274 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Mediathrow it out the window or gulp some of it down!”? Th e writer was inspired
by an experience of trying to deal with a full mug of coff ee, and the key is to
fi nd out why that event can be a catalyst for viewers to discover something
about Conor and his world, or at least for a good laugh.
For our narrative samples in this chapter on screenwriting, you read
stories on a page, so this may seem like a lesson in short story writing. As
you have discovered, many of the fi rst narrative motion pictures stemmed
from short stories, novels, and plays. Th e lessons from various literary forms
continue to serve the development of material for motion pictures. In fact,
you may be compelled to write your stories in the form of short fi ction, or
perhaps plays or poetry. From that basis, you may feel motivated to bring the
story to the motion picture screen. Or you may be inspired from the outset
to go directly to the form of moving images, in which case it is extremely
benefi cial to create a written blueprint for you to crystallize your ideas and
share them with actors, crew members, and any people involved with or
responsible for the production of this work.
Th ere are many approaches to the development of story. Deeds, movements,
thoughts, words, emotions all bring substance to the world of a story; they
make it happen. If the characters of a story—like those of the selections we have
considered—are coursing with life in the mind of the author, their uniqueness
must be brought to the page. Ultimately, the backgrounds, motivations, and
actions of characters will give them life to an audience.Figure 7-21 Using unique
details of character, setting,
and action can propel the
key turning points of stories.
(Courtesy of Carl Casinghino)Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).