9. Set Up The Main Goal As Soon As Possible
It's been said that audiences know whether or not they like a movie within the first 10 minutes. I happen to agree with that: after 10 minutes, I think it's fair to say that you know how you feel towards whatever it is you're watching. Are you bored? Surprised? Confused? I've stated this before in a couple of other screenwriting articles (it's that important), but getting your protagonists' main goal clearly set out (especially in a genre movie) as soon as possible is a fundamental rule I really like to push: it'll make or break your script. Because as movie-goers, there's only so much middling we can take. You know when you get bored whilst you're watching something, but you're not sure why? The only reason that will ever happen is because there's no goal, or the goal has disappeared, or the characters have stopped pursuing whatever it is they originally intended. QT uses Dr. Schultz in the first 10 pages to spell out the mission: track down the Brittle Brothers, and rescue Django's wife. These goals are both achieved by the end, and they do not change from the moment they're set out. Sure, things go wrong and there are other obstacles, but these objectives are consistent. It's up to you how you establish your character's goals. QT uses a somewhat post-modern device, in which he has his characters literally saying out loud what they need to do, almost like they're instructions on a list. It works because QT is so adept at writing dialogue, and his characters talk in a direct, almost literary fashion that is never anything but mesmerising. But
Django Unchained works as a movie because we
need to watch this mission all the way to the end - and it helps movie-goers to invest in said mission if it's set out from the beginning, and not ham-fisted in on page 30 after a middling first act.