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How "Back to the Future" includes a lead character who manages to achieve his wants and needs without having an actual character arc. This is episode 1 of "The Four Endings."

Back to the Future Script PDF Download ►►
K.M. Weiland's Creating Character Arcs ►►

Chapters:
00:00 Intro — The Four Endings in Every Film
00:41 Protagonist "Wants" & "Needs"
02:05 Four Endings Overview
03:01 Flat Character Arcs Explained
04:45 How to Introduce the "Normal World"
09:20 Story Resolution
10:47 Final Takeaways

There is a reason why Back to the Future became such an iconic film — it started with an immaculately constructed screenplay. Writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale somehow managed to give their protagonist, Marty McFly, both his wants and needs without a traditional character arc. How is this even possible? In this first episode of a mini-series on how to write a screenplay ending, we’re hopping into the DeLorean and punching it up to 88mph.

There are only 4 ways to end a movie and each comes down to whether or not the hero gets their wants and/or needs. First, let’s talk about wants. When writing a screenplay, a “want” is something external and specific to the protagonist that drives the plot forward. In Back to the Future, Marty’s initial want to be a rockstar but that all changes with the introduction of Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine. Once he’s stranded 30 years in the past, Marty McFly unwittingly disrupts his own family history and, therefore, creates a new want — to get his parents to fall in love.

Needs are something internal in the character but universal to us all and something that drives their character arc. But in Back to the Future, Marty doesn’t really have a traditional character arc. He has what KM Weiland describes as a “flat character arc” in which the protagonist doesn’t personally change but becomes the catalyst for change in the characters around them. Therefore, the “need” is mostly attributed to Marty’s father, George McFly. George needs to stand up for himself and be confident.

Here’s where it gets interesting — Marty’s need is to overcome his fear of becoming a “slacker” like his father. So, as Marty pushes George to become a stronger and more assertive character, he is also working towards his own need simultaneously. In the end, Marty gets his want and need, culminating in what we’re calling the “Sweet” ending.

In the next 3 episodes, we’ll cover how to write a screenplay using one of the remaining options (“Semi-Sweet,” “Bittersweet,” and “Bitter”).

#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking
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