There’s no doubt that reading screenplays and watching films are two completely different experiences, but that doesn’t mean that one is superior to the other. And as fun and casual sitting back and watching a film is, especially if you’re an extreme cinephile, a screenplay is definitely something that should not be missed out on. Once upon a time, in the days of classic Hollywood, scripts tended to be overly formal. “Enter frame, do this, say that”, they were very much directional. It was as if there was a formula to instructing your actors. Mainly due to historical value, classical screenplays are still a good read, but due to the progression of script writing, modern screenplays should definitely be experienced as a form of cinema.

Nowadays, reading a screenplay, especially for the more cinematic films, is almost like reading a graphic novel. The pacing of the script tries to follow the pacing of what’s happening on the screen. Here’s an example, an excerpt from the 1942 film, Casablanca:

“Suddenly the civilian breaks away and starts to run wildly down the street.

The policeman SHOUTS “Halt”, but the civilian keeps going.

JAN and ANNINA BRANDEL, a very young and attractive refugee couple from Bulgaria, watch as the civilian passes. They’ve been thrust by circumstances from a simple country life into an unfamiliar and hectic world.

A shot RINGS out, and the man falls to the ground. Above him, painted on the wall, is a large poster of Marshal Petain, which reads: “Je tiens mes promesses, meme celles des autres.”

The policeman frantically searches the body, but only finds Free French literature”

In comparison, an excerpt from the script of the 1990 film, Total Recall:

“QUAID’s searching foot finds a hole. He pulls back…

The metal edges (of an elevator) sweep by.

AGAAGHGGHGGHAA! A cry of pain.

The elevator comes to a halt. CHUNGGG!

[…]

RICHTER falls to his death, SCREEEEEEEEAMMMmmiinnnggg… QUAID walks to the other side of the elevator and rides up amid the columns”

Now, obviously, because there’s thousands of screenplays out there, not every classic Hollywood script was as directional as Casablanca’s, and not every modern-day script is rebellious. The screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941) breaks the formalities of script writing. It’s just that nowadays, you’ll find it’s a lot more common among standard script writing.

This modern take on script writing gives the reader a lot more room for imagination, and sometimes interpretation. It’s as if the writer wants to director to also experience the story as an adventure, as opposed to just telling them what the story is. Screenplays have evolved from a guided museum tour to a high intensity rollercoaster (that was an exaggeration). Because of this, reading a screenplay is its own unique experience, and they can, and definitely should be experienced as a form of cinema itself.