So this week, we focused our attention to a chapter from Written for the Screen (Sternberg, 1997), and discussed any revelations and confusions we had from this reading.

From all the knowledge we’d been absorbing for the past few weeks, the only thing that confused me with this reading was how camera cues were acceptable to be used in screenplays, when we’ve learned that this is something that is frowned upon in screenwriting. In the reading, the example given is an excerpt from the screenplay, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where writer William Goldman uses ‘PAN TO/CUT TO’ to introduce a new setting¹⁽⁸⁵⁾.

I do understand that he does this to apply rhythm in his writing and as a form of run-on sentences. But it just makes me question, how truly acceptable are camera and editing cues in screenplays? Is it something that we can only seldom use? Or if we use them as run-on sentences as Goldman has in his work, is that something we apply throughout the entire script or just part of a script?

I suppose the only way to answer these questions would be when we start writing our own screenplays and we begin to find our own individual writing styles.

However, this confusion did lead me to one of two revelations: that there isn’t a completely fixed format for how screenplays should be written. Like, yes, do write in present tense, avoid using adverbs (unless absolutely necessary), be descriptive in your writing, etc. But at the end of the day, it all really depends on the writer and what writing style they’re comfortable with.

So the other revelation I had was how ‘other authors make use of the scene text to mirror the film genre or the overall mood of the film story’ ¹⁽⁸²⁾. And the example I wanted to apply this to is something from the screenplay, Trainwreck, written by Amy Schumer ²⁽³⁾.

INT. OLI’S HOUSE - NIGHT 

One bedroom. Sh**ty “Scarface” poster on the wall. Pieced together furniture. 
Dirty fish tank. BOD body spray. AMY and OLI (handsome 30’s) are kissing hard 
and drunk. 

(taken (and personally censored) from Schumer, A (2015). Trainwreck. p. 3)

Now this movie is a comedy. The above scene text, which is part of the film’s first few scenes, already captures the overall mood that the film story will have with the language and grammatical structure it uses (short and straight-to-the-point). And to me, the description of the protagonist’s current environment/situation sounds like it is part of a joke. It gives a vibe that something funny is about to happen, like it’s being set up for the punchline. (And the the punchline does came when their activity ends rather quickly and falls short of the man’s expectations.)

References:

¹ Sternberg, C (1997). Written for the Screen: The America Motion-Picture Screenplay as Text. Tūbingen. Germany. pp. 80-91.

² Schumer, A (2015). Trainwreck (screenplay excerpt). pp.1-6.