I was blown away by the writing in a recent episode of Gossip Girl, "The Treasure of Serena Madre." It was the perfect example of creating tension in a scene, and it was beautiful to watch.
It was the Thanksgiving episode. The Humphreys and the van der Woodsens were celebrating their first Thanksgiving together - and boy did they have different opinions on the holiday! Rufus wanted something huge and holiday-like. Lily wanted small, maybe even just take out. She didn't even want to invite her mother. Meanwhile, Vanessa decided to crash at Dan's loft because her mother was driving her crazy. Except she didn't realize that ever since the threesome Dan's been madly in love with her. Blair's mother was hiding something, and Blair (who is obsessed with Thanksgiving) was determined to find out over the holiday -- and when she does, she thinks the big secret is that her mother's pregnant. Serena and Tripp were busy having a quasi-affair, which was driving Nate crazy because he's in love with Serena again. Oh, and you know, the whole political figure scandal. Jenny's discovered that Eric was secretly behind her sabotage at Cotillion.
After a turn of events, everyone winds up at the van der Woodsen/Humphrey Thanksgiving. EVERYONE. Including Lily's mother, Vanessa's mother, and Tripp and his wife. The table is buzzing with secrets and tension. Everyone has to be on their best behavior, because it is a holiday, and they don't want to embarrass themselves. So there are a lot of snide comments. A lot of subtext. And finally, a lot of storming off.
It's a great scene because the audience is aware of all the tension. The audience knows everyone's secrets, everyone's drama. So we're just waiting for the pot to boil over. Waiting. It comes slowly...what's going to happen...how will our characters react...and then it all erupts at once.
This is what they mean when they say you should make sure your scenes have tension. Make your characters uncomfortable. Surprise them. Take the day we're all supposed to be happy -- Thanksgiving -- and blow it up so that there's nothing to be thankful for.
Watch the scene here.
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ReplyDeleteeven if script has half the tension within, the director and actors will achieve the rest i guess.!
Definitely, Berk. The director and actors play a huge role in bringing the tension to screen. But when you're writing a script, you want the tension to bounce off the page so the reader is gripped even without the visuals -- and so that when it comes down to shooting, the actors and director don't have to work so hard. Their job is to add to add to a great script, but the script has to be great before they even sign on.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely..!! I agree with you.
ReplyDeletePS. on twitter i am @jimcool09
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