3 Rules Beginning Screenwriters Need To Know - Dr. Ken Atchity 

That person lurking in the background is a horror movie of its own

I tend to struggle mightily if I try to write for the amorphous blob that is "the audience" but I have tremendous success if I can narrow my focus to an individual to be my audience, like trying to write a short story my mom would enjoy reading and having her in mind throughout that writing process.

All my attention went to the person walking in the door and moving around in the back ground. And that just taught me another important thing about 'movies', or how the mind works. When dude roaming around in the back ground, whatever Dr Ken was saying became gurgle...

"The audience is the main character." Genius 👍🏾

True gem of an advice!

This is such a profound video.

Yeah .The audience is the key ,just like the customer is the most important character in a business.

3:09 horror movie stuff

The 'screenshot' for me is that screenplay "...is not about chronological, logical or psychological, but dramatic order." And, "It's a wrap!"

All my friends say I would’ve a successful screen writer! I was told I have the ability to fabricate the smallest story to pull people into listen!

I disagree, write smart characters (if that’s what your going for) and find smart ways to trap them.

Dramatic order is the key

Dramatic order ... brilliant

3:05 : Door opens...

1) Everything must be connected to everything else, 2) dramatic order is the only order that matters and 3) the audience is the most important character in the film when timing dramatic order. It's what they paid for.

I confess, I've never really thought of the audience as the most important character, or any character at all! Now that I've spent a couple of minutes thinking about it, it seems obvious that this is the correct approach. I'm going to try and see every scene through the eyes of an audience - what they would think/feel - and hopefully it will make a positive difference to my writing!

I strongly disagree. If a character acts illogical for the sake of drama, many people are going to lose immersion and tune out. A good writer is able to have a character make sensible choices that are consistent with their internal desires and emotional state while still bring the story to a dramatic high. Put it this way, would you be more engrossed (tense, frightened, afraid etc) if a character uses all their cunning and logic and still struggles to reach their goal, or would you rather have you character go down the dark alleyway all alone for the sake of "drama." Ken seems to be under the impression that characterisation and drama aren't linked, but they are. It doesn't matter what is happening on screen, my emotional reaction is going to be in proportion to how much I care about the characters. If you characterise your protagonist as lacking the basic desire to take steps to preserve their own life then even If they are being chased through a haunted house by a knife wielding maniac I won't feel anything in relation to your movie, because I won't have any investment in the characters. Ken's advice relies on the idea that the audience is stupid. It's hack advice for hack writers. If you truly want to create drama in your script you have to work out a way to incorporate it naturally. That's what good writers do. Ken's advice is hack advice for hack writers. Not all writers are equal so don't assume he knows his stuff just because he's appearing on a RU-vid channel. He's a producer not a writer. If you look him up you'll see he has a single writing credit for a TV movie. AND PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T LISTEN TO HIS ADVICE. IT'S THE TYPE OF THINKING BEHIND SO MANY AWFUL FILMS.

The public knows more about movie making than they realize. You,sir, knew how to state it.

As an audience, I disagree...I absolutely HATE when something is coming out of the blue, completely illogical and makes no sense. I cringe and get frustrated because I feel exactly like somebody thought that I thought I paid MY FUCKING MONEY just to be scared and not enjoy the complexity of the movie like a person with a brain. And I'm not trying to deny this man's knowledge I just give my personal opinion as an audience member.

"Do you think of the audience as the most important character?" Nope. My opinion is, the audience is a very important collaborator. They are above the most important character, they are creators as well, since they're experiencing and interpreting the story (how they read/watch/play show how the story is perceived by other people). Again, it's MY impression when I interact with them, not necessarily a "universal truth".

I agree, the audience is the most important thing to consider when writing a screenplay. I remember watching the matrix and that scene where Morpheus is explaining What is reality to neo. The audience was dead silent. It’s like everybody was paying attention not just Neo.

No. What's he going on about? He's saying that the audience will both question what characters are doing, and that they will keep watching because it's a movie. How many terrible movies follow that advice? How many people complain when characters do something unmotivated or plain dumb because it's a movie. Dumb characters are so hard to want to see succeed, because they come off as following the plot. you want something scary? The character does everything right, everything that the audience would do, and still loses. We cheer when dumb characters in movies die.

I’m first so I make a wish, and that wish is to be a successful screenplay writer 🙌🏼

When writing/ directing a character I need to be able to relate to their behavior and action as if it was me myself in that situation and a lot of directors and writers fail at presenting that to the audience...you get more fear and scare out of them trying logically make the best decision only to fail.

Creepy characters walk on and off screen in the background .

1 & 2 definitely but #3? how did 'star wars' or 'predator' used the audience? if not to shock them; for drama i would say yes but sci-fi and even action, that rule is out; now you have to be aggressive about ideas because most have already shown (unless you have great actors people will pay to watch regardless lol see Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep or Jim Carey for that matter!

A director's job is to be the audience before the show opens, in live stage shows, and also in film productions. The director is the first audience.

For me, I go by three rules when it comes to writing a script for a movie or just a movie in general: 1) it must be a good story, an interesting story and it moves forward. No one wants to be bored. 2) it must be perfectly casted 3) it must have entertainment value

As a writer✍🏽, if looking at the audience as characters means making them feel like they are in a novel, movie, show, series, etc., then si, I agree; otherwise, I'm not with it.

1:34 Dramatic Order: Quentin Tarantino.

I don’t think him saying the audience is the main character means in any notion that as a writer you need to care about specifically what people are going to think and although that is important in its own way, I believe what he means is you want to make sure your audience feels a connection to the main character/characters. therefore there’s a projection onto the audience that creates an a understanding to the story. The main character and the audience should definitely feel like one. It’s like when we watch a movie, for example, “back the future”. we get to see everything through the visuals of of our main character’s ,Marty’s life. His daily morning, his relationships, his problem, how he gets through it. just to make you feel like “wow I can’t even imagine trying to just start off my day and getting blasted into 1955.” You want the audience to experience this adventure with him. You NEED the audience to become him. I thought this was excellent advice. Thoughts?

I'm not 100% convinced we should think of the audience as a 'character'. But I do think we need to give their views and expectations a great deal of credence. I mean, a show like Mr. Robot did treat its audience like a character and in my view, they did it successfully. But maybe I'm wrong, and this is now more important in the age of streaming and VOD. I have no problem with the idea of treating the audience as a voyeur.

Watch full videos interviews with Dr. Ken Atchity: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZGVVXVdIMyo.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Y6nshRTjSFw.html

I’m hooked by the background action. Who is that? What is he doing?

We can change most of the characters’ looks in sequels but not the most important items as speaking of connections.

The man is right. However: Chronological Order is part of the film, so it does need to be took into consideration, as it can give the audience different perception on events. Phycological order needs to work to, as the fear the character faces is directly to do with the earlier instances heightening and leading to the climax. For the example he gave of the girl not checking the flashlight, this may relate to what the man was talking about. If there are details of her being stupid and clumsy beforehand, you can expect the films logic plays a big role in making her do actions that best portray her character

Very interesting. Not the script advice but the people walking around in the background. Remember, everything must be connected to everything else. Who was that old boy doddering in and out of shot? Is he related to the younger plump women who appears after? What exactly is going on behind the book case?

That is once again, total bullshit. YES a novelist can say something on page 1 that does not connect to what is said on page 158, but just bc you have permission to be an idiot rather than a decent novelist IN NO WAY makes that a good idea. And since that is NOT a good idea either for a novel or a screenplay, it does not allow any screenwriter, including this one, to imagine they are somehow above it all or must adhere to some higher cause or that screenwriting is somehow more noble than writing novels, or more difficult. IT ISN'T. The penalties for not being consistent and coherent are just as severe for a novelist as they are for any other serious writer. A screenwriter has to be able to write dialogue and action. A novelist has to be able to write dialogue, action, AND narrative. A screenwriter does not have to make dialogue or action work 'on the page'. That is left up to those they hand it off to. The skillset for literature is much stronger and the bar is much higher. Novelists can't hand what they create off to collaborators to shoulder the burden. They can't phone everything in. They can't rely on a director or producer or rewriter to fix what does not work the way it should. They have to be good at all aspects of storytelling rather than just one or two. All good stories connect everything together, and that is just as important in a novel as it is anywhere else. Every good story in novel form is consistent and coherent, all moments in subplots are relevant to all the other moments, subplots, and main plots, and everything that happens is significant to the story. Everything. Good novelists never wander where they shouldn't. Doing that, even if allowed, is the difference between good novels and bad novels, and the difference between good novelists and terrible novelists. Go wandering away on page 158 and you've destroyed forever any chance your novel will be good. Any writer with half a brain already knows this. What this reveals is his hidebound misunderstanding of craft that he has no status in and no idea about. Stop talking shit about something you know nothing about. It only reveals your idiocy. The difference between a novel and a screenplay in that regard is the lack of a serious time limit on a novel compared to the time limit on a screenplay. People won't sit still for a movie over 100 minutes long, bc it has to happen in a single shot with no breaks. But people will buy a 467,000-word audio book by Brandon Sanderson (it sold like hotcakes) which takes 60 hours to complete, bc they can do that in as many steps as they like, whenever they like, wherever they like. People average 42 minutes per reading session. If the story is good, they pick it back up after laying it down. All the way to the end. Try to do that in a screenplay where the limit is at most 120 pages at 100 words per page. A novel is ten times as much work to write, meaning a need for ten times the motivation, and ten times the effort.

I hate it when they do the things that are obvious in movies It’s like they pulled a can off the shelf in Hollywood ok feed them this! I hate to already know which way the story is already going! I like to be surprised I’d rather see her not go up the step cause I know thats stupid and there’s a million films that do that same thing and it’s boring! BORING, TRICK ME GO LEFT INSTEAD OF RIGHT! Have her do something logical and the birds out smart her and catch her a totally different way! So in your mind it made sense to not go up the steps thats stupid! Show her run to the basement and they come though a broken pipe we saw her trying to fix in the middle of the movie before the birds went crazy! When we were just being introduced to her! Working around the house! I like to be fooled!

Who else spend the whole time trying to write a story based on the old man in the background of this video?

Are you sure point number 1 isn't just true because movies are owned by big studios whereas books are for the people by the people? So, has big business created that idea that everything needs to be connected to everything else in order to standardise the film making process?

Nope. Nothing needs to connect with anything in a screenplay, but just the audiences have to resonate with whatever is happening and being shown. If you're a writer watching this video, this guy knows nothing just go and write good stuff.

Bullshit tip the last one. He's saying that fan service is good and more important than logic. Go Watch Marvel then

Great advice. The example from Hitchcock's "The Birds", was a great way to convey his suggestions.

Thanks a lot for these tipps. I already followed these ruels without even knowing them but the rule 3 is a hard one wich I need to pay attantion while writting.

"The audience is the main character in the story, not the characters..." Thank you!!!!

I'm here getting this very important education in August 2024.

If his 2nd rule were true as he states, then GoT S8 would've been awesome.

I can't fathom why you didn't do another take without all the action in the background. Or why you shot towards the door.

Like what he says. But in my opinion, it is more about the writer, not director.

I don’t like the idea of the audience as a character. Each person in the audience is a co- creator. There are as many movies in a cinema theatre as there are people watching the movie.

Stories that start with sex scenes, parties, fights... just useless nonsense that do nothing to lead to the core of the story is a waste of time. Stay on the story and purpose. And make sure it's interesting.

Everything has to connect. Except for time and space, we'll figure that out.

I know he's just giving an off the cuff example. But, no. I'm not scared. Because hollywood has used the same predictable trick too many times. Many times i'll make a joke about a movie or show. Like ya know "The good guy in all black named The Darkling is actually evil." And by the end i'm mad or bored. Because my "jokes" actually predicted the movie or show.

Thank you. Great clip/advice.

There's a lot of movies that break these rules and makes u wonder how the hell they even managed to make that awful movie?

Even being the most important character, its not good the audience to know they got targeted.

Ironic that the man in the background at 3:10 wasn't relevant to the rest of the video.

Hands down best advice on your channel 👏

Yes I think that the audiences are the main characters at some point .....

"How to grab audience by the throat and never let go of it" I think that's the formula used by every successful director

Lmfao that person at 3:22 just arriving quietly and waddling around mysteriously to another door. P L O T D E V I C E S and the stuff hes saying at that point in the video sounds like he's talking about that person. If that's not a lesson in visual storytelling and context i dont know what is hahaha

I agree about the audience wanting what they pay for but you can still build in those elements of her putting on a jumper, checking the flash light but then it still falls down at the last minute. I think newer directors are doing this more and more.

This is really poor advice. Really, the most important element is always the characters and the plot. Based on amazon reviews of this bald guys books "I am glad I did not spend a penny on it. Slow plot, shallow characterizarions, and a strong distaste for the direction taken by the author. Sorry I wasted my time reading it." and "If zero stars were possible that would be my rating." nobody should listen to what he says about making a movie.

I like this guy..a lot..Sage wisdom and experience right there!

Three rules for screen writing 1. Read a bunch of scripts of movies you like. 2. Nothing great was ever created following rules. 3.Steer clear of formula

It’s amazing how many people there are out there who can shovel bullshit so confidently.

I am a screenwriter How can I sell my scripts? This is my problem Need specific people who can help me

Literature is more important than 'screenwriting classes' There is a reason why so many novels are auto-successes in film.

There’s no rules. So do whatever you want

1) match the plot with the backround

Beginner movie writer here, 👍👍👍👍

3:15 did you guys see that guy behind

Does this can be applying on a stage play

I'll just say what I think. I played a lot of games and watched a lot of shows and from my perspective, striking a good balance between the dynamics(action, music, visuals, etc.) and dialogue keeps things interesting. Add a flavor of unpredictability and it's gonna be like striking gold every time the audience get surprised; That's if the content garnered the audience's trust in the first place. Teasing, pleasing, sharing, and caring is what I think will make a great story. In a way you're still speaking to your audience; It's just fancy words and complimentary factors.

Taking out the garbage is a quality start to a good deed defense to shield you from your father's anger about you stumbling into to frame high on mushrooms while he films an interview. Bring in the paper on your way back from the curb.

Has this guy ever read a novel?

i've learnt a lot from this

There is a zombi in the backgroung....Pigs are safe though hahahahahaha

All those questions he asks, that's why I can't stand the movie. It doesn't scare me. It annoys me.

QUE FLAITE IGUAL QUE hable de "ES LO QUE PAGARON POR VER" .... ordinarísimo

Yes the audience is the most important think

very educative

$22 for a ticket?

When a zombie walks in during a talking session and disappearing in the background to scare him in the next room.

This guy is very clear and transparent with making his points

Audience is the character! They have paid to watch! Never heard this before. So an audience who has not paid to watch would not connect with a well written character. Pardon me for saying but this screenwriting lesson sounds absolutely flawed.

Logical order is not necessary? That's sounds a bit lazy, if you can give her a motive to go upstairs, that will intensifies the tension on the scene, and will not make the audience think she is stupid.

How to sell an English script I wrote. What is the usual value of a scrip. I know that depends on certain things.

If I think the audience is the most important character? The answer is another question. Who's paying for having fun?

The problem with films is that most of it is fan service and sensationalism none of it is believable, real, relatable. I say F*ck the audience as the main character. Im trying to make art and something original. If they don’t like it f*ck em. People don’t like oscar best picture movies. You can’t please everybody so there’s no point in trying to keep them in mind 24/7. If you’re pleased with what you wrote someone else will be pleased with story.

1) Don't write it in Esperanto 2) See #1 3) Probably not Pig Latin, either.

Excellent!

these are 2 rules not 3 but thanks anyways, pretty good, not gold but solid good.

I think modern audiences wouldnt buy a character walking into that room or not checking the flashlight. Character motivation would compell me to write a reason why she NEEDS to go in that room.

Third rule is amazing!

What a wonderful mantra to keep front-of-mind. “The audience is the main character”. Thats one of the only fixed rules there are I would imagine.

Are there free screenwriting programs you don’t have to sign up for or download

I think the audience is important because they always want to get value for every story they watch

Disagree with the last part