The influential text I’m going to talk about about is Up (2009). To be clear, I’ve seen the film before (and I think it’s great) so it was more the discussion in class revolving around the film that influenced me. The complexity of writing the 4 minute scene where we see Carl and Ellie’s life together is what really got to me. It was intimidating in many ways – 15 pages for that short period of time? The way it was weaved together perfectly really shines through in the final product, and I appreciated the complexity of the writing in the sequence. During the activity where we were supposed to write the scene in script form I ended up spending most of my time looking up how I can show the passage of time in a screenplay in this context. There was no definitive answer and after looking at the original script I realised it didn’t necessarily need to be obviously conveyed as much as it is implied.

Up (2009) Source: https://ohmy.disney.com/movies/2014/06/15/love-letter-to-carl-and-ellie/

What the discussion about this scene from Up and its screenplay really got me thinking about was the technicalities of screenwriting. How can I really get my ideas across and make sure they are interpreted properly by a director? We looked at a couple of instances where specific techniques might need to be employed, for example overlapping dialogue. We’ve been told there is no ‘right’ way to do these sorts of things, so I want to delve into these skills and find which ones feel right for me. I honestly didn’t realise just how important it is to have my own way of working around problems in translation until today so I feel as if it should be a main focus for me moving forward; if I sit down to write a screenplay for my final assessment and I don’t know how to put my ideas and thoughts into words then I’ll be in trouble.

So how can I improve in this area? I’m going to do some research online, maybe report back on this blog later on my findings and just keep notes on tips that may be useful going forward. Otherwise, I think practice will be the best thing for me. The more writing I do, the more I’ll be able to understand what works for me and what doesn’t. In terms of my final project I think this means I should be doing as many drafts as possible.To add to what I learned from the section of the Up script we read, I saw a few interesting tidbits of description that I wouldn’t have thought fit in screenwriting but ended up being more concise and effective than I thought they would be. For example: “He’s lucky to have her” is not typical of a screenplay but tells the directors and animators how Carl feels and what his expression should look like in a simple sentence, without being overbearing. It may not always be suitable to write like this (and is probably better for animation) but it’s good to know that it can be done effectively in the right situation.

The discussion around this sequence from Up has given me some direction in terms of working on my own writing ability, and has taught me a few valuable tips. I’m going to try to find what works for me in terms of screenwriting technique and learn as much as possible before working on a script for my final assessment.