Abstract
This chapter discusses ‘performing the journey’ as a development strategy. In developing the screenplays for Paris, Texas (1984) and Goodbye Pork Pie (1981), the writers ‘took to the road’ to enact the intended story before embarking on writing. In each case, the ‘journey’ forms an integral part of script development, not only helping to structure the story but also enacting a nascent form of the film, sourcing key images, locations and events for future use. These contrasting historical case studies are drawn from disparate production and historical contexts (USA/European independent cinema and small national New Zealand cinema) but share two things: a close relationship between director and writer, and this unconventional approach to enacting the story. Such enactments, reminiscent of walking poetry or journeying writing, rather than complying with predetermined structural paradigms and established development conventions (outline, treatment and scene breakdown) instead rely on accident, happenstance and serendipity to inform their screenwriting and development.
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Notes
- 1.
Notwithstanding the tragic events of the Christchurch massacre in 2019 which revealed a more developed gun culture than was previously imagined.
- 2.
Murphy’s use of upper case for emphasis.
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Joyce, H., Jontef, J. (2021). Hitting the Road: Performing the Journey as a Development Strategy in Paris, Texas and Goodbye Pork Pie. In: Taylor, S., Batty, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Script Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82234-7_30
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