Go Into The Story Resource: Script To Screen
Nearly 100 scenes from scripts compared to the their movie versions.
On May 16, 2020, Go Into The Story turned 12 years old — you can read the very first blog post here. I led with this paragraph:
Welcome to Go Into The Story! Right now, it’s nothing but a humble, threadbare blog, but I hope it will evolve into an active resource for aspiring screenwriters, as well as a community for anyone interested in storytelling and the creative life.
And evolve it did! To the point where it was recently named “Best of the Best” Scriptwriting Website in the 20th Annual Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Writers list.
To celebrate 12 years of blogging about screenwriting, writing, Hollywood, movies, TV, and the creative life, each day in May, I’m going to feature a piece of Go Into The Story trivia, plus a writing resource you can find in the site’s archives. This is not an exercise in self-congratulations so much as I figured readers could use some tips about how to best use the site. With — to date — 28,181 articles and over 100 archive topics, there is a LOT of content here. Hopefully, these posts this month will clue in more recent followers and remind long-time readers about resources you can use to facilitate deepening your understanding of the writing craft.
Today’s trivia: Every November through January for the last 12 years, Go Into The Story has been at the forefront tracking screenplay made available by movie studios and production companies as part of their For Your Consideration campaigns. You can download over 100 scripts here.
I’m especially proud that Go Into The Story has facilitated the release of the following scripts: The Invitation, Man Up, and Short Term 12. I either contacted the writers or the producers directly. Each is a ‘smaller’ movie likely to get lost amidst the hoopla of bigger projects, but they are fine movies deserving of our attention.
Read scripts, my friends. So important for learning the craft.
Today’s Go Into The Story resource: Script to Screen
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a series on where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
10 Things I Hate About You: Kat’s poem.
12 Monkeys: Cole meets Jeffrey in the asylum.
12 Years a Slave: A drunk Epps chases Solomon.
2001: A Space Odyssey: Dave deactivates H.A.L.
48 Hrs.: The ‘Black Russian’ scene.
(500) Days of Summer: Tom’s fantasy “greatest morning of all time” sequence.
A Few Good Men: The final courtroom showdown between Kaffee and Jessup.
A Serious Man: The enigmatic ending.
A Quiet Place: The horrifying opening incident.
Abyss, The: Coming back to life.
Adaptation: Robert McKee rips Charlie at a McKee seminar.
Air Force One: The President fights the Bad Guys in climactic sequence.
Airplane!: “I can speak jive.”
Alien: Alien kills Dallas in the air tunnels.
Aliens: The final struggle — between two ‘mothers’.
All About Eve: “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
Almost Famous: The near plane crash.
Amadeus: Mozart dictates the “Requiem” to Salieri.
American, The: An assassin who thinks he is out of harm’s way discovers otherwise.
American Beauty: A plastic bag dances in the wind.
American Pie: Jim has a ‘date’ with an apple pie.
American Psycho: It’s ‘Hip To Be Square’.
Apartment, The: A revelation via a broken mirror.
Argo: The crew goes on a ‘location scout’.
Army of Darkness: Boomstick!
Artist, The: A cute dance scene turns into a major plot point.
As Good As It Gets: Melvin gives a compliment, then a kiss.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery: Dr. Evil’s therapy session with his son Scott.
Badlands: Kit and Holly dance to “A Blossom Fell”.
Barton Fink: The opening scene establishes Barton’s ‘ordinary’ world.
Basic Instinct: Is she or isn’t she a psycho killer?
Batman: The Final Struggle between Batman and Joker.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America: The guys escape from the trunk of a moving car.
Beetlejuice: Dancing around the dining room table.
Before Midnight: The ending.
Being John Malkovich: The 7 1/2 floor introduction.
Big Fish: Edward woos Sandra by taking a beating.
Big Lebowski, The: A case of mistaken identity.
Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Sam goes off on her father.
Birds, The: It’s the birds vs. school children.
Black Swan: The final scene in which Nina’s performance is “perfect.”
BlacKkKlansman: Ron attempts to prevent a bombing by the KKK.
Blade Runner: Like “tears in the rain.”
Blood Simple: Ray buries Julian.
Blue Velvet: Frank and crew take Jeffrey on a joyride.
Bonnie and Clyde: The bloody ending which is radically different than what is depicted in the script.
Bourne Identity, The: Bourne discovers he has assault capabilities.
Boyhood: Mason and Nicole reflect on moments in the movie’s final scene.
Braveheart: The burial of young William’s father… and a flower.
Bull Durham: A meeting at the mound.
Carrie: Carrie tries to convince her mother to let her go to the prom.
Cast Away: Wilson is lost.
Celeste & Jess Forever: Celeste uses her trend reading skills on a guy.
Charade: Dyle vs. Scobie on a rooftop.
Chinatown: The ending.
Cider House Rules, The: Homer returns to the orphange.
Cinema Paradiso: Salvatore ‘confesses’ his love for Elena.
Citizen Kane: Kane destroys Susan’s room, then discovers a snow globe.
Clerks: Jay introduces his Russian friend who belts out “Berserker”.
Collateral: “That my briefcase?”
Cool Hand Luke: Luke and Dragline have a fist fight… and Luke refuses to stay down.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Jen Yu and Yu Shu Lien fight each other.
Crying Game, The: Jody’s escape attempt.
Dallas Buyers Club: Ron encourages a guy to shake hands with Rayon.
Dark Star: Bomb uses logic to figure out an existential crisis… with explosive results.
Day The Earth Stood Still, The (1951): The appearance of Gort.
Dead Poets Society: “O Captain! My Captain!”
Deerhunter, The: God Bless America.
Departed, The: The dramatic elevator scene.
Devil Wears Prada, The: Miranda arrives at the office.
Do the Right Thing: Sal destroys Radio Rahim’s box.
Dog Day Afternoon: “Attica!”
Donnie Darko: Donnie deconstructs “Watership Down”.
Double Indemnity: Keyes puts Neff in a sticky spot.
Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: The President calls Dmitri.
Election: Jim meets up with voter suppression.
Elephant Man, The: Psalms 23.
English Patient, The: Almásy desperate in his obsessive love for Katherine.
Erin Brockovich: The “waste of our time” legal meeting.
Excalibur: Arthur gets knighted and named King.
Fabulous Baker Boys, The: “Makin’ Whooppee”.
Fargo: Carl and Grimsrud are stopped by a state trooper.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Pizza with Mr. Hands.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Ferris takes a shower and breaks the 4th wall.
Few Good Men, A: The arrest of Colonel Jessep.
Field of Dreams: “You wanna have a catch?”
Fight Club: Jack finally figures out a way to ‘terminate’ Tyler.
Fisher King, The: Parry has a showdown with the Red Knight.
Five Easy Pieces: The ‘hold the chicken’ scene.
Flight: The final scene where his son asks Whip, “Who are you?”
Frozen: Elisa’s secret revealed.
Galaxy Quest: The cast meets the fans.
Get Shorty: Chili gets a quick lesson in how easy it is to write a screenplay.
Ghostbusters: The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man scene.
Godfather, The: The horse head scene.
Grosse Pointe Blank: Martin and Grocer meet in a diner.
Halloween: The Final Struggle between Laurie and Michael Myers.
Hanna: Hanna responds to questioning, then begins her escape from custody.
Hannah and Her Sisters: Mickey describes his suicidal encounter with a rifle.
Harold and Maude: Harold has a date.
Heat: The diner scene.
Heathers: The ending.
Her: Samantha tells Theodore she is leaving.
High Fidelity: A cold open amidst a couple breaking up.
Insider, The: Bergman finds himself at a crossroads with his cohorts at CBS.
Iron Giant, The: When the Giant becomes “Superman”.
It’s A Wonderful Life: George asks God to “live again”.
Jackie Brown: With a gun as reinforcement, Jackie negotiates a deal with Ordell.
Jacob’s Ladder: The creepy gurney scene.
Jaws: Chrissie goes swimming… for the last time.
Jerry Maguire: Dorothy joins Jerry in leaving the office.
Joe Versus the Volcano: After learning he has terminal cancer, Joe quits his job.
Joker: Arthur’s memorable appearance on The Murray Franklin Show.
Kids Are All Right, The: Laser reveals something to his mothers.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1: Bride vs. Housewife in a domestic ‘dispute’.
L.A. Confidential: The Christmas beat-down.
Last of the Mohicans, The: Heyward’s sacrifice.
Leaving Las Vegas: Ben’s ‘date’ with a prostitute who steals his wedding ring.
Lethal Weapon: Riggs has a unique way to handle a ‘jumper’.
Limey, The: “You tell him I’m coming!”
Lincoln: Mary has a message for the President: “Woe unto you.”
Little Miss Sunshine: Olive finally gets a chance to do her dance number.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels: Eddy gets screwed in a fixed game of poker.
Looper: Masterful series of shots covering the passage of 22 years.
Lost Boys, The: David and the Boys play a dangerous game with Michael… on the train tracks.
Lost In Translation: The final moments between Bob and Charlotte including… the whisper.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior: Deaths, a boomerang, and an ultimatum.
M*A*S*H: The Last Supper.
Magnolia: The frog storm.
Marty: The ending.
Midnight Cowboy: Ratso and Joe on the bus ride to Florida.
Moonrise Kingdom: The beach dance scene.
Moonstruck: The meaning of life wrapped around “get in my bed.”
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: Lost cause.
Network: The assassination of Howard Beale.
No Country for Old Men: Chigurh makes an old man flip a coin to decide his fate.
Notting Hill: The last brownie.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?: The Sirens.
Out Of Sight: Foley and Karen in the car trunk.
Panic Room: Mother and daughter enter the ‘panic room’.
Pan’s Labyrinth: Ofelia meets Faun and moves from the Ordinary World into the Extraordinary World.
Philadelphia: Andrew meets Joe about his case.
Pi: Something about a drill…
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: Compare endings from early draft and movie.
Planet of the Apes: The famous final scene.
Platoon: A brutal, but memorable scene.
Predator: The Final Struggle.
Princess Bride, The: The “Mawidge, the bwessed awwangement” scene.
Pretty Woman: The final set of scenes to cap off the story’s romance.
Psycho: The truth about mother.
Raising Arizona: The distinctive 10-minute opening.
Rebel Without a Cause: The “chicken” scene.
Rocky: Rocky decks Apollo Creed.
Rocky Horror Picture Show, The: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again!
Rushmore: The revenge sequence.
Saving Mr. Banks: Pamela doesn’t think “responstable” is a word.
Say Anything: The boom box scene.
Schindler’s List: The girl in red sequence.
Scream: The opening.
Searchers, The: Ethan returns home to a gruesome discovery.
Se7en: The climatic stand-off at the end.
Sex, Lies and Videotape: Graham tells Ann about the nature of his videotapes.
Shakespeare in Love: Will and Viola’s final moment together and the writing of “Twelfth Night”.
Shining, The: Wendy discovers what Jack has been writing.
Short Term 12: Jayden tells Grace a revealing story she wrote.
Silverado: Fun establishing action scene.
Social Network, The: The final scene.
Talented Mr. Ripley, The: Murder on a boat.
Talented Mr. Ripley, The: Ripley discovers that Marge has found the rings.
Terminator, The: The arrival of the cyborg from the future.
Thelma & Louise: The ending.
There’s Something About Mary: The hair gel scene.
Thin Man, The: It’s Christmas morning for Nick and Nora… and an air rifle.
Third Man, The: The final scene where Anna passes Martin “without a glance.”
Three Kings: Finding the bunker with the gold.
Tootsie: Michael learns no one will hire him.
Toy Story: The opening.
Traffic: An assassination in the desert.
Truman Show, The: Truman talks to ‘God’.
Unforgiven: The big shootout.
Up: Carl and Ellie’s marriage sequence.
Usual Suspects, The: The last sequence in which all is revealed.
V For Vendetta: V’s speech to the world.
Verdict, The: Frank’s summary argument before the court.
Vertigo: Scottie’s dream.
Wag the Dog: Moss and Breane hatch a ‘war’.
Wall-E: Wall-E and Eve ‘define’ dancing.
Wall Street: “Money never sleeps, pal.”
Way Way Back, The: Owen introduces Duncan to Lewis.
What About Bob?: Bob and Marvin’s bombastic ‘death therapy’ experience.
Witness: Where young Samuel witnesses a crime.
Wizard of Oz, The: The demise of the Wicked Witch.
Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph meets Vanellope.
You Can Count On Me: An angry Terry tells his nephew Rudy why he’s leaving.
Young Frankenstein: Puttin’ on the Ritz.
Zombieland: Opening scene.
Each day this month, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for supporting Go Into The Story. I’d love to hear from you in RESPONSES. When did you start following the blog? What are your favorite features? And as always, if you have any suggestions, feel free to suggest away.
