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Lessons from the Screenplay
Groundhog Day — An Inescapable Premise
Groundhog Day — An Inescapable Premise
Lessons from the Screenplay
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9:47 · Feb 2, 2019
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hi
I'm
Michael
this
is
lessons
from
the
screenplay
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hi I'm Michael this is lessons from the screenplay
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everyone is familiar with the premise of Groundhog
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Day Phil Conners finds himself reliving
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the same day over and
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over and over this
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simple premise is a great engine for common and the
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film is full of hilarious moments
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but the premise is also expertly
0:24
constructed to drive natural
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organic character change so
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today I want to examine how Phil is designed to be a character that
0:32
seems like he could never change
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today sect how the premise of the story traps
0:36
Phil in a world that will constantly
0:38
attack his character flaw and
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explore how the relentless
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nature of the premise ensures
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that the protagonist will
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have no choice but
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to transform us let's
0:49
take a look at Groundhog
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Day in his book how to write Groundhog Day one
0:59
of the screenwriters Danny Reuben discusses
1:01
how he's been pondering
1:03
while conceptualizing the story the
1:06
conversation I was having with myself about immortality was naturally
1:09
rephrased in my mind as a movie idea okay
1:12
there's this guy who lives forever
1:14
movie stories are by nature about
1:16
change and if I were going to test the change of this character against
1:20
an infinity of time I'd want
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him to begin as somebody who seemed unable to
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change to create someone who seems unable to change the
1:28
character of Phil Conners was given a deeply rooted flaw
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Phil is a weatherman at a small TV station in Pennsylvania
1:35
who believes that he's more famous and important
1:38
than he is for
1:39
your information air do there
1:42
is a major Network
1:43
interested in me he's
1:44
sarcastic rude and as his producer Rita definitely
1:47
summarizes later in the film I know you're egocentric
1:50
it's your defining characteristic
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Bill is completely self-centered
1:54
and will need to undergo a fundamental
1:57
change to become selfless
1:58
if used to achieve his desire to
2:01
be with don't surround wrinkles
2:06
under they see the shadow he doesn't see a shadow it's nothing people to
2:10
get Rita is warm kind
2:13
and optimistic you know people
2:15
like blood sausage -
2:17
people are morons the
2:19
opposite of Filth so
2:21
the fill that we meet at the beginning of the movie could never be
2:23
with Rita because he is far too selfish in order
2:26
to drive the protagonist to change the script imprisons
2:29
him in a place that will constantly
2:31
be attacking his flaw Phil
2:33
gets assigned to cover the Groundhog Day Festival
2:35
where every person and every event brings out his egocentric
2:39
nature great some of them been partying all night long they sing songs do
2:43
they get too cold and then they go sit by the fire and they
2:45
get warm and then they come back and they think
2:47
some more yeah they're
2:50
Hicks Rita it's the perfect setting for Phil to have to confront it's plumb
2:55
and the premise traps him here in two ways at the
2:59
end of the day a blizzard
3:00
prevents Phil and his team from leaving he
3:02
is physically trapped in Punxsutawney
3:04
now you can go back to pucks of Tony but
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you can go ahead and freeze to them it's
3:09
your choice I'm thinking
3:12
the idea of trapping Phil and time came
3:16
from Reubens attempts to design a story where the protagonist became
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immortal if a person could live long enough would
3:22
he ever change maybe if guys like that had more time they would eventually
3:26
mature maybe one lifetime is not enough
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so now that Phil is trapped
3:32
in Punxsutawney on Groundhog
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Day for eternity what
3:37
propels him to change
3:39
the brilliance of Groundhog Day is that once all these elements are set up
3:44
the protagonists change is the inevitable consequence
3:47
of the premise once
3:50
phil is stuck repeating Groundhog
3:52
he's propelled there is character arc in two ways
3:55
he either pursues a specific
3:57
goal until he has to admit failure and move on or he
4:00
indulges himself until he gets bored at
4:03
first Phil wants to understand what's happening to him when
4:06
of the long distance lines gonna be repaired
4:08
I tries everything he can think of to fix it well
4:11
what if there is no
4:12
there wasn't one today
4:14
he tries calling for help hello
4:17
asking Rita for suggestions
4:19
it's like yesterday never
4:21
happened I'm racking my brain but I can't even begin to imagine why you'd
4:25
make up something like this and visiting
4:27
both a doctor and a psychologist I
4:29
think we should meet again
4:30
house tomorrow for you
4:33
but once it becomes clear that Phil can't escape this new reality he
4:37
tries to exploit it not
4:39
by changing for the better but
4:41
by indulging even further in its claw what
4:44
if there were no tomorrow that
4:46
will mean there will be no consequences
4:48
there will be no hangovers
4:49
we could do whatever we wanted
4:51
that's true Phil begins harming
4:54
people with impunity using
4:56
his situation to take advantage of others and living
5:00
out his fantasies once
5:05
he becomes bored of this he
5:07
turns his attention to his desire Rita
5:09
and begins manipulating her into falling for him for
5:14
my chocolate yeah maybe
5:16
sick no white chalk
5:18
he tries all the tricks he can think of but
5:21
fails every time Rita
5:30
sees through to the real person inside
5:32
and knows he is still consumed by his flaw I could
5:36
never love someone like
5:37
you feel because you'll never love anyone but yourself
5:39
phil now realizes he will never obtain his desire of being with rita until
5:44
he learns to be selfless
5:46
but he still doesn't
5:48
change instead Phil continues to
5:53
consider only himself as the
5:55
script reaches its midpoint and
5:57
he's pushed to his darkest place yet
6:00
I've come to the end of Merida
6:02
there's no way out
6:06
I just want you remember we had a beautiful day together once bill
6:09
would rather die than change
6:11
but the design of the story's premise is such that even death is not
6:16
an escape so once again it's
6:23
not until phil has exhausted even this path
6:32
that he has no choice but to admit that
6:35
maybe his life isn't
6:36
the only thing that
6:38
matters I've never seen
6:41
it's not there's literally
6:45
nothing left for Phil to do but
6:47
change in the second half of act 2 Phil
6:51
begins trying to make other people's lives better
6:53
and by the third act of the film bill
6:56
has become truly selfless
6:58
demonstrated by his willingness to sacrifice his
7:01
desire well where are you going would you like to get a cup of
7:03
coffee I'd love to can I have a rain check I've got some errands
7:06
of got 11 or his knee
7:08
being forced to relive the same day over and over has
7:12
bled Phil to the realization
7:14
that a life of generosity is
7:16
what makes him truly happy this
7:18
is the best day of my life
7:21
it took him a lifetime of
7:23
struggle to figure it out but
7:25
Phil has arrived at the inevitable end point of the premise and is
7:29
finally released they're gone
7:33
they're all gone today
7:35
is do or it
7:37
happen Groundhog Day is a great example of
7:41
what it looks like
7:42
the fully commit to a premise
7:44
it leads the protagonist
7:46
along their arc not just through a clever set us well it's Groundhog Day
7:50
again but also there is a relentless
7:53
nature's I have been stabbed shot
7:55
poisoned frozen palm electrocuted
7:59
and birth oh really
8:01
the film never abandons
8:02
its premise or modifies
8:04
the rules and at
8:05
no point that's built in any kind of reprieve
8:08
instead the film fully explored
8:10
every avenue within its simple premises
8:12
mining the idea for every funny moving
8:15
and heartwarming scenario Phil could find himself in
8:19
ungrounded presumably most of us are now living the same day over and over
8:26
again for what is essentially an eternity so
8:29
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