Screenwriting 101: Andrew Friedhof

“I think it’s an act of folly to write a screenplay as though you’re going into production tomorrow. The first thing you should aim for is to provide a fun and enjoyable reading experience for the reader.

What I really want to do with my scripts is take people through the experience of watching the movie. You might have noticed that I often start scenes with close‑ups on objects or specific details in the scene. That’s how films are shot, basically. When a film is edited together they generally don’t start scenes with wide shots of the interior of a room. So it doesn’t really make much sense to start every scene with some variation on INT. ROOM — DAY. For me, it’s really important to capture the energy, movement and spirit of film.

There are quite a few screenwriters who do that already. Those are the screenwriters I admire and those are the screenwriters I’m always excited to read. I want people to look forward to reading the scripts I write.”

— Andrew Friedhof

Via Go Into The Story April 2016 interview

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