The Secret to Rising Conflict

“Your screenplay needs more conflict.”  Heard that one before?  Okay, sometimes that’s what people say when they can’t think of anything more intelligent.  But, face it, it’s probably true.

The first thing to understand though is that not all conflicts are created equal.  In life, we have conflicts all the time that are easily resolved.  That’s not the kind of conflict that’s going to sustain a feature film.  To do that you need a conflict that escalates.  There are two things you want to look for to make sure that happens.

First, you want a conflict where neither character is willing to compromise.  Both characters need to have something at stake if they don’t get what they want.  Those stakes will keep them from giving up (and stopping your movie).

Second, there needs to be something that forces these characters to have to battle it out.  One character can get what he/she wants only if the other character doesn’t get what he/she wants.  It’s a zero-sum game.  You can’t win unless the other side loses.

This is why Hitchcock’s “MacGuffin” is such a useful dramatic tool.  If every character wants the Maltese Falcon or the letters of transit (Casablanca) then only one can win.

Now, to further ensure that the conflict is played out to the end, you might need an “arena” for it to take place in.

“Slasher” movies usually involve a killer stalking a group of college students.  This is a conflict with clear life and death stakes.  The killer is single-minded in his desire to kill and the college students obviously want to survive.  For true rising conflict, the killer and the intended victims have to be forced to play this out to the end.

That’s why these films invariably take place in a secluded area.  But, that’s not enough.  The conflict would end if the college students could simply leave or call for help.  So, the writer has to devise reasons why they can’t do this.  Often, the area is so secluded that cell phones don’t work.  Their car won’t start or has been damaged.  Or a storm is coming in and the roads leading out of the area are flooded.

Similarly, the apartment that Oscar and Felix are forced to share becomes the arena for their conflict in The Odd Couple.  A condo is the arena in The Break-up.  The arena can also be a relationship, like the marriage in Two For the Road.

If you have two characters committed to getting what they want but only one of them can and you have forces that ensure they have to directly engage each other, you’ll have a conflict that escalates until the final climax.