Endings: The Secret to Great Films
Storytelling is an art form. We all know people who just can’t seem to tell an engaging story. Some people go on too long (guilty) or add in needless tangents (also guilty). Not to mention the people who tell the same story over and over again. Despite the ubiquity of story in our lives, there is not always an awareness of why certain stories work better than others. Or how to write, tell, film, or stage a good story.
Which is why I can geek out for hours on story theory. Why do some films stick with us for years with one viewing and some we forget the minute the lights come back on? Why do some books make us cry while reading them and some make us cry at the thought of reading them?
Everything comes back to story. The structure of which hasn’t changed too much since Aristotle wrote The Poetics. We generally expect a story to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Someone was doing nothing, it gets complicated, and finally resolves. My favorite reduction of this as a tip for writers is: Put your character up a tree. Light the tree on fire. How do they get down?
And therein lies the Endings problem. Beginnings are easy enough. Introduce a character, the new kid in town. Middles go ok, the new kid makes some friends. They are a bad influence and they fall in with “the wrong crowd”. Ending…Does the kid leave this group? Move away? Die in a gunfight? Marry someone? Become head of the group? Kill the head of the group and run away?
There are so many ways a story could go, how do you know the right way to end your piece? A comedy isn’t likely to end with the death of the main character (which is actually a requirement of most tragedies, according to Aristotle). But…is it a dark comedy in which the death of a main character works?
Endings are hard. And sadly, endings are all that matter. If a piece doesn’t have a good ending it’s not likely to be remembered as a good movie. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been watching a movie and started crossing my fingers that the ending would pay off. The disappointment of a bad ending is known all too well.
Even if an ending isn’t bad it might not have a huge impact. So gal marries guy. We saw it coming. So hero defeats villain. Been there, done that. So the co-workers who didn’t get along are now best friends. Yawn.
That isn’t to say when done well these types of endings are exactly what we want. Predictable, comfortable. We just want to care about the ending too. How to make an impactful ending that resonates with the audience? Thankfully, Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3, The Force Awakens) tells us in one of my favorite “break down story and understand how it works” videos. Endings: The Good, the Bad, and the Insanely Great (If you have time, watch it!!)
He provides so much wonderful detail and insight it is a must watch if you want to be a screenwriter, more informed film viewer, or better filmmaker.
The basic idea is that while many writers (and actors) know you must have “stakes” a story needs stakes beyond the goals of the character. There must be “Philosophical” stakes at risk. Actually, he proposes 3 sets of stakes. External (defeat the Empire) Internal (finding self confidence) and Philosophical stakes (community over individual). The drama of the film comes from two competing set of values. Freedom vs. Tyranny, for example (Or Republic vs. Empire, you might say).
There are tons of other nuggets in the lecture, like the Antagonist Aria, that make it worth watching (a few times for me!). But I want to stay focused on the philosophical stakes. Again, the external stakes (need to get these plans to Obi Wan) or internal stakes (need to gain confidence in the Force) are often easy to spot and most writers know they are needed. Philosophical stakes are less obvious and, I would argue, more needed. Freedom vs. Tyranny. Despair vs. Hope. Violence vs. Cooperation.
If you are finding yourself stuck writing (or watching) a movie that isn’t landing. Ask yourself: what is at stake here? Globally. What are the value systems in place in this world that matter? Which do I want to win? How can the characters represent two sides of this idea? And how can I get the hero to choose the “right” one in the end?
This is where the real writing works comes in. What matters to you? What do you want the audience to take away? What message are you trying to send? While I wasn’t aware of this great piece before writing my film Banging Lanie I know that I started with the idea that, philosophically, Lanie was feeling like an outsider and had to conform to fit in and be cool. By the end, she learns that being yourself is more important. Authenticity vs. Conformity. Which makes sense, as that is a value I hold dear in my own life.
Think about what matters to you, think about how those values can be in conflict (light the tree on fire) and then—get down.
For a real head spinner, Arndt argues that the best movies force all 3 layers of stakes to a head in two minutes or less. Check out his video to see for yourself. Happy writing!