How do you create conflict?

C

c.g._eads

Veteran
Time for my nightly big screenplay question.

Conflict is supposed to be the essence of all screenplays. In fact, some very well known screenwriting teachers have stated that you should not include a scene if it doesn't have any conflict in it. Someone should be mad at someone else. Someone should love the other person but the other person doesn't know it. You can never just have two people talking. Yet I come across places in my scripts where there isn't an easily identifiable conflict and I think these moments are well-warranted as if you have conflict in *every* scene then it sort of takes away from the scenes that really matter and really benefit from having conflict.

Take for instance, the great 7 minute scene in The Shawshank Redemption where Red and Andy are sitting against the wall and Andy is telling Red that if he ever gets out that he'll promise to go to this tree and dig up behind the odd rock. There is some exposition given in that scene, but no conflict, and yet it's one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

So do we need conflict in every scene?

And what are some of the ways you create conflict when you're writing?

The reason I ask is because I'm currently writing that (necessary) scene between my two main characters where they tell each other a little about their lives. Their "getting to know each other" scene. There's a little tension there that they might kiss, but I feel like if I try to create some big artificial conflict in the scene that it will feel forced. Why can't I just let me characters get to know each other?
 
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I don't think conflict is necessary in EVERY scene. Take Titanic for instance. There were a number of scenes with Jack and Rose where their love was blossoming and there was no discernible conflict. The sketching scene or the makeout scene in the old car -- where was the conflict? Actually, when you think about it there was a subtext of conflict in those scenes -- the friction of knowing that Rose's fiancee wasn't going to be at all happy if he caught them. Forbidden love. But it wasn't an overt conflict between the characters in the scene itself.

Of course, conflict on some level is a great thing to have in most scenes and relationships within the script. But that can be as heavy as a violent brawl, or as understated as two people getting two completely different meanings out of the same conversation.

In a lot of movies, the hero and heroine don't fall in love easily, at the drop of a hat. Either it's an 'oil and water' relationship, or else there's a third party or external circumstance(s) getting in the way. Clearly conflict drives virtually all stories, but I think it's okay if it doesn't exist in every single scene.

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I don't know your characters or the circumstances they are meeting under, but in any "getting to know each other" phase of relationships, there is always the internal conflict of how much personal disclosure do you give up and what motivates each person to keep certain things hidden. How much are these characters going to allow the other to see of each other? Trust vs not trusting.

I think making sure the scene moves your story forward is the important thing. In your story, it is critical that these two main characters have a point where they meet and form a bond of some kind, a relationship. Write a scene that accomplishes that and tweak it from there.
 
tommysixtoes said:
you should talk with my girlfriend. She's great at creating conflict.
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now THAT'S funny.

Yeah, re: Titanic. I don't necessarily mean having the conflict between the two characters. It could be conflict from anywhere. In both of those scenes - as you already noted - you're always thinking, "Oh man, what if they get caught". It's in the back of your mind, which raises the stakes for the scene and makes it more interesting.

Also, in the sketching scene. I would argue that there's conflict in him trying to stay "professional" while this girl he's in love with is naked in front of him for the first time. Although, I'm not sure if this is considered conflict or not. Is it?
 
No you don't need conflict in every scene. There are love scenes, comic scenes, scenes heavy on exposition (not the taboo people say it is), there are flashbacks etc.
But conflict should be somewhere in a script, if there isn't any, you probably won't get very far with it.
 
there are screenwriting teachers who swear by this rule (conflict in every scene). And to a certain extent, I can see that. For instance, if you have a guy and girl getting to know each other scene - which is basically a talky scene - it rests on the dialogue. However, if you add the slight conflict that one of them has to be somewhere soon, it adds a little something to the scene. Because we feel that time constraint throughout and it sort of ups the stakes.

I think using "conflict" as a blanket term was a little misleading. It doesn't have to be this big huge conflict. But rather conflicts appropriate for the scene. (a smaller scene should have a smaller conflict - like the one listed above). What do you think?
 
I don't think that having a sense of conflict (or tension) in every scene will necessarily detract the punch of the BIG conflict in the more emotional scenes because that's driving your story, and it should permeate into every scene. That's not to say it should motivate your characters in every scene, though, because your characters will have to react to every situation you put them in, every t-rex you throw at them, and it's the outcome of those smaller decisions that they make in those smaller scenes that lead to their final decisions, and your resolutions to, that BIG conflict. it's conventional thinking, but it works. I don't know if it helps any...

The scene you describe (from your script) reminds me of a Gus van Sant short film in which two young chaps meet and are apparently so smitten with one another that they barely say anything to each other. The shot selection is great, as is the directing, because even two guys just meekly staring at one another is enough to rouse a strong tension in the scene. And then of course, the external conflict kicks in when one of the guys has to run off on a delivery (he's at work) with the other guy trailing. Part of the conflict is also trying surreptitiously to get a personal convo off in front of the guy's boss, who happens to be hard-selling the other guy's mother.
Damn, van Sant's great, creating tension with a camera angle (assuming he did the shooting).

So maybe if you create enough tension, subtle or not, throughout the scene, external pressures may not seem so forced. Even if it's not a rom-com, a character suddenly having to leave due to his IBS, or being interrupted by his friends who are dressed like a bunch of luchadores, or being arrested for trying to run over stray cats, can all seem natural if properly motivated (i.e. set-up). That can be done quite easily, with a previous line or even shot.

wow. rant-ness. sorry! :)
 
Once you have a premise whether conciously stated or intuitivly stumbled upon you have opposing points of view that inherently struggle over being the dominant conditioning ideology of the present moment...a way.

The realm of story gives actions their context and their significance a place where they tell of something...a way.

But before action their is choice and decision which demands consideration between two paths, or...ways.

Inner conflict is often about wanting two things at the same time and having a dilema about which way to go, a good play write will make the stakes high and the consequences irrevocable...a tight rope walk without a net, a norrow path with risk on both sides of that choosen line.

In my opinion there always exists conflict because there is always doubt and time to reflect was that the right or wrong thing to do at that moment. Thats the curse of awareness all the inner conflict it stirs up. Also the point of view and what the character represents even in the most infintile of scenarios the characters are representative of something larger than themselves...an idea..an ideology...a way as opposed to another way...sacrifice is making the choice that is perhaps true to yourself but will also cost a high price, then it becomes about values and systems of conduct. Usually a character has a weakness and his deeds of herosim or villany are in contrast to that tendancy which hightens it when held up to our own norms of judgment of good and bad which are so relative to time and culture that it is very difficult in this day and age to find actual universal truths that cross over borders...
 
In a physical relationship, intimacy is part of the friendship but not integral to it. Conversely, conflict is part of creative writing, but is not the most important thing. Conflict is not a prerequisite to good writing, and there is no formula that says you need so many gallons of conflict. That's why I dislike Robert McKee and Christopher Vogler.

I try not to think about conflict when I write. Focus on the process of writing first, but not critiquing too early in the game. When I write, I just pour out all my thoughts and keep on going until I finish a draft, even if I think the ideas are half-baked. Only when I've finished a draft do I think about fixing stuff.

Actually, conflict is not usually the first thing I examine in a story. The biggest thing I look at is tracking character consistency and making sure that the characters grow just as people do, and that there is growth as a result of this change, and that they learn something. They needn't learn the hard way, but there needs to be actions and consequences in the script for every thing that the characters do. What the consequences are don't neccessarily need to be negative, but there must be clear consequences.

If Joe throws a ball, it doesn't have to break a window making things difficult for him. It could accidentally hit a girl, who Joe ends up falling in love with. That could make an interesting story.

rc444
 
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Conflict is about not allowing your characters to get what they want too easily. Introducing realistic obstacles in their paths. Whatever it is your characters want in a scene, make them have to work to get it. Introduce physical, psychological, or social barriers that are believable in the context and consistent with your characters.
 
Capt Quirk said:
I just have to wake up, and conflict surrounds me.
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You're lucky, Conflict is not only during my waking hours but in my dreams as well.

Yes, heros & villians alike should face conflict throughout. Conflict is simply obstruction of a goal how ever simple or grand it may be.
 
The reason I ask is because I'm currently writing that (necessary) scene between my two main characters where they tell each other a little about their lives. Their "getting to know each other" scene. There's a little tension there that they might kiss, but I feel like if I try to create some big artificial conflict in the scene that it will feel forced. Why can't I just let me characters get to know each other?
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Generally, I think, your job as a screenwriter is to amplify and emphasize the conflict inherent in the scene rather than create artificial conflict. When you're getting to know someone, there's a conflict between that part of you that wants to open up and that part of you that fears rejection. You can dramatize that by making one of the characters reluctant to open up, while the other presses for information. Or maybe one of them makes an random comment that the other finds hurtful, and has to apologize. Little things like that. They don't have to get into a big fight.
 
I think conflict should be in almost every scene. But conflict does not have to be someone mad at someone. Conflict is two forces in opposition. Person against person, person against self, person against nature/weather, pet against nature, person against a mystery or puzzle, person against object (pile of papers scatters, etc); there are many forms of conflict and many do not involve people against people at all.

c.g._eads said:
...Conflict is supposed to be the essence of all screenplays. In fact, some very well known screenwriting teachers have stated that you should not include a scene if it doesn't have any conflict in it. Someone should be mad at someone else. ...
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