In this episode of The Write Stuff, Roger Ebert and Andrew Quicke discuss the keys to writing a quality screenplay. These interviews were recorded in 1996 at the Virginia Book Festival and the Virginia Film Festival.
I'm a writer and totally agree. You write a screenplay for the movie for someone else to direct. Please pay me for my services and do what you may. That said, it is clear to me that most movies today are awful and are awful because of scripts that were not re-written and revised. The story is the most important thing. But it is hard to get the story right the first draft--which I think are the drafts being made.
i disagree with ebert when he talks about writing things like " the moonlight on bay" and "thunder on mountain" being meaningless; they are in the script to help set the atmosphere and tone of the story. even if it doesn't make it in the final picture, it still helps the reader visualize the world of the screenplay and makes for a more interesting read.
Quentin Tarantino said in an interview that he writes his screenplays as if they were novels and intended for people to read. But then again he directs most of his screenplays and he said that he struggles with adapting his screenplays into the movies. So unless a screenwriter directs his own movie, they should have less emphasis on visual descriptions and shots because that is the director’s job. Directors could decide to point the camera in areas where your descriptions may be pointless.
Not at all, Tarantino directs his own screenplays. When he didn't, like in cases like Natural Born Killers, the director completely changed everything Tarantino wanted from his screenplay. So Ebert is exactly correct.
Tarantino himself describes having to "adapt" his own screenplay every day on the set. He wants his scripts to be a work of art on their own, but it doesn't make a difference to the movie itself except as a reading experience. Of course, a good reading experience may get more people read your script, which again helps you sell it, but as a practical matter I think Ebert is right
@@magnusalexander2965 exactly, in kill Bill vol.2 the trailer fight between Beatrix and the one eyed girl was thought up on the fly like the day before they shot it. It was totally different from how he wrote it in the script
Bottom line 1989 Roger Ebert! The Graves Of The Fireflies (A Cartoon) made me almost cry-&sob. The entire theater was sobbing and crying (Paraphrase) They did not teach me this @ Cal Poly!
A truly wonderful video. Very insightful. I have always been a great admirer of Roger Ebert. Writing screenplays is a tedious and dedicated art. I have been in the process of writing two separate screenplays for months, and neither one of them is anywhere near to completion. The first is a comedy/drama about a fictional pianist and the young woman who falls in love with him. The other will be a biographical drama focusing on the various struggles and accomplishments of former Vice President Al Gore. It will serve as an insight into Gore's political career as well as make a statement about climate change and what needs to be done about it.
Lynn Neumann - Music Composer Finish the scripts this year. Make a deadline for yourself and stick to it,whether the final scripts are amazing or not. The first draft is only one step. Plus,if you really want to be a working screenwriter you'd better become a faster writer. The pros are alarmingly quick. GL✌🏼
A great example of what Ebert says at the end is Aaron Sorkins Masterclass he talks about The beginning of the social network and in the script he has Mark Zuckerberg pour himself a vodka and tonic but later David Fincher found out that he was drinking Papst beer and he wanted to change it to that and sorken argued back-and-forth that it didn't matter that vodka was just as good but at the end of the day Fincher wanted reality so he had him drinking what he really had which was Papst beer.
I consider the list linked below to be a good list of the greatest screenplays ever: www.quora.com/Which-screenplays-should-aspiring-screenwriters-read/answer/Andrew-White-Cleary
How does one speak in such a confused way about something he claims to know about. Why not say: In analysis, that is in retrospect one might be able to infer decisions made by the writer that were only incidental, accidental, or coincidental to the process. In other words, you cannot teach great writing because it is learned and to some degree it is innate. Otherwise, we’d have a formula (which we don’t) that anyone could study and consequently produce 1,000 great writers every year…which we don’t. Art is to be admired and to inspire…it isn’t reproducible.
Sorry i grew up with him, BUT THE WORLD has evolved, and movies have really evolved, the movie theater will not exist in our life times. just like me childhood skating rink with 50 cent skate rentals and all day steamed hot dogs and all the girls.
