Natalie Frank Frank 1
7/20/15
Eng 201
The Paper
Respect for the Craft
“We cannot explain our world, we can only describe it,” David Schwartz said softly and convincingly at the end of his lecture. “Good stories do not have morals, they are morals.” David Schwartz teaches Screenwriting. His lectures, lessons, and ideas are the most valuable thing I have yet to learn at Brooks Institute. The importance of writing and storytelling is so important, yet people forget that without a screenplay, we have no motion picture. Without a screenplay, we have nothing for the director to direct. Without a screenplay, we have nothing for the editor to edit. Writing a great story is the hardest part to filmmaking, yet the most important.
Many film students say they want to direct, edit, produce, or direct the photography. Don’t get me wrong, these positions are just as important as the next. The script supervisor who has no creative control is just as important as the editor. Any job on a motion picture, weather it be pre- production, production or postproduction have no value unless there is a working script that these talented people holding this important jobs can work off of.
Motion pictures can be beautifully lit, have tremendous actors and actresses, and unbelievable visual effects, but it can still be challenging to be moved or stay engaged if writing of the story is not on point. I cannot count how many beautiful movies I have seen but the story is terrible or it just does not make any sense. It’s a shame. Art of film is storytelling. The story is what allows the other positions to do their job. The director of photography cannot light a scene if he cannot understand the emotion that was written into the scene. As simple and obvious as the idea that there is no film without a written story, it never actually made total sense to me until
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sitting in my film classes at Brooks Institute. In cinematography, I realized that I could learn how to use every light possible and be able to light a scene like a professional but what is the point of that knowledge if I cannot apply it to a script. That goes for editing, too. There is nothing to edit if there is no film to shoot.
David Schwartz, the screenwriting teacher, was the first to truly convince me how important well written screenplays are. He expresses in every class how extremely hard to it is to write a well written screenplay. A screenplay can be well written, but what is well written must be a good story. For example, I read a 10 page script in front of the class the other day. The story was there but there were a few aspects of the story that did not quite add up or seem realistic for the realistic setting the story took place in. One of my characters reacted differently than what would be reasonably expected. Schwartz made it clear to me that the story that I did write was very well written. It flowed well and allowed the reader to pick up the emotions I had written.
David Schwartz wrote a piece called Dave’s Writing Recommendations from SCREW THE POOCH. In just seven pages, David is able to give the main ideas on how to write a successful screenplay, much of which has to do with character development. He gives clear examples from famous motion pictures to help the reader understand the points made and be able to use it in their own writing.
We tell stories everyday. When a loved one asked how your day went and you mention an incident that happened, you just told a story. So it does not seem that difficult. But that is because it already happened. Creating an interesting story from scratch and creating actual goals, conflicts, and reactions that with multiple characters would actually make sense and seem
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realistic is one of the harding things I have ever done. Everything needs to add up and if the audience will not buy what you wrote, you lost them.
Dave helps the reader understand that in his piece. As we read, we learn how to keep the reader/viewer involved and believing in our written story. For example, “And yet - during the pursuit of this desire and the struggle that always ensues, the protagonist often comes to distinguish between this desire or goal and its underlying CAUSE OR NEED. In the end, what was desired may actually CONFLICT with what the character most needs.” Just that little bit of information teaches the writer to learn about their own character. Dave writes, “ The most important first step in writing is really knowing your characters. Not just what they want but why they really need it. And why it is critical that be realized.” In my opinion knowing that, is a lot easier than writing it so that someone else can understand that. What is in our head might make sense to the thinker but not anyone else. Finding the correct words is also a challenging part of screenwriting.
I learned that less is more in a screenplay. A script reader wants to see more white on the paper, than black. How does that ever make sense if you are writing something. The actions in the script should not exceed more than two-four sentences. Even four is pushing it. Script readers get paid on the number of script they finish reader. If there are extremely long paragraphs of action, it will take them longer and lower their pay. It makes sense that they would not want to give anyones script that is overwritten the time of day. We need to learn how to write what we see in our vision for the film in the least amount of words possible, yet still descriptive enough to
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get the feeling of the characters and story. We do not want our reader to feel like he or she does not have enough information.
A reading that really helped me grasp that idea was How to Read like a Writer. I hated reading when I was younger. I still kind of hate reading. I actually do not read unless I have to. As an aspiring screenwriter, I have been reading more and more, but only because I have to. I will admit, I have been trying to read more so I started a novel by one of my favorite screenwriters. David told me “ Read, the more you know about the world either first hand or reading the more it will deepen every creative choice you make.” How to Read like a Writer gave me some really helpful tips to read other writers. To write, or to write well, you have to read other fantastic writers. David has also said something very similar to that in class. The author wrote, "I came to realize that all writing consists of a series of choices." When writing a script, the entire process is making choices, making the right choices. Choices such as: what would my character do next? How would my character react to a specific situation? How should I resolve the conflict? What is the conflict? Those are just the main questions a screenwriter must as themselves. Every line and word must be chosen correctly. “I realized writing is a word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence process.” I could not agree more. I understand that the author is probably not relating his writing to the screenwriting process, but it definitely fits the case. Each word is important because you really only have so much time for them. You want the reader to want to read it.
In the reading , Rhetorical Analysis, the author writes a lot about writing about subject that will be appealing to your audience. Which sounds pretty self explanatory but can be
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challenging because we as writers are not sure what the reader will like or dislike. For example, a football movie is not going to appeal to everyone. Maybe kids and those “go hard football” dads but not everyone. But The Blind Side (2009) directed by John Lee Hancock, had plenty more to it than just football. The story was filled with ideas of love, family, and looking out for those we care about. The movie made me cry and I do not hesitate to think that it made other viewers shed more than a year or two. That is an example of writing for a specific audience but allowing it to apply to many more audiences.
I had the wonderful opportunity of sitting down one on one with David Swartz to ask him a few questions about the screenwriting field and his own creative writing. First, I asked him, “What was the first feature screenplay you wrote? Looking back at it now, what do you think of your writing and what has changed?” He went down the list of what is important in a screenplay. He said the language he used, meaning film language, was very good, for a beginning writer. The visual aspects were good and he mentioned that the behavior of his character was not very good. Although his writing was skilled, it was not mature. Blind Spot, the first feature script he wrote, was a great idea and written well but the story seemed to be flawed. He states, “The characters didn’t tell the story, they were puppets of the writer.” The moves we choose to make as a writing need to have our characters best interests in mind.
Leave it to David Schwartz to answer a question with another question. As a light hearted question, I took the route of asking him who is favorite screenwriter of all time was, what his favorite piece of writing was by him or her. Leave it to David let turn a light hearted question into a heavy conversation that involves a lot of thinking. He answered with “ Robert Town with
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Chinatown (1974) and Toto the Hero (1991) by Jaco Van Dormael. When I asked him “why?”, looked at his hands then back up at me and asked me, “Why do you choose the person you fall in love with?” I was speechless and had to think about that question for a second. It seems like such a deep question as a reply to such a light hearted question but when I thought about it, it made perfect sense. Sometimes it can be heard to understand why we are drawn to a specific piece of art. We can love a piece of art so much because it can be so real and honest that we might actually hate it. It’s hard to say, and it’s hard to write.
One of the most important question I asked David was, “ What do you think makes a good screenwriter?” After listening to him talk for sometime about the art of screenwriting, I was able to understand the main points. A good screenwriter has respect for craft and has the patience for learning the craft. He or she must have an imation to transcend the craft. A good writer is deeply observant about human nature and values honesty. He states, “ The best stories deal with real problems in real ways...Seek to entertain but also offer honest insight.”
“What is your favorite genre to write and why?” I asked david toward the end of our interview. He started with a simple “I don’t know” Silence filled the room and he continued. “I like films that do not really have a genre. Or it is hard to categorize the specific genre.” He says that because it allows the film to have more dimension and honesty. His example to back up his statement made a reference to “Rom-coms,” also known as romantic comedies. Rom-coms usually end a specific way. The guy gets the girl, the girl gets the guy, or everyone is happy in the end no matter what the outcome. “There is not a lot of room to create dimensional characters. Films that don’t have any obligations, that don’t have genre conventions are more truthful.”
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According to David, all jobs in the film field are similar. They have different facets. But each one has to tell a story. The director is like a conductor. The director has to know how do it all. He or she has to know how to write a bit, edit, light, and shoot. Just as a conductor would in an orchestra. Almost all the time, a conductor would know how to play every instrument in his or her orchestra. However, David states that writing and directing are the most challenging positions in the world of film production. “They must understand all positions.” Writing is hard to do well and directing is hard because you need to control people, and be able to communicate your vision.
David Schwartz gives fantastic lectures on the art and craft of screenwriting. He is able to create the best metaphors for some the hardest concepts to grasp, not just in screenwriting, but life itself. Whether a student is writing a drama or a comedy, or any other genre of film, David has the expertise and understanding from his own life experiences to give his well respected opinion and suggestions to help the student become a better writer. He has been a director, a director of photography, an editor and many more positions in the filmmaking process. Many people may not agree, but he has told his class on many occasions: not only is screenwriting the hardest part of filmmaking, but it is the most important. Mastering the art of screenwriting can take entire lifetime because one needs an entire lifetime to observe the truth about the human life. “Put the art before yourself and ego. Be observant of human nature, that’s what stories are about.”
