Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Steven Hart, a multiple award-winning screenwriter, who is collaborating with us on the adaptation of “Overwhelming Darkness.” This script has garnered prestigious accolades, including the Oxford Script Award for the thriller category and recognition at the New York International Film Festival.
Join us as we talk with Steven and gain insightful thoughts on story creation. It has been a true pleasure to work with him.
1. How did you discover your passion for storytelling and become a screenwriter?
I’ve always enjoyed telling stories visually, as I’ve drawn and created art since I was a child. I also enjoyed English class at high school and had fun using my imagination to write short stories and simple poems. I really got into storytelling a lot more, and started to hone my writing and visual skills when I worked in the Scottish advertising industry as a Copywriter/Art Director in the 1990s. This involved writing short radio and TV scripts for different advertising campaigns and really got me interested in economical storytelling and script writing. I went on to teach Art, Design and Illustration in Scottish colleges for many years (and still do) before deciding to have a go at writing a screenplay, as I’ve been a lifelong movie fan, ever since my mother took me to see all the Disney films in my childhood.
2. Can you give us a brief overview of “Overwhelming Darkness” and what inspired you to write it?
The story for Overwhelming Darkness was inspired at a time when I was watching far too many daily news programmes, where there were countless stories about rapes and violence against women, serial killers on the loose, gang violence, innocent people being murdered, and pedophiles being released from prison back into the community, and I felt truly overwhelmed, helpless and angry at all the abhorrant and evil things that human beings were doing in the world. My reaction to this was to write down all my anger and frustration in a screenplay about a jaded crime reporter who’s sick of being a passive observer and has finally had enough of the criminals and murderers in her city and decides to do something about them. It was a very cathartic process for me and helped me in some ways to deal with all the ugliness going on in the world. Needless to say, I don’t immerse myself in all the daily news shows any more!
3. How do you approach building suspense in your thriller scripts?
I think that layering on the conflict in a story is so important in raising the stakes and building suspense. So, putting my characters in life, or death situations where they have to make almost impossible decisions can really ramp up the suspense in any story, but especially in a thriller script. So things can slowly start to get difficult and challenging for a character on their journey in the story, and then something really bad happens to put even more pressure and stress on them, and just when we think it can’t get any worse for them, of course, it does!
4. Could you share a bit about your process for developing memorable characters, particularly in “Overwhelming Darkness”?
I like to put together a detailed person profile and background story for each of the main characters in my scripts. This really helps to shape who they are and how they might act in certain situations. It comes from a ‘Ten Questions to Ask About Your Characters’ exercise, that’s an excellent tool to build well-rounded, memorable characters for your screenplays. So, the most important thing is, to really know your characters and what they are capable of.
5. Balancing pacing is crucial in thrillers. Do you have any tips on maintaining the right tempo between action and suspense?
It’s all about getting the contrast of action and suspense right in your story, for me. Too much action can be overwhelming and overload the reader, or viewer, and not enough action, or conflict and you can completely lose them, which is obviously the worst thing that can happen. I feel that I really try to have a good balance of action and suspense, a strong ebb and flow to my story, and this can be down to how you structure your script. After a section where there is intense action, I like to bring things down a bit, so that the main character, or characters can take stock of what is happening and how they can then take action to resolve, change, or deal with what has been challenging them. I feel that getting this right, can really make the story feel like a rollercoaster ride for the viewer, or reader.
6. Lastly, what advice do you have for aspiring thriller writers? Are there any go-to techniques or strategies that you swear by?
I will always read the screenplays (or graphic novels) of the thriller films that I love, and watch the movies as well, of course. This really gets me into the right headspace for writing, and inspires me to do the best I possibly can. When I was writing (and rewriting) Overwhelming Darkness, I read the screenplays and watched the movies of, A History of Violence, Seven, Falling Down, 8MM, Sin City, The Departed, LA Confidential, Carlito’s Way, Taxi Driver, The Road to Perdition, Gran Torino, You Were Never Really Here, No Country for Old Men, Prisoners, In Bruges, The Equalizer, Man On Fire, Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Insomnia, Memento, Fargo, Zodiac, Heat, Collateral, The Silence of the Lambs, The Usual Suspects and many more. I love every one of these movies and feel that they all come from excellent, well written screenplays. And I also love the graphic novels of, A History of Violence, Sin City and The Road to Perdition as well, all well worth a read to get you into a thriller writing frame of mind.
As we wrap up this enlightening conversation with Steven Hart, we are left with a deeper appreciation for the art of storytelling and the dedication it requires. Steven’s passion and expertise shine through in every project he undertakes, and “Overwhelming Darkness” is no exception. We eagerly anticipate the final adaptation and the impact it will undoubtedly have on audiences. Thank you, Steven, for sharing your valuable insights and experiences with us. We look forward to continuing this creative journey together.
