Week 3 Directing and Screenwriting

last week was a full week of major script edits and analyzing every word we had written on our three page limit. Almost everyday we did a table read that left us with new questions about the story we were telling, and notes on what to enhance and what to consider cutting out. It was a difficult process for the four of us, but I felt proud of my fellow interns and the stories they were able to create from the three page limit. Though the script analyzations were difficult, I found them incredibly helpful. Cameo, Connie Jo, Liz, and a few others helped us understand our scripts in ways we hadn't before. Each new version of our scripts only made for a stronger story. This week taught me the value of drafts and how tearing apart your script is an essential part of the process even though in the moment it may feel like the worst thing in the world.

Sometimes you realize the script you wrote was just something you did to meet a deadline. I realized that halfway through last week and it scared me because the more we analyzed what we wrote, the clearer it became that I had no idea what I'd written or what I had even meant my story to be about. My script felt very foreign to me and revising it was getting me nowhere. I took a moment and read the screenplays for movies I like (whiplash, Hot Fuzz, 8th grade, Fargo.) and decided I wanted to start fresh and write something I could adequately tell in three minutes. By the end of the week I returned to the office with a completely different script. Cameo and Connie probably wanted to kill me for making such major changes last minute, but they told me the script was good and agreed that this script was much more concise.

Now I've just got to get rid of a few lines to reach the three page limit.

To help us understand how writing a script and directing a script are two different processes. Cameo asked us to read a screenplay and take notes on how we'd direct it, then watch the film to see how it was actually done.

Since Cameo had sent us a list of this years Oscar nominated screenplays and free movie tickets, (I'm tempted to use Tamar's #cameosponsorsmylife) I read the screenplay for 1917 and watched the film later that day.

Here's a video of how I attempted to direct the first three pages.