STORY-TELLING UNIT: Research - Screenwriting

Following our session with Steve Coombes on screenwriting, I decided to conduct some extra research on the subject.

I managed to find an example screenplay with aspects of the screenplay explained. [1]

This was particularly useful as it helped to enhance and reinforce what Steve had taught us in the session. It really helped to explain where each of the tools should be used on a screenplay. When looking at example screenplays I was confused as to why sometimes the characters' names were in capitals and at other times they were not - this example helped to show that capitals are used for the first appearance of a character. I then transferred this knowledge to my own screenplay.

What is a screenplay?

- a blueprint for a film

- conveys the story to be told

- how to show a story on screen

- reader should be able to imagine how the film will work on screen

Why are all screenplays written in the same font?

- all screenplays are written in courier 12pt font

- a formatted page of screenplay in courier 12pt font = one minute of screen time (approximately)

How is a screenplay formatted?

- due to the development of screenwriting programmes such as Final Draft and Celtx, people generally don't have to manually format their screenplays (they simply choose the tool that suits the part of the script e.g. dialogue, scene heading etc.)

- however, it interested me to find out all the different aspects of formatting a screenplay.

Example screenplays I had a look at:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Perks_of_Being_a_Wallflower.pdf

Mean Girls - http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/mean_girls.pdf

Inception - http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Inception.html

Following this research I really feel like I understand screenplays and the process of screenwriting better. Looking at example screenplays was probably the greatest help to me as it helped me to see that even the best screenwriters follow the same techniques that we have been taught.

[1] Writers Store, 2016. How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing Example & Screenwriting Tips [online] Available at: <https://www.writersstore.com/how-to-write-a-screenplay-a-guide-to-scriptwriting/> [Accessed on: 24/10/2016]