Select from one of the readings, up to but not including Week 5, and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

Idea One: 

A point that is discussed a lot in Writing for the Screen: Beyond the Gospel of Story by Kathryn Millard is the major use of conflict in script writing. Many script writers have the view that story is  formed through creating some kind of conflict, Ken Dancyer states in his book Scriptwriting: Writing Beyond the Rules ‘The focus on conflict is so central to storytelling that its use can be traced from the original Ten Commandments.’ (1995: 2)

Raul Ruiz points out that there is in fact a flaw in this general ‘conflict theory’ and puts forward the idea that, ‘Rather than being drawn from many cultures, the idea that conflict drives all behaviour is drawn from one particular culture … that of the United States.’ (1995: 21)

This fact is true and therefore the theory that conflict causes certain behaviours and happenings in stories, is not in fact a general statement for all script writing and story telling.

Idea Two:

The other point that I found interesting in Millard’s article was the idea of Wim Wenders. Wenders sees story to be the most integral part to a film. He state: ‘The actors are interchangeable, the director, too, of course, and so is everybody, except for The Story.’ (2001)

I can definitely see why Wedners thinks this, and agree with him. Even with the best actors, director and crew in the world, a film can fail without a brilliant story.

Ruiz, R. (1995) Poetics of Cinema, Paris: Editions Dis Voir

Wenders, W. (2001) ‘Once: Pictures and Stories’, English Ed, New York: Distributed Art Publishers

Dancyger, K. (1995) Alternative Scriptwriting: Writing Beyond the Rules 2nd Edition, London: Focal Press