Writing for Screen

7/25/2019 Writing for Screen

1/27

Chapter 2

Writing for Screen


2/27

What is a script?

Blueprint, view-scape or an intermediate document to be converted into reality and realized as a film.


3/27

Elements of rama

!here are si" elements of rama.

#. !heme

$. %lot

&. 'haracters

(. iction

). *usic

+. Spectacle


4/27

Theme:!he oute dea

Lage Raho Munna Bhai - andhigiri


5/27

Plot: /ow the Story unfolds?

*ultiple choices

nterest is held by a plot

%remise, character, conflict, beginning, middle, end


6/27

Characters: /uman or 0on /uman

%hysiological 1eatures

%sychological !raits

Sociological 'haracters


7/27

Diction:

2anguage

E"change of verbal or non verbal language

'haracters and dialogues


8/27

Music:

hythm


9/27

Spectacle:

2ocation, !ime, 'onte"t, 3ction etc

Where

When

What

Who

Why

/ow


10/27

SCENE AND SUMMARY

Writing involves two types of narrative4 scene and summary

n summary, the author recounts the action from a distance

n a scene, however, the writer puts the reader in the action as it happens


11/27

!he doctor tells 2illy that her son, %into, has an internal hemorrhage. 2illy loo5s so young, the doctor can6tbelieve %into is 2illy6s son, but 2illy is more concerned about %into. She as5s the doctor if he 5nows who

she wor5s for. When he says he does, 2illy tells the doctor she6ll have him 5illed if he doesn6t ma5e her son

better. !he doctor watches in shoc5 as 2illy leaves in the ambulance with her son.

SUMMARY - ecounting action from a distance


12/27

SCENE7 Being present in the sight of action

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

*3E8 3%3!*E0!S 7 S%0 - ##4#9 3*:3; - 1


13/27

DOCTOR

eturn to full shot

/is blood pressure is under a hundred. don6t thin5 he6ll live to get to the hospital..

LLLY

Ccy, sternD

;ou 5now who wor5 for.

DOCTOR

3 silent reaction shotC


14/27

3 screenpla!is in the here and now!he action is immediate, vivid and alive

!he characters always spea5 for themselves rather than through the omniscient voice of the author

3 scene is in the moment@ it6s happening now, even if it6s a flashbac5 or a dream

--


15/27

3 script is made of scenes. Each scene has five ma>or types of information that relay the story4

#. Scene headings

$. Shot 'haracteristic : 'amera angle

&. Stage direction

(. ialogue

). %ersonal direction


16/27

SCENE "EADN#:

Fery specific, basic information about a scene.

!o be written in the very beginning and must be in capitals.

nformation to be organized according to three basic components

- $here% &'T ( )*T and short description o! the location

- $hen% +eason, D ( '&./T or +peci!ic Time

- $hat% +hot Characteristic 0 +ub1ect o! the camera 2speci!ic ob1ect, space or person3

E=!. *3E8 3%3!*E0!S - S%0 - ##4#9 3* : 3; - 1


17/27

SCENE "EADN#:

Shot Characteristic$Camera An%le: Gey frameto be included between the time of the day and the

sub>ect of the camera

E=!. *3E8 3%3!*E0!S - S%0 - ##4#9 3* : 3; - 1


18/27

STA#E DRECTON:normally includes information about the movements of the characters and theirmental states. 3 paragraph that appears after the Scene /eading is the Stage irection.

Pinto, unconscious, is wheeled on a chair towards an ambulance, accompanied by Lilly and the DOCTOR, a

nerous heayset man in his !i!ties trying to maintain a !alse heartiness"

E=!. *3E8 3%3!*E0!S - S%0 - ##4#9 3* : 3; - 1


19/27

DALO#UE:

!he rules for dialogue are simple.

ialogue must fall in the middle of a page.

f you fold the page in half lengthwise, the crease should fall on the first letter of the characters nameC5nown as a character clueD.

Pinto, unconscious, is wheeled on a chair towards an ambulance, accompanied by Lilly and the DOCTOR, a

nerous heayset man in his !i!ties trying to maintain a !alse heartiness"

E=!. *3E8 3%3!*E0!S - S%0 - ##4#9 3* : 3; - 1ust can6t believe this strapping young man can be your son.

LLLY

0ever mind that. ust ta5e care of him.


20/27

ules for dialogue are designed to help the actor.

0ever brea5 a sentence from one page to the ne"t.

Stopping a sentence at the end of a page provides the actor with a natural brea5.

f a speech brea5s between two pages, you must let the actor 5now that there6s more dialogue on thene"t page by including the word C*8ED at the bottom of the last line of dialogue.

f the scene we6ve been using falls on two pages then brea5 the page li5e this4

DOCTOR

/is blood pressure is under a hundred.

C*8ED

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


21/27

!he actor thus 5nows that his speech is continued from the first page to the ne"t page.

epeat the character cue on the second page with the abbreviation '80!6 in parenthesis to let the

actor 5now that his speech started on a previous page. !his way, an actor 5nows for sure his speech

is complete.

DOCTOR

/is blood pressure is under a hundred.

C*8ED------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOCTOR C'80!6D

don6t thin5 he6ll live to get to the hospital.


22/27

A&oi' lon% speeches

f it has to go on at length, brea5 up the dialogue with

- Stage direction

- nter>ection from other characters

- E"clamation from other characters

- nterruption from other characters

Foices in the Foid - Dialogueis such a dominant part of a screenplay that writers at times are lost inthe oices.

2iterally meaning a lot of dialogue but very little sense of the physical world around the characters.


23/27

What is meant by the sense of the physical world?

- What are they doing while they6re tal5ing?

- What are the important physical details that add a sense of place and mood?

3 screenplay must not be dialogueheavy nor be stage direction heay.

1ind a balance between the two that allows you to 5eep a strong sense of the physical and emotionalworld that your characters are in.


24/27

PERSONAL DRECTON :

indicates to the actor how the writer thin5s that a certain line or speech should be read. %ersonalirection always appears in parenthesis below the character cue

DOCTOR

/is blood pressure is under a hundred. don6t thin5 he6ll live to get to the hospital..

LLLY

Ccy, sternD

;ou 5now who wor5 for.


25/27

Some other rules4

- Spell out all one and two digit numbers Cone, ten, twenty, fiftyD but use numbers for #99 and over.

- Spell out all personal titles e"cept for *r., *rs. and *s i.e. &nspector"

- Spell out all indications of time4 ten-thirty, not #94&9.

- Spell out Ho5ay,H not 8G or o.5.

When in doubt, spell it out.

!hese rules help maintaining the timing of a page

!here is a loose rule in screenplays that one 3( page of script eIuals one minute of screen time.

While itAs not constant through every page, but it does tend to even out over the course of the script.

Some wise man discovered that spelling out words helped maintain this pacing.


26/27

Some 6creative6 production styles are pain to watch4 e.g. a rapid moving unrelated shots@ or fast inter-cutting,

to create an illusion of 6e"citement6 and 6pace6 for a rather dull sub>ect. Such techniIues only succeed in

annoying or boring the audience.


27/27

E(ercise

Trans)orm the summer! into scenes

*rinalini Bose stared out the window of the cafJ. She could not stop thin5ing about herdad. She lives with him, attending college full time. 2ast night her dad was complaining ofchest pain. t really scared her. She had never thought about losing him. *rinalini was fourwhen her mom passed away. /er dad had always been there for her. 0ow she could notstop worrying. /e was only (K. She needed him. *rinalini watched people go in and out ofthe shoe store across the street. t reminded her of when she was a little girl. *rinalini

started wor5ing when she was #9 yrs. old. Every Saturday, she wal5ed to wor5 with herdad. /e owned a shoe shop in 'hina Street, Gol5ata. *rinalini li5ed hanging out with herdad. She also en>oyed helping the customers pic5 out shoes. /er dad paid s.$9.99 forevery pair of shoes she sold. !he most money she ever made in one day was s.#L9.99.*rinaliniAs dad taught her how to budget her money carefully. Every wee5, she wrote downhow many pairs of shoes she sold. She counted all her money. !hen *rinalini put M)N in asavings account that her dad opened for her. She 5ept $)N to spend. !he waiter gets thebill to the table for the coffee she ordered in the cafJ.

Documents

Writing for Screen