Approaches to Writing Screenplays [Screenwriting Fundamentals]

Each writer has their own particular way of creating a screenplay. The best two sources of interviews with successful screenwriters is Oscar-Winning Screenwriters on Screenwriting and the Screenwritting book from the Screencraft Series.

Recapping on what was presented earlier in this course, the most important elements to consider are:

• The Theme - the point our story is trying to make.
• Plot - the events in the film.
• Characters - who is involved and the conflict between them.
• Genre - the type of story we are creating.
• Dialogue & Dramatic Action - how our characters express themselves.

One of the most important things I have learnt is to keep a notebook for miscellaneous ideas. I use my notebook to record any ideas for stories, shots, characters, themes, abstract ideas, sayings, mispronunciations or anything that might come in useful later as part of a film. So if you only do one thing today, buy yourself a notebook and cherish it!

Screenwriting literature tends to favour a number of ways to representation a screenplays. Starting from the shortest, these can be considered stages in the development of a screenplay:

Pitch - this is a single line describing the essential conflict of the story. In Hollywood, they tend to like the pitch coming with a hook - i.e. "Think Annie Hall meets Gremlins" or "Jaws in space" (apparently this was the pitch for Alien). I hate hooks as they demonstrate a total lack of originality, which usually is reflected in the screenplay.

Synopsis - about a paragraph describing the story. A short synopsis of the essential information about a story is always a good starting point. I keep a notebook full of synopsises of all my films ideas - the test is if I still find a story interesting after a year or so, then there must be something in that story that is worth fleshing out a bit more.

Treatment - a more detailed description of the whole story. This can be as detailed as you wish. Typically this contains details of all the main elements of the film such as plot, characters, sketches of dialogue and action, visual ideas and themes. Some writers have approached the treatment by writing a short novella (as was the case with The Third Man). Where other directors and writes construct a treatment from hundreds of pages of notes. The superb western Once Upon A Time In The West originated from an extensive treatment assembled by Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci and cult-favourite horror director Dario Agento. This treatment was then developed into the screenplay by Leone and Spaghetti Western screenwriter extraordinaire, Sergio Donati. Ennio Morricone then recorded his amazing score, and Leone reworked the story to contain the prominent harmonica.

The Step Outline - more about this later.

The Screenplay - more about this later as well!

Redrafting - refine the screenplay, take out all unnecessary bits that don't add to the essential story. Be roofless when removing anything that is repeated, make sure each scene is distinct. The more you take out, the stronger the remaining bits will become. Withhold information to the viewers for as late as possible. Start a scene as late as possible and finish with a scene as you as possible. A great quote from Alexander Mackendrick is that "screenplays are not written, they're rewritten, rewritten then rewritten."

And most importantly - remember you're the boss. Endless textbooks and industry people always rattle on about the important of script formatting, writing a proper treatment and synopsis etc. There are textbooks that laydown rules for how to structure your story, for example they say something like "between pages 80 - 83 your protagonist feels that he maybe should give up" - this is of course complete rubbish. A young Quentin Tarantino bashed out a script for a film called Reservoir Dogs without the correct formatting with the intention of making it with his friends on 16mm. The screenplay was great and attracted funding and quality actors, and launched the career of one of Hollywood's most respected film makers. Of course we have all heard of Quentin Tarantino, but few have heard of the anally retentive jobs-worths who moan about the width of the margins on scripts! So be inventive and conjure up a great little script, make the film and take over the world!

Test Your Knowledge

To test your knowledge of this subject, why not attempt one of the assignments? When making a film, it is essential to make something that you would want to enjoy, so we have designed these assignments to help you think about what you like about films and how you can apply this to the films you want to make. Chances are, if you like your film, someone else will too!

Next lesson: Film Structure | Back to Screenwriting Fundamentals