Dispatches from the Front Line: A Script Reader Speaks!
More from professional script reader DC Mar. This thread started with this post.
What key elements would a script have to excel at in order for you to recommend?
Concept. Plot. Characters. Theme.
On most coverage, there is a rating chart that the reader uses to grade four elements (concept, plot, characters, and dialogue) from poor, fair, good, to excellent. For example:
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
PREMISE
X
CHARACTERIZATION
X
PROJECT:
CONSIDER
DIALOGUE
X
WRITER:
CONSIDER
STORY LINE
X
You’ll notice that “theme” is not on this chart but I’ve included as one of the elements that must excel. I’ll explain later. But know that a writer needs most, if not all elements in this chart rated “good” for their script and them as a writer to be given a “consider.” The one element that’s I give some leeway is “dialogue.” If concept, characters and plot are all “good” to “excellent,” but dialogue is only “fair” I’ll still give that script a “consider.” But “fair” still means your dialogue is pretty darn competent, just not standout enough to merit “good” or “recommend.”
Keep in mind that readers are under pressure to NOT give many “considers” and certainly not “recommend.” I can count on one hand how many times I’ve given a project a “recommend” in the many years I’ve been reading for a living. In fact, I learned early on that “recommends” are taken very, very seriously when I was once fired for giving a recommend on a script that the producer felt was unmerited. A sad fact is that the reader who gives “considers” and “recommends” too liberally doesn’t last on the job for long. That means your script has to be so good that we readers won’t feel insecure about urging our bosses to take your script seriously and spend the time to read it.
We’re there to weed out, not add to the executives’ pile of reading with material that they won’t be excited about championing to their bosses or studio chiefs or financiers. When readers grade these key elements, particularly the concept, as good or better and give the project a “consider,” the executives expect to agree with us and our favorable coverage is telling them to stop everything and give the script a read because it’s worth 1) staking their reputation on and 2) paying millions upon millions of dollars to develop and produce. If they don’t agree with the reader’s assessment on a regular basis, unfortunately, that reader simply won’t be used again.
Thus the pressure is on readers to be very, very picky and discriminating. This is why 90 percent of the scripts receive “passes,” even those scripts that eventually go on to defy that initial negative coverage and become a movie. Readers would love to be generous with their grading and rating, but unless the four elements on the rating charts earn a “good” grade (especially concept), the script is likely to get a pass.
Now regarding theme, it’s an element that’s often overlooked but one that must resonate for me to recommend a script. It’s not singled out for rating on the chart, but it’s integrated into concept, plot and characters and its impact on a great script is noticeable. Theme provides concepts with a concrete situation. It dictates what choices and tests a character will confront. It is translated through action (plot) and great lines of dialogue (i.e. Maximus’ line in THE GLADIATOR: “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”) It’s not always prevalent or crystallized in early drafts, but I always notice and feel its impact in great scripts that I recommend, no matter the genre. When I said earlier that great characters often make the difference between a “pass” or “consider,” I’ve also observed that a compelling and universal theme makes all the difference between decent and great characters and a decent and great script.
Every great script and movie has a philosophical statement embedded into the plot and the character arc, which are interlocked. The theme dictates the choices the character will be presented with, how he/she’s tested and how he/she ultimately triumphs over the antagonist…or not. If you look at movies like STAR WARS, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, THE DARK KNIGHT, etc., they all have clear themes woven through characters and plot that resonate. It is invariably the theme that brings the characters to life for me and infuses the plot with meaning, all of which leaves me, the reader, emotionally affected in some way, excited about wanting to see the script turned into a movie, and a little sad that I’ve reached “Fade Out.”
Below are a few examples of the kind of grading I would give for pass/consider scripts:
Example #1
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
PREMISE
X
CHARACTERIZATION
X…
….X
PROJECT:
CONSIDER
DIALOGUE
X
WRITER:
RECOMMEND
STORY LINE
X
Example #2
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
PREMISE
X
CHARACTERIZATION
X…..
…..X
PROJECT:
CONSIDER W/RESERVATIONS
DIALOGUE
X…..
…..X
WRITER:
CONSIDER
STORY LINE
X…..
…..X
Example #3
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
PREMISE
X
CHARACTERIZATION
X
PROJECT:
PASS
DIALOGUE
X……
……X
WRITER:
PASS
STORY LINE
X……
……X