INT/EXT: SCREENPLAYS FOR

CLASSROOM LEARNING

"Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture. They think the actors make it up as they go along.”

-Billy Wilder (screenwriter/director)

INTRODUCTION

What is a Screenplay?The screenplay as a text for analysis

The screenplay as a creative writing product

Getting startedQuestions

TOPICS I’M COVERING:

Adapted from the Oxford English Dictionary: noun the script of a fi lm, which may include dialogue,

acting instructions and scene directions.

WHAT IS A SCREENPLAY, EXACTLY?

Adapted from the Oxford English Dictionary: noun the script of a fi lm, which may include dialogue,

acting instructions and scene directions.

From Scriptlab: Unlike the novelist, who has complete freedom to explore any point of view, shift between conscious and subconscious mind, explore a character or a story from multiple perspectives, etc., the screenwriter MUST write in present tense and only what the audience can SEE and HEAR.

WHAT IS A SCREENPLAY, EXACTLY?

Like other narrative texts, such as novels, plays and short stories, you can use screenplays to analyse and evaluate:

PlotCharacter ConflictSettingThemes

ANALYSING SCREENPLAYS

LET’S CLOSE READ A SCENE

We are going to look at the opening scene of Brokeback Mountain.

While reading this scene, try to pick out information that helps establish:

CharacterPlotSettingConflictTheme

OPENING SCENE: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Creative Writing Products

SCREENPLAYS AS…

http: / /s lugl ine.co/basics/

GET TO KNOW: PARTS OF A SCREENPLAY

Once you have mastered these scene components, you can essentially build a sequence of scenes which you can shape into an entire screenplay narrative.

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BASIC PARTS OF A SCREENPLAY

When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most

anything!

Cinematic writing is about the compression of information. There is no time in a fi lm to dawdle. Unlike a play, which relies heavily on dialogue to communicate information, a screenwriter may use dialogue and visual cues to evoke meaning.

Screenplays are mindful of pace and momentum. It must be crafted to sustain action and audience attention – this means paring down the story to what is crucial.

WHAT MAKES WRITING CINEMATIC?

Regular Prose by Stephen King

“When Andy came to Shawshank in 1948, he was thir ty years o ld. He was a short neat l i t t le man with sandy hair and smal l , c lever hands. He wore gold-r immed spectacles. His fi ngernai ls were a lways c l ipped, and they were a lways c lean. That ’s a funny thing to remember about a man, I suppose, but i t seems to sum up Andy for me. He a lways looked as i f he should have been wear ing a t ie. On the outs ide he had been a v ice-president in the trust department of a large Port land bank. Good work for a man as young as he was, especia l ly when you consider how conservat ive most banks are…and you have to mult ip ly that conservat ism by ten when you get up into New England, where fo lks don’t l ike to trust a man with their money unless he’s bald, l imping, and constant ly plucking at h is pants to get h is truss around stra ight. Andy was in for murder ing his wi fe and her lover.”

Cinematic Writing by Frank Darabont

“ANDY DUFRENSE, mid-20’s, wire r im glasses, three-piece suit . Under normal circumstances a respectable, sol id cit izen; hardly dangerous, perhaps even meek.  But these circumstances are far from normal. He is disheveled, unshaven, and very drunk. A cigarette smolders in his mouth. His eyes, fl inty and hard, are r iveted to the bungalow up the path.”

WHAT MAKES WRITING CINEMATIC?

A scene must…

Move the action forwardProvide information about the plotReveal something about the character

A well written scene will have two of the above elements. A great scene will have all three.

THE SCENE AS A NARRATIVE UNIT

You are going to adapt an opening scene based on this text:

Jack and Jil l went up the hillto fetch a pail of waterJack fell down and broke his crownand Jil l came tumbling after.

Your scene must: Use the screenplay writing format Be no more than one page

Extra challenge: present the story in the style of one of the following genres:

horror romance period adventureaction

SCENE WRITING ACTIVITY:

FADE IN.

EXT. FARMLANDS – DAYDust blows across the parched ground. The earth, deeply cracked and separated into jagged plates, supports no life.

A FINGER traces the outline of a crack, picks up a piece of soil and crumbles it into the wind.

JACK, 15, gaunt and unkempt, breathes shallowly and deliberately through cracked, peeling lips. He casts a steely gaze across the barren, shimmering horizon.

In the distance, a miniscule patch of green protrudes from a sea of brown.

Jack bends down. His hand grips the handle of a worn, wooden bucket.

He begins walking.

HERE’S MY SIMPLE GO:

Use one of the following paintings by Artist Edward Hopper to create a short scene.

Think about: What is happening? What might be the conflict? Who are the characters? What are their backgrounds? What is the dialogue? What are their relationships with other chacraters?

EDWARD HOPPER

CHOOSE A PAINTING

WHERE TO GET STARTED: BOOKS

Linda Seger The Art of Adaptation

Syd FieldScreenplay

William Goldman, Adventures in the

Screen Trade Which Lie Did I Tell?

WHERE TO GET STARTED: BOOKS

Sourcing Screenplays Drew’s Script-o-Rama

http://www.script-o-rama.com/snazzy/dircut.html Internet Script Movie Database

http://www.imsdb.com/ Simply Scripts

http://www.simplyscripts.com/WR_resource.html

Creative SupportElements of Cinema

http://www.elementsofcinema.comThe Scriptlab

http://thescriptlab.com/ Go Into the Story

http://gointothestory.blcklst.com/

WHERE TO GET STARTED: WEBSITES

Podcasts

Scriptnoteshttp://johnaugust.com/podcast

Scriptcasthttp://www.scriptdoctoreric.com/scriptcast

Q&A With Jeff rey Goldsmithhttp://www.theqandapodcast.com/

WHERE TO GET STARTED: OTHERS

“We have suffered anonymity far too often. I appeal to all movie critics and feature writers to please always bear in mind that a film production begins and ends with a screenplay.”

-Ernest Lehman(screenwriter)

A THOUGHT: