Script Exercise (WSF Ch.1)

Script exercise from the end of chapter 1. This exercise relates to the short film Life Lessons released as part of New York Stories.

1. Identify the underlying concept of the film.

The film is the story an artist and his assistant who have just come to the end of a relationship. The events of the film show how their breakup has affected both of their lives and the work of the artist.

2. Identify the main conflict for the protagonist.

The main protagonist in the story is the artist played by Nick Nolte. For the duration of the film we are lead to believe that he wants to rebuild his relationship with the assistant or at the very least take care of her. His art and the gradual removal of his "artists block" the more she hurts him appears to matter less to him than having the girl accept his care. The main thing standing in the way of his relationship with the girl is his erratic behaviour. At the end of the film, when he offers another girl the job of the assistant, we are presented with the idea that the destruction of his relationship with his assistant was merely a tool in his "artistic process". The fact that he's recruiting a new one leads us to believe that he may have done it in the past and his earlier mentioning of his four failed marriages makes sense in this new context. What he really wants is to continue to be a successful artist.

3. Jot down a few sentences describing the basic story conflict.

The assistant tells the artist she wants to break up.

The artist attempts to win back the assistant.

The assistant rejects the artist.

The artist pursues the assistant with greater intensity and guile.

The assistant still rejects the artist.

The assistant taunts the artist.

The artist realises he's lost the power in the situation.

The artist fails to stop the assistant leaving.

The artist gets a new assistant.