Billy Ray – Screenwriter & Director

Billy Ray – Screenwriter & Director

The screenwriter and director, Billy Ray (Hunger Games, Captain Phillips), gave a talk during the WGA Veterans Writing Project. It was very forceful, informative and motivating. He’s easily one of the most intense people I’ve ever met. Below are my notes from his hour-long talk. He started with this single phrase:

>>> What is the simple emotional journey? <<<

Billy Ray has this posted above his PC Monitor. He said this is the MAIN thing you are doing with your screenplay. You just want the audience FEELING. Make them CARE for the character, not think about the character or think about what they are doing.

He broke down his Main elements of screenplays into:       

  1. Story = Character                                                                
  2. Dilemma (internal and external)                                        
  3. Reverse Engineering                                                           
  4. Wins & Losses                                                                    
  5. Progressive Complications
  6. Cause & Effect

MAIN ELEMENTS

  • STORY = CHARACTER

The character is the emotional window into the story. If he/she is happy or sad we need to see it on their face.

There MUST be something BROKEN in the character that needs to be FIXED. When they fix the external problem they fix what’s broken inside them. When you fix it the movie is over.

What is BROKEN about your character that only your movie can FIX?

Casablanca – Rick is selfish – how does this get resolved? He helps Ilsa (his former lover) escape from Morocco with her husband.

Silence of the Lambs – Jody Foster has father and lamb issues

Rocky – Rocky thinks he is a loser. He sheds that image.

Wizard of Oz – Dorothy wants to go “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” << This gives us a psychological baseline of Dorothy. When she gets to Oz (over the rainbow) then all she wants is to go home.

NONE of these people are hyper-aware of what is happening to them internally. But they have to empty themselves to solve the problem.

Godfather – Michael has a conscious goal opposed to his sub-conscious goal. He tells Kay, “That’s my family, that’s not me.” He doesn’t want to be his father but he absolutely wants to be him.

Psychological Baseline

Where do we start with the character?

  • Not by them saying it – that’s too unreliable, characters always lie
  • Not by other characters saying it – that’s also unreliable
  • What do they do? – That is totally reliable.
  • Examples:
    • A priest who molests children while preaching fidelity
    • A cop who robs while preaching law-abiding principles
  • DILEMMA

Opting between 2 hard choices that are of equal value.

Does Billy Ray meet Brad Pitt & George Clooney or does he follow through on his commitment to talk to the Vets at the WGA Workshop? He could:

  1. Lie to the Vets (say he’s sick or something, then go meet Brad & George)
  2. Lie to Brad & George (again say he’s sick and go talk to the Vets)
  3. Try to meet both at the same time (run back and forth between the two groups)

A “monster” of a movie that shows this hard choice problem is Ordinary People. In it the man has to choose between his wife or his son.

The more difficult the dilemma, the more you know about your character.

Romantic Comedies never have enough dilemma!

Billy Ray is not a big fan of romantic comedies.

  • REVERSE ENGINEERING

You have an emotional ending–that has to be reverse-engineered to give the character the MOST problems.

In Jaws Chief Brodie has to be afraid of the water. In the book he was born and lived his whole life on Amity Island, so it didn’t make sense that he never learned to swim and was afraid of the water.

So the screenwriters moved his home and backstory to New York City where it was much more believable that he grew up hating to go into the water.

(Russ’ Notes: Pixar says to think about what your character would do if they were stuck in an elevator)

What is your character’s version of hell? Put him or her there!

In Chinatown Jake Gittes goes through the same hell in the movie we watch as he did when he was growing up.

Humans expend the least amount of energy to solve a problem. Then they have to keep upping the amount of energy they expend when they can’t solve the problem the first time.

Chief Brodie in Jaws example: He keeps upping the amount of energy it takes to solve the shark problem. In solving that external problem (the shark) he has also solved his internal problem (afraid of water).

  • WINS & LOSSES

They equal units of change. Billy does not want to see the same beat over & over again. He drew a gradually ascending saw-tooth wave in the air. /\/\/\/\/\/\ Bottom is loss, top is win.

So he said loss, win, loss, win, loss, win as he was describing how he works his character through a series of scenes.

Then he gave a verbal example: Rocky

Rocky doesn’t believe he can beat Apollo Creed.

So he settles (in his mind) for just wanting to be standing after 15 rounds. If he does that he’ll consider his fight a success.

Rocky didn’t have a self to give to Adrian when he thought he was a loser. But when he was left standing after 15 rounds in his mind he won.

So in his last line to Adrian he is finally able to say, “I love you.” The external problem (I’m a loser) is solved, so now his internal problem (unable to think he is good enough for Adrian) is also solved.

Another example: Kramer vs Kramer

Dustin Hoffman at first is a terrible father who can’t even make breakfast for his son. He would fight his wife tooth-and-nail to show how tough he is, even if it would hurt their son.

Dustin gradually learns how to become a good father and comes to love his son. At the end of the movie he won’t put his son on the stand just so he can win the custody battle.

** Show how the worst problem your character can have will be the thing that makes him/her a good person. Wins & Losses.

  • PROGRESSIVE COMPLICATIONS

They eventually dwarf the original dilemma.

Empty out your protagonist. Put them in their version of hell.  << 2nd time he used that phrase.

  • CAUSE & EFFECT

Every scene is made possible by the one before it. Scenes must be totally necessary.

What opportunities does this scene give me for better scenes coming up?

He said these are his Stylistic sub-elements:
A)   Metaphor
B)   Subtext
C)   Context
D)   Image Systems

STYLISTIC ELEMENTS

  • METAPHOR

Something small that represents something big.
Billy said to read the script for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

In it the super-posse keeps coming after Butch & Sundance, but they are never shown. The metaphor is “you can’t run away from your past.”

In The Graduate: Dustin Hoffman’s car (a present from his parents) runs out of gas as he is trying to catch up to Elaine and stop her from marrying the other guy. But he can’t solve the problem with his parents help (the car) so it runs out of gas and he has to run to the church instead (remember he was on the track team).

In Wizard of Oz: The metaphor is: “There’s no place like home.” Again – A simple emotional journey.

In Tootsie: The metaphor is: “By becoming a woman he became a better man.”

  • SUB-TEXT

Actors act out the sub-text, what the words ACTUALLY mean.

Saying the opposite of what you really mean.

Jaws: Chief Brodie can’t talk about why he s afraid of the water when he is questioned about it. So instead he insults the guy’s hat.

The Godfather: Michael is trying to protect his father while he is in the hospital after getting shot. He send Enzo to stand guard outside the hospital and instructs him to slip his hand inside his shirt (as if he is going for a gun, when he doesn’t actually have one) anytime anyone sketchy walks or drives by. When Michael goes out to talk to him Enzo is too scared and shaky to light his own cigarette. But Michael Corleone’s hands are rock steady when lights Enzo’s cigarette for him. << I would need the script to get the subtext from that scene.

Then Billy said if you shoot a scene (say a house exterior) 3 times in the movie, each time the shot should be different and should say something sub-textually. The example he gave was the ACTs I-II-III in 12 Angry Men. Because it was a courtroom drama mostly set in the jury room it was fairly claustrophobic already. But Billy said the director did each ACT differently. ACT I is shot from above, ACT II is shot head on, looking directly at the men, and ACT III is shot from below so the ceiling is in the scene, making it seem even more closed-in.

  • SIDEBAR – he diverged from his written notes to tell us something he does to make sure he’s on the right track.

Billy said take your screenplay and do the following: (this should help you see where good & bad things are in your screenplay)

(1) in RED put a check by every line of dialogue where your character says exactly what they’re thinking.

(2) in GREEN put a check where you do something visual

(3) in BLUE put a check by every scene that is UNLIKE any scene you’ve ever seen before

  • CONTEXT

Your little story juxtaposed against the big picture.

See Cabaret right after watching Ordinary People. Liza has no idea of the Nazi threat. The British guy has some idea of the Nazi threat. Max thinks the Nazis will get rid of the Commies, then ordinary Germans will throw the Nazis out of power. Billy said the power of that movie comes from the behavior of the 3 main characters ( a women and two gay guys) in the context of what the Nazis did to gays, Jews, Gypsies and anyone else they didn’t like.

     My personal story has to be set against the larger universe that impacts my little picture (and its little world).

  • IMAGE SYSTEM

A sequence of images that plant what your story is about.

A story about greed should have pictures of money and rich things throughout.

A story about music should have instruments and musicians throughout.

A story about Paris should have pictures of Paris strewn throughout.

  • PROCESS

Then he talked about his personal process. He said none of us have control over the variables: recession, cartoon movies being in vogue, your agent changing agencies, studios expanding or contrasting their release rosters, etc. BUT the 1 variable we do have control over is ourselves. WORK HARD: He works from 7:15 – 12 and from 1:15 -5. 8 1/2 hours each day 5 days a week.

     He said come into every meeting as if it’s an audition. Be the most resourceful, most collegial, most open to notes, most hard-working person in the room.

     95% of what we do is fixing the carburetor – make it work, this isn’t rocket science. Only 5% is inspiration.

     Paddy Chayefsky said: Don’t think of it as ART, think of it as WORK. What’s not working? Fix it.

Billy ALWAYS works from a TREATMENT or an OUTLINE. He always asks himself before he starts each movie: What am I going to write? What am I going to work on next?

Billy’s litmus test: “Do I wake up in the morning thinking about it?” If he doesn’t, if he’s not excited about the project – he stops working on it. He’s walked on 4 projects.

He starts by asking himself: “What movie does my movie feel like? What is the EMOTIONAL SPACE of that movie? BUY the CD of the soundtrack of that movie.

Listen to it over and over and over again to get into that emotional space.

He takes notes all the time: while working, while in the car (he pulls over first), before going to bed, in the morning when he wakes up.

*** THEN he does his OUTLINE. He did a 65 page treatment/outline for Captain Phillip.

He made an analogy to Michelangelo saying he carves away everything from the block of granite that is NOT the figure.

So Billy said the information that he puts into his outline becomes his block of granite. Once he has it all assembled, he cuts out everything that is not his figure (his screenplay).

  • (1) THEMATIC MATERIAL:

This movie is about: Envy, Hate, Love, Inhumanity: “In chasing the American Dream what part of myself do I leave behind?” Billy is currently doing The Last Tycoon as a mini-series. That was his theme.

  • (2) LOCAL COLOR:

What are the rules or idiosyncrasies involved in where my story is set?

Example: Jaws – Amity Island is only visited by tourists during the summer. Everyone on the island makes their money during the 3-4 months of the summer season. That money has to get the average family or business through the harsh winter months when no one visits the island. Chief Brodie can’t close the beach every time someone gets bit or killed by a shark, the tourists will leave, the economy will tank. They have to make their money NOW.

  • (3) CHARACTER IDEAS:

Write out everything your character likes to do, wears, etc. Do they walk around in their socks. Do they ask “Are you mad at me?” What are their ticks?

  • (4) ACT IDEAS:

Put down in your notes any ideas for ACT I, for ACT II, for ACT III (what does your ending want to feel like? A wedding, a court trial, a baseball field, etc.)

  • (5) FIRST DRAFT:

When Billy finishes his outline, he uses that same document to start his first draft. When he finishes his first draft — he now has a new block of granite that can be carved away to find the new elephant (screenplay). He thinks his outlines are roughly 80% accurate. A script should evolve if a better idea shows up.

*** He loves the following quote by John Wooden, famous UCLA basketball coach: “Discipline yourself so others don’t have to.”

SOME Q & A (there wasn’t time for much – he had to get back to the WGA strike negotiations)

(Q) What is Captain Phillip about? (A) A movie about leadership. 2 Captains on separate sides of the world, one white and one black, go about their business of getting ready to do their job (ACT I), then (ACT II) they do their job with their respective crews (one piloting the MAERSK, one the pirates’ attack boat), they both clash trying to protect the crew and their cargo ACT III.

(Q) How do you handle exposition? (A) Never do a scene where 2 people know the same thing, the audience won’t buy that conversation. It has to be between someone who knows something and someone who doesn’t. Capt. Phillips’ son says: “You treat your family like your crew and your crew like your family.” He’s upset dad is not home much.

Somehow the movie Reds came up. Billy said the theme is: “In saving the world he loses himself.”

Then Chinatown came up again and he said read the screenplay and see how they reveal the backstory in the last 10 minutes: Slap, “She’s my sister,” Slap, “She’s my daughter,” Slap, “sister, daughter.”

The dad raped his own daughter and she had his baby. But she never tells you right out this is what happened.

(Q) How does he know when his screenplay is done? (A) He reads it on the screen until he won’t change a comma. The he starts printing it out and fixing it until he won’t change a thing. Then he has people he trusts read and give him notes.

(Q) Who does he get to read his scripts to make sure they are finished? (A) a writer friend, 2 producer friends, and a person who runs a production company. 4 separate people. None of them are that close to him and he trusts all of them to tell him the truth.

He said his first 10 movies or so sucked.

(Q) What was the first of his movies that he likes? (A) Shattered Glass.

(Q) How long does it take to write once the outline is done? (A) I can write about 6 pages a day because basically the scene information is there in the outline. At 6 pages a day, the first draft can be done in about 20 days.

BALLOON ANALOGY: He drew a picture of a hot air balloon in the air.

He said the balloon part with the hot air represents CONFIDENCE (or ego). Too much and you fly away, too little and you can’t get off the ground.

He said the basket part (where people board) represents HUMILITY. Too much and you can’t get started, too little and no one will help you.

Then he said: “Have the confidence to be humble. Always ask ‘Can you teach me?’ “