Pre-Production: The Complete Book of Scriptwriting - Screenwriting Research

Introduction

J Micheal Straczynski

As I am always the screenwriter for this project, I've decided to conduct some research to find any useful information that can help me structure and write an effective script. My research eventually led me to a book called 'The Complete Book of Scriptwriting' by J Michael Straczynski - a successful writer who has written for films such as World War Z, Babylon 5 and Thor. The book consists of a range of aspects which provide tips for screenwriting - exactly what I'm looking for. Below are the key points that I was interested in and feel it can help me produce an effective script:

Conflict, Conflict, Conflict

"In television, as in any form of literature, you dont just tell the story; you drive a story" - as quoted by Michael, he briefly explains how each scene should drive into each other and have a beginning, middle and ending that makes the audience feel exhausted after reading/watching. Although what Michael is trying to say would make a script seem very dramatic and entertaining, I feel that this isn't entirely beneficial for Mockumentaries due to it having an effect on the realism. Nonetheless, the idea of a scene having a beginning middle and ending seems ideal - if an audience is constantly viewing something where they reach moments of tension throughout a narrative, then it is likely that the script will generally be entertaining and dramatic.

With regard to DownStage, I have attempted to incorporate a few moments within the narrative that enable the audience to see tension building and then being released (which isn't the main climax). For example, Chantelle bribing John, Chantelle accusing Jordan of flirting, Maddie's audition, and John viewing his 'warning' letters. Therefore, this idea of driving each scene into another is an effective idea - perhaps not in Mockumentary but learning this idea will enable scenes to generally lead into each other.

"The problem with a lot of contemporary dramatic scripts is that they concentrate on the C-word, conflict, and ignore the E-word, emotion. " Linking on from what I've just pointed out, Micheal is concluding that scripts shouldn't be so dramatic that they shouldn't forget about the character and their emotions themselves. Thus, I must make sure that when conveying aspects of drama and tension, the character's emotions should be remembered.

Details

"Having now established the basic premise of the episode, you begin to embroider." Linking to the other book that I've researched, Alternative Scriptwriting, Michael explores the way that once an audience understands the beginning of the plot, the scriptwriter should then expand on character development to enable the audience to acclimatise to the characters. This is a very useful technique as the characters within a narrative are never as effective and needed if an audience cannot associate to them.

This can be done by exploring the character's personality and more importantly the history. Here I've attempted to incorporate this advice into my script by purposely bringing in moments relating to character history i.e. Alex's ex-girlfriend, Chantelle and Jordan's argument which happened a few years ago (showing how long they've been together), and John knowing Chantelle's dad.

Always Ask the Next Question

"As you develop the story, remember that characters must have more than one side to make them compelling." Here Michael explains that a character should be able to be read from more than one side for them to be 'compelling'. This means accounting for a view from both passive and active audiences in order for the character's action to be effective and memorable.

For example, most of our audience may see Chantelle as a self-centred and over-confident character. However, I've purposely included a section to show her upset and seeming genuine, thus allowing a perspective of an audience to read two sides of her.

Reading vs. Speaking

In this section, Michael reveals a beneficial tip - speaking something out after you've wrote it. Although it may look good on paper, speaking something out will enable you to see whether the lines work by mouth. As well as this, it can allow you to improve on the dialogue by loosening dialogue and remove syntax which may seem stiff. Michael then mentions to try to avoid sibilance, simply because "saying sentences staggered with s's simply staggers stars."

Conclusion

To conclude, this book provides very helpful and advisable techniques to take in whilst writing my script. I have already begun using the 'reading vs. speaking' technique that Michael discusses and it's enabled me to make improvements on my dialogue.


Reference: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=j33XTHWIZhsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=scriptwriting&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiph4XIhNHJAhUCvxQKHV0_DVQQ6AEIMTAA#v=onepage&q=scriptwriting&f=false