The Two Layers of the Screenplay
I'm still trying to fully understand what this means. I've always written stories in school just by writing whatever popped in my head as I went along, so the idea of crafting or designing a story ahead of time seems foreign. How does one go about designing a story? I have an example of something I'm messing around with right now:
This is the series of events:
-A doctor working on a cloning experiment donates his cells to be grown and duplicated.
-He talks lackadaisically about the experiment and his clone. He seems indifferent.
-The fetus turns into a baby and he grows fond of the clone.
-The clone is selected to be destroyed.
-Doctor kidnaps baby and escapes from facility.
-Other stuff happens.(?)
Is this an example of designing a story? Should I know the ending already, or should I have known it from the start? Any other comments? I'm reading Story right now so I'm definitely thinking about this stuff. Hope I'm not hijacking the thread, but I can't even answer the question until I understand it.
I understand how it seems confusing and contradictory. McKee's interview flipflops Marshall McLuhan's "The medium is not the message"--ie., the story is independent of the vehicle (TV, book, etc.). McKee sees screenplays as different from books from a structural, formal view. However, he also later (and in other places) emphasizes the importance of 'the story'.
A story has two components--the parts we see (events) and the parts we feel inside (theme/drama). In your summary above you are starting to pick up that distinction. The scientist's 'character arc' has him start as dispassionate but slowly become more parental and protective. We see the events, but we also feel inside how he must be struggling with killing part of himself. That inner conflict is the piece that must be resolved.
Do you need to know the ending events? Not immediately. But if you look at your drama, how do you see the issue resolving for the 'father'? Whether the clone is destroyed or lives, he must come to grips with what he is feeling. That is the closure the audience needs. This part you need to have a sense of how you want it to end. All the action scenes are just eye candy. It draws people in at first, but it's superficial. Truly powerful shows combine action with depth.
Avatar is a good example. While the visual effects were stunning, each year studios up the effects. What makes it enduring is it touched on many personal levels--relationships, spirituality, etc. Before it, there was the Matrix which challenged us to think about the nature of reality and causality.
I ran across a quote that I agree with:
"If you want a bit of unresolved PLOT, knock yourself out, BUT don't you dare unresolve your THEME . The audience requires THEME. And if you don't have your WHY? there, then you don't have your THEME"
-Margueritte Pigott at the WILDsound February Event
Ms. Pigott has a whole set of industry credentials behind her being active in the field with several produced movies, TV series, and working as an industry executive.
So your idea has two parts: the subjective/thematic part (parenthood) and the objective/events (clone experiment). You need to nail the first. Decide what message you want to convey about parenting a child or himself and resolve it in your own mind. The events (cloning, government agents, etc.) then just topple like dominoes towards an end. Though a good craftsman will think how to lay out the dominoes to fall in an artistic way. It doesn't necessarily need to be 'a twist' as long as it's done thoughtfully. "Flowers for Algernon" we know he's made a genius and then loses it. It's how he copes with that loss that creates the story.
So yes, you do need to know how your theme will end, but the actual "events" that appear you will find you tinker with endlessly. And in the end, the director and/or producer will likely change your script anyway (the visual "events") to realize their film within budget. Enduring films are ones that address the "Why?" as well as give us brilliant cinematography. The screenwriter is limited partner though unless you are also involved in production.
