A Boy’s Life was a surprisingly easy read, especially considering that I had never read more than a few small portions of a screenplay before. I was surprised at how fast the large stack of pages flew by. The experience was certainly something new to me, but I found it to be an enjoyable one. As I read over the pages, images from the movie popped in and out of my head, and it was interesting to see how the words on the script translated into images on film.
Since this was my first time reading a full-length script a number of things stood out to me. I found that reading and analyzing it was not all that different from reading or analyzing any other piece of writing: it follows the same story structure and contains all the same elements. After getting used to the formatting, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the transition was. However, a couple of differences stood out to me. Screenplays lack much of the description that is present in novels, which leaves much more to the reader’s imagination and for greater freedom and interpretation during reading. I also found that reading into the subtext is much more important in scripts. Since the thoughts and inner monologues of characters are not laid out on the pages it requires the reader to examine events more carefully and attentively. This proved to be slightly confusing for me. Because the author’s intentions were not laid bare on the page, it took some time getting used to understanding the characters and events, but I think screenplays also allow a greater freedom in interpreting these aspects of the story.
As I read through the story I definitely saw a movie forming together in my head, and it definitely felt complete. After all, movies and novels are simply two different mediums for telling a story. They follow the same structure and have the same elements. I certainly think that screenplays could be read by non professionals – it is really just a different format.
~Andrew Erdal
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the hardest thing to get used to when transitioning into reading a script format rather than a traditional narrative format?
2. Do you think the movie did a good job of implementing the script? Did you envision the script in another way than it was presented in the movie? What would you have done differently?
1 comment:
I agree with a lot of what you said. The screenplay was a very easy read for me. It was my first screenplay and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The movie developed in my head and I could see exactly how it would look on screen. The story structure of a movie is just like that of a book. I agree that there would be some description that is lacking compared to a novel. I feel this is because the camera, and the way it looks on the screen, will be the force of that description. You will see a more descriptive shot on screen, than you would read in the screenplay itself. I feel that might be the reason for that. Although, I could be wrong. It is all in the interpretation of the screenplay and how it should look on the screen.
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