Screenwriting Tip: Pressurize the scene

It’s one of the first rules of comedy and it pertains across all genres: You can make a scene more interesting by putting pressure on the characters.

The pressure can be subtle and specific to a scene such as in the movie Psycho where Marion, who has stolen $40,000, is stopped by a state trooper as she leaves town.

The pressure can be overt and completely shift the nature of the plot such as in the movie Up where Carl floats away in his house, calmly headed toward Paradise Falls in South America, only to hear a knock at the front door and discover ten year-old Russell is an unwanted stowaway.

Here is a graphic example of pressure from the comedy Dumb & Dumber. Jealous that Harry [Jeff Daniels] is going on a date with Mary Swanson [Lauren Holly], Lloyd [Jim Carrey] spikes Harry’s hot chocolate with laxatives. Lots of them. As the scene begins, Harry arrives at Mary’s house.

Harry is forced to relieve himself in Mary’s bathroom.

Pressure.

After doing his business, Mary knocks on the door to inform him the toilet doesn’t flush.

Pressure.

Not wanting to embarrass himself and leave Mary a big mess to deal with, Harry tries to get the toilet to flush, but can’t.

Pressure.

So what does he do? Something only layers of pressure — and the fact he’s really dumb — could force him to do: Dislodge the toilet bowl from the floor to dump the contents out the window.

I use this last reference not to gross you out, but to make a thematic point: Pressure can make a mess for the characters in a scene. And from a writer’s perspective, this is a good thing.

As a rule, it is more interesting to see characters have to deal with complications than to sail smoothly through events.

So if you have a flat scene. Or you want to ramp up the energy and drama of a moment, create elements that will put pressure on the characters.

Pressurize the scene.

Can you think of other scenes in which the pressure on characters escalated step by step?
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