Screenwriting, p.1
Screenwriting, page 1
part #1 of Basics Film-Making Series
A Chump at Oxford
(dir: Alfred J. Goulding 1940)
Screenwriters who are enrolled on film production courses sometimes complain about theory courses, believing that they are irrelevant to the craft that they wish to learn. This is to be mistaken.
Table of contents
How to get the most out of this book
Introduction
What is a screenplay?
The screenwriter
Writing for the screen
What is a script?
Script forms – feature film / short film
Good practice
Finding your ideas
Concept/Treatment/Pitch
Essential elements of storytelling
Theories of storytelling
Genre/form
Log lines
Treatment
Step treatment
The pitch
Script formats
First draft
Character
Creating the world
The physical world – mise en scène
Action
Tone and genre
Dialogue
Second draft
Writing the second draft
Whose story is this?
Voice-over
Making dialogue convincing
How do I explain what’s happening?
Refining dialogue
Mise en scène – next steps
Beginnings and endings
Script editing
Critiquing and feedback
Analysis: character and world
Analysis: action, interaction and structure
Analysis: word and image
Analysis: closure / ambiguity
After effects and meaning
Screenwriters: unscripted
Alisha McMahon
James Condon
Thomas Gladstone and Alexander Johnson
Alexander Woodcock
Mark Herman
Conclusion
Glossary
A Nice Cup of Tea: complete drafts
Picture credits
Acknowledgements
How to get the most out of this book
This book aims to provide you with a detailed introduction to the art and craft of screenwriting. Unlike many texts on screenwriting, this book can be read in two distinct ways. Read through Basics Film-Making: Screenwriting from beginning to end in sequence, and discover the process by which a screenwriter develops their script from initial idea through to producing their final manuscript; or dip into it at leisure as you write and develop your own script, and find guidance on the many stages involved in realising your own ideas.
There are many practical pointers running throughout the book to help you think creatively, get to grips with your script and to guide you through the tricky bits, in the form of exercises, techniques and tips from industry professionals. We have devised these to both help improve your writing skills and to crucially boost your powers of persuasion.
A running glossary explains key terms clearly and precisely
Three drafts of a sample script highlight the different stages of writing a screenplay
A series of practical exercises will help you realise your concept and develop your script
Captions illustrate stills from scripts turned into successful films
Chapter navigation helps you find your way around the book easily
Revealing interviews with both established and emergent screenwriters provide an insider’s account
Introduction
People rarely like being told they are beginners, but we all have to start somewhere. As with any book that aims to guide you through the process, there is always the temptation to ignore the early sections – writers are often the worst offenders.
Problems with screenplays are often the result of writers ignoring first principles. Be aware of the process and make sure that you know the rules before you break them. Recognising your own practice is crucial; otherwise you may find yourself building up a catalogue of errors and glitches that will cause problems later.
As you develop and learn, self criticism will become automatic; you will know what not to write, what mistakes to avoid.
The screenplay is at the heart of film-making. Without it a film cannot be made. It tells actors what to say, it tells a set designer what to build, it tells a sound recordist what to record and it provides the director with a guide to what shots they will need to use.
A good screenplay is the master plan for a project that will give many people a lot of pleasure. To design one requires considerable thought and dedication.
This book cannot guarantee you success. It cannot list shortcuts or magic formulas, because there are none. It cannot write your script for you nor comment on it once it is finished. What it can do, however, is explain some of the rules and conventions of screenwriting, take you step by step through the process and provide you with the confidence and knowledge to write and – crucially – rewrite your own screenplay.
Why short film?
Nearly all screenwriters aspire to write a feature film. This is an understandable and ultimately attainable ambition.
The British film industry produces about a hundred films a year. Most film companies receive at least a thousand scripts a year; some many more. Even a low-budget feature film can cost over a million pounds and making a feature is a major operation that normally involves hundreds of people.
For those wanting to get started in film-making, the short film has some key advantages over the feature. It takes far less time to write, can be more experimental and is much easier to make. The power of digital technology means you can even shoot and edit it yourself.
The Internet allows you the opportunity to show your short film to a worldwide audience. There are also a growing number of short film festivals held around the world.
Studio One, York St. John University, c.1963
Without a script, you would have an empty room and a couple of geezers with all the technology in the world – but nothing to film.
Short films can also pack a tremendous punch. We will often remember a good short film more vividly than a feature. They can achieve an intensity that is hard to sustain in a feature film.
Short films are also good for getting writers and directors noticed. Film-makers such as David Lynch, Mark Herman, Shane Meadows and David Yates first made their mark with short films. Many others cut their teeth on adverts – which are shorts after all – directors such as Ridley and Tony Scott.
The short film writer as a student
When asked whether she felt that university writing courses stifled creative talents, fiction writer Flannery O’Connor replied: ‘Not enough of them’. O’Connor’s humorous comment highlights the importance of education when applied to the dramatic writer – education both formal and informal.
A screenplay is one of the most highly structured forms of writing any writer can undertake. To start writing without knowing how film structure works is like trying to build a house without architectural blueprints. You may get quite a long way by simply piling bricks on top of each other, but you are very unlikely to complete the house. At some point it will simply collapse under its own weight! So will an unplanned script.
Theory is not confined just to structure; an understanding of semiotics, mise en scène, genre and iconography helps the writer to enrich their screenplay. These are not simply academic concepts – they act as a guide and a checklist. A screenwriter must use all the tools at their disposal to convey meaning – to tell a story.
It’s also the case that theory and practice cross-fertilise each other. Theoretical concepts become easier to understand when they are applied to an actual screenplay. Very often, writers discover that they already know the concept – but not the name of it. Theory is vital: the writer who ignores it will rarely, if ever, succeed.
Finally
Screenwriting is hard work. If you can write five pages of your screenplay in a day, you are doing well. The job can sometimes be frustrating, exhausting and demoralising. This book is designed to help you make it fascinating, fulfilling and exciting. Good luck!
Chapter by chapter
What is a screenplay?
This chapter sets out the fundamental nature of a script and the role of the screenwriter. In examining these essentials, it also looks at the tricky concept of inspiration. Working out where ideas come from can be the hardest moment in starting your career as a writer. Telling you how to ‘do it’ is impossible and thus guidelines and basic principles are established here.
Concept/treatment/pitch
Developing your idea into a concept worthy of development is the next stage in the process. This chapter explores the idea of the screenwriter as student of their own medium. Key theories of narrative are established and discussed. The established process of moving from log line to pitch, through treatment to step treatment is clearly outlined and made simple.
First draft
First draft examines the basis of the script format and the detail of communicating ideas. With specific reference to character, the fundamentals of meaning and action are explored as key to the establishment of plot. A Nice Cup of Tea is an original script, presented as a case study to help you apply what you learn.
Second draft
This chapter is about refinement, whether you are working on two drafts or more. This allows for a more detailed discussion of the thorny subject of dialogue – normally the most difficult thing of all, no matter how experienced the screenwriter. The script established in the preceding chapter is developed and amended.
Script editing
The role of the script editor is one of the most undervalued in cinema. This chapter establishes the importance of this role as well as looking at how a script editor develops a critique that is of use to the screenwriter. This is to allow the development of the screenwriter who is also their own best script editor.
Screenwriters: unscripted
These interviews with both new and established writers demonstrate the commonalities and the differences in writing practice. Screenwriting is a solitary activity. You won’t gain direct advice on your script by reading this chapter, but you will get reassurance that you are in good company when you differ from the practice laid down as law in every other book.
A daily scene from a typical screenwriter’s desk
‘True originality is hiding your sources’ (Albert Einstein). Generating ideas can be the hardest part of screenwriting and it’s about more than staring at a computer screen.
WHAT IS A SCREENPLAY?
Screenwriting is hard work.
We all love the movies, and plenty of people say they have a great idea for a movie of their own. However, a screenwriter is more than a film buff with a pen.
Writers are supposed to avoid clichés, but here is one you simply can’t afford to ignore: writing is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. Thomas Edison said something very close to this in 1903 when talking about his scientific discoveries. What he said about his own field is no different from the act of screenwriting – even great ideas need sweating over. Talent needs discipline and nothing happens by chance.
The passionate desire to see your dreams on the screen will count for nothing without the ability to translate those dreams into words – and get those words down on paper. Learning how to do this requires concentration, patience, persistence and most of all, stamina.
If you really want to write that screenplay, you must be prepared to invest the necessary time and energy. This will almost certainly be more time and energy than you expect. The one essential attribute every writer must have is the stubborn, bloody-minded determination to stick at it.
The screenwriter
Film is a funny business – a curious conflation of art and industry, where fantasy and finance collide.
There are very few creative activities quite as complicated, long-winded or expensive as making a movie. It takes huge resources and dozens (if not hundreds) of people to bring a film to the screen.
Barton Fink
(dir: Joel Coen 1991)
‘What don’t I understand?’ His head full of youthful ideals, New York playwright Barton Fink is bewildered by his inability to write that Hollywood screenplay.
The role of the screenwriter
The role of the screenwriter is to give all these people a starting point from which to work – to provide the initial stimulus for the project. Producers want a bankable commodity, directors want compelling drama and actors want challenging characters to play and great lines to speak. It is the scriptwriter’s job to deliver this raw material – which is then converted into the finished product we see in the cinema or on TV.
The writer initiates this process, but seldom ‘sees it through’ to its conclusion. While at his or her desk, everything is under the scriptwriter’s control; but once the script is complete, it usually becomes the ‘property’ of others.
Working with others
Film-making is a collaborative enterprise and, to reach the screen, a screenplay must pass through the hands of directors, cinematographers, actors and editors – all of whom apply their own skills and impose their own interpretation. So it is hardly surprising if the finished film often looks very different from the original ‘vision’ that first took shape in the screenwriter’s mind.
The screenwriter has a peculiar status. The legendary movie mogul Irving Thalberg said the writer was the most important person in Hollywood. Yet writers frequently complain at being unappreciated and powerless. What writers do have, however, is the truly extraordinary power to plant their dreams into the minds of millions.
The appeal of movies remains a simple one: to sit in the dark and be told stories. Someone has to write them; why not you?
Glossary
Producer: the individual who is with the film from the start of the process. The producer’s primary concern is finance and with that goes logistics. At the start of the process of film-making, the producer will be responsible for selecting key members of the crew and at the end of the process will be responsible for distribution. Producers will often be the first significant industry professional to read your script.
Cinematographer (sometimes known as the director of photography/DoP): this member of the film-making team is head of lighting and camera and is responsible for the film’s aesthetic, along with the director.
Editor: works as head of the post-production crew. Alongside the director, they edit shots and often sound.
Fortune favours the gifted, but only when they’re brave enough to share their work with the world.
Marsha Oglesby
Writing for the screen
Writing for the screen is the same as other acts of writing. Many texts will supply you with thoughts, advice and guidelines for this process. One thing you will discover is that no one piece of advice is the same as the next. Nor will one day require the same discipline as the next. While you find your own rhythm, there are a few things that you should bear in mind:
Basic rules
No one can teach you how to write, and there is certainly no magic formula. Writing cannot be reduced to an exact science. Nevertheless, there are some basic rules that are quite straightforward. These rules may appear restrictive at first, but they actually provide a framework within which there is a lot of freedom.
•Learning rules is often boring, and many aspiring writers think that breaking them will immediately make their script original. And so it will – but there’s a very high probability it will make the script both original and bad. Learn the rules before you start breaking them.
•You can’t be innovative unless you have already mastered the basics. Quentin Tarantino made his name with Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994); but the first film he wrote was True Romance (1993), which has a completely conventional structure and story.
•One rule you must never forget is that in writing for the screen you are writing for an audience. Film is an act of communication aimed at someone else. Unless the needs, desires and expectations of the audience are taken into account, the chances are they won’t get what you want to give them.
•A screenwriter is a dramatist producing characters, situations, action and dialogue to create atmosphere, intrigue and suspense. You are inviting an audience to share a world you have created, and to follow your characters on a journey through that world.
•As a writer you have to do more than just issue an invitation – you have to make your audience attend and involve them in what is happening on the screen. Good writers know how to grab an audience’s attention, keep hold of it and control it for the duration of the film.
•The art of screenwriting is being able to evoke very specific thoughts and feelings in the viewer. This means carefully choosing the right word, object or action that will transmit the necessary information or provoke the desired response in the audience.
All this requires a lot of detailed and strategic thought. Failure to think through your aims with regard to the audience will probably cost you a lot of time, whereas careful reflection on the nature and quality of the experience you are aiming to give them is always time well spent. Never stop asking yourself: what impact is this having on my audience?
Glossary
Dialogue: the written form of speech intended to be spoken by characters and/or as a voice-over.
