[...] Tuesdays with Tom Benedek: “Subplots With Benefits”. Share this:EmailFacebookTwitterMoreTumblrPinterestPrintLinkedInLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. [...]

Do subplots require secondary characters? Can a story with a tight focus on a single character have subplots? Certainly, in novels. In screenplays, are secondary characters necessary for subplots? I've been thinking about this because I'm writing a screenplay (Revenge of the Gits) and I've found myself writing in what, in a novel, would be first person. Not that there's discursive VO from the protagonist, there's not. But it's through his point of view. Largely because I always try to use the minimum necessary viewpoints, and in this case that number seems to be 1, even though I'm pretty sure that's Death in a screenplay. So. Do subplots require non-protagonist characters? Other points of view?

Thanks for the post, Tom. I'd be interested to know more about how you watch movies for the first time, i.e. do you find yourself gravitating towards an analytical approach automatically? Do you just try and watch and enjoy a movie without a critical eye, and then break it down later? Does the quality of the movie make a difference, so if the execution's glaring is it something that makes you put on your 'screenwriter' hat, which might stay off your head if it's a really good movie?

I think all the subplots can be about the protagonist. There are no hard and fast rules. The protagonist's relationship with a friend, acquaintance, love interest, quirks of his phone or car -- those things could all be spun as subplot and inform the main story. If your protagonist has to be on-screen all the time - as in a very contained thriller - that would be the task, I think. All the same rules apply. If some little story not central to the main story is put in place, it can be a relief from the main conflict and also, in the best cases, inform it thematically or directly. So, no, I don't think subplots require other points of view.

I used to watch movies very unconsciously. Now, I am more analytical but the hope is that I will have a transcendent experience and not think about structural elements, character development and just be in the movie. Sometimes, it is only afterwards that I reflect on these things. Sometimes, from the first minute, I am just breaking a movie down somewhere in my head even if I am enjoying it, submerged, being entertained or engrossed or deeply moved, etc. etc.. I don't X ray everything I watch at all, for the most part. But when I do, I don't mind. Usually I am still really believing in the story for some reason.