The Toughest Scene I Wrote: “Straight Outta Compton”

Once again, Vulture does screenwriters a solid:

Vulture is speaking to the screenwriters behind 2015’s most acclaimed movies about the scenes they found most difficult to crack.

In an article about the movie Straight Outta Compton, Oscar-nominated screenwriters Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff reveal the logistical hurdles they had to overcome in writing a chaotic performance scene in their N.W.A biopic.

The sequence at Doo-To’s Club — where Ice Cube performs “Gangsta Gangsta” — was very tough to get right because there are about a dozen different elements happening simultaneously, and they all had to track: the grind of Dre and Yella’s life in the World Class Wreckin’ Cru, yearning for the big time, unappreciated by their boss, Lonzo; bringing Eazy and MC Ren into the scene while clocking the danger of Crip-affiliated guys breezing into Blood-affiliated territory; Cube’s white-knuckle tension as he girds himself to perform on a potentially hostile stage; capturing his explosive performance itself and the crowd’s wild reaction to it, while simultaneously tracking Eazy and Ren’s reaction to Cube; and still keeping an eye on Dre and Yella as they cut and scratch over Cube’s rap.

The scene from the script:

For the rest of the article, go here. Kudos to Vulture for this annual series which puts the spotlight on screenwriters.