Talk by Screenwriter, Rob Wright

Talk by Screenwriter, Rob Wright

Screenwriter, Rob Wright came into class to give a very interesting and useful talk about the process of writing screenplays.

Rob gave some valuable general advice for the early stages of writing a screenplay which included some definitions for important key words for screenwriting such as 'Theme' which describes the main motifs of a screenplay such as the concept that the main character will have to struggle with throughout the film, another key word was 'Premise' which describes the core of the story that defines the plot of the film. The different types of characters in a screenplay include the 'Protagonist' who is the main character and hero of the story and the point of view character for the narrative whom the viewer is aligned with, 'Supporting characters' are the characters who help the protagonist and the 'Antagonist' is the villain of the narrative and an opposing force or threat acting acting against the protagonist, the antagonist does not have to be a human entity in every film. Rob also gave a quick recap of the three act structure which I will cover in a whole seperate blog post of its own. 

 Rob's more specific advice for the screenwriting format include the following;
  • Font for the whole screenplay must be 'Courier New' and size 12pt.
  • The screenplay must begin with the phrase 'Fade in' and end with 'Fade out'. 
  • The screenplay must not include any information about editing or cinematography.
  • Every scene (change of time or location) must start with a slugline.
  • Slugline must include EXT/INT which stands for interior or exterior depending on the location of the scene, the location and DAY/NIGHT to show the location and time in which the scene takes place respectively. The slugline must be all in upper case.
  •  Action lines describe the scene direction, this is where the mise en scene can be detailed, action line must be in lower case except for character names.
  • Each scene must end with the phrase 'Cut to' followed by the next slugline.
Rob's advice for dialogue was to keep it to a minimum, to avoid exposition and try to develop the story visually throught the screenplay. Rob also advised that for writing realistic dialogue it could be useful to pay attention to how people speak in real life and to read out written lines verbally to see if they sound right.
 

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