory so clear. Thank you for this!
I learn so much here! Thank you! Without you, I would never have the chance to listen to Prof. Edson.
I really like how he described the difference between novels and visual storytelling at the beginning. As a novelist using Film Courage videos as part of my self-made creative writing curriculum (thanks for the opportunity Covid19) it was important to hear this in order to avoid becoming rigid in my writing by taking the screenwriting concepts as the only gospel truth for writing. The human mind is funny that way, preferring to filter down information as much as possible to a specific category (why social media works like a charm) and it’s important to realize this and not get stuck in a bubble of specific teachings (why the current academic system doesn’t work as well, generally).
Thank you to everyone involved in allowing me access to this video. I just learned so much I will be rewatching this over and over!
Thanks for Sharing Eric's invaluable knowledge. This video is a Master Class!!!
Glad it was helpful!
Screenwriting Lectures are my guilty pleasure, thank you for this :)
I was a Hemingway fan too in my teens but remember Pilar younger. All his books very full of imagery
Only 1 person had read "For Whom the Bell Tolls." I can feel his inward groan.
Brilliant thought provoking teacher par excellence. He is so encyclopaedic and graphical in describing the nuances of every scene from a range of movies.
Thank you, professor. I thoroughly enjoyed your lecture. I will be watching it again and again.
Thanks for posting Robert, we are glad you discovered this one.
I wanna thankyou guys for uploading
This on youtube for free
I finished it in one sitting
amazing teacher
Keep doing the good work
Hi Babu, Mr. Edson has a book he wrote entitled "The Story Solution" (link in the description) where he goes into detail on everything he highlights here.. We believe you will find all your answers there.
The best part is from 00:00 to 1:48:36
Thank you so much!
Cheers Gerardo! Thanks for watching!
What a gem. This is golden content from Prof Edson. Thank you.
Thanks for watching Jordan!
Awsome lecture! I'm Hooked. In the story whether good or bad, write each character with a purpose. It has to move the story.
Mahalo. I learn more from these Film Courage lectures, than the six years spent in traditional college. Very specific. My character development is based upon experiences of heroines that I have spent time with, and these traits are apparent.
The interviews are good. But actual course lectures and syllabi would be a great addition to this channel.
“No side trips”, except in The Godfather Part II. And, therein lies the danger of ‘rules’. Great lecture though and a great teacher. Great series!
@Jessie Robert DeNiro
@@william5159 Its not a side-trip... Its two stories mirroring eachother simultaneously.
@@derrickdd Good point. Perhaps I misunderstood the original point. Cheers, I will re-watch the video.
Films have evolved though to be more like episodic novels in the last few decades and seasons of series have become the norm
I love these full lectures! :)
Cheers Camron! This is the last of what we have for now. Hopefully we'll sit in on some other classes in the future.
Absolutely, I'm addicted to ALL this knowledge #BingeWatching
Me too .. i hope I can study there 😫 🙏
Me too! 😍
Just finished reading Eric Edson's book for the third time in three years. Still very informative and entertaining.
@@babumurugesan6977
Helper-follower ally is an ally who follows the hero and assists them. Think Trinity in the Matrix.
Cheerleader ally is a person who cheers the hero on. They provide encouragement but not much else.
A hopeful savior is a an ally who provides hope. Think the Oracle in the Matrix. She is in disguise at first and seems to be discouraging.
The comic ally is a friend of the hero who provides comic relief.
He has a book you should buy.
This video has helped me more than words describe......
Thoroughly enjoying these lectures. Delighted to have found them. Thank you.
You're most welcome!
10:27 And that deluge of information is an amazingly double edged sword. On the one hand, you can fill it with so much sidebar information that you simply cannot put in a novel: it will be far too slow, and you can hide clues and layers in it that you could never do in a novel (the minute you spend words on it, everyone will notice it), but at the same time, you've got this massive channel of information that may or may not actually be usefull to telling the story that still has to be filled with stuff that is both reasonable, consistent and costs time and money to put in.
A novelist can just about get away with saying the manor was an old imposing monolith festooned with peaks and lacy motifs along its eaves, that might have seemed elegant had they a fresh coat of paint.
Boom, done!
For a movie, someone has to find or build the cursed thing, and it will never be quite what you pictured in your head.
Great lecture. Character is everything. Will really have to dig into this book more. Get the character right and the rest will follow. Hopefully was successful in my current web series. Keep up the great videos
Are you writing a web series or writing/in production of one? How many pages are you writing per episode?
@@DBSG1976 Already filmed two episodes. Looking to shoot more as soon as all this mess is over. Check out my channel. Each episode is about 7 to 9 minutes which is about 5 to 7 pages. And character still matters.
What’s interesting is that Up can all be seen as either a way of letting go of the past, or as a metaphor in Russell taking or inciting Carl to the afterlife, in that Carl let’s go of all that had been keeping him from moving forward, and he finally leaves the house behind.
That's more than a masterclass! Thanks for sharing! I took notes of each tips. I will specially thank to you and Eric Edson for the insights in my first published story :)
The double meaning of Sideways is "drunk" as you properly pointed out and "the plan went sideways" as seen over the weekend in wine country. Awesome lesson though. I learned a lot. Wish I could be there in person.
After getting my diploma, my next agenda on the plan is to go to Toronto Film School and get that degree.
Maybe work in Gaming as a Scriptwriter or become a Screenplay writer
Thank you so much Film Courage for these lectures. Looking forward to seeing more of these classes. His explanation is clear and precise. Guess I've found my online screenwriting Guru🙏 🙂
Respect!
Glad you like them! You are very welcome. We are honored to have sat in on Professor Edson's CSUN class. Appreciate the compliment.
I love this man and how he teaches.
Thank you and God bless,
Regarding the personification of the antagonist: I always hated when Star Trek introduced the Borg Queen to personify the Borg. They had been a cool concept, having no individuals and a collective mind. But with the queen it became cheap and boring.
I hear you and largely agree but when they first met the borg they spoke with an effect that hinted at all those in the borg speaking with one voice. A bit spooky if we was the borg inside all talking but with out that it felt like a congregation speaking scriptures and that felt more holy and Democratic. The one Queen thus felt more of a lateral move.
Locutus was the better adversary. If Picard remained that way it would have had more impact. Especially in the aftermath of Wolf 359, as the setup for Benjamin Sisko.
This idea later got revisited in StarCraft's Kerrigan storyline. Hive mind but a single Antagonist for Jim Raynor. The love interest as the adversary drove that plot in the early games. Later on it was kind of drug out, but as a concept it was great storytelling.
I wouldn't say "cheap and boring", but it definitely did not make sense.
If the queen is useless and irrational in the Borg "social" system, it must be said that the Borg themselves make no sense, because basing their species on biological organisms with an expiration date and then clearing the biological characteristics with electronic components, another criticism because stopping only at bipedal creatures, given the abilities of a Borg, even a mouse or an insect could have done the same by expanding the strategies of the community thanks to units with different characteristics.
@@Antonio_DG I agree, they are just Star Treks version of Dr. Who's Cybermen.
Mr. Edson is a great mentor please upload more videos of him.
Hi Sasan, here are all of our uploads with Eric Edson - rb.gy/uq08qy
Great lesson. Very charismatic and motivating professor. That's the way!
Interesting point he made about character categories not changing. I wonder if that is specifically true for stand alone feature films and not TV shows. I've seen several TV shows where an adversary agent joins the heros side and it felt really good. Perhaps because TV shows allow deeper character development of several characters over the course of many episodes. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
I think he would say the role(adversary/ally) might change on the surface, the capability of that role change would need to be foreshadowed well. E.g, an adversary is an honorable enemy that is being lied to or manipulated, core interests aren’t diametrically opposed, but social circumstances are the obstacles, not the core characters.
@@techscw thank you so much for the reply. I've just started to learn more about writing films. I just need to Google all those terms to try and understand what that means. The example I'm thinking about is in the walking dead during the negan seasons, if you've ever seen those.
I too have a question mark hanging over that statement, partly because of stories I brought myself up on, and partly because of real life. Techscw has got to be right, in that any change has to be foreshadowed. I think of the Wizard of Oz, where the wizard turned out to be a little guy hiding behind a curtain. And most powerfully in my life, of my mother who appeared totally potent but now, 30 years after she died, I see as a beautiful lonely girl who did her utmost in a hard world. Neither really changed, but certainly seemed to. Life, hey.
This is gold! Thank you for helping!
Cheers!
One of the greatest monologues of all time was in Sideways. When he likened himself through the subtext of the delicate and weak nature of Pinot grapes. 😊
the most useful knowledge for writers, what a great teacher! I need the list of the movies, as his students I haven't watched no even half of them! but I will buy the book because it is all so interesting, thank you!
I’ve learned more from this video than I did from my 2yr screenwriting degree
Great lectures always learn something new. Thank you Professor Edson.
Good Will Hunting doesn’t have an adversary person, I believe, but correct me if I’m wrong. The antagonistic force in that movie is fear of rejection. However, there are people Will perceives as adversary figures, even though the audience understand that they only want the best for him. I believe this is why people have started saying “antagonistic force” instead of “antagonist”.
I'm currently attempting a script that is an "antagonist force". It feels like there's not much advice about it, its all about a physical entity being the antagonist.
One thing also that is a must is to see irish shorts and know Eamonn Owens movies. It opens your mind really
So great, excellent job Eric Edson!!!!
For those who are confused when he said the character categories don't change, I think he refers to mainstream Hollywood films with good box office performance (as mentioned in his previous video on screenplay story structure).
I can watch this over and over - sooo good!
Great lecture - its also very helpful for comic scripts, as Im writing it similar to a screenplay
Superb upload. Can't thank you enough for the fundamentals this channel has helped expose people to.
Music plays an unbelievably additional role in any movie.
Excellent - absolutely excellent. Thank you all for sharing this
Thank you for this lesson. I hope that in future ones the other character types will be discussed.
LOL Every time that Eric asks "have you ever seen this movie?" the students are like ??? They must be in their first semester... or maybe he confused the classroom for the cinema studies with the driving school.
I would love to hear him transition into going over traffic regulations after the first hour
“Uh, sir, this is an AA meeting”
Shameful how illiterate and icinemated they aré.
@@anavonrebeur6121 yeah you would think for a screenwriting “masterclass” they would know their classic films. Should be a prerequisite lol
@@brianregan75 its torture for the teacher haaa
35:41 Sideways correction: Budget $16 million. Opening weekend $207,000. US gross $72M. Worldwide gross $110 million. (IMDB Pro)
1:13:45 Speculation: the sidekick must remain loyal to the hero's heroic self. I could see a scene where the sidekick rejects something the protagonist is wanting to do being used as a potential wake-up call for the hero, where either they must reject that thing to become heroic, or it's the tipping point for their tragic decline.
Can you please provide video with slide show as you did with the story structure lecture ?
Thank you
So a character can't change category? Huh? There are plenty of great movies where a bad guy, henchman or ally turns from bad to good, or vice versa.
Like what?
@@ScribblebytesWorldwide Darth Vader
@@ScribblebytesWorldwide zuko
@@ScribblebytesWorldwide Snake from Harry Potter. He constantly changes. Magneto in X-men, Harvey Dent in 'Dark Knight', Jack Nicholson in The Shining, the winter soldier in 'Captain America' etc etc.
(I'm making the mistake of answering you while only being 20 minutes into the lecture, so I'll delete this if Eric raises more points about characters never changing category - just wanted to write this out)
I agree there are plenty of characters changing from category / alignment in great movies, but the issue that's raised here is specifically the hero changing mid-movie. It might not be impossible to pull off, but logically it is a lot trickier to change such an important person as the hero, than e.g. changing an ally to a villain. All the emotional build-up you've done for the main hero is hard to transfer over to a different person all of a sudden.
None (except perhaps Jack) of the characters mentioned in this thread so far are the main hero of the movie they're in.
Darth Vader: the transition from hero to villain doesn't happen within one of the initial three movies, and I'm not sure the prequels count as movies that connected very well with an audience in the way Eric describes them.
Zuko: Absolutely amazing character and change from villain to ally, but it's not in a feature film. This doesn't happen over the course of 2 hours, but over numerous seasons of a series.
Snake, Harvey Dent and the winter soldier are not "the main hero" changing into a villain or the hero seat being swapped with someone else, which is why I think they work just fine.
I don't fully recall how Magneto's change in X-men is played out, but I again don't think he was the main hero.
Jack Nicholson is a very interesting example. I haven't seen the Shining (blasphemy, I know) but that one might be a good case for a hero going through a categorical change... although of course I can't tell till I've watched it.
This was wonderful! Thank you for putting this series together
This was captivating! Snagging the book! thank you for such outstanding teaching
Glad you enjoyed this one Dannielle! Here is Eric's first class ‘Learning Screenplay Story Structure’ - th-cam.com/video/iywvNIWKbPI/w-d-xo.html (in case you haven't seen it and were interested)
Thanks for sharing this. It is gold.
I can't here for knows how, but the lecture was so good I had to stay.
This was exactly what I needed. Thank you.
Watched this all the way through
I love Mr Edson's style of lecturing, he just draws me in. I do have a question though. I another lecture he spends some time discussing Erin Brockovich; who or what was Erin's adversary? I assumed it was the "idea" of the faceless corporation., but it appears that I was wrong in that assumption.
Here is a video where Professor Edson talks about the script for Erin Brockovich by writer Susannah Grant. Thank you for watching!: th-cam.com/video/UcfuCuA8MGk/w-d-xo.html
Really enjoying these lectures - very helpful. Thank You.
Great, glad to see you find these Chris!
Thanks to professor and to your incredible channel. 💯😃
Thanks Ahmad, we are incredibly grateful to Professor Edson for providing us this opportunity to share his teachings. Love that you found this one.
I'm not a George Clooney fan, to put it mildly and politely. But Michael Clayton was one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Tilda Swinton was friggin' amazing. What she did with the limited screentime her character has was nothing less than genius.
thank you especially for the subtitles.
ur welcome
Film courage thankyou so much for providing great lectures from the masters ....
Could you please upload the 2nd part of the video where we could learn the qualities of other characters.
Good lecture. One question, in a movie like Forest Gump who is the adversary character?
in the several versions of war and peace there is this character called Petya Rostov that changes role at the end
OMG I have a list of movies to watch after this!
Awesome lecture, although I laughed at 10:20 when he says that cinema is the ''most overwhelming and personally involving art form so far'' - the poor man never played videogames XD
No, he is right.
Like he says, a movie has two hours to throw a full story, from character introduction to a satisfying end, at you.
You just can't do that in a videogame. Players will play at their own pace. Gameplay sequences will contribute to the tone, style and feel. A movie doesn't have that luxury. That's why it's the most overwhelming medium: it must do everything at once in a very short time
@@diersteinjulien6773 Oh I misunderstood, I thought he was talking about the audience (or player) not the creator. And in that sense videogames certainly destroys movies in that regard (or at least the great ones)
@@crazyneonate8626 he's, in my opinion, talking about both sides. Movies are the most concentrated medium, because they have to deliver everything fast, and it has to be received equally fast, meaning both sides have to deal with an overwhelming amount of stuff at once, and nothing can be wasted.
A good videogame can certainly get you also very invested, but the experience is much more diluted. It's more comparable to a TV serie, where you can explore side characters in more details, with side-quests and optional routes.
If you compare a movie to a videogame, it's basicaly "only the main quest's cutscenes, no gameplay, no side content, no playable boss fight". And it still has to be good and enjoyable.
Alright I get what he meant and within those parameters it's true. As far as your comment, it could be argued that the best videogames don't tell their stories with cutscenes but with the gameplay itself though. Again, not all or even most videogames but there a slew of games where experiencing it is the story, and how you feel about it is intimately linked to the fact that YOU were the protagonist. A couple of great examples are Soma, What remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home, The walking Dead, Frost punk, Firewatch and others. Those games don't have sidequests or bossfight and very very little storytelling outside what you do (except The Walking Dead)
@@crazyneonate8626 Out of those, I only played two:
What remained of Edith Finch.... which I really didn't like. I want my games to have gameplay, but it was just a super linear walking simulator with different "worlds" that really were just gimmicks with minimal gameplay. Interesting in a way, but very quickly repetitive. I much preferred Obra Dihn or Painscreek Killings, which required you to think.
And Frostpunk... which I also didn't like. And when you think about it, Frostpunk has no story, it's basicaly "survive" at the beginning, and "well... you survived" at the end. It's only you VS the setting of the game, no characters or anything.
So... the storytelling of games and movies is radicaly different. It's really hard to compare the two.
This is awesome. I learned so much.
This is very good. Lots of great examples
He's giving me strong Bob Ross vibes. Love it.
Start with the 4 humors. Irish setter: " can't we all just along here?". 2. The great Dane. The boss man: " my way or the hi way." 3. The standard poddle. Things have to be done the right way.: "No. I think that picture is a little crooked". For good measure, 2 and 3 are often at odds. The 3rd, The Yorkie: The mischive maker, who puts 2 and 3 together so he can watch the fur fly.
Great stuff! What if the adversary is alcoholism?
I watch these all the time.
Thank you for visiting with us!
Enjoyed the humor in this very good
Tywin Lannister teaches screen writing
Outstanding fresh perspectives.
Fantastic! Need more of this!
Thanks! Not sure if you saw the first class? - th-cam.com/video/iywvNIWKbPI/w-d-xo.html