Abstract
The world is littered with an ever-increasing pile of screenwriting textbooks, script development workshops, script gurus and script doctors all promising certainty in a volatile and uncertain industry. Like the search for El Dorado, many have searched for the winning script formula, but like El Dorado no one has ever found it. How-to books inevitably become the grail for aspiring screenwriters, yet those who dutifully follow the rules all too often produce formulaic screenplays that fail to ignite the imagination. The screenplay rules and structural paradigms may well provide useful tools during the script development process, but the gold always lies elsewhere. I suggest a more exploratory approach is needed, and in order to discuss this I wish to reflect on my own practice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adams, G. (2007) ‘Inspiring Creativity’ in Australian Author, 39(3), 6–10.
Amour/Love (2012) Wr./Dir. Michael Haneke, France, Austria, Germany, 125 mins.
Anthem (1992) Wr. Leonard Cohen, Stranger Music Inc., USA.
Belle de four (1967) Wr. Jean Claude Carrière, Dir. Luis Buñuel, France, 105 mins.
Benjamin, W. (1970a) ‘The Storyteller’ in Hannah Arendt (ed.) Illuminations, trans. Harry Zohn, London: Jonathan Cape, p. 86.
Benjamin, W. (1970b) ‘Thesis on the Philosophy of History’ in Hannah Arendt (ed.) Illuminations, trans. Harry Zohn, London: Jonathan Cape, pp. 259–265.
Blast (1971) Wrs./Dirs. Arthur Cantrill and Corinne Cantrill, Australia, 6 mins.
Bresson, R. (1997) Notes sur le cinématographe/Notes on the Cinematographer, trans. Jonathan Grillen, Copenhagen: Green Integer, p. 13.
Caché/Hidden (2005) Wr./Dir. Michael Haneke, France, Austria, 117 mins.
Call Me Mum (2005) Wr. Kathleen Mary Fallon, Dir. Margot Nash, Australia, 76 mins.
Carrière, J.C. (1994) Le Film Qu’on Ne Voit Pas/The Secret Language of Film, trans. Jeremy Legatt, New York: Pantheon Books, pp. 7, 150, 170.
Cet obscur objet du désir/Fhat Obscure Object of Desire (1977) Wr. Jean Claude Carrière, Dir. Luis Bunuel, France, 102 mins.
Chinatown (1974) Wr. Robert Towne, Dir. Roman Polanski, USA, 130 mins.
Clapp, S. (1997) With Chatwin Portrait of a Writer, London: Jonathan Cape.
Clay (1965) Wr./Dir. Giorgio Mangiameli, Australia, 84 mins.
Freire, P. (1984) The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York: Continuum.
Haneke, M. (1992) ‘Film als Katharsis’ in Francesco Bono (ed.) felix: zum österreichischem film der 80er Jahre/felix: on the Austrian film of the 80s, Graz: Blimp, p. 89.
Jones, L. (2009, 2011) Personal Communication, Tuesday 24 March 2009, Sydney and Friday 29 July 2011, Sydney.
Mamet, D. (2002) ‘Hearing the Notes that aren’t Played: Writers on writing’ in The New York Times, 15 July, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/15/arts/writers-on-writing-hearing-the-notes-that-aren-t-played.html [accessed July 2012].
Masel, B. and Taylor, C. (2011) ‘Unscripted: The True Life of Screenplays’ in Lumina, 7, 119–120.
Meyerhold, V. (1969) ‘The Naturalistic Theatre and the Theatre of Mood’ in Edward Braun (ed.) Meyerhold on Theatre, London: Eyre Methuen, pp. 26–27.
Munro, A. (2004) Runaway, New York: Vintage.
Norrie, S. (2007) Artist Statement, HAVOC, room sheet n/p, Fondazione Levi, Venice Biennale.
Sainsbury, P. (2004) ‘“Visions, Illusions and Delusions”: Australian Screen Directors’ Association Conference, September 2002’ in Critical Quarterly, 46(1), 73–92.
Solomon, C. (1987) ‘Animation: Notes on a Definition’ in Charles Solomon (ed.) The Art of the Animated Image: An Anthology, Los Angeles, CA: AFI, p. 11.
The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) Wr./Dir. Charles Tait, Australia, 60 mins.
We Aim to Please (1976) Wrs./Dirs. Robin Laurie and Margot Nash, Australia, 13 mins.
Weiss, J. (1983) ‘The Power to Imagine: An Interview with Jean Claude Carrière’ in Cineaste, 13(1), 6–11.
Wells, P. (2011) ‘Sorry Blondie, I Don’t Do Backstory’ conference presentation, Beyond Boundaries: Screenwriting Across Media, Brussels, 8–11 September, 2011.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Margot Nash
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nash, M. (2014). Developing the Screenplay: Stepping into the Unknown. In: Batty, C. (eds) Screenwriters and Screenwriting. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137338938_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137338938_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-46424-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-33893-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Media & Culture CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)