hey, i'm a newbie here and have recently started writing my first screenplay with a friend of mine. For the screenplay we are working on, we want to keep our audience one step behind us up until we reveal our plot twist. Now my question is, does anyone have any tips on writing plot twists? If anyone has tried their hands at one and discovered any helpful hints. Thanks in advance and congrats on the site, its very informative
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Plot Twists
- Thread starter Dimp Paddy
- Start date
Becaue you havnt given specifics, neither can I. No that I want to write your script for you.
-foreshadow the twist so you dont cheat the audience. give several subtle clues or hints without actully making it predictable - not easy at all(million ways to do this, but it is a balancing act)
-make sure everything is integrated. otherwise may seem contrived.
-scripts success shouldnt rely solely on tiwst. otherwise its just a gimmick. script should be successful even without twist.
-twist better be logical and not as the result of amazing coincidence.
-twist should be original, lots of "twists" out there (seems to be very popular these days, everyone wants their script to have twist, plenty of great stories do not, not that twists are bad - Im just sayin)
-rarely do people react to a twist the way you want, like "oh my god thats BRILLIANT" it happens rarely. sure theres some recent movies, but theyre the exception - keep that in mind. If people detect that your trying to manipulate them, theyll turn against you.
Once you write it and ask people to read it, dont mention at all that there is a twist. otherwise theyll look for it.
-foreshadow the twist so you dont cheat the audience. give several subtle clues or hints without actully making it predictable - not easy at all(million ways to do this, but it is a balancing act)
-make sure everything is integrated. otherwise may seem contrived.
-scripts success shouldnt rely solely on tiwst. otherwise its just a gimmick. script should be successful even without twist.
-twist better be logical and not as the result of amazing coincidence.
-twist should be original, lots of "twists" out there (seems to be very popular these days, everyone wants their script to have twist, plenty of great stories do not, not that twists are bad - Im just sayin)
-rarely do people react to a twist the way you want, like "oh my god thats BRILLIANT" it happens rarely. sure theres some recent movies, but theyre the exception - keep that in mind. If people detect that your trying to manipulate them, theyll turn against you.
Once you write it and ask people to read it, dont mention at all that there is a twist. otherwise theyll look for it.
Check out this book from your local library. Or buy it. I got lucky and found it at a garage sale for $.50.
It gives a bunch of helpful tips about screenplay structure, foreshadowing, motifs, scene sequences, etc.
The 1st edition (the one I own) is dated (came out in '87, it speaks about rumors of a Back to the Future sequel), but I'm sure the 2nd edition is more up to date.
Poke
It gives a bunch of helpful tips about screenplay structure, foreshadowing, motifs, scene sequences, etc.
The 1st edition (the one I own) is dated (came out in '87, it speaks about rumors of a Back to the Future sequel), but I'm sure the 2nd edition is more up to date.
Poke
A good plot twist works by DIVERSION - you focus the audience's attention away from the truth - even though it's always there. So the big question is - What is your diversion?
Tip from the vaults on the subject:
http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip174.htm
- Bill
Tip from the vaults on the subject:
http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip174.htm
- Bill
wow, thanks heaps everyone, you've helped out greatly, thanks a lot!
Diversion
A lot of the basics have all been covered, but what may help you is to remember that an audience will always try to second guess what is about to happen next in the movie.
The diversion that sets up the twist is about leading the audience to solve the question, "what happens next?", in a way that makes sense to them, with the information that you've given them. The twist comes when you present them with an alternative that makes MORE sense, when they have all the information.
The tricky part with this, is doing it without losing the audience. You have to keep both your diversion and your twist as simple as possible. How many times have you sat next to someone in the movies, who is always asking, what's happening or why did that happen, even with really obvious storylines. It is all too easy to confuse the audience. I speak from personal experience, when I say that nothing is more frustrating than walking out of your premiere listening to people say "Did you understand any of that? I didn't get it."
A lot of the basics have all been covered, but what may help you is to remember that an audience will always try to second guess what is about to happen next in the movie.
The diversion that sets up the twist is about leading the audience to solve the question, "what happens next?", in a way that makes sense to them, with the information that you've given them. The twist comes when you present them with an alternative that makes MORE sense, when they have all the information.
The tricky part with this, is doing it without losing the audience. You have to keep both your diversion and your twist as simple as possible. How many times have you sat next to someone in the movies, who is always asking, what's happening or why did that happen, even with really obvious storylines. It is all too easy to confuse the audience. I speak from personal experience, when I say that nothing is more frustrating than walking out of your premiere listening to people say "Did you understand any of that? I didn't get it."
My two cents. I think you should watch movies with plot twist that worked and plot twist that didn't.
Ones that worked.
Just Cause
Fight Club
Sixth Sense
Usual Suspects
Primal Fear
Ones that didn't
Out Of Time
Jason X (sorry to put you through this one)
Any movie with Hugh Grant.
I guess the thing you will probably see in these that work is one thing. It was there all along. After you watch it you want to watch it again to see what you will pick up on now. It can't be a "yeah right" twist but it also can't be a "boy that a surpise"*sarcasm* either. Work it through read it out and see what happens.
Ones that worked.
Just Cause
Fight Club
Sixth Sense
Usual Suspects
Primal Fear
Ones that didn't
Out Of Time
Jason X (sorry to put you through this one)
Any movie with Hugh Grant.
I guess the thing you will probably see in these that work is one thing. It was there all along. After you watch it you want to watch it again to see what you will pick up on now. It can't be a "yeah right" twist but it also can't be a "boy that a surpise"*sarcasm* either. Work it through read it out and see what happens.
