5 Screenwriting Lessons- Buster Keaton Shorts

The great silent comedian Buster Keaton starred in a number of shorts in the 1920’s. In this article, we will analyse five of them:

The Playhouse (1921) - Keaton plays a stagehand who ends up taking a central role in a show.

The Goat (1921) – Keaton gets mistaken for a wanted criminal.

Cops (1922) – Wanting to prove himself as a businessman in order to impress his girlfriend, Keaton falls for a con and is chased by all the policemen in town.

One Week (1920) – Keaton and his wife try to build a house, but a rival sabotages their project.

The High Sign (1921) – Keaton plays an inept sharpshooter who is hired as an assassin by a criminal gang- and as a bodyguard by the millionaire they want to kill.

All five shorts can be viewed on YouTube. The links are below:

The Playhouse:  http://youtu.be/Xca4qWYqaAk

The Goat: http://youtu.be/Fwls7oS-MHI

Cops: http://youtu.be/QmV4D_YCm6s

One Week: http://youtu.be/8qFXR35oBKw

The High Sign: http://youtu.be/tqJRzs5dc6Y

Who Wrote Them?

Buster Keaton wrote all five shorts. Edward F. Cline was his co-writer on all of them except The Goat, where Keaton was assisted by Malcom St. Clair.

5 Screenwriting Lessons from Buster Keaton Shorts

(The Following May Contain Spoilers)

Make the Protagonist Relatable - The Playhouse begins with a memorable dream sequence where Keaton plays everyone in the theatre- Performers, conductors and even the audience. When Keaton wakes up, we see that he is merely a stagehand addicted to his job. We can figure this out because of the fact that he lives in the theatre- he sleeps backstage, using fake backdrops to stimulate the appearance of a bedroom. Keaton’s love of the theatre and his inability to fulfil his lofty dreams of stardom are easy to relate to, and this makes us connect with him. If we are interested in a character, then we become interested in seeing how they cope with the circumstances they face. In the case of comedies, a memorable character generates memorable scenarios, and these can lead to memorable jokes.

Chases Can Lead to Great Comedy – The Goat is most notable for its climactic chase scene, where Keaton is chased up and down the stairs of an apartment building by an overzealous cop. Keaton comes up with a number of creative ways to elude his pursuer, such as getting into a phone booth and simulating the appearance of going down in a lift, which causes the rival to head down the stairs so he can catch Keaton on a lower floor. Chases like this can generate some very funny scenes, as the unusual use of ordinary items, and the ease with which the chaser can be outwitted and humiliated are rich foundations for laughter.

Keep the Story Flowing – Cops has a more melancholy tone than most of Keaton’s shorts, as it ends with him failing to get the girl and being arrested by the police. However, it still features a number of wacky sequences. These generally serve the story well, with one exception. After the story has been set up, with Keaton unwittingly loading a large amount of stolen furniture onto a horse-drawn carriage, we get a four-minute sequence showing Keaton riding the horse and taking the carriage across town. Whilst this eventually serves the purpose of getting Keaton stuck in the middle of a police parade and setting up the big chase at the climax, it is too slow and not funny enough, and the sequence could have been halved in length without anything being lost. Timing is key to comedy, and if a sequence goes on too long without developing characters or atmosphere, it can reduce our interest before we get to the punchline.

Exaggeration is Key to Comedy - One Week is full of over-the-top humour.  Due to the fact that the instructions on how to build it were tampered with, Keaton’s newly created house has a number of unusual floors, such as doors where the window should be and vice versa. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Keaton and his wife find out that their house is built over a railway track. The two resort to placing barrels underneath the house and using them as wheels to push the house away. In both cases, the mundane problems faced by all first-time householders are exaggerated and generate all sorts of amusing and over-the-top scenarios. This allows the comedy to appeal to both children who will find the slapstick amusing, and the adults who can relate to the characters and their situation.

Take Advantage of a Character’s Skills and Flaws – In The High Sign, Keaton’s incompetence as a gunman is highlighted in a sequence early on where he shoots at bottles, but always manages to hit the wrong one. In the climax, Keaton has to protect the wonderfully-named businessman August Nickelnurser from the gang of thugs who have invaded his mansion. His secret gets out, but he manages to use his inept shooting to trick the villains. He fires a gun pointing away from Nickelnurser, and the millionaire falls down as if shot. Keaton’s inability to shoot properly generates suspense, as he runs the risk of being found out as a fake, but he manages to capitalise on this special flaw and outwit his enemies. A characters skills and flaws make them unique, and should be exploited as far as possible.

Verdict

Buster Keaton’s shorts deserve their status as classics. Keaton was able to create an interesting and relatable screen persona and was an expert at creating unique, energetic, and most importantly funny, slapstick comedy. Although there are some scenes which can become too slow and sentimental, Keaton’s comedy remains just as funny and intelligent today as it was almost a century ago.