Writing a Screenplay

This is the second in a series of three blog posts that are based on a class I was asked to attend for a friend of mine at New York Film Academy on playwriting versus screenwriting versus TV writing. This isn't an excerpt from a lecture that I'll be giving, but more of a riff on the subject. I wanted to jot down some notes to get me thinking about what I could possibly say about how I approach writing screenplays. I already wrote about playwriting and the next subject is TV writing. I feel I'm discovering a little bit about my process through writing about it.

So here it goes.  Round Two…

I haven't written many full length screenplays in my life. It's probably the form of dramatic writing I'm least familiar with. And when I sat down to work on this latest screenplay, I was worried that I had forgotten how to do it. Fortunately, I have been writing TV pilots so I understood the kind of structure that needed to happen. And I was about to write more visually because I have added some visual elements to my TV pilots.

What makes something a film versus something else?

I'm not the action writing type. So explosions are one way to differentiate oneself. The screenplay I wrote is really a coming of age story and it referenced other films. So I guess that's why it seemed more adaptable to a screenplay. But for me, screenplays rely the least on dialogue. It really is about the action and the visual. Although I love talky movies too.

Screenplays are close-ended stories that are more visual. Maybe that's my answer. With screenplays, things need to happen at certain markers. Act One is pages 1-30 (maybe 1-20ish if you're writing a 90 minute movie). Act Two is 31-90. And Act Three is 91-120. No one I know really writes 120 page screenplays. There's a lot of talk about the inciding incident, the event that kicks off the film. Act One is the set up and the build up to the premise of the film. Act Two is where things get wicked complicated and the winner almost loses. And Act Three is the redemption or resolution.  Plays aren't structured that way in the modern sense.  And with TV, there's a greater story you're telling.

I suppose screenplays can be bigger in scope. Although this screenplay I just finished wasn't. But it didn't necessarily feel like a continuing story either.  But I had a clear story I wanted to tell with a set beginning, middle and end. I suppose I felt that this story was best told in a visual way because it referenced other films. I do have to say that I enjoyed writing this screenplay, which ended up being 94 pages. The story and plot seem to be king in screenplays. Everything moves swiftly and sometimes there are scenes that play without words and are told purely visually.

I have to say that when I looked back at the first ten pages of this screenplay, instinctually, it really hit those marks of introducing my characters and the central question of the piece.  There was an event that set everything off and running. And even with going further and figuring out the event that sets Act One into Act Two, it seemed like everything hit its mark.

I do outline with screenplays and with TV shows as well. I felt like I had a good story that could be told with many characters. Plays seem to be a little more self contained. The last three plays I wrote had either 3 or 4 actors. But for me, the visual aspect of screenwriting is the most fun. It's great to tell a story through visuals instead of through language.  I like to imagine certain shots and  try to write in a way that's aware of what's being seen and less about what's being said. But again, I'm a fan of Woody Allen's films and Richard Linklater's films as well. And those can be very talky. Yet the location is just as much of a character as any of the written characters are.

Maybe that's the difference.