In this slightly unusual episode of Draft Zero (but also incredibly on brand), Stu and philosopher-swordsperson Damon Young discuss how the lessons they have learned from martial arts can be applied to scenes. In particular, they discuss how approaching an opponent in a sword fight can be analogous to how characters approach conflict, such as: the distance between the characters, who chooses to engage first, how to feint, how to lure an attack by leaving yourself vulnerable, etc.
They reference classic conflicts such as Clarice interviewing Dr. Lecter in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, when Miranda puts down Andrea in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, and the final showdown between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul in the animated series THE CLONE WARS.
You can find Damon Young here: https://www.damonyoung.com.au/
"And there are certainly scenes in films and television where the character work is showing the point at which someone gives up, the point at which someone realizes they’re done and just crawls up into a ball and hopes it doesn’t hurt it too much, which, you know, I think that’s really important."
DZ-100: Scenes through Swords
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Aggressive Waiting
"It's an almost a kind of aggressive waiting, if that makes sense. So whoever has the kind of nerve to live with that tension long enough will be the one who wins. It's a great character beat to have someone who is impatient, foolhardy, furious, angry, slighted, to show them really wanting to act. Just, they have to just do something, but what they actually have to do is wait. And they hate it. And that's a nice little -- yeah. That's a nice way to develop character."
— Damon Young
(00:16:28)
· Character Agency
· Tactics
Kairos
"There's this notion in Greek culture and philosophy, ancient Greece, that is called kairos, which essentially means the right time. And the right time is different to sort of chronological time, clock time, ticking time. The right time is a kind of felt sense for the right moment. And you can't know ahead of time when that will be. You can't assign a clock time to it. You just have to wait until you know it's right. It's a kind of more organic time."
— Damon Young
(00:19:34)
· Tactics
Fixed Mind
"Darth Maul was stuck on his tensions and conflicts from decades ago. And in any negotiation, in any argument, in any situation where you've got two characters who want something from each other or that the other's getting in the way of, you will have often something they can't get rid of, that they're stuck on, some kind of blockage, some sense that they're not quite attending to what they should be because their mind's on some grievance or some loss or some embarrassment or whatever it is."
— Damon Young
(00:31:42)
· Conflict
Asymmetric Awareness
"In some stories it's really fascinating to watch how maybe one of the characters doesn't really understand the situation they're in. They don't know they're in a negotiation. They don't realise they're actually in an argument. They're not aware they're being broken up with, or literally, they're not aware that they're in a fight. And it's watching how those different expectations are in conflict, not just the two people."
— Damon Young
(00:52:39)
· Dramatic Irony
· Conflict
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