A round of applause, readers, for a genre of microfilm we don’t often talk about: films about theatrical performance.
In recent years, screenwriters have created several critically acclaimed films centered around stage performances. Documentaries 2023 drama campFor example, there’s the hilarious and touching story of a camp theater group who stages a musical called “Joan Steele,” which turns out to be one of the most cult-favorite movies of the year.
Last month, a new member was added to the canon of theater movies—Singfrom writer-director Greg Cuidal and co-writer Clint Bentley.
Talking about this week on my ScreenCraft Powered Podcast, Script separationthe pair do a great job of explaining why the characters in the story come together to create a work that is inherently cinematic.
Create a simple yet powerful structure
“We always say that simplicity is the edge,” Cuedal said, explaining something about the simplicity of the film’s structure about staging the drama: All the characters have a clear goal.
Time runs out before the all-important performance, so there’s an effective “ticking clock.” The first act sees your protagonist gathering their cast. The second act sees these characters grapple with the inner demons they need to overcome in order to succeed in the show. The third act is the performance itself—the last scene in front of the camera.
If you keep this simple structure, you create space to “really spend time with the character you’re exploring.” What happened in their relationship. The nuances in their personal stories. It can be very complicated,” said the writer-director.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to watch people come together to create something greater than the sum of their parts,” he added, before correcting a common misconception that budding screenwriters often have.
When writing, we always ask ourselves, what are the risks? In movies about drama, there’s usually a reason why the drama is so important to the protagonist. The fate of the universe may not depend on them, but the emotional stakes for this character “could be life or death. That’s all they have.”
Think about what your own dramatic film might look like, who the characters are, why this drama is so important to your protagonist, what kind of odd supporting characters they might include in this ambitious production, and what they might encounter What difficult process to overcome.
This might just be a template for the next one Sing or drama camp. After all, the show must go on.
Listen to the full interview above.
Al Horner is a journalist, screenwriter and presenter based in London. His work has appeared in The Guardian, Empire, GQ, BBC, White Lies, Time and more.
