Screen South, the regional film agency for Kent and the South, have always been keen supporters of developing new writing. 'Dreamcatcher' was the start of programme to develop feature scripts by local screenwriters, beginning with an opportunity for writers to submit a one-page synopsis, with the chosen scripts then following a series of development sessions around the region.
It all began with a scriptwriting weekend in Folkestone with Alan Denham, Chair of the Screenwriter's Workshop. This organisation holds consultations with writers and takes on projects that have a real chance of being both produced and finding a genuine audience. He spoke about script development: "The screenwriting process is problematic. You need to develop a process, a 'methodology', an organised way of writing. I think it is the hardest form of writing there is. To produce a good screenplay is tough, and to get it produced is really difficult in Britain, but to counter that is the passion we all have for the story. That should be what drives us.
There are three key things to remember:
(i) A film is a story told in pictures. We are not yet fully a visual culture. The US film industry is because it was the only way to communicate across the ethnic board and so images became the common language.
(ii) Less is more. A good screenplay will have lots of 'white space' around it. Think of a screenplay as being the opposite of a novel. You have to evoke in very simple terms. For example, in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, we see Marian Crane (Janet Leigh) deliberating over whether she should steal the money her boss has entrusted to her. There is no dialogue. Instead, the camera cuts back and forth as Marian keeps looking at the money, and it is the music that displays the emotion. You have to recognise as a writer what is an important moment and amplify it. Hitchcock was a master of visual story telling, fully aware of what the camera was doing and why the images were there.
(iii) Story comes out of character. Characters should come in at crisis points. There will be an inciting incident, a dilemma - what will this character do? If you write screenplays you must get in touch with what your character is feeling - you must become your character. You need to know who they are, what they look like, how old, character traits that give a very clear visual aspect of them and what they are going through.
Think of the screenplay as a set of instructions to the crew, i.e. the set designer, director of photography, actors, etc. Nouns should be very active, for example: "the door BURSTS open" rather than "the door opens". (As an exercise, try and think of 50 ways to describe the act of 'looking').
Your first goal as a writer is to get your screenplay through a reader in a production company, which means you have to be somewhat seductive. Put in a few camera directions to say "this is cinematic". You need to be able to 'hook' that reader in the first few pages or else it won't be read any further. There are two-thirds the amount of dialogue in US screenplays compared with the UK. You must be able to evoke - you must be able to make the reader feel.
There is an emotional arc when we are watching a film, one that we go through and go out and go "wow!" It is like a fairground ride in that we want a big emotional experience. Feature films, compared with TV, allow for bigger emotional involvement and can provide answers to those twenty to thirty questions about the human condition. In TV sitcoms, characters never change, in dramas they hardly ever change. In feature screenplays characters can change enormously, are almost obliged to do so. This is the 'character arc'.
When you watch a film something magical happens. Within a few moments we travel out of our bodies and we are 'there' somehow. There has to be some link, some primary engagement with the screen. People relate to people and that link is the character. Your protagonist (the character whose story this is) should be introduced early on, and that bond between them and the audience should be established in the first five to ten minutes.
Take time to develop your characters. Protagonist versus antagonist is what drives your story forward. They have to seem absolutely real and our job as writers is to make each character individual. Each detail in a screenplay has to have meaning, and character is the key element of your story.
A character may be solitary, caring, guilty, passionate and outgoing - all at once! Imagine them in public, at work, institutions, dealing with authority. How about their personal life, their family, friends or partner? And in private, alone, shaving in front of the mirror or doing the housework - what are they like? How do they interact? Now do the same with your antagonist. Merge the two together and you will have a rough story outline. Then start to include secondary characters.
The character and arc come first - let the story come out of that arc. Your protagonist may, for example, move from hate to remorse to humility to generosity to sacrifice and finally to love. Eight to ten stages are a good character arc for a feature film, and remember - your antagonist need not be a person, it could just be life itself - it is whatever opposes your protagonist.
Remember - protagonist + antagonist = conflict + climax + resolution.
Books
The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri - good for character arc and exploration of depicting conflict in your writing.
Teach Yourself Screenwriting by Raymond G Frensham - particularly good for ideas for developing your characters plus practical advice on how to market yourself and break into the industry.
Story by Robert McKee - one of the most popular guides to screenwriting. Breaks down the screenwriting process into no-nonsense segments, with lots of common sense advice that draws on examples from popular screenplays, including Vertigo, The English Patient, and Rambo.
The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler - based on Joseph Campbell's work ' Hero with a Thousand Faces ', this book demonstrates how films follow the universal themes of myths and storytelling, tracing the protagonist's journey in a film and looking at how characters tend to relate to archetypes. Fascinating and informative, with lots of examples.
Websites
www.lsw.org.uk - details of workshops and seminars with industry professionals, networking nights, noticeboard, how to start a screenwriting group, competition news, script reading sources, bookstore.
www.writerscriptnetwork.com - "specialises in matching industry people with scriptwriters and scripts." Register to place your script on this site. E-newsletters and printed magazine.
www.script-o-rama.com - extensive screenplays available online - everything from Taxi Drive to There's Something About Mary. TV scripts and anime also available.
www.xerif.com - 'Scriptunities', online newsletter listing UK and European screenwriting competitions and events plus Birbeck University's on-line screenwriting courses. Also lists all available net-based courses, workshops and writers' groups.
www.triggerstreet.com - from Kevin Spacey's production company. Register and review short/feature scripts and movies in return for uploading your own and receiving feedback. Thousands of members and growing all the time.
www.screenwriting.info - for writers new to the industry, tips and advice If you would like to find out more about screenwriting opportunities or workshops in this region go to www.screensouth.org or www.kenthouse.com
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