Writing, Arts & Entertainment

The Audience

Lesson time 10:53 min

Aaron knows that the audience isn't just watching his work. They're participating in it, too. Learn how to write stories that will keep them engaged and entertained.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Avoiding confusion with the audience • Letting the audience participate

Aaron Sorkin

Teaches Screenwriting

Aaron Sorkin teaches you the craft of film and television screenwriting.

Preview

Here's something important to remember, and you kind of learn about it as you go. The audience is a component in the event. And here's what I mean by that. And I'm going to use a famous painting as an example. The George Surat painting that hangs in the Chicago Art Museum. I'm going to mess up the title. I think it's A Sunday on the Island of Le Grande Jatte. But it's a famous painting. Stephen Sondheim wrote a musical about it, Sunday in the Park with George. George Surat was a pointillist, which meant he didn't paint like that in brushstrokes. He painted like that, with the tip of the brush with dots. But most often he painted with two brushes in his hand, going red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, very, very close together. Because he felt that if the viewer stood back from the painting, which is how you have to see the painting. There's a velvet rope in the museum. And you're standing about 10 feet back from it. He felt that the viewer, in their mind, will mix that red and blue into a violet much more vibrant than he can mix on his palate by mixing red and blue there, so that the viewer becomes a very important part of this painting. The painting is actually different when no one is looking at it than it is when someone is looking at it. You want, as much as you can, for the audience to be a part of what's going on. The more the audience can be putting things together in their head, that's something they like. You want to treat them like they're smart. And they are. And they don't want to just sit back and kind of observe. They want to put things together themselves. And by the way, if you can get them doing that, and they don't see a reversal coming, if you're in the audience it's a very satisfying feeling, that ah, gah, I didn't see that. And I'm smart. And I've been paying attention. And I didn't see that. If you're able to-- say you're writing a Sherlock Holmes story. And you're able to give the audience all of the clues that Sherlock Holmes has, the exact same information that Sherlock Holmes has, but he figured this thing out, and you weren't able to, that's a very satisfying experience. I saw a made for TV movie recently, which was very good. But there was a scene in which a character has to testify in front of Congress. So there's the walking up the steps of the Capitol moment, you know, getting out of the car, walking up the steps of the Capitol with his lawyer. And there's press everywhere shouting questions. And as they're walking up the steps, the lawyer is quickly filling the client in. OK, so they're going to ask you this. Then they're going to do that. And then you're going to get to do this and do that. And that scene, I promise you, ran a little bit false to anyone who was watching the show. And you wouldn't even know why, but it's just ...

About the Instructor

Aaron Sorkin wrote his first movie on cocktail napkins. Those napkins turned into A Few Good Men, starring Jack Nicholson. Now, the Academy Award-winning writer of The West Wing and The Social Network is teaching screenwriting. In this class, you’ll learn his rules of storytelling, dialogue, character development, and what makes a script actually sell. By the end, you’ll write screenplays that capture your audience’s attention.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Sorkin teaches you the craft of film and television screenwriting.

Explore the Class