What is the one thing every script needs to be if
it’s going to get produced?
Unique?
Hardly.
True originality often hurts more than it helps.
Commercial?
Nope. It’s
not entirely necessary if the writing is great.
Entertaining?
Please. We
all wish every script ever filmed was entertaining.
Then what is it?
What does every successful screenplay need to be?
It needs to be clear.
Clarity In Screenplays
Clarity in dramatic writing is very different
from clarity in prose. We’ve all heard
the adage: Show, don’t tell. That’s a good rule of thumb, but it gets a
lot of screenwriters in trouble. Showing
an idea clearly is much harder than telling (or describing) an idea in a clear
way.
And yet it’s critical to “show” your story
elements clearly. Every writer makes
artistic choices, and readers may or may not respond to those choices. But if you don’t make your choices clear on
the page, your readers never have a chance to experience them at all.
For that reason, clarity should always be on a
screenwriter’s mind, as much as writing natural dialogue, as much as crafting
consistent characters, as much as being entertaining.
Here are five tools for avoiding unintentional
confusion and writing crystal clear scripts:
1. Use Pre-contextual Action Sparingly
Pre-contextual action is when action takes place on
screen before we know why we’re seeing it. Nine out of ten times, when characters are
doing things on screen, we – the audience – should know in advance why they’re
doing those things. We should have the
context (i.e., the reason) first and
the action second, and not the other way around.
The one exception is when you want to create a
sense of mystery, when you want the audience to question what’s happening. For instance, you might begin a thriller with
an inexplicable murder.
Most of the time, however, when characters are
doing stuff on screen, and there’s no context for understanding why, the result
is an uncomfortable and frustrating confusion.
So if you’re going to do it, be aware that you’re doing it, and do it
only for good reason.
2. Layer Characters Slowly
Establish your characters’ primary traits before
layering in their nuances. If you throw
a character’s multiple dimensions at your readers all at once, the result is
usually confusion. Take your time, let
your audience get to know a character’s dominant qualities first, then later
you can show shadow sides.
3. Use
Voiceover When Necessary
If there’s an element in your
story that works perfectly for you, and yet people aren’t “getting it”, don’t
be afraid to use voiceover. Voiceover
allows you to “tell”, and “telling” is sometimes the only way to get an idea –
especially a complex idea – across to your audience. Yes, I know some directors have a knee-jerk
aversion to voiceover, preferring filmic action, but clear voiceover is almost
always preferable to confusing action.
4.
Simplify
You’ve probably heard the advice that movie
scripts should be simple. That’s not
just because moviegoers like simple stories.
It’s because it’s much harder to make complex plots clear on
screen. If you’re having clarity issues,
try simplifying.
5. Get
Feedback
Even the most experienced
writers sometimes have trouble gaging how clear their scripts will be to
others. It’s not easy. You know your screenplay inside and out. You practically have it memorized. It’s going to seem clearer to you than to
fresh eyes. Getting quality,
constructive notes on your script will make it far easier to identify any
clarity problems that need to be addressed.
