#2 - Bedroom, Parlor, Porch
Edition #2 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
Freaks & Geeks (Pilot)
Written by Paul Feig
Lindsay’s first line is big and bold and doesn’t hedge at all.
Birdman
Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bor
This could easily say “in a pair of jeans and a classic rock T-shirt” but the specifics force the image. And the aspects of the personality come through after the image, then flow directly back to an immediate image, which is specific again (not just deli, but Korean deli) and then directly into her immediate action.
Maestro (Pilot)
Written by R.B. Ripley
I particularly like the way Ripley describes the character’s personality (”a man ruled by his impulses”) and then immediately follows it up with a unique example of that very trait that could only happen in this script. And it’s all connected by the lovely “Which is why —” that I find so simple and effective.
Two quotes about screenwriting
“I always think there should be at least three things going on in one scene at the same time.”
“Leave it to others to have doubts about you.”
One thing to think about
What is the social nature of your scene location?
One way to define a space is by who can comfortably and enter it, and who can’t.
I once did a run of improvised Tennessee Williams plays, and was often thinking about an idea I’ve coined “Bedroom, Parlor, Porch” which is a metaphor I’ve taken with me into other work to ask myself, of any scene location:
Is this a private space? A semi-private space? Or a public space?
Each of these spaces has different social expectations and constraints. Anyone can show up on the porch. But the bedroom? One, maybe two, characters have comfortable access to it. And these constraints can be leveraged for drama, conflict, and tension.
A scene between two forbidden lovers avoiding prying eyes is markedly different if it takes place on the porch instead of the bedroom.
A scene of a family having an argument is markedly different if it takes place at the company picnic instead of around the kitchen table.
Look at a show like Cheers, particularly the first season where every episode takes place entirely within the walls of Cheers. There’s the main bar (the “Porch”), the pool room (the “Parlor”), and Sam’s office (the “Bedroom”). Those are the only three locations, and it sustains an entire season (26 episodes!) of television.
You can examine if any given scene would play differently in a space that sits elsewhere on the spectrum of private to public space. You can think of “Bedroom, Parlor, Porch” as you ask yourself:
What is the social nature of your scene location?
Have a great draft,
David Wappel
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