10 Screenwriting Lessons You Can Learn From Star Trek Into Darkness
4. Moral vs. Logical Dilemmas
Conflict is the core of 99% of every narrative film. The reason is simple: its interesting. When writing a film, it can sometimes be hard finding this drama as it pertains to real life. How can you make your hero seem heroic if he/she is arguing all the time? And what if you have several good characters together and one is bitching and whining about something? Its harder to build sympathy toward characters if we wouldnt want to hang out with them in real life. So how can you work around this?
One solution in the film is to present two opposing sides of an issue, perspectives that are both right in a way. Kirk and Spock couldnt agree on what to do in the opening scene of the film because Kirk made his decision based on his morals while Spock made his based on logic. To an extent, Captain Pike was also on the side of logic, causing him to be furious that Kirk didnt follow orders. All of these characters are good and yet, we still have conflict between them. Most importantly, it doesnt seem forced. It seems natural given their personalities.
If you need some extra drama in your screenplay, dont go the soap opera route and reveal an evil twin. Instead, take a look at a problem the characters are experiencing and see if there are several perspectives to it. It may end up adding some additional depth to your characters as well.