The first two weeks of this studio have been rather illuminating for me, as that it has branched out and delved into aspects of the screenwriting world that I hadn’t previously considered; one thing in particular being writing style and format.  The most prevalent idea to fit within and form this concept is that of highlighting difference between fictional and extrafictional scriptwriting – being the difference between what is within the world of the script (fictional), and what speaks and conveys cinematic action to the reader (extrafictional).

Extrafictional can be both beneficial and creatively limiting to a film. On one hand in inputting extrafictional lines within the screenplay a writer is able to give greater clarity tonally and cinematically, better communicating what they want with the director. For the director/cinematographer however, it can restrict their creative flair and the malleability of the project. By including so much detail in one aspect, it can limit the potential for collaboration. Although, rom a writer/director point of view, it can be seen as favourable for an auteur, allowing them to establish thoughts on framing early on – with the downsides only applying to larger creative teams.
e.g, page 3 screenplay of Her,

“We track off of Theodore, down a line of cubicles, hearing

bits of letters being written and seeing photos of who

they’re being written to on the screens.

…. We continue tracking, revealing dozens and dozens of cubicles full of letter writers. We hear someone answer the phone.”

Whilst descriptive, it sets up a slow pace and movement/close-up heavy cinematography which could channel a director in one line and limit range of thought later on. Though this is subjective, but it highly unlikely that the tracking would be fast or withdrawn from the subject given pre-set inferred tone and the subject matter.