Black Superman

Hey @jabberwocky1996,

So sorry I didn’t answer this sooner. I go in order I receive these and didn’t see this was for a project. I hope I’m not too late.

First, the scripts you listed are great ones to read when looking to build tension. I have uploaded them all onto the Resource Drive!

This is also a great question because it is a very common issue. Pacing is crucial to any good screenplay, but especially in horror, since pacing translates to rising action/tension/creepiness. One way is to use a timeline, separated into act breaks like so:

Each line represents a plot point, and each point increases the tension until you get to the climax. This helps you to visually see where you need plot points to move the story along. You aren’t restricted to just the plot points shown above, but almost every story needs an inciting incident, Act 1 Climax (or 1st act turning point) midpoint, climax of act 2 (or Act 2 turning point), climax, and resolution. Between each of these major plot points, you have a bunch of little points that gradually increase the tension between each major event. That way, you just have to pace between those major plot points instead of the entire story. (I’ve got a plot point breakdown of The Shining and The Overlook Hotel (the unproduced prequel) on the resource drive as well if that will help you.)

Another method is to use sticky notes or note cards to plan out your scenes. Dustin Lance Black (Milk) assembled note cards on a table to map out his stories. You probably won’t use this method to the extent he does, but it is helpful when trying to organize/reorganize plot points. You can color code your cards/notes according to the type of scenes (A plot, B plot, supernatural occurrence, protagonist “victory” or “loss” etc…). Tailor your system according to your needs for the story.

Whammo Theory is another method, and this one is pretty simple: approximately every ten pages (for a feature) something happens to change/move the story. Personally, I use this as a supplement for the other methods, but it can work on its own as well.

When specifically writing horror, it’s important to not overplay the creepy elements.  If you see a creature on the screen too long, it stops being scary. In It, for example, Pennywise is introduced page 4, but never comes out of the sewer. We don’t see another creepy being until the hobo on page 22 (although we do catch just glimpses of otherworldly things every now and then: trembling water, hands, darkness…). And these creatures only appear for a couple pages before they disappear. So when we see something associated with that creature (like the red balloon) our brain goes on high alert looking for the thing. (The creature left and I don’t know where it went. WHAT IF IT COMES BACK? That rustling is suspicious, LOOK OUT. False alarm. Is that a red balloon?? AHH IT’S BACK!…)

One reason this works is because we have an innate fear of the unknown. If we can name something, classify it, see it, or study it, we fear it less. That is why so many horror films are about supernatural beings: we don’t know what those beings can do, or even if the supernatural exists. And that is why it’s scarier to NOT see the thing, because we can always imagine something worse than what actually appears on screen.

Good luck and happy writing!

Good for you! Here’s some advice.

Race is not a defining feature, but Ethnicity can be. 

Race is literally just skin deep. If you’re worried about whether this character is dark enough, then you’re doing it wrong.

Ethnicity describes the cultural background a character might have. For example, a filipino character born and raised in the Phillipines is going to behave differently from a filipino born and raised in the US. And though the differences might be minute, a Filipino born and raised in the US might still act different from a white person whose family has been in the US for generations. 

These are things to look out for. Maybe you American-Born-Filipino still eats rice every night, but doesn’t know how to speak tagalog. 

But even with that in mind, it takes more than just “understanding culture” to write a diverse cast of characters. At the end of the day, a character should be able to stand on their own. NOBODY should represent an entire group of people. 

Donald Glover is no more a mouthpiece for the black population than Micheal Cera is for the white population. Individuals have their own interests that may or may not be affected by their ethnicity, and the actions they perform should be judged as the actions of that individual, not of the entire group they happen to be a part of. Even if Ethnicity plays a role in the story, it shouldn’t be the sole defining trait of the character.

Next thing, I hate to break it some people, but changing a characters race isn’t as big a deal as a lot of people make it out to be. I mean, it should be obvious that something’s wrong when your story takes place in an alternate universe heavily inspired by Asian mythology from various different countries features characters as white as bread in the lead role… but so long as their integrated into the setting well, there’s nothing wrong with, say, black vikings and chinese fairies. In a modern setting, certain character types are pretty race neutral. 

Neo would of been perfectly fine in the Matrix is WIll Smith had played him.

Donald Glover would’ve been a great Spider-Man

And the entire #starringjohncho thing shows that most “Middle Class White Man” characters in film don’t nessesarily have to be white to get the same effect.

Finally, and this is important, I’d like to bring up one specific pet peeve I have with a lot of characters of color in recent media. I’m talking about Positive Discrimination.

I’m sick and tired of elderly black mentor figures, super smart chinese girls, and sweet little indian boys playing the sole role of diversity in any form of media. These aren’t characters, they’re caricatures used to fill in some non-existent diversity quota. 

This isn’t to say thaat you can’t have black mentor figures, smart chinese girls, or sweet indian boys in a film… just that you have to give them something else other than just their positive character trait. 

I’m filipino, and I’m dumb as hell… and that shouldn’t be a bad thing. The world could use more lovable idiots, dark skinned or otherwise. Character flaws are not inherently racist, and a good writer should be able to write stubborn, selfish, and stupid characters of any skin color without sacrificing the character’s likability.

To quote the whitest television show to ever grace Disney Channel’s schedule, “Nobody’s Perfect.”

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