Scriptwriting
In the past Script was called a "scenario", therefore its meaning remains the same: “the written form of a movie that also includes instructions on how it is to be acted and filmed: the script for a movie.”
https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/3147-the-history-of-the-screenplay/
"A trip to moon" 1902 written for George Melies is the earliest example of modern scripts. It provided information on location and action.
Edwin Porter "The Great Train Robbery" 1903 was the film which started the change in the script formating. From that point on the movies become lenglier and so there was the need to produce a piece that would describe everyhing very well for crew on set to follow and not get cnfused.
Thomas Ince (1880 - 1924)
Director, who established a partnership with Mack Sennett and D.W. Griffith, called Triangle Pictures Production Compan. He was also the finder of a system in which each production and its staff was devided into seperate units. Each unit had their unit menager and that way the production was more organised and easier to control.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-H-Ince
For the units to work, each had to know what the productin is about from heand to toes. Before, the director would be the one to know what is going on and he would plan wjat to shoot next after each shot and then he would tell the actors and crew what to do. Ince changed that so his system could work.
Everyone on the set was required to know the script, therefore everyone knew what is meant to hapen and how it meant to look like.
Anita Loos and John Emerson in, “How to Write Photoplays.” 1920 - first book on scriptwriting
Around 1930
"Major studios such as Paramount, Fox, MGM and Warner Brothers had began to co-opt all aspects of filmmaking, from production to distribution."
https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/3147-the-history-of-the-screenplay/
"they more or less controlled every facet of a film’s production including the script, its writers, directors and actors and even the film’s editing and score"
"Slowly, a producer’s role became more prominent than the director’s."
https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/3147-the-history-of-the-screenplay/
Around 1970
A spec scripts - scripts that were written by scriptwriters become popular. The ywere written with a hope for a producer to pick them up and want to use it as a product for a film/series.
Around that time actors become more interested in scripts and the way they were presented become much more important.
https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/3147-the-history-of-the-screenplay/
The Master Scene Format
Here the script did not give the camera directions, but the location, time, character, dialogue and what the character is doing.
1972 “The Godfather”is believed to create the first master scene format, used today as a tamplate for modern scripts.
http://www.hollywoodlexicon.com/masterscene.html
The writers used jargon such as “INT.” (interior) and “EXT.” (exterior), which we used today.
That way scripts become more of an art form rather than buissness plan. Writers could create their characters and stories, and directors could decide on their shots and tones.
Also looked at:
http://filmschoolonline.com/sample_lessons/sample_lesson_format.htm
Screenwriter
http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/3078_screenwriter
What do they do?
How to become one?
How to write a script
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writers-lab/scriptwriting-essentials
1. Developing the idea
2. Character
3. Beginnings
4. Middles
It is the most intense part of the story. It is where the story develops, changes, where the characters meet other characters and where they go through their journey to its end. It is where they make key decisions, mistakes and where they raise for the final scenes. The story must be put in a right order so it does make sense for the audiences and for the character itself.
5. Endings
They must be unpredictable for the audiences to find the film interesting and entertaining. They may be even suprising, but they always have to make sense with what has happen throught the whole story before the ending.
6. Scenes
They show some kind of action; tension, making decisions, reactions etc.
"1. What effect does this scene have on the character within the moment?
2. What effect does it have on the subsequent events of the story?
3. What impact does it have on the world of the story?
4. What else is going on below the surface and beyond the text?"
7. Dialogue
Also looked at:
https://goinswriter.com/scriptwriting-tips/
https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/3147-the-history-of-the-screenplay/
"A trip to moon" 1902 written for George Melies is the earliest example of modern scripts. It provided information on location and action.
Edwin Porter "The Great Train Robbery" 1903 was the film which started the change in the script formating. From that point on the movies become lenglier and so there was the need to produce a piece that would describe everyhing very well for crew on set to follow and not get cnfused.
Thomas Ince (1880 - 1924)
Director, who established a partnership with Mack Sennett and D.W. Griffith, called Triangle Pictures Production Compan. He was also the finder of a system in which each production and its staff was devided into seperate units. Each unit had their unit menager and that way the production was more organised and easier to control.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-H-Ince
For the units to work, each had to know what the productin is about from heand to toes. Before, the director would be the one to know what is going on and he would plan wjat to shoot next after each shot and then he would tell the actors and crew what to do. Ince changed that so his system could work.
Everyone on the set was required to know the script, therefore everyone knew what is meant to hapen and how it meant to look like.
Anita Loos and John Emerson in, “How to Write Photoplays.” 1920 - first book on scriptwriting
Around 1930
"Major studios such as Paramount, Fox, MGM and Warner Brothers had began to co-opt all aspects of filmmaking, from production to distribution."
https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/3147-the-history-of-the-screenplay/
"they more or less controlled every facet of a film’s production including the script, its writers, directors and actors and even the film’s editing and score"
"Slowly, a producer’s role became more prominent than the director’s."
https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/3147-the-history-of-the-screenplay/
Around 1970
A spec scripts - scripts that were written by scriptwriters become popular. The ywere written with a hope for a producer to pick them up and want to use it as a product for a film/series.
Around that time actors become more interested in scripts and the way they were presented become much more important.
https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/3147-the-history-of-the-screenplay/
The Master Scene Format
Here the script did not give the camera directions, but the location, time, character, dialogue and what the character is doing.
1972 “The Godfather”is believed to create the first master scene format, used today as a tamplate for modern scripts.
http://www.hollywoodlexicon.com/masterscene.html
The writers used jargon such as “INT.” (interior) and “EXT.” (exterior), which we used today.
That way scripts become more of an art form rather than buissness plan. Writers could create their characters and stories, and directors could decide on their shots and tones.
Also looked at:
http://filmschoolonline.com/sample_lessons/sample_lesson_format.htm
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=script+layout&safe=strict&client=firefox-b-ab&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzsMns2-zZAhWrL8AKHdZ4B5EQ_AUICigB&biw=1152&bih=546#imgdii=2UVQwA3HhmUDJM:&imgrc=WBA2iuyBaifpPM:
Screenwriter
http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/3078_screenwriter
What do they do?
- research the ideas for the story and developing it
- writing the screenplay
- knowing the narrative theories and rules and how it influences the audiences
knowing how different plots and themes influence audiences in different ways
knowing the modern audiences and their preferences
be creative and imaginative
be able to listen and observe
understanding the structure of a story
be organised
be able to work in a team
be able to give up on your own work and work on someone else's work
be able to meet the deadlines
How to become one?
- no need to have a specyfic qualification
- good to have done a screenwriting course
- write lots of pitches and ideas and present them to producers
How to write a script
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writers-lab/scriptwriting-essentials
1. Developing the idea
- know exactly what the story is
know exactly what will happen from the start of the story to its end
know all of the characters, their backgrounds, journeys and where they gonna be at the end of the story
know how long the story will be; series/film
know if there is enough of the action to keep the story going and keep the audience interested
know exactly the world in which the story takes place, what are the rules there; therefore you will be able to understand the characters you created better; why and how they react to certain things
know what the genre of the story is
know how you want to encode the story and how the audience may decode it
know what reaction from the audience you want to get
know why you create thsi story, why it is important and why people will like it
know what you want to communicate through the story
write about something you care about
know your target audience
2. Character
- they need to be on some kind of a journey; physical, emotional, psychological etc.
they always have a goal
you need to know what they journey is and what they goal is as well as their past and future.
they need to be unique to be interesting
"characters need to be emotionally engaging"
they should allow the audience to empathise with them
3. Beginnings
- make sure you introduce some character ans who they are, what they are like
make sure you show a part of the world you have created
make sure you introduced the theme and the genre of the film/series to the audience
make sure you left the clif hanger to keep them interested
give a characte ror a world some kind of obsticle, something that has not shown up in their lifes before that they have to face
4. Middles
It is the most intense part of the story. It is where the story develops, changes, where the characters meet other characters and where they go through their journey to its end. It is where they make key decisions, mistakes and where they raise for the final scenes. The story must be put in a right order so it does make sense for the audiences and for the character itself.
5. Endings
They must be unpredictable for the audiences to find the film interesting and entertaining. They may be even suprising, but they always have to make sense with what has happen throught the whole story before the ending.
6. Scenes
They show some kind of action; tension, making decisions, reactions etc.
- you need to know if a scene moves the stroy forward
- you need to know what is the purpose of the scene
- you need to remeber that "show" is more important that "tell"; you need to know how you want your character to react to give the audience clues or to make them confused
- you need to know:
"1. What effect does this scene have on the character within the moment?
2. What effect does it have on the subsequent events of the story?
3. What impact does it have on the world of the story?
4. What else is going on below the surface and beyond the text?"
- you need to know how each scene works with each other
- you need to know how important each scene is
- you need to know their order
- you need to know how each scene influences the audience
7. Dialogue
- remember to write the way normal people would talk
write they way, a particular character would talk; it makes the character unique
know the world you created, so you know how people there may talk; jargon etc.
make sure the dilogue is not written "on the nose"; do not sell the information to easy to the audience and thing of more creative ways of doing so
- you should leave a script for some time to be able to go back to it with fresh mind
- check everything twice and then a couple of times more
- maybe give it to someone else to read it
- accept the fact that you may have to change a lot
- be able to give up your work and write again or change a lot of things
- be flexible and thing outside of the box
Also looked at:
https://goinswriter.com/scriptwriting-tips/
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