Building a TV Series Episode 2: Crafting Philosophical Conflict

in the previous video i talked briefly about the philosophical ideas innate within the pilot episode of breaking bad i talked about how breaking bad is not just about a high school teacher becoming a meth cook breaking bad is about a man who is taking action because of a sudden change in his philosophical beliefs it is growth then decay then transformation it is fascinating really and i want to examine this deeply in this video and show how important this deeper philosophical conflict is to the show's success why does philosophical conflict matter why don't you just think of a cool show idea think of some characters and start writing michael arndt the writer of little miss sunshine toy story 3 and other films explains that there are actually three types of stakes innate within a story the external internal and philosophical stakes and that the philosophical stakes are the most important yet most overlooked level of conflict in a story what i will add to this is that there aren't simply three levels of stakes but the top two levels of stakes the internal and the external are actually built upon the philosophical stakes this means that your entire show from your concept to different external conflicts to character growth ultimately stems from the characters battling their own beliefs and value systems on the core level breaking bad hasn't survived as a strong show just because it has some cool scenes and some interesting ideas the reason we still talk about it years later isn't just because it was a cool show about a chemist cooking meth breaking bad deals with some legitimate philosophical dilemmas this is what most stories struggle to create and it's why so many stories end up being bland or forgettable so what are the philosophical ideas that breaking bad deals with after a casual first glance viewing of breaking bad you could say something like breaking bad is a story about a man named walter white who sold away his moral code so that he could earn some money for his family before he died i get it now that's why you're doing all this you want to make some cash for your people before you check out and this is the reason that walter initially uses to explain his actions but this is not the real reason this is a rationalization walter uses to hide his true reasons so why is walter really doing what he's doing when we take a deeper look at breaking bad we can see that it's a show about a man who realized he had spent his entire life asleep and once he realizes his life is ending he decides to spend the short amount of time he has left actually trying to be alive take risk and make something of himself tell me why you're doing this seriously i am awake but i want what i need is a choice my entire life it just seems i never you know had a real say about any of it as walter begins to make real choices he starts to unpack his own belief system what really is right and wrong how do you find the morally right choice in a difficult situation in the beginning of season 1 we see this clash between walter's two value systems when he has to decide whether or not to kill crazy 8. walter literally makes a pros and cons list questioning whether or not he should kill him which is walter's dilemma between his old value system and this new way of life he is choosing at this point in the show walter looks for any opportunity to avoid killing crazy 8. he knows what he must do but he clings to his old value system you know you keep telling me that i don't have it in me well maybe maybe not i i sure as hell am looking for any reason not to i mean any good reason at all but you gotta convince me we also see walter shifting his beliefs not only in the actions he takes like killing crazy eight but also in the conversations he has with his family for example walter and hank have a discussion about legality and morality it's funny isn't it how we draw that line yeah what line is that well what's legal what's illegal um cuban cigars alcohol somehow do stuff that's legal that shouldn't be i mean friggin meth used to be legal he used to sell it over every counter at every pharmacy across america the guy that came to their senses on that one huh and walter and skyler have a discussion about stealing and if there's ever a situation where it is justified people sometimes do things for their families and what that justifies stealing if it were me what would you do would you divorce me would you turn me into the police walter's family is not following him down his new value system something i will cover more in depth in the next video looking at the philosophical values of the different characters in walter's world as the season continues walter becomes more emboldened and begins to accept his new value system more and more he feels as though there is no going back and more importantly he doesn't want to go back i want all of it [Applause] consider it a capital investment today is the first day of the rest of your life but what kind of life will it be huh will it be a life of fear of oh no no no i can't do this of never once believing in yourself walter's moral code is messy some people could say walter is simply evil others may identify with walt knowing what it feels like to go through life asleep and either knowing what it feels like to wake up or yearning for the feeling of waking up without actually doing so themselves it's in a show like breaking bad where we find the reality of the human experience especially when it relates to morality if morals were the only thing that mattered anyone watching breaking bad would simply turn off the show knowing that walter's actions are simply immoral and not worth glorifying but as humans we understand that the world may actually be more grey than we think there's a reason we feel a tug towards people who take risks and make things happen we all want to feel control in our own lives we want to feel like what we do matters we want to feel respected and we don't have to agree with the character to understand their motivation for the actions they take in the way they choose to live and this is why stories can be so philosophically impactful to us philosophical theory only takes you so far what makes things actually interesting is seeing someone act on a set of ideas and stories allow us to watch characters act on ideas it allows us to think about the world in a more human way rather than treating morality and philosophy like a math problem and this is the reason that stories are such an integral part of the human experience because it allows us to share and examine ideas within a more human context rational theoretical arguments do not always take in the breadth of the human experience they miss things like personal situation emotion personal psychology all things that are innate to a great story this is why characters become so much more interesting when they actually have real philosophical dilemmas that are directly challenged by the external events of the story but tyler i don't notice any of this when i'm watching a show i just enjoy the show so this can't really be why i enjoy the show because all of this isn't what i'm focused on but you are our brains are so built to understand and interpret story that we unconsciously are aware of this pattern our brains understand what walter white is going through even if we can't always put it into words or replicate it in our own writing and that is the power of stories it can impact and affect us on that deepest level on a level where we can actually think and feel rather than just hearing someone debate a point in an argument the core of breaking bad comes down to a simple idea what is living what does control over your life truly look like how important is that feeling of control and respect and how far will someone go to feel truly alive even for just a short time when you can think about your own story in this way you will finally be on the right track to create something truly impactful it's easy to have story ideas but getting that pilot or feature down onto the page can be a difficult task you write 10 pages and quit off to chase the next new idea it's easy to be plagued with procrastination writer's block and slowly getting into that mindset that writing is always going to be painfully hard mental work but it doesn't have to be this way click the first link in the description to watch a video where i show you how you can write 5 10 even 15 pages a day consistently and finally overcome your fear of writing and if you like this video leave a like and subscribe for more videos just like this one you

Channel: Tyler Mowery

Views: 66,270

Keywords: film analysis, movie review, tyler mowery, nerdwriter, lessons from the screenplay, every frame a painting, screenwriting, script breakdown, writing, workshop, writing course, teach screenwriting, oscar best screenplay, film school

Id: ugCqUmUEuiQ

Length: 9min 51sec (591 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 03 2021