#1 - Meta Choices
Welcome to Edition #1 of the Lighthouse miniLetter!
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Three examples of great screenwriting
Two quotes about storytelling
One thing to think about
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Three examples of great screenwriting
Straight Outta Compton
Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff
First action block of the entire screenplay. Great metaphor of an avalanche of soundbites, plus drawing the explicit connection that black history is American history, which is contextually important and thematically relevant.
Mare of Easttown (107)
Written by Brad Ingelsby
Feel the personification of the woods. The river is angry. Limbs are witch fingers. Wonderful tonal juxtaposition for a grounded drama.
Flirting With Strangers
Written by Genie Leslie
The pattern of “Young Nora…” and “IN THE BOOK:…” provides clear structure for repetition of visuals. Combined with the images from the book being winnowed down to the bare essentials of “Clitoris” and “Penis” you can really feel the rhythm of this moment.
Two quotes about screenwriting
“As you write, take a moment after finishing each scene and make sure you know what your main character is feeling. And then ask yourself if the audience needs to see what she’s feeling.”
“Screenwriting is like ironing. You move forward a little bit and go back and smooth things out.”
One thing to think about
Are the “meta-choices” in your script meaningfully engaging with the themes you’re exploring?
In a story about a character with little power, are they effecting the plot through their actions…or are their actions having little effect?
In a story about a character that is shy, are they introduced in the first action line of their first scene…or much later?
By meta-choice, I’m referring to the choices that are made by the author of a work in how the narrative is presented as opposed to choices that characters are making within the story.
Imagine you’re writing a war story about a general that commits his forces to battles before thinking through strategy or consequences. The following scene, showing the battle, could begin in the moments right before the battle, right in the middle, or even near the end of it. How do these three options tease out different aspects of what this story might be exploring?
The architecture of the narrative and the page is yet another tool to leverage for themes.
One of my favorite examples of this is in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, in which a young woman has very little agency in her own life in regards to the men around her. And at the end of the play she receives a proposal, and where there is expected to be an answer from her there is only silence. This is a space in which directors and actors can and do find interesting choices, but looking at the play from the outside, it can’t be denied that even on the page itself…this character is not given agency.
Another example that I think works so well is in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Notice how violence nearly always precedes the Winter Soldier on screen? The violence and action begins, and then the Winter Soldier appears. A simple and effective meta-choice.
Are the “meta-choices” in your script meaningfully engaging with the themes you’re exploring?
Have a great draft,
David Wappel