In t / ext : Screenplays for classroom learning

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 film, 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 film, 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 lug l ine.co/bas ics/

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 film 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 thi r 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 fingernai ls were a lways c l ipped, and they were a lways c lean. That ’s a funny th ing 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 t rust department of a large Port land bank. Good work for a man as young as he was, especial 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 his pants to get his truss around stra ight. Andy was in for murdering his wife and her lover.”

Cinematic Writing by Frank Darabont

“ANDY DUFRENSE, mid-20’s, wire rim 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, flinty and hard, are riveted 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 Ji l l went up the hil lto fetch a pail of waterJack fell down and broke his crownand Ji l 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 adventure action

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:

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

PodcastsScriptnoteshttp://johnaugust.com/podcast

Scriptcasthttp://www.scriptdoctoreric.com/scriptcast

Q&A With Jeffrey 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: