I was lucky enough this past week to go to a screening of the new movie Reagan. Biopics are tricky because a person's life doesn't follow a three act structure. Telling someone's story from birth to death is a lot of territory to cover. The writer and director of Reagan’s challenge was to whittle down lots of wonderful anecdotes and make them a cohesive story. This got me thinking about different ways to approach a biopic.
The Outside Narrator – Reagan by Howard Klausner
One approach to telling someone's life story is to use a narrator. Instead of the point of view of someone close, Reagan cleverly uses someone who was outside his circle, observing all the action. This gives you a knowledgeable narrator whose point of view doesn't interfere with this story. To avoid spoilers, I will not tell you who the narrator is. You'll have to go see the movie tomorrow!
Use a Reoccurring Event – Steve Jobs by Aaron Sorkin
In Steve Jobs, Aaron Sorkin uses three Apple product launches for each act. These big events in Jobs’ career highlight both his innovation and what was going on in his personal life. This is a smart way to structure the movie and follow both the professional and emotional storylines.
Highlight One Event - Frost-Nixon by Peter Morgan
Another approach is to pick one incident and tell the story around that. Frost-Nixon is about the first interview that President Nixon did after resigning from office in disgrace because of the Watergate scandal. He wasn't speaking to anybody, and somehow British journalist David Frost convinced him to do an interview. This movie is mainly from Frost's point of view as he works to get in touch with Nixon and convince him to go on the record. The climax is the interview which uses the real interview word for word.
Combination - Being the Ricardos by Aaron Sorkin
In Being the Ricardos, Aaron Sorkin uses both an event and narrators to tell the story of Lucille and Desi Arnaz’s marriage and professional relationship. The movie is narrated by the writers of I Love Lucy and set during the taping of an episode just after Lucy has been accused of being a Communist, a career ender in the ‘50s. The writers make good narrators because they had a front seat to the action. And setting the story around Lucy’s brush with the Red Scare is emotional and tension-filled.
Final Thoughts on Biopics
As a writer, you have to tell the story to two audiences, people who know it and the people who know nothing about it. You have to walk that tightrope of giving enough exposition and background, but not boring your audience, who already knows the story. Reagan gave background in a couple of ways. First, the filmmakers opened with a masterful credit sequence that explained the Cold War with newspaper headlines and news footage. Then, anytime a new person was introduced, they put a title under them, which made it easy to understand who everyone was.
My Current Obsession
I try for the sake of my neck to do most of my work at my desk. But sometimes you want to work in bed. I've been using this lap desk for a couple of months, and I love the way the armrests support your arms. It makes working in bed comfortable and productive.
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