Moving Images, Understanding Media

256 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Media

away from bullets is not a dramatically meaningful decision either—it is

normally just a reaction without any signifi cant alternatives.

Confl ict and Antagonists

In classical drama, the primary obstacle to a protagonist achieving his or her

goals is the antagonist. Th e antagonist is generally a person who stands in the

way of the main character’s ability to reach an objective. However, in short

fi lms the antagonist is oft en a non-human obstacle or situation.

When developing or examining a story, think about these questions:

what is the goal of the character? What is the central confl ict of the story? If

there is a character who can be seen as an antagonist—such as a bully—are

that character’s actions aff ecting the central confl ict? If not, the narrative

of the story is probably not being driven by the protagonist. Events tend to

seem to be taking place around such protagonists who are simply reacting

to the events. Th ese characters are passive.

Again using theatrical traditions as a guide, some screenwriters look at

their scripts as a succession of scenes where each one must move the story

forward. Writer and director David Mamet off ers a set of what he calls “Th e

Th ree Magic Questions” that must be asked about each scene: “1) Who wants

what from whom? 2) What happens if they don’t get it? 3) Why now?”

Unconventional Approaches to Narrative

As you have observed in a variety of movies, there are many diff erent ways

that fi lmmakers approach storytelling. You have probably witnessed this in

life as well, through how people describe their experiences and tell stories.

Figure 7-6 What does the

main character want? What

confl icts with that objective?

What will the character do

to achieve the goal? Writers

can be inspired by an image

to create narratives for

characters. (Photograph from

a series on Palestinian children,

Courtesy S. Smith Patrick)

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