The chapter “Setting Up a Story” in Syd Field’s Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting is all about the most effective way of starting a screenplay. Generally speaking, screenplays are relatively short compared to many other literature-based story-telling mediums, so every word, sentence, and scene must be intentional. This bleeds into what Field wrote about in this chapter because he advised, “See if you can design your opening ten pages in such a way that you introduce the main character, state the dramatic premise, and sketch the dramatic situation in the most cinematic way.” You only get so much space to introduce the story before jumping right into the thick of it, so, when writing a screenplay, you need to 1. use visuals to speed up the process while keeping the movie engaging and 2. captivate the audience right at the start by letting them know what the film will be about.
Another part of this chapter that stuck out to me on a personal creative level was the idea of using real life events–especially historical scandals– to inspire a story. For instance, the film Chinatown is largely based off of a real life scandal from 1906 Los Angeles involving a drought, false altruism, and corruption, and it ended up being quite a well-known success. I have already decided the route I am going to take with my screenplay for this class, and it is much different than Chinatown considering it’s entirely fantastical and not at all based on a specific event in the real world. That being said, I now have the idea in my head to think about similar instances of real-life events so that I may draw on them for future projects, whether in academics or on my own time.
Syd Field’s “Screenplay” chapter “Setting Up the Story” brings up the idea that everything in a screenplay must link back together. You can’t just introduce a magical item on page 10 of a fantasy screenplay and never utilize it by the end of the film, nor can you change a line of dialogue on page 20 and have it not influence dialogue on page 42. A screenplay has to be a cohesive whole, requiring each part to work with one another. This all means that you have to set up your screenplay right from the start. By the end of the first ten pages, you must establish the main character, what the dramatic premise is, what the story is about, and the dramatic situation (the circumstances surrounding the action, as Field puts it). This concept made me think about own screenplay is relation to our assignment to write the first ten pages of the screenplay. When I intially started, I introduced all of these elements, but not in a way that fleshed them out enough. Instead, I had to restructure my first act so the second and third acts meshed and flowed together better, providing context to events and characters that didn’t previously exist. In doing so, I have now set up my main character’s introductory scenes in a way that establishes characteristics that will make her susceptible to the tumultous arc she goes through during the screenplay.
Syd Field’s “Setting up the Story” chapter is all about how to effectively set up your story at the beginning of your screenplay in order to call back to it and tie things up at the very end. The language used not just in this chapter but through the rest of the book, about “revealing” things, is also very helpful in understanding how and when things should be told. They should flow naturally and should outline who and what the story is about. Field says that the first ten pages should introduce the main character, state the dramatic premise, and sketch the dramatic situation in the most cinematic way. To do these things, major characters and important events and feelings of theirs should be introduced.
Setting up the story was a good chapter. I liked how Syd-Field goes into depth about tying together key points or plots to get your story to move as well as make sense. The idea that you need to introduce the main character to the dramatic situation and circumstances makes a lot of sense. Honestly its what gets the viewer to keep watching the screenplay or movie or whatever it may be because you get that hook early to see what this is about and is it even worth your time. While I read I started to think About my first act and the dynamics of it. It makes sense that I need to lay these crumbs and create this aha moment or something that’s not expected to further develop my plot and honestly that made a lot of sense to me. In my screenplay I have examples of this, but how can I dramatize it or exemplify it to get viewers to keep viewing was my biggest takeaway.
This chapter pointed out the biggest issue i am having in writing my screenplay, which is not writing out every little detail and description of the environment or setting that i am trying to portray. I LOVE writing description, I love flowy words and excess language and making something pretty. In a screenplay, this is not a priority. Its similar to scientific writing which i am learning in my bio class right now, as it is somewhat get to the point, don’t add unnecessary detail. A screenplay tells us what we need to know relevant to progressing the story, not that our character had a piece of toast three days ago.
Another aspect of the chapter that spoke out to me was the part on showing not telling, of which I feel i am doing very well in terms of writing my screenplay. I am having a lot of fun utilizing visual elements and description to convey information and lay out breadcrumbs for future parts of my story. Its kind of like farming in a way, sowing seeds in the beginning to get a more fruitful ending, tending to it along the way. Everything in a screenplay means something, whether its to convey information or give exposition, set the tone of a scene, or to make your audience laugh and become more engaged with the story. Everything is deliberate.
In the chapter “Setting up a Story,” something that really stuck out to me is being able to use historical aspects as a backdrop to your screenplay, but also being able to have the freedom and liberty to move things around to how you see fit. For instance, with “Chinatown”, the director based the movie’s backdrop off a water scandal in 1906, but based the movie in 1937 to get the specific atmosphere he wanted. This stood out mainly because my screenplay is “technically” based around a true historical event, but I can freely bend the time to fit my needs.
Something else Syd Field talks about is once again the need to set up a dramatic need for the character. Something to propel the story and character forward is always the most important step. In the first act, you should be able to adeptly identify who the main character is, what the dramatic need of the main character is, and the dramatic premise. Making these in a way that is the most gripping cinematically is a good idea, and something you should focus on. Syd did talk about the “show don’t tell” rule again, and it is something that at this point I live by.
The “Chinatown” screenplay also showed me that you don’t have to describe every little detail about your characters of the place, and that it’s more important to keep the story moving and only really highlight the most important details. I know I struggled with this with my almost 2 and a half pages of just pure description in the first scene, and this really showed me how I could revise it to make it flow better.
6 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 12”
The chapter “Setting Up a Story” in Syd Field’s Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting is all about the most effective way of starting a screenplay. Generally speaking, screenplays are relatively short compared to many other literature-based story-telling mediums, so every word, sentence, and scene must be intentional. This bleeds into what Field wrote about in this chapter because he advised, “See if you can design your opening ten pages in such a way that you introduce the main character, state the dramatic premise, and sketch the dramatic situation in the most cinematic way.” You only get so much space to introduce the story before jumping right into the thick of it, so, when writing a screenplay, you need to 1. use visuals to speed up the process while keeping the movie engaging and 2. captivate the audience right at the start by letting them know what the film will be about.
Another part of this chapter that stuck out to me on a personal creative level was the idea of using real life events–especially historical scandals– to inspire a story. For instance, the film Chinatown is largely based off of a real life scandal from 1906 Los Angeles involving a drought, false altruism, and corruption, and it ended up being quite a well-known success. I have already decided the route I am going to take with my screenplay for this class, and it is much different than Chinatown considering it’s entirely fantastical and not at all based on a specific event in the real world. That being said, I now have the idea in my head to think about similar instances of real-life events so that I may draw on them for future projects, whether in academics or on my own time.
Syd Field’s “Screenplay” chapter “Setting Up the Story” brings up the idea that everything in a screenplay must link back together. You can’t just introduce a magical item on page 10 of a fantasy screenplay and never utilize it by the end of the film, nor can you change a line of dialogue on page 20 and have it not influence dialogue on page 42. A screenplay has to be a cohesive whole, requiring each part to work with one another. This all means that you have to set up your screenplay right from the start. By the end of the first ten pages, you must establish the main character, what the dramatic premise is, what the story is about, and the dramatic situation (the circumstances surrounding the action, as Field puts it). This concept made me think about own screenplay is relation to our assignment to write the first ten pages of the screenplay. When I intially started, I introduced all of these elements, but not in a way that fleshed them out enough. Instead, I had to restructure my first act so the second and third acts meshed and flowed together better, providing context to events and characters that didn’t previously exist. In doing so, I have now set up my main character’s introductory scenes in a way that establishes characteristics that will make her susceptible to the tumultous arc she goes through during the screenplay.
Syd Field’s “Setting up the Story” chapter is all about how to effectively set up your story at the beginning of your screenplay in order to call back to it and tie things up at the very end. The language used not just in this chapter but through the rest of the book, about “revealing” things, is also very helpful in understanding how and when things should be told. They should flow naturally and should outline who and what the story is about. Field says that the first ten pages should introduce the main character, state the dramatic premise, and sketch the dramatic situation in the most cinematic way. To do these things, major characters and important events and feelings of theirs should be introduced.
Setting up the story was a good chapter. I liked how Syd-Field goes into depth about tying together key points or plots to get your story to move as well as make sense. The idea that you need to introduce the main character to the dramatic situation and circumstances makes a lot of sense. Honestly its what gets the viewer to keep watching the screenplay or movie or whatever it may be because you get that hook early to see what this is about and is it even worth your time. While I read I started to think About my first act and the dynamics of it. It makes sense that I need to lay these crumbs and create this aha moment or something that’s not expected to further develop my plot and honestly that made a lot of sense to me. In my screenplay I have examples of this, but how can I dramatize it or exemplify it to get viewers to keep viewing was my biggest takeaway.
This chapter pointed out the biggest issue i am having in writing my screenplay, which is not writing out every little detail and description of the environment or setting that i am trying to portray. I LOVE writing description, I love flowy words and excess language and making something pretty. In a screenplay, this is not a priority. Its similar to scientific writing which i am learning in my bio class right now, as it is somewhat get to the point, don’t add unnecessary detail. A screenplay tells us what we need to know relevant to progressing the story, not that our character had a piece of toast three days ago.
Another aspect of the chapter that spoke out to me was the part on showing not telling, of which I feel i am doing very well in terms of writing my screenplay. I am having a lot of fun utilizing visual elements and description to convey information and lay out breadcrumbs for future parts of my story. Its kind of like farming in a way, sowing seeds in the beginning to get a more fruitful ending, tending to it along the way. Everything in a screenplay means something, whether its to convey information or give exposition, set the tone of a scene, or to make your audience laugh and become more engaged with the story. Everything is deliberate.
In the chapter “Setting up a Story,” something that really stuck out to me is being able to use historical aspects as a backdrop to your screenplay, but also being able to have the freedom and liberty to move things around to how you see fit. For instance, with “Chinatown”, the director based the movie’s backdrop off a water scandal in 1906, but based the movie in 1937 to get the specific atmosphere he wanted. This stood out mainly because my screenplay is “technically” based around a true historical event, but I can freely bend the time to fit my needs.
Something else Syd Field talks about is once again the need to set up a dramatic need for the character. Something to propel the story and character forward is always the most important step. In the first act, you should be able to adeptly identify who the main character is, what the dramatic need of the main character is, and the dramatic premise. Making these in a way that is the most gripping cinematically is a good idea, and something you should focus on. Syd did talk about the “show don’t tell” rule again, and it is something that at this point I live by.
The “Chinatown” screenplay also showed me that you don’t have to describe every little detail about your characters of the place, and that it’s more important to keep the story moving and only really highlight the most important details. I know I struggled with this with my almost 2 and a half pages of just pure description in the first scene, and this really showed me how I could revise it to make it flow better.