ICRASH: script by Paul Haggis
& Robert Moresco
The writing techniques that create the most
powerful emotional impact in a film audience, or in a
reader of fiction, lie outside the viewer's or
reader's conscious awareness.
We'll be examining one of the most powerful scenes
from CRASH. (Note: Please don't read on if you haven't
seen the film but intend to.)
It's the scene where Farhad (Shaun Toub), the angry
Iranian shop keeper, has a gun and is coming to kill
the locksmith Daniel (Michael Pena). Instead, he kills
(so everything thinks) his young daughter instead.
Let's look at just a few of the techniques that
operate outside our normal awareness but which combine
to make this scene so powerful.
1. In the space of just a few minutes, the scene
leads us through many emotions in quick succession.
This gives the scene a feeling of "depth,"
and thus I call it a "Scene Deepening
Technique."
2. We simultaneously identify with more than one
character in the scene, who are feeling quite
different emotions (the girl, Daniel, and his wife). This is another
Scene Deepening Technique. (I call it "Multiple Empathies.")
3. There's irony as we, the audience, are the only
ones who know the truth as to why the girl wasn't killed, although this irony
is doesn't hit us until afterwards when we learn that
Farhad shot a blank - and thus it's what I call
"Retroactive Irony." This is yet another
Scene Deepening Technique.
4. We sense that these are not shallow, superficial
characters. This is due to "Character
Deepening Techniques." An interesting one is used in the writing of
Daniel's wife. I call it: "Powerless to help
someone you love." She can only watch helplessly
as her child is shot (or so she thinks at the time).
Summary: If a scene or character resonates with
emotional depth, there are reasons for this, even if
the techniques being used aren't something of which
we're consciously aware. As writers, we often want to
intertwine layers of emotion and meaning into our
scripts and fiction. But to keep such techniques, such
as those mentioned above, in mind while you're writing
would drive you batty, especially if you knew hundreds
of them. As rewriting tools, however, they can be
invaluable.
L.A-based David S. Freeman has sold or optioned
scripts to Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures,
Paramount, MGM, Castle Rock, and others, and co-wrote
a $50 million film currently in post-production. He's
bringing his technique-based "Beyond
Structure" Screenwriting and Fiction workshop
(the largest in L.A.) to Boston on March 11-12. For
more information, see www.beyondstructure.com
