Script To Screen: “The Wizard of Oz”
From the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, screenplay by Noel Langley & Florence Ryerson & Edgar Allan Woolf, adaptation by Noel Langley from the book by L. Frank Baum.
Setup: The Wicked Witch has Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion cornered.
Here is the script version of the scene:
-- they roar menacingly -- LS -- Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and
Dorothy run along battlement to left as CAMERA BOOMS with
them -- LS -- The other group of Winkies appears in the other
tower -- they mumble -- charge forward -- LS -- One Group of
Winkies charges down the steps in the f.g. as we see the
other group come forward along the battlement in b.g. --
CAMERA BOOMS to left -- LS -- In. Hall -- Scarecrow, Dorothy,
Tin Man and the Lion rush down the hall to b.g. -- are
confronted by Winkies -- Dorothy screams -- more Winkies rush
in from left f.g., trapping the four -- MCS -- The Four --
they react as they look o.s. to f.g. -- Dorothy screams --
they turn, run back -- LS -- In. Tower -- The Four run to
left as Winkies pour in from right -- to other Winkies enter
from left -- Dorothy screams as they are captured -- CAMERA
PANS right as they back up against the table in f.g. --
Winkies surround them -- MLS -- The Witch enters in b.g. --
comes forward to her Winkies in f.g. -- CAMERA PULLS back as
she comes up to Scarecrow, Dorothy and the Tin Man -- she
speaks to them --
WITCH
Well -- ring around the rosy -- a pocket
full of spears! Thought you'd be pretty
foxy, didn't you? Well, I'm going to
start in on you right here - one after
the other!
CS -- Tin Man, Dorothy and Scarecrow -- Lion hiding behind
the Tin Man -- all tremble with fear -- WITCH o.s. And the
last to go will see the first three go before her! And your
mangy little dog, too! MCU -- Witch smiles as she looks up
o.s. -- CAMERA PANS up as she holds her broom up to the torch
on wall -- CS -- The Four react with fear -- MCU -- The
broomstick catches fire -- CAMERA PANS down to the Witch as
she lowers it -- speaks --
WITCH
How about a little fire, Scarecrow?
CS -- Lion, Tin Man, Dorothy and Scarecrow -- all react as
the broom is thrust into the scene and catches the
Scarecrow's arm on fire -- he shouts, Dorothy screams --
Dorothy picks up a bucket as the CAMERA PULLS back, throws
the water on Scarecrow --
SCARECROW
No -- No -- No -- No!
DOROTHY
Ohh! OHH! OHH!
SCARECROW
Help! I'm burning! I'm burning! I'm
burning! Help! Help! Help!
MS -- Dorothy throwing water at Scarecrow -- some of it hits
the Witch in the face -- Tin Man standing at left with the
Lion --
SCARECROW
Help!
MCU -- The water hits the Witch in the face -- MS -- The
Witch screams as the water hits her -- Tin Man, Lion, Dorothy
and Scarecrow look at her -- MLS -- The Lion, Tin Man,
Dorothy and Scarecrow watch the Witch as she screams and
melts away -- camera shooting past Winkies in the f.g. -- the
Witch curses as she disappears, finally only her cloak and
hat remain on the floor -- her voice fades away --
WITCH
Ohhh -- you cursed brat! Look what
you've done! I'm melting! Melting! Oh -
- what a world -- what a world! Who would
have thought a good little girl like you
could destroy my beautiful wickedness!?
Ohhh! Look out! Look out! I'm going.
Ohhhh! Ohhhhhh....
CS -- Lion, Tin Man, Dorothy and Scarecrow looking down o.s.
amazed -- CS -- Shooting down to the Witch's cloak and hat
smoldering on the floor -- Toto enters from left and sniffs
at them -- CAMERA PULLS back slightly as Nikko enters, growls
-- CS -- Leader of Winkies speaks to the Four o.s. in f.g. --
other Winkies in b.g. --
LEADER
She's....she's....dead! You've killed
her!
CS -- Lion, Tin Man, Dorothy and Scarecrow react -- Dorothy
speaks, points to the Scarecrow --
DOROTHY
I -- I didn't mean to kill her....really
I didn't! It's...it's just that he was on
fire!
MLS -- The Four standing in front of the Winkies -- the
Leader turns to the others and speaks -- the Winkies kneel as
they hail Dorothy --
LEADER
Hail to Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is
dead!
WINKIES
Hail! Hail to Dorothy -- The Wicked
Witch is dead!
CS - Dorothy, with Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow in back of her
- she speaks -
DOROTHY
You mean, you're...you're all happy about
it?
CS - The Leader raises up his head - speaks to Dorothy o.s.
in f.g. - other Winkies in back of him -
LEADER
Very happy - now she won't be able to hit
us with a broom....
CS - Dorothy, with Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow in back of her
- Dorothy turns to the Tin Man - LEADER o.s. ...anymore!
DOROTHY
The broom!
MLS -- The Leader gives the broom to Dorothy as the
Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man react with joy -- CAMERA TRUCKS
forward as Dorothy speaks to them -- the Winkies speak --
they sing - Dorothy and her friends dance about, then exit
out to b.g. -
DOROTHY
May we have it?
LEADER
Please! And take it with you!
DOROTHY
Oh -- thank you so much! Now we can go
back to the Wizard and tell him the
Wicked Witch is dead!
LEADER
The Wicked Witch is dead!
ALL
The Wicked Witch is dead! The Wicked
Witch is dead!
Here is the scene from the movie:
The movie aligns closely to the script although there is an added line of dialogue at the beginning of the scene in which the Wicked Witch says, “The last to go will see the first three go before her.” It’s a clunky line — the redundant use of the word “go” — but it frames her plan as opposed to just going directly after Scarecrow with the flaming broomstick.
But the main thing, notice how radically different scripts were back in 1939 compared to today, including all the action clumped together in long paragraphs and camera shot after camera shot.
Here’s a list of commonly used camera shot abbreviations:
- POV Point of view
- OTS Over the shoulder
- FG Foreground
- BG Background
- ELS Extreme long shot
- LS Long shot
- FS Full shot
- MS Medium shot
- CU Close-up
- MCU Medium close-up
- ECU Extreme close-up
While live-action screenplays rarely feature camera shots, a production draft of animation scripts can be broken down shot by shot.
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 weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
For more articles in the Script To Screen series, go here.