David_Tanner
Member
Hey, right..
I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on working with a story/screenplay that's based on the protagonist finding clues and unraveling pieces of the puzzle to find out the truth, prefebly with the audience also being unaware of that truth for the duration.
If anyone could recommend some good films to analyze and 'reverse engineer' that do this really well Id appreciate it.
I'm guessing the ones to look out for are going to be good old detective stories or murder mysteries. I know alot of horror films do it but those clues tend to be accidental and passive.
So, say for example I have four women and they are all missing for the same purpose.
The purpose is something along the lines of Charles Manson's Helter Skelter plan and these girls are his recruits.
They have already killed a number of people so far and our protagonist is trying to prevent them from doing so again.
I plan for my protagonist to find out this purpose much later in the story but at the moment I dont want him to know that there is even four girls.
How would I go about making 'clues' , ones that significantly unravel the bigger picture?
Would the girls of had to already killed for it to be plot worthy and interesting?
Would he have to catch one of the girls first?
I can't think of why the fact there is 'four' girls would be information that would actually help the protagonist, how would knowing there was not three but FOUR girls benefit him? does that mean this is insignificant in solving the puzzle and not a 'eureka' moment or a stepping stone?
Perhaps he interviews the family of these missing girls and finds they all talked about where they were planning to go.
So the protagonist goes there and people in that area tell him they have witnessed not three but FOUR girls hanging out together, coming only into town to buy food and GUNS. :cheesy:
Ok, ok...not guns and I still dont know why I put FOUR in caps, seeing as I failed to think of a reason why there being FOUR is of significance.
Maybe because he only finds three and locks them away with the cult leader before the big DATE but then when he discovers there is actually four at the last minute and that she will continue with the plans the stakes are raised.?
See where Im going with this? how do I go about making plants? ones that are big enough to progress the story.
(btw I am not doing a screenplay on 'Helter Skelter, thats just a quick and poor example I used as I was thinking out loud :beer
Love you.
I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on working with a story/screenplay that's based on the protagonist finding clues and unraveling pieces of the puzzle to find out the truth, prefebly with the audience also being unaware of that truth for the duration.
If anyone could recommend some good films to analyze and 'reverse engineer' that do this really well Id appreciate it.
I'm guessing the ones to look out for are going to be good old detective stories or murder mysteries. I know alot of horror films do it but those clues tend to be accidental and passive.
So, say for example I have four women and they are all missing for the same purpose.
The purpose is something along the lines of Charles Manson's Helter Skelter plan and these girls are his recruits.
They have already killed a number of people so far and our protagonist is trying to prevent them from doing so again.
I plan for my protagonist to find out this purpose much later in the story but at the moment I dont want him to know that there is even four girls.
How would I go about making 'clues' , ones that significantly unravel the bigger picture?
Would the girls of had to already killed for it to be plot worthy and interesting?
Would he have to catch one of the girls first?
I can't think of why the fact there is 'four' girls would be information that would actually help the protagonist, how would knowing there was not three but FOUR girls benefit him? does that mean this is insignificant in solving the puzzle and not a 'eureka' moment or a stepping stone?
Perhaps he interviews the family of these missing girls and finds they all talked about where they were planning to go.
So the protagonist goes there and people in that area tell him they have witnessed not three but FOUR girls hanging out together, coming only into town to buy food and GUNS. :cheesy:
Ok, ok...not guns and I still dont know why I put FOUR in caps, seeing as I failed to think of a reason why there being FOUR is of significance.
Maybe because he only finds three and locks them away with the cult leader before the big DATE but then when he discovers there is actually four at the last minute and that she will continue with the plans the stakes are raised.?
See where Im going with this? how do I go about making plants? ones that are big enough to progress the story.
(btw I am not doing a screenplay on 'Helter Skelter, thats just a quick and poor example I used as I was thinking out loud :beer
Love you.
Last edited:
