STORY-TELLING UNIT: Research - Screenwriting

Before making more adjustments to my script, I decided to conduct more research into the art of screenwriting.

I ended up stumbling upon this fascinating interview with director Peter Hanson. The interview was about his documentary called Tales From the Script (2009) which includes interviews with screenwriters. 

In the interview Hanson discusses whether he considers himself more of a screenwriter than a filmmaker. He revealed that he regards himself as a filmmaker rather than a screenwriter. He also reveals in the interview that he believes we are going back to the days where the concept holds more prevalence than the stars in the film. There was a period of time where star power was what attracted and audience to a movie, however, Hanson believes this is no longer the case. The audience is far more interested in the concept / storyline rather than the stars playing the characters. This shows that screenwriting is still massively important as this is how the story is conveyed (and if the audience is now more interested in the concept rather than the stars, the quality of the screenwriting is more important than ever).

Hanson reveals that unique and unusual concepts often make for better screenplays. He suggests that the best advice for aspiring screenwriters is "demonstrate to people how you can be unusual" and "find a way to deliver what is unusual about you in a conventional format". [1]

He provides an example:

"If you want to write a really satiric story, write it in a conventional fashion because what you have now told the person reading that screenplay is that you can take really difficult material and you can present it in such a way that anyone can understand it and that anyone can grasp what is exciting about it" [1]

I found his advice very useful as I am always trying to find unique ways to tell the story rather than coming up with a unique story and telling it in a conventional way. This advice should make adapting my screenplay a whole lot more straightforward.

I would really recommend checking out the interview:

[1] Youtube, 2012. The Art of Screenwriting [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WpFXG1wRwc> [Accessed on: 19/11/2016]