Film Courage: What is the central question?
Jeffrey Alan Schechter, Author/Screenwriter/Founder of Writers Room Pro: Aah, central question, I love me a good central question. Central question (not to sound like I’m quoting but I think I might be), the central question is the question that once it’s definitively answered, yes or no, your story is over. Central questions apply to screenplays for sure and even TV series, like a season of a television show might have a central question for the TV for that season and each episode might have its own central question for each episode. A central question is really just the way to make sure that you’re hitting sort of the emotional and intellectual and personal thrust of the story. A good central question has three components. I think Syd Field called it professional, personal and private which was this idea that if you look at Star Wars is a classic example that I use. What’s the central question of Star Wars? The professional question is will Luke destroy the Death Star? The personal question is will he save Princess Leia? The private question is will he be a Jedi like his father? If you look at Star Wars, the professional, personal and private, all three of those get answered right at the climax of the movie. He destroys the Death Star sure, he went in and he saved Princess Leia from the jail cell but they let him get away because they would lead him to the rebel base and the way of saving Princess Leia for real because she’s on the planet that the Death Star is about to destroy. The way to save Princess Leia ultimately is to destroy the Death Star and the way to destroy the Death Star is he’s got all the technology and stuff that he’s using but he shuts it off and he uses the force…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
After moving to Los Angeles, Jeffrey Alan Schechter quickly established himself as a versatile writer, able to work in all genres from action films to family comedies, from pre-school to adult drama, from live action to animation. His writing has earned him a Gemini Award as well as nominations for two Emmy awards, a Writers Guild of America award, a Writer’s Guild of Canada award, and a BAFTA award. Over the years Jeff has worked with dozens of studios and networks including Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, ABC, NBC, The Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon, The Hallmark Channel, the BBC, VH1 Films, RHI, and The Walt Disney Company. Jeff is the author of a book on story structure titled My Story Can Beat Up Your Story! and is a noted speaker and lecturer on screenwriting. Jeff is the founder/creator of WritersRoom Pro software, a digital writers’ room for secure, remote creativity and collaboration.
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