Sunday, October 05, 2014

The Ultimate Story Checklist: Star Wars

Updated to the sixth and final checklist!
Farmboy Luke Skywalker gets a chance to leave his backwater planet and join the rebellion when two droids, Artoo and Threepio, crash on his planet, leading him to magical hermit Obi Wan, cocky smuggler Han Solo, hirsute co-pilot Chewbacca, and kick-ass Princess Leia. Together they take on Darth Vader and his Death Star.
PART #1: CONCEPT 19/19
Is the one sentence description uniquely appealing?
A farmboy on a distant planet becomes the hero of a galactic rebellion.
Does the concept contain an intriguing ironic contradiction?
The kid who didn’t get to go join the rebellion becomes the hero of the rebellion.
Very much so.
Story Fundamentals: Will this concept generate a strong story?
Yes and no.  There’s a lot of plot, so much so that we need an exposition pre-roll, but compared to the prequels, it’s fairly straightforward.
Luke, though we find Han more appealing.
Does the story present a unique relationship?
 (Unless you’ve seen Hidden Fortress) The farmboy, the mercenary, the princess, the hermit and the princess.
Darth Vader
Greatest hope: he finally gets his chance to go be a pilot.
It begins his spiritual awakening. We sense that Han could never power a lightsaber, for instance.
It is at first, because of his aunt and uncle.  It’s pretty easy to want to do after they’re killed.
 Only he can make the shot because only he has the force.
Does the hero permanently transform the situation and vice versa?
Transform situation: He blows up the death star, transform hero: he’s a hero now and gets a medal to prove it.
Lots of swashbuckling fun and otherworldly imagery
That opening spaceship! Darth Vader. The two moons. The light saber, the Death Star, etc. 
See above.
Somewhat: Obi Wan is killed.
Is the story marketable without revealing the surprise?
Believe: Do we recognize the hero as a human being?
This is tricky, because the hero’s introductory scene was cut. Why is Luke so likeable?  He’s petulant and whiny, not kind, not very funny. We like his wisecracking, his curiosity, his dreamer quality, and his very universal quality of frustration at living in a remote rural area. As with Downhill Racer, we come to like him the most when he looks off into the distance at sunset.
Does the hero have a well-defined public identity?
The unhappy farmboy
Does the surface characterization ironically contrast with a hidden interior self?
The would-be galactic adventurer
Only vaguely: Farmboy/Schoolboy “Boy am I gonna get it!” “C’mon, let’s go have a look!” For the most part, he is a pure everyman. We strongly identify with him but we don’t really admire anything about him. 
Does the hero have a default personality trait?
Petulant, whiny, wisecracking
Does the hero have a default argument tactic?
Ineffective disputation
Solve R2’s problem before it gets him in trouble.
Care: Do we feel for the hero?
 “It looks like I’m going nowhere.” “I see, Sir Luke” [chuckles] “No, just Luke” (aka, “I can’t be a knight”) Later, he says, “I can’t get involved. I’ve got work to do. It’s not that I like the empire, I hate it, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now. It’s such a long way from here.”
Fix R2, get him back, take Obi Wan only as far as Anchorhead, etc.
Open: That he’ll never get to be a pilot.  Hidden: That he’ll be corrupted.
Is the hero physically and emotionally vulnerable?
Naïve and whiny.
Invest: Can we trust the hero to tackle this challenge?
Idealistic and eager.
Is the hero curious?
Very much so: wants to hear more about the rebellion, more about his father, see the whole video, etc.
Is the hero generally resourceful?
He comes up with clever plans throughout.
I deserve better, I know what I’m doing, It can’t be that hard.
Only he is pure enough to tap into the force and self-taught enough to make the shot.
He doesn’t boast about the force, but he certainly boasts about his home-grown shooting abilities.
He’s always angling to get off the planet.  Even getting and fixing the droids is part of his plan to replace himself so he leave.
He ignores his guardians (even before they’re killed off.)
Mainly just second hand (he boasts and others compliment him “I understand you’ve become quite a good pilot yourself.”), but we see his innate talent for the force when he practices his lightsaber.
PART #3: STRUCTURE (If the story is about the solving of a large problem) 20/21
He wants to go off to flight school and feels left out, but he’s not dealing with the moral complexities.
He’s told he has to stay on another season. “You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done.” And later, “It looks like I’m going nowhere.” R2D2 tricks him into removing the restraining bolt, then runs away.
Does the hero discover an intimidating opportunity to fix the problem?
His new robot has a message for the rebellion, and leads him to a friend of his father who proposes a “damn fool crusade”
Does the hero hesitate until the stakes are raised?
Only commits to taking Obi Wan to Anchorhead
He commits late, at 38 minutes in: “I want to come with you to Alderan, there’s nothing here for me now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.”
Mos Eisley turns out to be a hive of scum and villainy. Their pilot turns out to have a price on his head.
Does the hero try the easy way throughout the second quarter?
Hires it done, lies to Han about cargo.
Fun lightspeed effect, actual fun and games with chess game, lightsaber practice. They all think they’re about to arrive in Alderaan and have it made.
In this case, bigger disasters happen at the ¼ and ¾ points, (the deaths of Luke’s parent-figures and mentor) but there is a midpoint disaster, as they realize that the planet that they’re heading towards has been destroyed, and their ship is seized.
Does the hero try the hard way from this point on?
Infiltrates the Death Star
Not in this one. Good and bad are readily evident.  Betrayals and redemptions will come in later movies.
It becomes very thrilling, cross-cutting between four groups in danger.
Does the hero learn from mistakes in a painful way?
Sees Obi Wan die
Does a further setback lead to a spiritual crisis?
This causes him to doubt the force, fall back on his reliance on technology and his original dream of becoming a fighter pilot.
4th Quarter: Does the challenge climax in the fourth quarter?
Does the hero adopt a corrected philosophy after the spiritual crisis?
Not until the end: “Use the force”
Finally discovers true goal: use the plans to blow up the Death Star.
Yes, they plan to attack the Death Star…
…but the Death Star attacks them first.
Yes. Not in the same place, but all part of the same confrontation.  Everyone but Threepio takes part (even Artoo is in the X-Wing.)
He resolves his inner struggle at the final moment in order to succeed.
He’s now a celebrated hero.
PART #4: SCENEWORK (The gang takes over the Death Star command office) 16/20
No, they’re flying by the seat of their pants, and they don’t know what they’re going to find.
We don’t see them make the plan, we just begin with the culmination of it.
Is this an intimidating setting that keeps characters active?
They’re surrounded with people trying to kill them.
No, they’re all in mid-conversation already.
Not really
We know that Darth Vader can sense Obi-Wan, and that Leia’s death order has been given.
More plot than character, but character is revealed in Han’s decision, and Obi Wan’s farewell. Luke, Han and Chewie all take offense at things.
In the first debate, we’re not sure if Luke should go with Obi-Wan. In the second, we’ve come to love Leia, so we side with Luke when he tries to convince Han to rescue her. 
First Obi-Wan wants Luke to stay and Luke wants to come, then Luke wants to go and Han wants to stay.
Obi-Wan and Luke are also arguing about Luke’s destiny, Luke and Han are also arguing about Han’s flaw.
Not really.
Luke sells Han by mentioning the princess’s money, not her beauty, because he’s fallen in love with her himself.
Luke tempts Han into it by playing on his greed.
Obi-Wan touches Luke’s arm once to convince him. 
Are objects given or taken, representing larger values?
Artoo physically access the plans, Han tries to put cuffs on Chewy, then hands them to Han, who puts them on Chewy, Luke hands Han a helmet to signal it’s time to go.
The Outcome: Does this scene change the story going forward?
Luke is convinced to stay, then he convinces Han to leave with him.
They find a secure place to hide, then they decide to leave.
Are previously-asked questions answered and new questions posed?
The previous scene left us asking, “What’s their plan?” The scene intro answers that. New: Will the room be breached?  Will the new plan work? Will Obi-Wan’s plan succeed?
 “What should Artoo and I do if we’re discovered here?” The only answer they get is sarcastic.
 We’re very worried, especially after Obi-Wan’s pointed farewell.
Empathetic: Is the dialogue true to human nature?
Does the writing demonstrate empathy for all of the characters?
Even Darth Vader deals with disrespect in this movie, in the interrogations, we understand the stakes and worries on both sides, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru both have strong and independent points to make, etc.
One could argue that Obi Wan has an unlimited perspective, but he is wisely killed off, leaving lots of people who are unsure of themselves.
Luke and Han are both just trying to solve short-term problems until near the end.
The crushes remain sublimated in this movie.
Han hides his true situation from them, and vice versa.
Do the characters interrupt each other often?
Owen and Luke talk past each other, nobody listens to Threepio, etc.
Lots of good made-up jargon. Good smuggling tradecraft. Believable structure of the rebellion (hiding behind the cover of a phony diplomatic mission, etc.)
 Metaphor family: Han: Pirate / Hawksian tough-guy “She’s fast enough for you, old man” “It’s going to cost you something extra”, Leia: Veneer of diplomacy, revealing royal-born contempt “I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board”, Obi Wan: Jolly old elf on the surface “since, oh, before you were born”, revealing General (“Quickly, son, they’re on the move.” “Sand People always ride single file to hide there numbers.) (Even when discussing the force, he can sound like a general: “This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster.”), Threepio: British pessimist (the accent is twit, but the language is lower-class) “we’ll be smashed into who knows what!” “It’s our lot in life” “And don't let me catch you following me begging for help, because you won't get it.”, Default personality trait: Han: Cocky, selfish, smug, Leia: brave, spunky, smug, Obi Wan: wise, tough, Threepio: worrywart , Argument strategy: Han: wisecracks, ridicule, shoots first, Leia: superior knowledge and cynicism, Obi Wan: Either does his Jedi mind trick or says something wise then goes silent and leaves it up to you, Threepio: Constant hectoring, cites odds, lists everything that could go wrong.
Is the dialogue more concise than real talk?
Does the dialogue have more personality than real talk?
Very much so. “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
Four way polarization: Luke: heart, Leia (and Threepio): head, Han: gut, Obi Wan: spirit.
Strategic: Are certain dialogue scenes withheld until necessary?
No, which is why the sequel writers decided not to get them together after all.
We start out with a massive onscreen info dump, but the exposition is parceled out deftly from that point on. Breaking up the video playback into two sections is a nice trick.
Somewhat, when Luke and Leia confront Han.
PART #6: TONE 9/10
Genre: Does the story tap into pre-established expectations?
Combines sci-fi and fantasy throughout
Space opera, sword and sorcery.
The hero, the rogue and the mentor are all fairly traditional, but the princess is kick-ass, which defied expectations at the time.
The fairy tale element is consistent throughout. C3PO calls him “Sir Luke” accidentally.  The side-wipes give it a ‘turning the pages of a fairy tale” feel.  “That wizard’s just a crazy old man.
What are the plans, why does the empire want them, and who will end up them?
Opening title, followed by scroll.
Not really.   Again, these were cut (contrasting Luke with his friends who didn’t leave and his friend who did leave.) Han isn’t really a parallel character because he and Luke haven’t faced the same choices.
 “He has too much of his father in him.” “That’s what I’m afraid of.” 
Are reversible behaviors used to foreshadow and then confirm change?
Han acts selfishly until he doesn’t, Luke trusts technology until he doesn’t.  Even Threepio offers his circuits to repair Artoo in the last spoken line.
The plans are used to destroy the Death Star at the very end.
PART 7: THEME 13/14
Spirituality vs. technology, freedom vs. unjust peace, solidarity vs. personal safety
The first is implied when Uncle Owen says Luke should work on the robots instead of seeking out a “crazy old wizard”. Also this: “You mean it controls your actions?” “Partially, but it also obeys your commands.” Also: Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” The second dilemma formed the heart of Luke’s discussion of Biggs, which was cut, but it’s implied by this exchange: “It's not that I like the Empire. I hate it! But there's nothing I can do about it right now. It's such a long way from here.”  The third is prefigured by Han’s discussion with Greedo.
Endanger relatives to help the cause of freedom? Risk the mission to save the princess?
Does the story reflect the way the world works?
The farmers don’t care about the revolution. The empire has a toothless Senate to give it a fig-leaf of democracy.
The farming community couldn’t be more bizarre, but it’s recognizable.
Does the story include twinges of real life national pain?
The whole thing mirrors Vietnam very closely.
The empire resembles America (and the good guys the Viet Cong) and gives us a pretty unpleasant picture of ourselves.
Do all of the actions have real consequences?
Helping the rebels gets his aunt and uncle killed.  Rescuing the princess gets Obi Wan killed.
Somewhat. Part of the appeal of the movie is that it’s filled with such utterly strange and seemingly random details that don’t really “made a point” but just made this feel like an endlessly strange and fascinating world, so it’s a plus that the details don’t all back up the theme.
Somewhat. The plans of the Death Star, the lightsabers.
Untidy: Is the dilemma ultimate irresolvable?
Spirituality is better than technology, but even more dangerous in the wrong hands.
Does the story’s outcome ironically contrast with the initial goal?
He defeats the bad guys using the technology he learned at home, not by acting like the other pilots.
Vader lives, the empire continues, and Jabba’s debt is still looming over Han.
The finale is wordless.
Final Score: 113 out of 122

1 comment:

j.s. said...

Even if STAR WARS does become your checklist's statistical poster boy, your gift to the world of storytelling will be in liberating the reasons for admiring/emulating it from the Procrustean bed of the Hero's Journey.