7) Sleight Of Structure

Sharper took story setups to a different level by having four stand-alone segments that laid the foundations of the characters, their stories, and the plot, and then delivered an interesting ending in the fifth segment. It’s bold and unique. Whether you liked it or not, you have to admire the vision that went into it.

Like Memento which told its story backwards, or When the Devil Knows You’re Dead or Damages which told their stories in layers of time and place.

Coming up with a unique way to tell a story can get big rewards. The stories in these non-linear works aren’t all that new or unique but the way they’re told keeps you engaged. The challenge then is not to confuse the reader.

Moonlight did their story as three separate segments as varying stages of the main character’s life each titled in different names as he was Little, Chiron, and finally Black.

Like a magician who distracts you with one thing while sliding other things around, or making props disappear, by the time you realize you’re being fooled it’s too late because you’re at the end of the script. Winning!

8) Defy Expectations

One of my go-to movies in my Intro to Scriptwriting class is the amazing Attack The Block. It’s sci-fi horror, but with such great bones and genre-defying moments, that I rarely hear a negative review from the students. This current class gave it eights out of ten.

What amazes me though is the consistent comment, “I didn’t think I was going to like it but…” or “I don’t like sci0fi (or horror) but…”.

There are movies that simply transcend genre. ATB is one of them. How do you pass up a film that purports to tell the story of a group of young men, wanna-be gangsters in London, who stop an alien invasion using nothing more than a few hastily constructed weapons and are on bicycles!

A few years back there was this odd trend of telling semi-traditional movies with kids in the lead roles. Bugsy Malone was one of them. Traditional gangsters but played by young actors like Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, and John Cassisi. Now that’s unique.

9) Reinvent The Wheel

Teen Beach Movie which takes a trope or two to the mixer and spits out something new(ish) is wildly entertaining because it skewers the old 60’s films but with love. You’re engaged on several levels but overarching this is the recognition that these characters have dropped into a beach movie from the days of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. If you’re asking who those actors are then that’s fair – but someone loved them enough to remake them with tongue firmly in cheek.

Mad Max: Fury Road bridges the gap between the last Mad Max flick in 1985 (Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome) and a new vision of this post-apocalyptic world. It probably sets a record, several no doubt, for extended action sequences on wheels. It’s the same and wildly different from all the other movies in this series, although to be accurate, motorized vehicles have always played a prominent part of the franchise.

Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) In Mad Max: Fury Road. Photo by Photo by Jasin Roland/ Warner Bros.

Stand Up Men took three veteran actors known for their various tough guy rolls and put them in a sunset-of-their lives gangster gambit.

10) Subvert Conventions

A Futile and Stupid Gesture upends the biography movie to tell us about legendary comedy genius Doug Kenney making it as profane, insane, and arcane as the man himself who took traditional publishing and flipped it into something that started a satirical trend that continues today. Futile even features the ghost of an older Kenney who not only narrates but participates in an imaginary storyline.

But even before Futile, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the biography of Chuck Barris (Dating Game, Gong Show) startled Hollywood out of complacency. Reading this script would have been like being in a fun house without any gravity to anchor you.

No biography to that point had quite the WTH factor. Even the acid-dripped biography of the infamous gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) would not have compared for pure weirdness and entertainment.

Imagine reading a script that claims that the man who started these goofy game shows was once a spy for the CIA and would take his Dating Game winners on a trip to West Berlin in the winter. Why? The average temps are 29 degrees? Chuck explained that he had had to do a hit in Berlin so this was good cover. I mean…what? I can just see someone in the studios reading this script, laughing and unable to put it down.

11) Suspense/ Intrigue/ Mystery

The big three. Create mystery, intrigue, and suspense and you’re a lock. The box with a bow on it that just sits there is too compelling. What’s in it? Being the curious monkeys we are we just have to find out. As long as you can keep a reader guessing, in a good way, you’re gold.

Even if I’m bored by something, if there’s a who done it at end I’ll probably finish it. I just had to watch The Monster of Wall Street (never boring BTW) to the end because I was so curious at how Bernie Madoff got away with stealing 60 billion dollars. I read some of the news accounts, sure, but this expose was stunning and I was hooked because I wanted more of this real life mystery.

Any drawing room mystery, crime drama, even just a drama drama should be infused with questions that a reader wants to see answered. This keeps the reader and viewer engaged until the end, the reveal. It’s why Midsomer Murders is going on its 22nd season with no end in sight.

“Law and Order” the original series, went 20 seasons ending in 2009 but it spun off several others of its kind and in 2022, the original series was resurrected. Hard to beat that mystery box.

12) The Kitchen Sink

You always think something is impossible until someone does it. Is Everything Everywhere All At Once a drama? Yes. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror? Martial arts? Check all those boxes. Comedy? Chinese opera? Yep. Is it about quantum theory? Sure. Multiple themes? Of course. And does it utilize just about every technique discussed in this article. That too.

Impossible. And yet…

Somehow, Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as “Daniels”, have managed to create something that really hasn’t existed before.

Astounding.

I’m not sure many could write or get away with a script like this. It’s chaotic, solid and wildly entertaining at the same time. But it could also be a precursor of how far you need to push your material these days to rise above the noise.

In Conclusion

All writers who succeed start with first understanding the ‘rules’ before they break them. Before you resort to gimmicks that weaken, not strengthen your work, spend some time learning solid storytelling and then look around and see how to subvert that “normal” stuff to capture and hold the eye of a reader.