Earl Wallace and William Kelly must use visual language in order for the script to play out like a movie in your mind. It’s especially clear the way they bookend the script with as much imagery as possible. The first scene and the last scene are filled with visual evidence that if it wasn’t there, the reader would be confused and not get the full sense of discovery.
Mr. Lapp’s funeral procession and the movement of the buggies shows the reader in the first scene what the Amish are all about. If a reader came in completely unaware of the Amish community, they are given enough in this opening scene to interpret how they live.
In the last scene, only a few lines of dialogue are read. The rest is colorful action sequences that need visual evidence to convey the climax of the script. Sometimes writer’s put too much flowery lines in their scripts, like Melissa Mathison. But I believe Wallace and Kelly do a great job at walking the thin line between too little visual language and too much.
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I personally enjoy working with other people when writing a screenplay. Specifically, my bestfriend and I work well when writing screenplays. Generally, screenwriters have a tendacy to think that everything they write on paper should be set in stone; sometimes the writer does not realize that they are writing traits and things their character may not do. When my bestfriend and I sit down and write, he will blatantly tell me, "Jesse, your character would not say this here. I know it sounds cool, but we have to omitt it." I don't fight these things. I enjoy writing with other people especially my friends. I think it is helpful and I know I am nowhere near perfect when writing a screenplay.
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