Again, today is a shortened schedule. In today’s class we started out by looking into the idea of prose language. Essentially, prose language is normal language that would be found in a novel or any other standard text excluding poems. Prose is not found in a screenplay for a movie. Thus we began to look into what separates a screenplay from any other text. We did this by examining conventions or patterns found in a screenplay. It is important to understand screenplay lingo because this common language amongst screenwriters. One thing our class noticed after looking at the sample (found on Google Classroom) was the professionalism and precision. The screenplay is very professional because it follows standard format and never deviates. Also we notice that the screenwriter can get their point across with very few words. Unlike an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel where he can spend eight pages describing the trees a movie cannot do that. We categorized these conventions into five categories.
The first category is an action block. As the name suggests this is inserted to show that some kind of action should transpire that could be as simple as a person walks across set or as complex as a car chase. The next is a scene heading, also known as a slugline. This follows a rigid format that looks something like this A. B- C. Where A refers to interior or exterior, B is a brief description of the setting and C is the time of day. The third one is the characters and the fact that their lines are all under the header with their name on it. The fourth convention is in reference to dialogue. Narrators are often looked down upon in the movie world thus all communication must come through dialogue between the characters. The fifth convention is in reference to the parenthetical phrases. These are the adverbs of screenplays they can describe how the person should do or say their line.
In order to connect to the real world I looked at the screenplay for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, particularly the opening monologue. Here is a snip it of the screenplay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kaG95ZIjHQ
It's on European socialism. I mean,
really. What's the point? I'm not
European. I don't plan to be European.
So, who gives a shit if they're
socialists? They could be fascist
anarchists and it still wouldn't
change the fact that I don't own a
car.
He turns the shower head around and uses it like a microphone.
FERRIS (CONT'D)
(sings)
WELL SHAKE IT UP, BABY, TWIST AND
SHOUT...
INT. HALLWAY. LATER
Ferris comes out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around
his waist. He's drying his hair with another of a different
color.
FERRIS
Not that I condone fascism. Or and
"isms". "Isms", in my opinion are
not good. A person should not believe
in an "ism". He should believe in
himself. John Lennon said it on his
first solo album.
(MORE)
FERRIS (CONT'D)
"I don't believe in Beatles, I just
believe in me." A good point there.
Afterall, he was the Walrus.
He opens a linen closet and tosses the towel in it.
FERRIS (CONT'D)
I could be the Walrus and I'd still
have to bum rides off people.
I chose this snip it to show that the screenplay is not the final product. By simply reading this without any context you might believe this is a legitimate philosophical discussion however it is is when you watch the scene you find that that is not the case at all. This is due to parenthetical clues and action blocks that shape the dialogue.
No comments:
Post a Comment