Scene Description Spotlight
When you think about it, a majority of most of the words you write in a screenplay are scene description. Yet there is very little attention paid on how to write good description. This series does that with examples from notable movie scripts.
(500) Days of Summer: How to write a dance sequence without choreographing each movement
The African Queen: Reminder how the approach to scene description has changed considerably
Alien: More on haiku style
Avatar: Pandora intro creates specific sense of time and place, plus theme
Barton Fink: The way the Coens handle the script’s scene description only adds to the intrigue of the movie’s enigmatic final moments
Basic Instinct: Opening scene that conveys immediately script is a sexy, thriller
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Continuous action conveyed in a 293 word sentence
Cast Away: Psychological writing to convey atmosphere
Chinatown: Mood of scene description reflects the personality of Jake Gittes, the story’s Protagonist
The Dark Knight: Cross cutting multiple storylines
The Deer Hunter: Building tension in a scene to a powerful climax
Ed Wood: Script’s opening conveys clearly story drama-mixed-with-comedy tone
Fargo: Grounds humor within characters’ actions, not narrative tone of scene description
Gattaca: Using the script’s opening to introduce central theme through visuals
The Hangover: Comedic narrative voice
Inglourious Basterds: Dramatic narrative voice
Jerry Maguire: Using scene description to convey emotional dynamics of a scene
Lethal Weapon: Shane Black’s distinctive narrative voice
The Matrix: Visual action-writing through use of strong verbs and vivid descriptors
Memento: Use italics to spotlight forward chronological scenes.
Pulp Fiction: Using narrative voice ‘impressions’ and action to distinguish each character
Raging Bull: Great descriptors of sports action
Raising Arizona: Use individual paragraphs to ‘direct’ specific camera shots
Saving Private Ryan: Secondary sluglines to ‘direct’ the action
Se7en: Blunt visuals that convey mood but avoid melodrama
Shawshank Redemption, The: Contrasting moods of opening scenes
Some Like It Hot: Use paragraphs to specify camera shots
Star Trek: Action narrative voice
There’s Something About Mary: Strong setup for comedic set piece using sluglines to direct action
Titanic: Provides moving finale to Rose and Jack love story by creating sense of transcendent beauty
Unforgiven: Folksy tone. Run-on sentences. Rural vernacular. Narrative voice full of western genre personality.
Up: Set-ups and payoffs
Wall-E: Haiku style
Withnail & I: Chummy style of narrative voice brings reader deeper into story world
Zombieland: Cross-genre script that establishes horror-comedy tone effectively in opening pages