The first chapter of Screenplay by Syd Field discusses what a screenplay actually is. Opening with a story of how F Scott Fitzgerald struggled with screenwriting and how screenwriting is a difficult art, as it bridges the gap between the written word and the world of cinema. Field underlines how a screenplay is a story that deals with images, and therefore, has certain qualities in common with other stories, such as a beginning, middle, and end, as well as characters, conflicts, scenes, etc. The paradigm of a screenplay places the beginning of the story at the start of the screenplay within the first Act, which mostly involves setting the scene. The second Act, known as “The Confrontation,” takes up the majority of the time within the story and is full of the story’s main conflict. Act III is the brief resolution, where the screenplay is solved. The ending, as Field distinguishes, is simply the final scene, not the resolution itself. What this chapter does, which I enjoy for the sake of better understanding how to create a cohesive screenplay, is break it down into easier to digest pieces as a creator. Much like a novel, Act I features the inciting incident that gets the ball rolling. Conflict is the meat of any story, and is explored during the second Act. Act III answers any questions, just like a novel following its climax. This breakdown allows for me to transfer my novelistic background into screenwriting, allowing me some ease in trying to work within a new medium.
The most important takeaway from this reading, for me, was that screenwriting is about showing and not telling. In creative writing, generally, I am very wordy and very specific. Using actions instead of words as is necessary in screenwriting will be an adjustment, of course, but the pointers that are given are helpful. Keeping in mind that screenwriting is not at all similar to novel writing or similar forms of creative writing, and even is not similar to plays, gives perspective that I hadn’t had before reading. Also, using specific movies and plot points when outlining the form of screenwriting, and advising to identify the three acts while watching movies is helpful. Knowing the specific definitions of major plot points, as drivers for action in the following acts is interesting, and focusing on context as keeping context in place is important.
The very first thing that struck me as I read through this chapter of What is a Screenplay was a sense of familiarity in what Field wrote about F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald struggled with insecurity because of doubt. He didn’t understand what a screenplay was, how to write one well–even though he was posthumously awarded fame for his work as an author– and what rules he was supposed to abide by. And so, he doubted himself as a screenwriter. That resonated with me because I often doubt myself and struggle to succeed in–or even begin with– a craft due to the fact that I can never get past my lack of knowledge. I do not want to try something when I am not completely certain how that thing is meant to be done, and sometimes I do not want to risk failing so I avoid trying at all. This is especially true when it comes to creative writing, seeing as it involves such a complex combination of creative and technical elements that, even with all of the AP and elective English or Literature courses I took throughout high school, there is still a part of me that feels like I will never grasp all of it.
Additionally, when I first registered for this screenwriting class, I was not entirely sure how to feel or react. I had never really worked with any type of screenwriting or screenplays before, with my only exposure to them being in my last semester of high school when I took AP English Literature and Composition as well as a creative writing elective. Even then, however, the Composition course dealt more so with analyzing the meanings of scripts and plays than with understanding their construction, and the unit regarding scripts and playwriting was far too short to truly get into the specifics of how to write a script (either for a play or film). Thus, I was left uncertain and doubtful going into this course, much as Fitzgerald felt when he attempted to start his screenwriting career. Fortunately, however, Syd Field’s transition into a descriptive model of screenplays after that initial introduction with the reference to F. Scott Fitzgerald shifted my anxious concern towards the direction of hope that I will be able to get into the craft of building quality screenplays confidently.
The main thing that stuck to me in the reading was how much the structure of how screenplays are written, seems to be almost identical to how scripts are written. The main connections being that both are a mix of dialogue, setting, and ‘stage’ direction. I may very well be interpreting the text wrong, as I have never (knowingly) read a screenplay, but I did do theater in high school. The scripts I used in high school theater followed much of the same structure as how screenplays were described, and I am curious to know what differences there are between screenplays as a form of writing/storytelling, and scripts for theater.
The focus on comparing all elements of a screenplay to the movie Chinatown took me out of the reading a bit, as I have neither heard of nor seen the movie, so to me it felt out of place. Coming into the reading as a stem major, but also some who appreciates lyrical writing in nonfiction/academic texts, i found the chapter hard to follow and dragging because of the repeated references to Chinatown and Jack Nicholson. I did, however, enjoy the simplicity of the direct explanations and descriptions of what a screenplay is, and what the major elements are. A screenplay is a story told with pictures, as per page 1 of chapter 1, What is a Screenplay? This definition is straight to the point, and definitely accurate but it does raise the question as to what differentiates a screenplay from other forms of artistic media, such as a children’s picture book, or a comic book. Is a screenplay only a screenplay when it comes to life on a screen, or from its conceptualization as text on a page?
4 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 1”
The first chapter of Screenplay by Syd Field discusses what a screenplay actually is. Opening with a story of how F Scott Fitzgerald struggled with screenwriting and how screenwriting is a difficult art, as it bridges the gap between the written word and the world of cinema. Field underlines how a screenplay is a story that deals with images, and therefore, has certain qualities in common with other stories, such as a beginning, middle, and end, as well as characters, conflicts, scenes, etc. The paradigm of a screenplay places the beginning of the story at the start of the screenplay within the first Act, which mostly involves setting the scene. The second Act, known as “The Confrontation,” takes up the majority of the time within the story and is full of the story’s main conflict. Act III is the brief resolution, where the screenplay is solved. The ending, as Field distinguishes, is simply the final scene, not the resolution itself. What this chapter does, which I enjoy for the sake of better understanding how to create a cohesive screenplay, is break it down into easier to digest pieces as a creator. Much like a novel, Act I features the inciting incident that gets the ball rolling. Conflict is the meat of any story, and is explored during the second Act. Act III answers any questions, just like a novel following its climax. This breakdown allows for me to transfer my novelistic background into screenwriting, allowing me some ease in trying to work within a new medium.
The most important takeaway from this reading, for me, was that screenwriting is about showing and not telling. In creative writing, generally, I am very wordy and very specific. Using actions instead of words as is necessary in screenwriting will be an adjustment, of course, but the pointers that are given are helpful. Keeping in mind that screenwriting is not at all similar to novel writing or similar forms of creative writing, and even is not similar to plays, gives perspective that I hadn’t had before reading. Also, using specific movies and plot points when outlining the form of screenwriting, and advising to identify the three acts while watching movies is helpful. Knowing the specific definitions of major plot points, as drivers for action in the following acts is interesting, and focusing on context as keeping context in place is important.
The very first thing that struck me as I read through this chapter of What is a Screenplay was a sense of familiarity in what Field wrote about F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald struggled with insecurity because of doubt. He didn’t understand what a screenplay was, how to write one well–even though he was posthumously awarded fame for his work as an author– and what rules he was supposed to abide by. And so, he doubted himself as a screenwriter. That resonated with me because I often doubt myself and struggle to succeed in–or even begin with– a craft due to the fact that I can never get past my lack of knowledge. I do not want to try something when I am not completely certain how that thing is meant to be done, and sometimes I do not want to risk failing so I avoid trying at all. This is especially true when it comes to creative writing, seeing as it involves such a complex combination of creative and technical elements that, even with all of the AP and elective English or Literature courses I took throughout high school, there is still a part of me that feels like I will never grasp all of it.
Additionally, when I first registered for this screenwriting class, I was not entirely sure how to feel or react. I had never really worked with any type of screenwriting or screenplays before, with my only exposure to them being in my last semester of high school when I took AP English Literature and Composition as well as a creative writing elective. Even then, however, the Composition course dealt more so with analyzing the meanings of scripts and plays than with understanding their construction, and the unit regarding scripts and playwriting was far too short to truly get into the specifics of how to write a script (either for a play or film). Thus, I was left uncertain and doubtful going into this course, much as Fitzgerald felt when he attempted to start his screenwriting career. Fortunately, however, Syd Field’s transition into a descriptive model of screenplays after that initial introduction with the reference to F. Scott Fitzgerald shifted my anxious concern towards the direction of hope that I will be able to get into the craft of building quality screenplays confidently.
The main thing that stuck to me in the reading was how much the structure of how screenplays are written, seems to be almost identical to how scripts are written. The main connections being that both are a mix of dialogue, setting, and ‘stage’ direction. I may very well be interpreting the text wrong, as I have never (knowingly) read a screenplay, but I did do theater in high school. The scripts I used in high school theater followed much of the same structure as how screenplays were described, and I am curious to know what differences there are between screenplays as a form of writing/storytelling, and scripts for theater.
The focus on comparing all elements of a screenplay to the movie Chinatown took me out of the reading a bit, as I have neither heard of nor seen the movie, so to me it felt out of place. Coming into the reading as a stem major, but also some who appreciates lyrical writing in nonfiction/academic texts, i found the chapter hard to follow and dragging because of the repeated references to Chinatown and Jack Nicholson. I did, however, enjoy the simplicity of the direct explanations and descriptions of what a screenplay is, and what the major elements are. A screenplay is a story told with pictures, as per page 1 of chapter 1, What is a Screenplay? This definition is straight to the point, and definitely accurate but it does raise the question as to what differentiates a screenplay from other forms of artistic media, such as a children’s picture book, or a comic book. Is a screenplay only a screenplay when it comes to life on a screen, or from its conceptualization as text on a page?