Some background on the movie “Alien”
For Day 1 of the “7 Days of Screenplays: Horror” challenge, which is posted here, several posters commented on the script’s scene description:
Zampana said…
Surprised this format isn’t used more often — I know Wall-E was written this way, and I wrote a script like this — mine doesn’t count :-)
The Hakk said…
Alien:
staccato.
almost poetic. (p. 110: Expectation fulfilled, nightmare without end)
quick read, reader’s dream.
mood through style.
funny (p.13)
Beth said…
I love how terse the descriptions are… really serves to keep up a quick pace. Fantastic read!
Way back on June 24, 2008, I posted this:
Following up on an interview featured here, another interview with WALL-E writer-director Andrew Stanton. Here’s an interesting note about the approach to scene description Stanton adopted for this script:
“The only thing I did that was a little unconventional, is the manner in which I formatted the script. I was very inspired by Dan O’Bannon’s script for Alien. His description paragraphs were not your typical paragraphs, they were actually small phrases that were all left justified, almost like a haiku, and they created this rhythm of just being in the moment of quiet and visual. And you found yourself reading the descriptions much more than you normally do a script because of that form, instead of just skipping to the dialogue. It really kind of paced you as a reader and gave you the much more visceral feel of what it will be like to watch that movie. So I used that for Wall-E — it really helped.”
Now I could be wrong, but Stanton gives credit to screenwriter Dan O’Bannon for this stylistic approach, but I’m almost positive Stanton is actually talking about the writing style of Walter Hill. Here is an excerpt from P. 1 of O’Bannon’s script for Alien:
FADE IN:
EXTREME CLOSEUPS OF FLICKERING INSTRUMENT PANELS. Readouts and digital
displays pulse eerily with the technology of the distant future.
Wherever we are, it seems to be chill, dark, and sterile. Electronic
machinery chuckles softly to itself.
Abruptly we hear a BEEPING SIGNAL, and the machinery begins to awaken.
Circuits close, lights blink on.
CAMERA ANGLES GRADUALLY WIDEN, revealing more and more of the
machinery, banks of panels, fluttering gauges, until we reveal:
INTERIOR — HYPERSLEEP VAULT
A stainless steel room with no windows, the walls packed with
instrumentation. The lights are dim and the air is frigid.
Occupying most of the floor space are rows of horizontal FREEZER
COMPARTMENTS, looking for all the world like meat lockers.
FOOM! FOOM! FOOM! With explosions of escaping gas, the lids on the
freezers pop open.
Slowly, groggily, six nude men sit up.
Strong visual writing, but the standard approach to scene description — paragraph form. Now here is an excerpt from P. 1 of Walter Hill’s draft:
FADE IN:
SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE:
INT. ENGINE ROOM
Empty, cavernous.
INT. ENGINE CUBICLE
Circular, jammed with instruments.
All of them idle.
Console chairs for two.
Empty.
INT. OILY CORRIDOR — “C” LEVEL
Long, dark.
Empty.
Turbos throbbing.
No other movement.
INT. CORRIDOR — “A” LEVEL
Long, empty.
INT. INFIRMARY — “A” LEVEL
Distressed ivory walls.
All instrumentation at rest.
INT. CORRIDOR TO BRIDGE — “A” LEVEL
Black, empty.
INT. BRIDGE
Vacant.
Two space helmets resting on chairs.
Electrical hum.
Lights on the helmets begin to signal one another.
Moments of silence.
A yellow light goes on.
Data mind bank in b.g.
Electronic hum.
A green light goes on in front of one helmet.
Electronic pulsing sounds.
A red light goes on in front of other helmet.
An electronic conversation ensues.
Reaches a crescendo.
Then silence.
The lights go off, save the yellow.
INT. CORRIDOR TO HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Lights come on.
Seven gowns hang from the curved wall.
Vault door opens.
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Explosion of escaping gas.
The lid on a freezer pops open.
Slowly, groggily, KANE sits up.
Pale.
Kane rubs the sleep from his eyes.
Stands.
Looks around.
Stretches.
Looks at the other freezer compartments.
Scratches.
Moves off.
Now you tell me which style is “not your typical paragraphs… actually small phrases… all left justified, almost like a haiku.” Moreover, there’s this from Wikipedia:
“Hill read Alex Jacob’s screenplay for the Lee Marvin film, Point Blank and considered it a ‘revelation’ in terms of style and format. He decided to tailor his own scripts in that manner, as he described it, ‘extremely spare, almost Haiku style. Both stage directions and dialogue.’ Hill wrote Hard Times, the first draft of Alien, The Drive, and The Warriors in this style.”
Even Hill describes the writing as “Haiku style,” exactly how Stanton refers to it in the interview above. I actually have a hard copy of the screenplay for Hard Times. Here is some scene description from that script — a back alley brawl:
THE FIGHTERS
Speed’s man tries a kick.
Gets knocked backward for his trouble.
Grapple.
Hair pull.
Powerful men but without grace.
Brawlers.
Punch.
Kick.
Punch.
Gouge.
Speed’s man takes several shots.
Goes down on his back.
It’s not going to be his night.
As far back as 1975 when Hard Times was released, Hill was using this “Haiku” approach to scene description. So it appears Stanton’s reference to O’Bannon is incorrect and his real inspiration for Wall-E, at least stylistically per the writing, is Walter Hill.
There’s also this post, comparing Hill’s and O’Bannon’s versions of the famous alien-bursts-out-of-John-Hurt’s-chest scene. You can see for yourself in both cases who is responsible for the ‘haiku style’ of writing: Walter Hill.
This is a great example of what I call Narrative Voice, where the style the writer uses matches up with the genre. davidmelkevik summed this up nicely in comments:
The pace plus the emptiness of description really helped to capture the sense of loneliness. And reflecting its famous tag-line — “In space no one can hear you scream” — I think the real horror of this script comes not from the monster but the fact they are totally alone to deal with it.
The style of writing is uniquely suited for this story which is why it works so well.
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